Mike Shinnick - Learner/Apprentice of Christ

One of the greatest needs of believers is to study the Bible with a basic understanding of Jewish thought that permeated the first century narrative.  In our day, we are familiar with perspectives of Christian writers, ministers, and theologians which significantly shapes our view of the gospel, for better or worse.  But these views have largely been developed over hundreds of years, framing what we know of Western Christian culture.  What is often viewed as cultural norms would be be considered as heresy centuries ago.  So it's necessary to evaluate how Jewish believers viewed the universe, the kingdom, the day of the Lord, Gehenna, the judgement and the kingdom in order for us to be clear headed about this age, its ending and the age to come.   This video teaching provides great insight in the  Jewish Apocalyptic Gospel .   It represents session two of an eight part series by Dr. John P. Harrigan.  I'm confident you will find it worth ...

To twenty-first century "Western Christian" ears, Jesus' teaching on the requirements of entering in to the Kingdom seem unrealistic and radical.  In Luke 14:25-35, He spells out these truths in clear and convincing ways.  Is the problem with the teaching, or rather with our own unwillingness to give up our cultural tainted perception of abundant living (John 10:10)?  In other words, do we have ears to hear?  Listen to these words from a commentary on Luke 14:35 from the Believers Bible Commentary :      The Lord Jesus closed the message on discipleship with the words "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  Those words imply not everyone will have the willingness to listen to the stringent terms of discipleship.  But if a person is willing to follow the Lord Jesus, no matter what the cost may be, then he should hear and follow. What's the answer to this rather perplexing dilemma?   I believe the key is properly valuing the Kingdom of G...

What powers our discipleship pursuits?  Why is the church in America so anemic in following the Master's call to be and make authentic disciples.  I maintain that the primary reason for this phenomenon is our failure to grasp Jewish eschatology.  Rather, Greek thought emerged in the second and third century church, dominated by a view of an immaterial heaven emerging when we die.  I invite you to view this John Harrigan teaching on  Eschatology and Discipleship .   Easy "believism" runs rampant in our churches today.  Missing is a proper fear of God.  Here are some scriptures which redirects our thinking toward a historical Jewish end of age narrative: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,  and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.   Proverbs 9:10 This is the Lord’s declaration.  I will look favorably on this kind of person:  one who is humble, submissive in spirit,  and trembles at my word....

There has never been a time when we need to be more aware of the times and seasons than we are in than now.  With the rapid technological developments over just the past 20 years and the explosion of information at our fingertips, our society is drifting further and further away from the living God .  Aren't we naturally more tempted to rely upon our own understanding rather then trusting God to determine our steps (Proverbs 3:5-6).  And as a result, churches in this land are bowing to the cultural norms in record numbers.  It seems a day doesn't go by that we hear of moral failures in leadership and churches gravitating to the sway of secular society.  This is the situation that surrounds us.  So what do we do about it? I suggest that there is an urgent need for a wake up call!  And to this point, a very valuable lesson taught by Jesus in Matthew 25:1-13 drives this message home.  Ask yourself, are you confidently prepared for Jesus' return on th...

The end of the age ushers in a great seven year crisis the Bible calls the tribulation .   For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again  (Matthew 24:21).  A period of shaking will occur which will rock this age like no other.  God's people will be the target of the Antichrist's wrath during this time, requiring great faith and endurance (Daniel 7:25, Revelation 12:10-11, 13:10 and 17:6).  The promise of the coming Kingdom in the next age will serve as a great motivating factor for the saints to faithfully endure this end of the age crisis (Matthew 24:14, Romans 8:17-18).  A detailed description of the coming tribulation period is provided in the Daniel Training Network simply entitled  CRISIS .  It very thoroughly covers the  “who” of the crisis, t he “what” of the crisis, t he “when” of the crisis, t he “where” of the crisis, t he “why” of ...

  Have you ever wondered about what God's plan for a world that gone awry?  He doesn't leave us guessing.  In fact, all the way back to Genesis 3:15, we see the first glimpse of His plan to redeem mankind and finally put an end to the great deceiver through His son.  While the gospel message originated in Genesis, we see great enlightenment in the New Testament in passages like what follows: In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.    Ephesians 1:13 Let's boil the gospel down to a rather simple definition, the way it would be heard in first century Judaism:  Jesus died for our sins so that we could live with Him forever .  It's vital that we hear this message and respond in loving obedience.  The thing that makes this Jewish apocalyptic gospel so compelling is their view of two ages, separated by the cataclysmic day of the Lord.  ...