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Elijah
[People]Elijah was an Old Testament prophet who is understood to have ministered in the northern kingdom of Israel around the ninth century BC. He is best known for his contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and for his ascent into heaven.
Isaiah the Prophet
[People]Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who ministered in the Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth century BC and is the central figure of the Book of Isaiah. His name means "the LORD is salvation."
Paul
[People]Paul was an apostle of the early church. A Jewish Pharisee who had persecuted the church, he was converted and devoted himself to mission among the Gentiles. Thirteen letters bearing his name are included in the New Testament.
Cross
[Doctrine & Theology]The cross was an instrument of execution in ancient Rome. In Christianity it refers to the death of Jesus Christ, who was nailed to a cross, and to the confession that his death was an atonement in which he bore sin in the place of others. It is the foremost symbol of the Christian faith.
Cooperating Pastor
[Church Offices]A cooperating pastor is an ordained pastor who is affiliated with a church or institution and assists the senior pastor in ministry. The title is used mainly in Presbyterian churches, and its conditions of service and standing within the presbytery vary according to each denomination's constitution.
Father School
[Christian Life]Father School is an interdenominational family-restoration program that began at Duranno Press in South Korea. Over several weeks, fathers meet together to reflect on their roles as fathers and husbands in light of Scripture. It is also known as the Duranno Father School.
Alpha Course
[Christian Life]The Alpha Course is an introductory course in the Christian faith that began at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in England. Combining a meal, a talk, and small-group discussion, it introduces the basics of the faith to people outside the church.
World Vision
[Institutions]World Vision is an international Christian relief and development nongovernmental organization. It began in 1950, during the Korean War, when the American missionary Bob Pierce and Korean church leaders, including the Rev. Han Kyung-chik, began helping war orphans and widows.
Docetism
[Heresies & Cults]Docetism was an early Christian teaching holding that Jesus Christ did not possess a real human body but only appeared to have one. The historic Christian tradition has regarded it as a heresy.
Colossians 3:23
[Bible Verses]Colossians 3:23 is an exhortation that reads, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." It is one of the best-known verses connecting one's occupation and everyday work with faith. Because it was originally addressed to servants (slaves), however, questions have been raised about the scope of its application.
Enoch
[People]Enoch is an antediluvian figure who appears in the genealogy of Genesis 5. The seventh generation from Adam and the father of Methuselah, he is recorded as having walked with God and as having been taken by God without seeing death.
Eli
[People]Eli was an Israelite priest who served at the sanctuary in Shiloh at the close of the period of the judges. He raised the boy Samuel but failed to restrain the wickedness of his two sons, and his house came under judgment. His story is told in 1 Samuel 1–4.
Jonah (Prophet)
[People]Jonah was an Israelite prophet and the central figure of the Old Testament Book of Jonah. He is known for fleeing from God's command, spending three days in the belly of a great fish, and then going to Nineveh to call its people to repentance.
Ezekiel (Prophet)
[People]Ezekiel was an Old Testament priest and prophet who ministered during the Babylonian exile. He proclaimed to the exiles of Judah both the judgment of Jerusalem and the restoration of Israel, and his prophecies are preserved in the Book of Ezekiel.
Jeremiah (Prophet)
[People]Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet who ministered from the final years of the Kingdom of Judah into the early period of the Babylonian exile. He warned of the destruction of Jerusalem, prophesied the "new covenant," and is known as "the weeping prophet."
Nehemiah (person)
[People]Nehemiah was an Old Testament figure who served as cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes and later became governor of Judah. Together with the community that had returned from exile, he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and restored order within the community.
Barnabas
[People]Barnabas was an early church leader who appears in the Acts of the Apostles. Originally named Joseph, he was a Levite from Cyprus. The apostles gave him the name Barnabas, meaning "son of consolation," and he accompanied Paul on the first missionary journey.
Samaritan Woman
[People]The Samaritan woman is an unnamed woman in John 4 who spoke with Jesus at Jacob's well near the Samaritan town of Sychar and then told the people of her town about him.
Luke 2:10-11
[Bible Verses]A passage in which an angel announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem, calling him "Savior," "Christ," and "Lord." Because it contains the heart of the Christmas message, it is one of the texts most frequently read in Christmas services and sermons.
Methuselah
[People]Methuselah is an antediluvian figure in the genealogy of Genesis 5, the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah. Having lived 969 years, he is recorded as the longest-lived person in the Bible.