I Love Christ; very man of very man and very God of very God! https://xitter.cf/t.co/4MCzn2gDad
Joined July 2009
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Chris Staley retweeted
The fact that some men got immediately defensive tells on itself. The original post never named anyone. It described a pattern: young men adopting a Christian aesthetic while showing fruit of resentment, pride, perversion, and selective use of Scripture for power rather than obedience.
If that description doesn’t fit you, there was no reason to take it personally. The only way it becomes about you is if you recognized yourself in it. That’s not an attack, that’s self-identification.
“If the shoe fits” isn’t a gotcha; it’s basic logic. A general observation about a real and observable problem only lands as personal when the person hearing it already knows it describes them. Everyone else can keep scrolling. The ones who can’t are the ones confirming the point.
Chris Staley retweeted
What I’ve learned in the past two years:
Too many young men in America have suddenly become “Christian” for the aesthetic alone and don’t know a single thing about Jesus or His gospel.
It’s the most spiritually dangerous revival I’ve ever seen because their faith shows no fruit evidence of actually being a saving faith.
Their fruit is resentment, hate, perversion, pride, and ignorance.
They don’t understand grace. They don’t know what a testimony is. They don’t know that ALL have sinned or the implications of that fact. They don’t value humility, or meekness. They don’t value Christs commands beyond the few proof-texts they can twist to grasp at power or vainglory.
They use worldly wisdom, priorities and judgement and just slap Jesus’ name on it.
The church needs to stand up and fight this. These men are going to hell and taking thousands with them.
Chris Staley retweeted
Brought to you by the Book
With over 2000 prophecies
that have already come true.
THE MESSIAH WE WANT VS. THE MESSIAH WHO IS
Many in first-century Israel expected a conquering Messiah but struggled to recognize the suffering Servant. Today, many professing believers embrace the suffering Servant but struggle with the conquering King.
Different expectations. The same danger: an incomplete understanding of Messiah.
Scripture does not reveal two Messiahs. It reveals ONE Messiah with two comings.
Consider His names and titles:
The Lamb of God, who takes away sin (John 1:29).
The Lion of Judah, the victorious Root of David (Revelation 5:5).
The Suffering Servant, pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5).
Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).
The Prince of Peace, whose government will increase (Isaiah 9:6–7).
The First and the Last, the Living One (Revelation 1:17–18).
The Righteous Judge, entrusted with judgment (John 5:22–27).
The King of kings, returning in glory (Revelation 19:16).
These are not competing portraits of Jesus. They reveal the fullness of ONE Messiah.
THE SUFFERING SERVANT AND THE CONQUERING KING
Isaiah 53 foretells His suffering. Jeremiah 23:5–6 promises David's righteous Branch who will reign. Zechariah 9:9 presents the humble King riding on a donkey, while verse 10 describes His dominion extending to the ends of the earth.
Peter explains the prophetic pattern: the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow (1 Peter 1:10–11).
Suffering first. Glory afterward.
The cross was not the cancellation of the crown.
Where does the Tanakh declare that every messianic prophecy must be fulfilled in a single coming?
Isaiah describes a suffering Servant. Jeremiah promises a reigning King. Zechariah portrays both a humble King and a victorious ruler over the nations.
The Tanakh reveals both portraits. It never explicitly requires their fulfillment at the same moment.
The question is not whether Messiah must fulfill every prophecy. He must.
The question is whether Scripture requires Him to fulfill them all at once.
Even after the resurrection, the Jewish apostles asked whether Jesus would now restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6).
He did not cancel Israel's promises. He said their timing belonged to the Father (Acts 1:7).
THE REJECTED STONE WILL REIGN
Jesus identified Himself as the rejected cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).
Yet Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45 describes a Stone that destroys earthly kingdoms and establishes a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
The Stone rejected by men is the Stone that will shatter the kingdoms of men.
THE JESUS WHO LOVES ALSO JUDGES
Many celebrate the compassionate Jesus who welcomed sinners, healed the sick, and forgave His enemies.
And rightly so!
But the same Jesus who wept over Jerusalem also foretold its destruction (Luke 19:41–44).
The One who offered eternal life declared that the Father entrusted judgment to the Son (John 5:22–27).
He described His glorious return, the gathering of the nations, and the separation of the righteous from the wicked (Matthew 25:31–46).
His tears were genuine. So were His warnings.
His love does not cancel His holiness.
His mercy does not eliminate His justice.
And the Prince of Peace declared:
"I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34, NASB)
He was not advocating violence. He warned that allegiance to Him would divide even families (Matthew 10:35–37).
The Prince of Peace never promised universal approval.
WHAT ABOUT HIS PROMISED KINGDOM?
Some acknowledge His resurrection and physical return but interpret the millennial kingdom as a present spiritual reality.
Yet Zechariah 14:4 places the returning LORD upon the Mount of Olives. Verse 9 declares His kingship over all the earth.
Isaiah 2:2–4 describes nations coming to Jerusalem to learn God's ways.
Revelation 20:1–6 describes a thousand-year reign.
If these promises are fulfilled entirely through Messiah's present heavenly reign, where is the fulfillment of their geographical, national, and earthly details?
God's covenant promises to Israel remain. His gifts and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:28–29).
THE LION WHO APPEARED AS A LAMB
Revelation 5 presents an extraordinary scene.
John hears that the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.
But when he looks, he sees a Lamb standing as though slain (Revelation 5:5–6).
The Lion conquered through the sacrifice of the Lamb.
His victory came through suffering.
And Revelation 19 reveals this same Messiah returning as Faithful and True, judging and waging war in righteousness.
Upon Him is written:
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)
This is the same Jesus who washed His disciples' feet, wept over Jerusalem, and willingly went to the cross.
THE PIERCED ONE WILL BE RECOGNIZED
Zechariah 12:10 foretells Jerusalem mourning over the One who was pierced.
Matthew 24:30 describes the Son of Man appearing in power and glory.
Revelation 1:7 declares that every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him.
The One crowned with thorns will return in glory.
The Son of David will receive His promised throne (Luke 1:32–33).
And Israel's future remains anchored in God's faithfulness (Romans 11:25–29).
WHICH JESUS DO WE REALLY BELIEVE IN?
Some want a Savior who never judges.
Others want a conquering King without a suffering Servant.
Some celebrate His mercy but resist His holiness.
Others acknowledge His heavenly reign while spiritualizing His promised earthly kingdom.
But Scripture does not give us permission to construct a Messiah from our preferred passages.
He is the Lamb of God.
He is the Lion of Judah.
He is the Suffering Servant.
He is Immanuel.
He is the Righteous Judge.
He is the Son of David.
He is the King of kings.
The Lamb who was slain is the Lion who will reign.
Yeshua HaMashiach is not merely the Messiah our theology allows us to see.
He is the Messiah revealed throughout ALL of Scripture.
We do not get to choose between the Lamb and the Lion.
The question is not whether Jesus fits our understanding of the Messiah.
The question is whether our understanding fits the entirety of Scripture.
Chris Staley retweeted
When I see heretical teachings on here by women who are operating openly with a Jezebel spirit, and speaking with “authority” things that are completely contrary to the Word of God, I immediately feel righteous indignation!
Please, please, please do not be deceived by a pretty face and some spiritual sounding statements‼️
If even one small aspect of what is being said is contrary to the Bible, it is deceptive and is not from God, but from the father of all lies, Satan.
Read the Word! Pray for wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit! Do not be deceived by Satan, who comes as an angel of light!
Chris Staley retweeted
THE BURNING BUSH
They Fell to the Ground
"As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground." — John 18:6 (KJV)
They came for Him with torches and weapons, a band of soldiers and officers, armed and certain of their prey. He asked whom they sought, and when they named Him, He answered with two words older than the world. I am. It is the Name that spoke from the burning bush, before which Egypt once sank, when I AM came down and a nation that defied Him lay broken in the sea. No empire has ever tested that Name and stood, not Egypt, not Rome, not any power risen since, for there is something in it that nature itself knows, and nature bows. At the sound of it, the soldiers went backward and fell to the ground.
One wonders what that falling means.
We must not imagine, watching Him surrender, that the power was ever in doubt; the men on the ground are the proof it was fully His. Yet there comes an hour when power alone will not finish the work, when force can win every battle and still not open the one door that matters. He could have overpowered them and saved His life, and it would not have saved ours. Only love walking willingly to the cross could do that. So He let the power He had just displayed become the servant of a deeper thing, for love did not replace His strength but set it free, spending it not to escape but to redeem. He proved He could not be taken, and then, for us, He let Himself be taken.
Prayer
Lord, You said I am, and a cohort of soldiers went down in the dirt. Your Name proved the power, and Your humility carried the cross. You did not lose Your strength; You spent it, not to escape but to redeem. Please let me never mistake Your gentleness for weakness again. Amen.
THE BURNING BUSH
@drcyrilantony
Chris Staley retweeted
✡️ DIVINE PLURALITY: DOES THE SHEMA REVEAL MORE THAN WE REALIZE?
The Oneness of God, the Mystery of His Nature, and the Jewish Messiah
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” — Deuteronomy 6:4
Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.
For thousands of years, these words have formed the heartbeat of Jewish faith. Israel's declaration is unmistakable: YHWH alone is God.
Yet an intriguing question emerges from the Hebrew Scriptures themselves.
Does God's absolute oneness exclude personal distinctions within His eternal nature?
For many Jewish readers, divine plurality appears incompatible with the Shema. The idea of the Father, Son, and Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) existing eternally as distinct Persons seems foreign to Israel's uncompromising monotheism.
Yet centuries before the New Covenant was written, the Torah, Prophets, and Writings contained extraordinary passages describing God's Spirit, His divine Messenger, His heavenly throne, and even His own words spoken in the plural.
The Tanakh declares ONE God while presenting intriguing distinctions in His presence, activity, and heavenly authority.
These passages have puzzled readers for centuries, including some of Judaism's most respected rabbis.
And Yeshua? He affirmed the Shema without qualification while making extraordinary declarations about His own identity.
The mystery begins where Scripture begins.
1. GENESIS: ONE CREATOR, AN INTRIGUING CONVERSATION
Before the Shema was proclaimed at Sinai's generation, the opening chapter of Genesis introduced something remarkable.
Genesis 1:2: The Ruach Elohim—the Spirit of God—hovers over the waters.
Then God declares:
Genesis 1:26: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”
Let US. OUR image. OUR likeness.
Who is included in this extraordinary declaration?
Immediately afterward, Genesis 1:27 records that God created humanity in HIS image.
Plural language followed by singular action.
ONE Creator. Yet the text records a mysterious plurality in divine speech.
The pattern appears again in Genesis 3:22, where God says humanity has become like “one of us,” and Genesis 11:7, where the LORD declares, “Come, let us go down.”
These passages were not overlooked by Jewish scholars.
In Genesis Rabbah 8, ancient rabbis discussed the language of Genesis 1:26. Centuries later, Rashi (1040–1105) explained that God was consulting His heavenly court of angels, demonstrating divine humility. He appealed to the singular language of Genesis 1:27 to establish that God alone performed creation.
That interpretation has a substantial Jewish history.
But the Messianic reading recognizes another possibility: these unusual expressions may anticipate distinctions within the one divine Being, revealed more fully through Yeshua.
Consider how John opens his Gospel.
John 1:1–3: The Word was in the beginning, was with God, was God, and participated in the creation of all things.
Genesis introduces God's Spirit at creation. John reveals the divine Word through whom everything was made.
The relationship between these passages is extraordinary.
2. ECHAD AND YACHID: THE LANGUAGE OF ONENESS
The Shema uses the Hebrew word echad (אֶחָד), meaning ONE.
Throughout the Tanakh, echad describes numerical singularity and, in certain contexts, unity involving multiple elements.
Genesis 2:24: A husband and wife become basar echad—one flesh.
Ezekiel 37:17: Two sticks representing Judah and Israel become one in Ezekiel's hand.
Now consider yachid (יָחִיד), a word often expressing someone who is only, solitary, or uniquely beloved.
Genesis 22:2: Isaac is described as Abraham's yachid—his uniquely beloved son.
Judges 11:34: Jephthah's daughter is his yachid—his only child.
Why does Moses use echad rather than yachid in the Shema?
The distinction deserves careful attention. Echad does not automatically signify compound unity, and yachid is not a technical Hebrew term for an indivisible divine Person.
The words themselves cannot settle the doctrine of God's eternal nature.
The Shema unequivocally establishes God's oneness. The wider revelation of Scripture illuminates the nature of the ONE whom Israel worships.
3. THE ANGEL OF THE LORD: WHO SPOKE FROM THE BURNING BUSH?
Consider Exodus 3.
Verse 2: The Angel of the LORD appears to Moses in the burning bush.
Verse 4: God speaks from within the bush.
Verse 6: The speaker identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Angel appears, yet the One speaking is identified as Israel's covenant God!
Elsewhere, Exodus 33:20 emphasizes that no one can see God's face and live.
Who, then, is this mysterious Messenger who manifests God's presence and speaks with divine authority?
Jewish interpreters traditionally understand such appearances through the principle of divine representation: a messenger speaks with the authority of the One who sent him.
Many Messianic believers recognize certain appearances of the Angel of the LORD as manifestations of the preincarnate Messiah.
And consider the extraordinary language of Isaiah 63:7–10.
The prophet describes YHWH's covenant mercy, the Angel of His Presence who delivers Israel, and His Holy Spirit whom the people grieved.
YHWH. His Angel of the Presence. His Holy Spirit.
All within the same account of Israel's redemption.
Isaiah does not explicitly formulate a doctrine of three divine Persons. Nevertheless, Messianic believers see remarkable anticipations of distinctions that become clearer through the New Covenant.
4. DOES THE TANAKH SPEAK OF GOD'S SON?
The Hebrew Scriptures contain another fascinating set of passages.
Psalm 2:7: The LORD addresses His anointed king as His Son.
Psalm 110:1: YHWH invites David's Lord to sit at His right hand.
Proverbs 30:4: Agur asks who ascended to heaven, gathered the wind, established the earth, and what His son's name is.
Each passage has its own literary and historical context. Psalm 2 concerns the Davidic king, while the identity intended in Proverbs 30:4 remains debated.
Yet together they raise profound questions about divine sonship, Messianic authority, and the relationship between YHWH and His appointed ruler.
And then comes Daniel.
5. TWO THRONES IN HEAVEN? AN ANCIENT RABBINIC DEBATE
Daniel 7:9: Thrones are established as the Ancient of Days takes His seat.
Then Daniel sees someone extraordinary.
Daniel 7:13–14: One like a son of man approaches the Ancient of Days and receives an everlasting kingdom. All peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
Who is this heavenly figure?
The passage generated serious discussion among Jewish interpreters.
In the Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 14a, Rabbi Akiva interprets the thrones of Daniel 7 as one belonging to God and another to David.
Rabbi Yosei the Galilean objects, challenging the idea of another figure seated beside the Divine Presence. He instead interprets the thrones in relation to God's judgment and righteousness.
The Talmud subsequently records additional debate over these interpretations.
Consider the significance.
Jewish sages were wrestling with the implications of Daniel's heavenly thrones centuries before modern debates about Messianic theology.
These rabbis were not affirming the Trinity. The discussion includes explicit objections to assigning another figure a place beside God.
Nevertheless, Daniel's vision raised genuine questions concerning heavenly authority and the promised Davidic ruler.
Now consider Yeshua's declaration before the high priest.
Mark 14:62: Yeshua identifies Himself with the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
He brings together Daniel 7:13–14 and Psalm 110:1.
The heavenly Son of Man.
The right hand of God.
The everlasting kingdom.
The very Scriptures that generated rabbinic debate become central to Yeshua's declaration of His Messianic identity and authority.
6. YESHUA AFFIRMED THE SHEMA—AND REVEALED HIS DIVINE IDENTITY
In Mark 12:29, a Jewish Torah scholar asks Yeshua about the greatest commandment.
Yeshua answers with the Shema.
He affirms the absolute oneness of God.
Yet in the same chapter, He challenges His listeners with Psalm 110:1, asking why David calls the Messiah his Lord (Mark 12:35–37).
Later, His declarations become even more extraordinary.
John 8:58: Yeshua claims existence before Abraham.
John 10:30: He declares His unity with the Father.
John 14:16–17: He promises that the Father will send another Advocate, the Spirit of truth.
John 14:26: The Spirit teaches and reminds the disciples of Yeshua's words.
The Father sends. The Son reveals. The Spirit teaches and bears witness.
The three are personally distinguishable, yet Yeshua never abandons the monotheism of Israel.
He affirmed the Shema and revealed more fully the identity of the God it proclaims.
7. PAUL'S EXTRAORDINARY CONFESSION OF ONE GOD
Paul was a Torah-trained Jewish believer, deeply committed to Israel's Scriptures.
Yet consider 1 Corinthians 8:6.
He identifies one God, the Father, from whom everything exists, and one Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach, through whom everything exists.
Now compare Isaiah 44:24, where YHWH declares that He alone stretched out the heavens and created the earth.
Paul attributes the work of creation to Yeshua while affirming that there is only one God!
Many Messianic interpreters understand this as Paul incorporating Yeshua into the unique divine identity of Israel's Creator.
This is consistent with John 1:3, which declares that all things came into existence through the Word.
The Jewish apostles identified Yeshua with divine works and authority belonging uniquely to YHWH.
Their testimony invites us to understand the Messiah within the revelation already entrusted to Israel.
8. IF YHWH SHARES HIS GLORY WITH NO OTHER, WHY IS YESHUA WORSHIPED?
Here the biblical testimony reaches its most remarkable point.
Isaiah 42:8: YHWH declares that He will not give His glory to another.
Isaiah 45:23: YHWH declares that every knee will bow and every tongue swear allegiance to Him.
Yet Paul writes something astonishing.
Philippians 2:9–11: Every knee bows at Yeshua's name, and every tongue acknowledges Him as Lord—to the glory of God the Father.
Paul applies Isaiah's language of universal allegiance to Yeshua.
Now consider Revelation 5:13.
Every creature in heaven and on earth offers praise, honor, glory, and power to the One seated upon the throne AND to the Lamb.
The heavenly vision presents the Lamb receiving divine honor alongside the Father.
And when Thomas encounters the risen Messiah, he declares:
“My Lord and my God!” — John 20:28
Yeshua accepts his confession.
How can these passages be reconciled with YHWH's exclusive claim to divine glory?
The Messianic answer is profound.
Yeshua is no rival deity. He shares the eternal divine identity of the ONE God of Israel.
THE SHEMA STILL STANDS
Divine plurality does not mean three gods.
The Father, Son, and Ruach HaKodesh are eternally distinct Persons, sharing one undivided divine essence.
The Father is God.
The Son is God.
The Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there is only ONE God.
The Tanakh establishes the uncompromising oneness of YHWH while revealing extraordinary distinctions in His speech, presence, Spirit, and heavenly authority.
The New Covenant illuminates these mysteries through Yeshua HaMashiach, who affirmed the Shema, claimed divine authority, and received the worship belonging to Israel's God.
From the Spirit hovering over creation to the heavenly throne of Daniel, from the burning bush to the resurrected Messiah, the testimony of Scripture deserves careful examination.
And one question remains especially compelling:
If YHWH alone is Creator, if He alone deserves worship, and if He will never surrender His glory to another, why do the Jewish apostles identify Yeshua with creation, divine glory, and universal worship?
Perhaps the answer has been unfolding throughout the Scriptures of Israel.
The God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has revealed the fullness of His divine nature through Israel's promised Messiah.
The Shema remains.
The God of Israel remains.
His promises remain.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” — Deuteronomy 6:4
Shema Yisrael. Adonai Echad.
ONE GOD. ETERNALLY. WITHOUT RIVAL.
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Chris Staley retweeted
To make it simple, I’d start with the bad news first that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death and there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves.
But now for the best news ever:
God sent His Son Jesus who lived a sinless life and took the punishment they deserved if they just believe it’s been done for them, and they can rest assured He’s got them covered and has eternal life
Chris Staley retweeted
Numbers 17:8
Israel kept murmuring about who had the right to stand before God, so the LORD told Moses to take twelve rods, one for each tribe, with every man's name written upon his rod. They were cut sticks, no roots, no soil, no water. Moses laid them up before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness, and then he walked out and left them there overnight.
On the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness… and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
Look at what happened in that one night. A dead branch did not just sprout. It had buds, blossoms and ripe almonds all at once, a whole season of growing packed into a single night, with no hands touching it. And the other eleven rods lay right beside it in the same tent and stayed dead. They were all in the same room, but only one was marked.
Moses brought out all the rods, and they looked, and every man took his rod. God told Moses to put Aaron's rod back before the testimony, to be kept as a token. He kept the dead stick that bloomed as proof that He does His best work overnight, in the dark, in His own presence.
Whatever you feel is dead in your hands tonight, leave it with Him, because He knows exactly what to do with a dead stick, and you will wake up to a branch in full BLOOM.
