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When I saved this image as "magical bunny babe", it was meant to be a temporary name. However, it has kinda grown onto me. I do look like a magical bunny babe after all.
Speaking of magical babes, have you visited the Hentai Fair yet? If not, I highly recommend you do so before it closes on the 28th. I am featuring a variety of items that are currently available at the fair, starting with this adorable shape by Stitches. I slightly adjusted the body, but the face remained untouched. It is great to see that shape stores have made their comeback after the release of Bento heads. Make sure you keep up with future releases of Stitches by following them on Flickr.
My socks and shoes are also available at the Hentai Fair. They are from N-Core and they're incredibly saucy. The set comes with a couple customization options. Besides the different colour options, you can also choose to wear the socks with or without the toys. Furthermore, you can also choose to wear the socks without the shoes. Overall, they are quite customizable and fun to play around with.
Hentai Fair closes on the 28th. So grab your SLurl here and visit the annual celebration of kawaii sauciness before it closes until next year.
Hair: *Besom~ Lip Gloss*
Bunny ears: S I R E N : Miss Rabbit Headband Beige @ Hentai Fair *
Top: +Inkhole+ Hentai Busty Chained Gold @ Hentai Fair *
Bottom: PHEDORA / Lola panties @ Hentai Fair *
Shoes: N-core MIAU @ Hentai Fair *
Head: CATWA HEAD Catya [With Teeth] v1.04
Head applier: Insol: Mashell's secrets #5 "I lied" (ST Milk) @ The Epiphany *
Eyes: AG. Entice Eyes – Nut
Shape: [ x ] Stitches. [ x ] Felicia CATWA Bento Maitreya Lara @ Hentai Fair *
Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.5
Pose: [La Baguette] Moaka G.Sit 7 @ Hentai Fair *
[-AS-] Collapsing Frost @ The Chapter Four *
Event dates:
The Epiphany | January 15 – February 15
The Chapter Four | January 4 – 21


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London (PRWEB UK) 21 May 2014
"There are sharks out there in the literary waters... This Guide gives you all the skills and information you need to comparison shop -- and if you are planning on successfully self-publishing, comparison shopping is essential." - Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware.
Nonprofit writers' association, The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), announces the launch of their guidebook for indie authors - Choosing A Self Publishing Service 2014 - at this year's Book Expo America (BEA).
The guidebook, compiled by ALLi's watchdog team - including Victoria Strauss, Mick Rooney and Giacomo Giammatteo - is a comparison of twenty of the key self-publishing service players. Featuring case studies, service analysis and the experiences of author-publishers and ALLi members, the guide is a timely and indispensable source of knowledge for anyone considering self-publishing as an option. The guidebook also shows author-publishers how they can make informed and empowered decisions about their publishing future, offering insight and impartial advice on key comparison points and criteria for selecting a service.
The launch of the guidebook will coincide with ALLi's schedule of events at this year's Book Expo America [link to calendar], with an award to the top self-publishing service in The Author Hub and printed copies made available to all attendees of UPublishU, through IngramSpark.
Alongside the launch, ALLi will also have a presence throughout BEA, with education seminars scheduled in the Author Hub and at the uPublishU conference.
ALLi will also be on hand throughout the fair to offer advice and guidance for their members and other attendees.
"I'm personally looking forward to meeting ALLi members, advisors and friends in New York," Orna Ross, director of ALLI said, "And delighted to be launching the latest update of our services guide at the new Author Hub at BEA. Many authors feel paralysed by choice when faced with the array of self-publishing alternatives before them. Our watchdog team have done the hard work of research and comparison, so we can point a clear pathway through the rapidly changing, and often confusing, landscape of author services."
About ALLi
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) (http://allianceindependentauthors.org) is the professional association for self-publishing writers. Rapidly growing, with members all over the world, this nonprofit association offers contacts, connection & collaboration plus expert guidance & advice -- and widely champions the interests of author-publishers.
For further information enquiries, please contact:
Nerys Hudson
+49 (0) 30 240 83451
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11868496.htm

subset: commoncrawl


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COMING. During the past week the following men, women, and animals arrived in the U. S. on the following ships:
On the Minnetonka (Atlantic Transport)—Dr. Arthur T. Hadley, President Emeritus of Yale University; B. Arkell, President of the Beechnut Products Co.; Lieutenant-General Kameji Wada, leading a military mission from Japan; 46 British polo ponies for the International matches.
On the Aquitania (Cunard)—Miss Helen Wills and Vincent Richards, Olympic Tennis Champions; the Right Hon. Sir Samuel Hoare, Bart, Commissioner for the League of Nations to Care...
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The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies. How the resurrection is the power of our walk of faith.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies. How the resurrection is the power of our walk of faith.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Let's begin this study with Colossians 2:8-14
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
The Bible explains that each person who enters the world has been born through Adam. Through him, we inherit our sin nature. We aren't sinners because we committed sin. We committed sin because we were sinners. That nature is born into sin and seeks to serve itself.
From early childhood, we begin to demand our ways while also learning how to develop a selfish attitude based on our sin nature. This is why it is impossible for man's efforts to make him righteous. Even if we do good by human standards, it still is born through a sinful nature and is ultimately self-serving. We do good because it makes us feel good. We sacrifice because it makes us appear honorable. Honorable to those watching, and honorable to our own egos.
Jesus said that whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The flesh cannot produce spiritual fruit. It can only produce flesh and decorate it with man-made works. This is also why Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of our righteous acts are filthy in God's sight."
One thing that is often overlooked by Christians is that we are not only receiving Christ, but He is crucifying our old nature. Not only is Jesus taking our sins out of the way, but He is taking our fleshly nature out of the way, and He is taking the law that kept us in bondage out of the way with it.
Christians often focus on the front-side of the cross. We have little trouble understanding that Jesus paid for our sins, but that is not all Jesus accomplished. Jesus took our sins completely out of the way, took our sin nature out of the way, and gave us His life and His righteousness. You are righteous because you are a possessor of the righteousness of God in Him. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
It is NOT your righteousness that pleases God. It is your faith in Him so that you are a receiver of God's righteousness. He took your sin out of the way through His death. He also took your sin nature and the burden of the law upon Himself. The barriers between you and God have been taken out of the way, and a new nature is born. We'll look at our new birth in detail next week, but let's take a moment to focus on the work of God to remove our sin and sinful nature.
Before Christ, you had one nature. It was a corrupt nature born through Adam. After Christ you also have one nature, but this nature is born of God, has its life in God, and abides in the Spirit. Look now at 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Old things have passed away. Your old man was crucified with Christ and taken out of the way. This is what the Bible means when it speaks of the circumcision without hands. In the Old Covenant, God provided a living symbol of what He would one day perform for us. Every male child had to be circumcised in order to enter into God's covenant of promise. The flesh of the child's foreskin was cut away as a symbol of God's working. The child had to do nothing. They were unaware of what was happening to them.
When Christ came, God unveiled the meaning of circumcision. He alluded to this even in the Old Testament. Look at Deuteronomy 30:6
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
We are the descendants. This is why the Bible says that anyone who is born of faith are the children of Abraham, who is the forefather of the Jews. The outward foreshadow of circumcision became the inward working of the Holy Spirit at our new birth.
Before Christ, your nature has a bent toward sin. Your heart is sinful, corrupt, and incapable of pleasing God. You cannot enter into God's promise because your sinful nature is incompatible with the life of the Spirit. But when the message of Christ is preached, the Holy Spirit reveals the joy of the Lord as He draws us to submit to His call. Anyone who responds by faith receives new life. But that new life cannot occur until the circumcision of Christ occurs first. The Spirit cuts away your old nature, buries it in Christ, and a new life in the Spirit is born. This is what is meant by being born again.
You cannot enter into God's promise while the old nature is within you. God circumcises the fleshly nature away, we enter into the covenant of promise, and we are born as a new man and receive the promise that now all things are new and of God. Old things have now passed away, and behold all things are new – and all things are now of God!
If you put your trust in Christ, you are now buried with Christ! The old nature that ruled you is dead, buried, and taken out of the way. Look now at Romans 6:4-7
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
You are not trying to get rid of an old nature – if you are in Christ, that old man (or fleshly nature) has been crucified with Christ. Past tense. It is not your work, it is the work of Christ. Your body of sin is now unemployed.
In the next few weeks we are going to look at the source of sin and why we still struggle, but we must first understand that our old nature is dead and gone. There is a little confusion in the way verse 6 is translated. Most translations say things like, "The body of sin might be destroyed," or, "The body of sin might be destroyed." 'Might be destroyed' is translated from a single Greek word, 'katargeo' which literally means to become unemployed.
Our sin nature is gone, but sin remains in our flesh; however, the flesh is now unemployed. It once ruled us, but now has been rendered idle. This is why the Apostle Paul said that sin in his flesh wars against his mind, trying to bring him back into captivity. We'll discuss this in detail at another time, but what's important to understand now is that the nature that sin once ruled has been taken out of the way. We are born into a new nature that is born of God.
Let's look at another passage that can help us get our minds around this truth. Look at Romans 7:1-6
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another– to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
I love this illustration. The Bible begins by presenting the law and our obligation to it. As long as you are alive, you are under the law. Every sin creates judgment. The Bible says that by the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified. Righteousness cannot come by the law. The law is a reflection of God's perfect standard based on His perfect nature and character. The Bible also warns that if we offend the law on any point, we are guilty of the whole law. The law is not a grading system. There is no 80% good. There isn't even a 99% good. The law takes our lives, acts of sin, sinful thoughts, intents of our heart, obedience, disobedience, and compares it to the whole law. The Bible even says, to know good and to not do it is sin. The Bible also says that anything not of faith is sin. Have you ever not trusted in God? Or been afraid to step out in faith? What about the command to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Have you had any thought that was not based on the love of God?
The law says, "Are you perfect." If the answer is 'no', you are guilty. Now this passage is presenting this problem. It compares the law to a husband. The husband is perfect. The law is good, holy, and pure. Unfortunately, we who are born under that law are not. The law has no tolerance for sin, for all sin is a challenge to God's authority and an assault on perfection.
Anyone born under the law remains under the condemnation of the law unless the law dies. Yet we know the law cannot die, for it is eternal. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word will never pass away. The comparison is that we are married to the law from birth, and unless the law dies, we cannot be free. Yet now we see the love of God presented to us through Christ, but we can't be joined to Christ because our marriage to the law can never be annulled. It must die before we can be free, but it can't die because it's eternal.
Then the Bible gives an amazing solution. The law can't die, but you can. And Jesus, the embodiment of the love of God cares enough for you to bear the penalty for your sins and die for you. While that will take care of your sin, it won't free you from the law. So God offers an amazing solution. Be crucified with Christ, die to the law, and the one who has died is no longer under the law.
Your old nature was born through the flesh and is forever bound to the law of condemnation. God now promises, let Me put your flesh to death, and then you will be free from the law and born into a new law – the law of faith. The law of life in the Spirit. Now look at Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Once you are in Christ, the law of condemnation has no power. Let's add one last passage to this topic. Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
In Christ, you are a spiritual man or woman. You are not under the law, but in Christ. You have a new nature whose life is in Christ and a nature that desires the righteousness of God. This is why the Bible says, "The Gentiles who did not know the law, did by nature the things found in the law, proving that the law of God was written in their hearts.
Our new nature is a partaker of God. Its nature is to act in accordance to God's will, because its nature is to do so. It is only when we submit our minds to the flesh that sin rises up to trouble us.
In Christ, you have a new life. The condemnation you once had can no longer condemn you. You now have the promise, "Now all things are of God." You were crucified with Christ, set free from the law and all its condemnation. Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. But this gift of God is only received by faith.
God is calling. God has expressed the amazing love He has for you in the person of Christ. The Bible says that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him. Did you know that you were the encouragement of Jesus when He was facing the torture of the cross? The joy of your reconciliation was the joy set before Him, and He endured for your hope of redemption. This is the love of God given to you.
You died with Christ, you are free from the law, you are free from condemnation, and all you must do is receive His gift by faith!
Eddie Snipes 2014
Listen to Eddie's weekly podcast at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hollydale-baptist-church/id893226987
You were raised with Christ into new life. Preached at Hollydale Baptist 4/20/2014.
Psalm 22:
1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.
14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!
The most descriptive account of the crucifixion of Christ was written over 1,000 years before Jesus was born. This vivid detail of the anguish of Jesus as He bore our sins leaves little doubt that the crucifixion was a part of God's plan from the beginning. As a part of this Easter season, let us take a closer look at the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will look at the resurrection account in light of both scripture and history. What evidence outside the Bible validates the biblical account? Obviously, in a short study like this, we can only hit the highlights of this subject; therefore, let us take a brief look at history and the biblical account that gives reasonable evidence to believe. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the crucifixion and equip saints for sharing faith among a skeptical world. It is frequently argued that there is no evidence outside the Bible to verify the Bible's claims. Thank God this is far from true; history, archaeology and science are filled with irrefutable proofs that validate the scriptures. In this study we will look at historical accounts that are widely accepted as credible by both biblical scholars and secular historians. Let us take a brief look at the Life, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.
The Life of Jesus
Some time back, I had a discussion with an atheist who stated that he would not believe Jesus existed unless he saw irrefutable proof. He claimed that the authors of the Bible made up the whole story of Jesus. It is ironic that he needs no proof to believe in the conspiracy of the disciples but he needs irrefutable proof that the conspiracy does not exist. How do we know that Jesus really existed? How do we know that Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or the founding fathers who signed our declaration of Independence existed? How do we know any historical event is true and not a fairy tale made up to shape history? We know they existed because historical documents, artifacts, the testimonies of eye witnesses and other evidences are examined and accepted as credible by those who have examined the evidence. We either believe the generation that lived through the events or we have to believe there is a massive conspiracy to fabricate historical events. As individuals, very few of the men in our past are mentioned in detail; instead most of their names show up in history as having been at an event but little is known about them as individuals. Where is Jesus mentioned in history? Obviously, the Bible will give the detailed description of Jesus because He is the central figure of the Bible; however, Jesus is accounted for in many other historical documents as well.
First look at the testimony of the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud is a historical document that includes commentaries on the Jewish books of the law, civil and religious records. The Talmud is not supportive of Christianity and is very hostile to Jesus. The Talmud praises the trial, conviction and execution of Jesus. The Talmud also refers to Jesus as a bastard son of Mary. The account of Jesus in this historical document was indisputably written by those who were enemies of Jesus. In a court of law, if your enemy testifies on your behalf, willingly or unwillingly, it is a highly credible testimony. The Talmud testifies on behalf of many of the Bible's claims about Jesus; it verifies the existence of Jesus, states that Jesus was a teacher, verifies the trial of Jesus as instigated by the religious leaders, the conviction and crucifixion of Jesus. Even more importantly, the Talmud verifies that Jesus performed many healings and miracles. It claims that Jesus performed these miracles through the power of sorcery; however, the key evidence is that even though the enemies of Jesus are hostile witnesses, they do not dispute the miracles but verify them and validate the Biblical account. Jesus' very enemies validated His works and even though their intentions were malicious, they provide a strong testimony for the scriptures.
Josephus, the great Jewish historian wrote about Jesus. Josephus also claimed that Jesus was a teacher that wrought many surprising feats. Josephus states that by miracles, Jesus won over many Jews and Greeks. Josephus testifies that Jesus was condemned under Pilot, crucified, and then He appeared restored after three days. Josephus states that Jesus' followers were called Christians after Him.
Roman governor Pliny the Younger produced writings, which also testify on behalf of the Bible. He stated that Christians were sent off to be executed for their "stubbornness and unshakable obstinacy that ought not to go unpunished. …they would not recant and they worshipped and honored Christ as if he were a god".
There can be no reasonable doubt that Jesus did in fact exist and other historical documents hold testimonies that do not contradict the biblical account. We have testimonies that verify Jesus' miracles, crucifixion, resurrection and the fact that His followers believed He was God. Two of these three witnesses are hostile to the gospel, yet verify the gospel. There is no shortage of proofs for those who will be open enough to see it.
The Crucifixion
We have already seen that Josephus, Roman historians, and the Talmud validates the crucifixion. Lets look at the picture of the crucifixion. In an essay on a popular atheist website, the writer makes the comment, "On the cross Jesus' last words were, 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?' That doesn't sound much like Jesus' plan went as he expected". Of course, this was not Jesus' last words. After this quote, Jesus then said, "It is finished" and finally, "Father into your hands I commit My spirit". Even so, as we have seen from the opening passage of this study, not only was the crucifixion foretold a thousand years before this torturous method of execution was invented, but even Jesus' words and thoughts were foretold as well. It is clear by reading Psalm 22 that God's plan was completed exactly as expected. The historical account of Matthew 27:46 matches the prophecy of Psalm 22. Matthew 27:
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
To add to the historical significance of the crucifixion, look at the following passages:
Luke 23:44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
There is also a plethora of historical evidence that validates this event in scripture. Two witnesses to this scripture are Thallus and Phlegon. Although they did not witness the crucifixion, they were both eye witnesses to the events surrounding the crucifixion. Look at their accounts:
Thallus finished his historical account of the world since the Trojan war in 52 A. D. His work was destroyed but quoted by Julius Africanus in AD 221. Julius gives a commentary on Thallus' AD 33 record of the darkness across the land. "Thallus in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun – unreasonably as it seems to me."
Thallus testified that this event occurred on the exact day of the crucifixion but explained it away as an eclipse of the sun. Why did Julius Africanus state this explanation seems unreasonable? The reason is because the feast of the Passover was ALWAYS celebrated on the new moon during the Jewish month of Nisan. The new moon occurs when the lunar cycle has been completed, and the new cycle begins. At the beginning of the new lunar cycle, the moon is not visible. Each day, more of the moon becomes visible until it reaches a full moon, and then begins to fade each day as it approaches the next new moon. This is an approximate 30 day cycle. On the new moon, the moon has no visibility at all in the sky because it is on the opposite side of the earth, thus making it impossible to have an eclipse. Therefore, to attribute this event as an eclipse is truly an unreasonable assumption. Traditionally people credit this darkening to clouds; however, this is not the case at all. Look at the testimony of a Greek historian named Phlegon.
A Greek author from Caria named Phlegon wrote about the darkness that occurred in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad (equivalent to 33 A.D.). "There was the greatest eclipse of the sun. It became as night in the sixth hour of the day (noon) so that the stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia and many things were overturned in Nicaea".
Thallus' account did not mention an earthquake but Phlegon did, however both reported the same darkness and both believed it to be an eclipse. Thallus was not close enough to feel the earthquake but Phlegon was. The earthquake was regional, but the Bible says that the darkness was over all the land. It is no wonder that they chose an eclipse as the reason since there was no other logical explanation without understanding the scripture's claim that the sun refused to shine. How this occurred will never be known, but the evidence clearly shows that this event was witnessed throughout the Roman Empire on the date and time stated in the scriptures.
The darkness reported was not consistent with a normal eclipse and was referred to as 'the greatest eclipse'. Consider how an eclipse occurs. A full eclipse is a rare event and it can only be seen in a specific region. If Atlanta gets a full eclipse, Texas will only get a partial eclipse; therefore, the same applies in this historical event. If two records of the same event occurred thousands of miles apart, an eclipse cannot explain it. Add to this the fact that never is an eclipse so dark that the sky is darkened and all the stars can be clearly seen. Though many have sought natural causes to explain the darkness, they clearly validate the Bible's account.
Two other pieces of significant evidences are the account of the pierced side and the tomb of the prominent rich councilman, Joseph of Arimathea. After Jesus died on the cross, Joseph went to Pilot and asked for the body so he could bury Him with honor. Pilot sent a soldier to verify that Jesus was already dead. The soldier verified Jesus was dead and pierced His side. The spear clearly went through to the heart and John 19:34 says that blood separated from the water poured out. The only way the blood could separate is if circulation has stopped and the blood begins to clot and separate. It is highly unlikely that John could have known this to be evidence of death and fabricated it. This era had little medical knowledge and those present would not have understood the significance of this statement at the time.
Isaiah 53:9 foretells that Christ would die with the wicked but would be buried in the rich man's tomb. John's account is fulfillment of this prophecy. (See Mark 15:43 and Luke 23:50-51) Joseph of Arimathea was a rich, prominent member of the council that condemned Jesus to die. Fabricating the story of Joseph would have been a fatal blow to any 'conspiracy'. If the disciples were going to make up a story to fulfill this prophecy, as some have claimed, they would not have picked someone out of the council that tried Jesus. If it were a lie, they would be the first to protest and would have the public platform to dispute the claim. There is no reasonable doubt that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried in the councilman's tomb.
The Resurrection
The resurrection is the most controversial part of the biblical account of Jesus. If Jesus was not bodily resurrected, He was not God, He was not a Savior and Christianity is a lie. Symbolic resurrection is not compatible with the Christian faith. The resurrection is the evidence that Jesus proclaimed to be a sign that He was who He claimed to be. The resurrection is the proof that Jesus conquered death. It is also what gives Jesus the authority to claim that He is the resurrection and that we all will be partakers of the resurrection if we are found in Christ. This alone separates Christianity from mere religion.
The apostle Paul states that if the resurrection is not a fact, then we are false witnesses before God. He sums it up this way, "if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" 1 Corinthians 15:17. If Jesus could not rise from the dead, He is not our savior and our faith is a lie. However, if Jesus were God in the flesh as He claimed to be, then taking up His body would be a small thing. Lets finish this study by examining the proof of the resurrection.
To clarify the resurrection, let us first look at the arguments against it. There are many alternative views used by critics to claim that the disciples conspired to make Jesus look like more than a man. Out of all the dozens of alternate stories, only two are even remotely worth examining. Most conspiracy stories are so weak that no one who uses reason would consider them valid. Even the two more common views are so weak that only those desperate for another answer would even give them credibility. Most skeptics try to argue Jesus out of history in order to avoid the debate all together. History does not support them, but that doesn't seem to be a deterrent to those determined to disbelieve. Let us examine the two most popular conspiracy stories about Jesus.
The Swoon Theory. This alternative explanation has been repackaged with many variations. The most popular variant was 'The Passover Plot' published in 1965. The basic argument is that Jesus and His disciples conspired to fulfill messianic prophecies by faking Jesus' death on the cross. They managed to manipulate the Jewish leaders into trying and convicting Jesus, the people into demanding the crucifixion and the Roman government into executing Him. The legal manipulation would have been a miracle in itself. Before being nailed to the cross, Jesus was supposedly given a drug that appeared to make him look dead and trick the soldiers into removing Him from the cross while he was still alive. The cool damp air of the tomb revived Him and He appeared alive to His followers. By just using simple logic, this argument fails miserably. The first obvious flaw that jumps out is the question 'how did they know Joseph would offer his tomb?' If you can believe that Joseph and Pilot were a part of this conspiracy, there are plenty of other flaws to fight through. Jesus was beaten so badly that He was too weak to carry His own cross and a bystander was commissioned to carry it for Him. He had nails driven through His wrists and feet. The blood loss is hard to escape. The blood poured out His feet, hands, back from the beating, and finally a mortal wound was inflicted between His ribs when the spear pierced His heart.
If someone has faith enough to get past the impossible odds of survival, there are a few more problems to deal with. How does a man who has had spikes driven through his limbs get up and walk and appear as a victorious leader to the people? Somehow Jesus revived, untangled himself from the burial cloths wrapped around his body, pushed a massive stone away from the entrance of the tomb, passed through a squadron of soldiers guarding the site, and ran away without anyone noticing. Not only did he escape, but he also walked seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus with two travelers who did not notice he was wounded.
How is it that most people can't walk with minor pain in their feet, but Jesus was able to walk with holes in His? He had full use of His hands because he took over the evening meal and broke bread. We could come up with dozens of functions that would cause Him excruciating pain if this was a faked resurrection. If by some miracle Jesus and the disciples pulled this off, He would have looked so weak and anemic that no one would have been amazed. It seems a little hard to believe the disciples were able to get the multitudes fired up by seeing a half-dead Jesus
Eddie Snipes
Preaching to the spirits in prison
Look again at 1 Peter 3
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Who were the spirits in prison? Some believe it was fallen angels. I suppose it is possible that Jesus would proclaim His victory to the principalities that tried to hinder God's plan, but I don't believe this is what is being communicated here. This passage says that Jesus preached to those who were formerly disobedient while God patiently waited. Fallen angels (or demons) were not formerly disobedient – they are presently the way they have been since their fall. They will not change and cannot be redeemed according to scripture. 1 Peter 4 gives more information:
5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
The Bible first identifies those God waited for in the days of Noah and now others are included. Jesus preached the gospel to those who are dead. They also will live according to God in the spirit just as we will. I believe that this is the Old Testament saints. Look at
Matthew 27:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
I want to compare this to Jesus' explanation of the uncompassionate rich man and the beggar. Daily the rich man passed by the needy beggar and never even offered a crumb. Jesus continues the illustration in Luke 16:
22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'
25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'
In these passages, Jesus revealed that Hades had two sections. On one side there was torment and on the other side the saints were at rest. Now if we take this information back to the passage of Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison, we can get a better understanding. Keep in mind that the Old Testament Saints were waiting for their redemption as well. By faith they kept the law and trusted in God's redemption that was yet to be revealed. The Bible pointedly states that the sacrifices of bulls and rams cannot take away sin. Until Jesus died on the cross, God's people were still in bondage to sin. They were not tormented because they were credited with righteousness because of their faith, but they could not be justified until the debt owed to sin was paid. An animal sacrifice cannot pay that debt. Jesus alone paid that debt. Once He died, their redemption was preached and they were released from prison. When He rose, the Bible says that they were no longer in Hades. A sinful man or woman cannot come into God's presence. Therefore, I believe that the Old Testament saints could not enter their final rest until they were justified by Christ on the cross. Until that time, they were in prison waiting for Messiah to come. They were not in torment and were not being punished, but they were still under the debt of sin. Jesus stated that He came to set the captives free. Bondage is from sin, but freedom comes only through the completed work of Christ on the cross.
Man's Destiny
It is argued that Jesus had to suffer in Hell so man would not have to. The argument is that if Jesus suffered in all ways like us; this must also include our suffering in hell. As we have seen, teachers of this doctrine believe that Jesus served our sentence. However, the Bible does not condemn sinners to a temporary Hell. Because of sin, we deserve an eternal hell. Our sentence is not 3 days. Once this life is over, our destination is final.
Another oversight is that Hell is not man's intended destiny. Look at Matthew 25:
41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
Hell was designed for Satan and the angels who fell with him. Only by choice will any man go to Hell. There is no need for Jesus to suffer the sentence of hell because hell can only found after salvation through Christ has been rejected. The Bible tells us that it is appointed for man once to die, after this is the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The Bible tells us that man is appointed to die, but no where are we appointed to hell. No one is judged for their sins. We are judged with our sins if we choose to cling to our sin and to stand in account for ourselves. We will only pay if our sins remain at our judgment. Because Jesus died for past, present and future sins, we can only stand to be judged if we reject the cross of Jesus Christ and refuse to make Him our Lord. The debt to sin was either paid on the cross, or is due at judgment. Jesus paid for those who put their faith in Him; man pays only when Jesus has been rejected.
Did God Forsake Jesus
It is commonly taught that Jesus became sin for us on the cross, therefore God had to turn away from Jesus. Some teachers take this misassumption to a new level. Several teachers claim that Jesus said, "My God why have you forsaken me" because God was no longer His father. Some go on to teach that Jesus was estranged from God because He took on the very nature of Satan. In this section, I hope to clarify this issue by examining scripture.
Most Christians I have talked to believe that Jesus was separated from the Father because of His statement on the cross, "Why have you forsaken me". I also once believed this. Scripture itself convinced me that this is not so. For our sakes, I am thankful this is not true. When Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me", it was not because He was separated from God. It was not because God wasn't His father anymore. It was not because God turned His back on Jesus. It was a proclamation that scripture was fulfilled. I do believe that Jesus really felt forsaken. Even though He was fully God, He was also fully man. Jesus had human emotions. Even when I feel distant from God, in reality God is right where He always has been.
Throughout Jesus' ministry, certain events were exacted solely so that scripture could be fulfilled. Jesus said that of the 12 disciples that He handpicked, none would be lost except the one who was the devil. This was Judas. He was picked to betray Jesus so that scripture might be fulfilled. In John 19, the Bible says that the soldiers gambled for Jesus' tunic 'so that scripture might be fulfilled'. Jesus said, 'I thirst' so that scripture might be fulfilled. For the same purpose, Jesus cried out 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me' so that we could identify the prophecy that He was fulfilling. As I stated earlier, this does not mean that Jesus did not suffer. I believe that Jesus truly experienced the agony of feeling separated. However, human emotions do not override reality. Now let's go to the prophecy that Jesus was quoting.
Psalm 22 begins with Jesus' declaration that we just quoted from the gospels. Because of this, we know to go to this prophecy to see what God was doing. Not only do we see that this quote was a fulfillment of this prophecy, but we also see the deep thirst foretold by the phrase, 'My tongue clings to my jaw' and fulfilled in the gospels. We see His bones out of joint, His hands, feet and side were pierced. In exact detail, the crucifixion of Jesus was foretold thousands of years before this horrible punishment was invented. Even the mockery was perfectly described. Compare these two passages:
Psalm 22
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"
Matthew 27
42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
43 "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
Because Jesus has pointed us to this passage, it only makes sense to take this passage into account when we proclaim the gospel of salvation. In the four gospels we are only getting an external view, but in the prophecy of Psalm 22 we are given a small glimpse from Jesus' perspective. Jesus makes it absolutely clear that He was never estranged by God. Look at Psalm 22 again:
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
God has not despised. God has not abhorred. God did not hide His face. The Father was watching, listening and enduring the suffering so our redemption could be made. Isaiah 53 says that 'we' hid 'our' faces from Him, 'we' esteemed Him stricken – we rejected Him. This has been misunderstood to become God's rejection of Christ instead of man's rejection of Christ. Scripture does not say that the Father rejected Jesus on the cross. It is just the opposite. The Bible says that God was pleased with Jesus on the cross. If Jesus is God as the Bible claims, how could He become estranged from God? Can a God who cannot change be torn apart? Can an infinite God that the universe cannot contain divide? To think so is irrational, contradictory and unscriptural. Jesus was never forsaken by God on the cross. However, the Bible clearly says that He suffered like us so that He could understand our sorrows. Look at Hebrews 2
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
This does not even remotely imply that He suffered spiritual death. As we discussed earlier, spiritual death can only come after rejecting God's mercy. Man is not appointed to hell. Man was created for God. According to scripture, Hell was created for Satan and his angels. Man can choose hell, but it comes only after we have sealed our fate. For this life, hell is irrelevant; therefore there is no need for Jesus to suffer in hell in order to identify with our suffering. Emotional pain is another story. Emotionally, the weight of the sins of the world were unbearable. Jesus did not shield Himself from the feelings of anguish, separation and rejection.
God does not reject man. Man rejects God. People feel lost, rejected and abhorred by God, but are they? The Bible says, no. The weight of sin makes me feel rejected, but the Bible says that I am free to come before God to lay down my sin. If we look to the beginning, Adam and Eve felt ashamed and hid from God. God did not reject them or hide from them, they hid from God. God came to them, sacrificed an animal and used it to cover their shame.
People have this terrible misconception that God cannot look upon sin. The Bible never says this. The Bible says that God's holiness will consume sin and God will judge sin. God cannot be touched by sin and He cannot be tempted. Sin is anything that goes against God's character. It is an assault on God. You can assault God all you want, but it will not affect Him. Sin does not harm God. However, God does have a dramatic affect on sin. It is sin that is destroyed by God's presence, not the other way around. Sin did not attack Jesus on the cross. Jesus attacked and defeated sin on the cross.
What this means to us:
Understanding this truth applies directly with how we relate to God. If we can't understand that God loved the Son on the cross, then we can't understand that God loves a sinner like me. If Jesus took upon Himself all the sin of humanity – past, present, and future – and God did not turn away and did love Him, then I can be certain that God loves me just as I am. A murderer can confidently kneel at the cross and lay his or her sin down and receive the love that God has always longed to give. An adulterer, homosexual, prostituted, thief, or any common sinner will only be willing to come before God if they realize that God not only can look upon them, but He can lift the burden of their sin, cleanse them and make them righteous. Romans 5:8 says,
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
There is no way to misinterpret this passage. God loved us while we were sinners. That love was demonstrated by Jesus' death on the cross. God even loves those who hate Him. However, a sinner cannot receive God's offering of love without the cross of Jesus Christ. He may love us unconditionally, but He cannot accept us unconditionally. Sin cannot abide in God's presence and every sin must be judged and avenged by God. God could not even receive the Old Testament saints until their sin was paid. God did not bypass His law; instead He fulfilled the law in our place. The good news of the gospel is that every sin has been paid for on the cross. Either we can be judged with our sin, or we can exchange our sins for the righteousness of God through the cross. Only on the cross has sin been avenged. Only the cross can pay our debt. We cannot. We can only choose to accept Christ or reject the cross and stand in judgment for our own sin in place of the cross. Hell is eternal because the debt cannot be paid by our efforts or penance.
Those who do not understand this principle of scripture will be like Adam and Eve. They will flee from God out of fear and shame. God calls sinners to come. He paid the debt and offers His righteousness to all. If God could not look upon sin, then He could not look upon sinners and we would be hopelessly lost.
Did Jesus Lose His Divinity?
We have already covered this in part as we looked at the Bible's proclamation that God cannot change. The Bible clearly states that Jesus never changes – He is the same yesterday, today and forever. However, to make certain that this is clearly understood, let's take a closer look at the erroneous doctrine that teaches that Jesus lost His divinity and compare this to scripture.
The doctrine that Jesus became sin for us by becoming one in nature with Satan is orthodox Christianity mingled with false religion. The idea that Jesus became one with Satan on the cross comes partly from the Gnostic religions. The Gnostics teach that the serpent is the redeemer on the cross. Many of these teachers point to Moses lifting up the serpent in the desert. This passage is found in Numbers 21. When the people revolted against Moses, God sent serpents as a judgment against them. God also provided healing by commanding Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole. If anyone was bitten, they could look upon the serpent and live. Jesus pointed back to this event as a symbolic prophecy concerning Him and His manner of death – being lifted up on the cross. Just as the bite of the serpent meant sure death, so the infection of our sin means death. God commanded the people to look at the serpent lifted up as a symbolism that pointed ahead to the time when we who are infected by sin could look at the cross of Jesus Christ to find healing by being saved from our sins. Just as the people revolted against God and fell under the curse of serpents, sin is rebellion against God and puts us under the curse of sin.
The serpent in the desert did not represent Jesus himself, but the sin that would be nailed to the cross. In Jesus' body, sin was nailed to the cross. He became our sin does not mean that Jesus became sinful in nature, but instead it means that He took on our sin. Look at 1 Peter 2
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.
As always, we must compare scripture to scripture to get the complete picture of God's revelation. Jesus became our sin in the same way that the Old Testament sacrifices became the representation of sin that was sacrificed in the place of the person who actually committed sin. The animal did not literal become sin, but became the stead for sin. The animal symbolically bore the sin as a temporary sacrifice which would ultimately be fulfilled in Christ. Look at John 3
14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
The serpent in the desert was lifted up to show how our Messiah would die – not to show what our Messiah would become. It was our sin on the cross, not a satanic Jesus on the cross. It was a symbol of the kind of death Jesus would die. Some even teach that Jesus did not take our sin, He had to become sin. However, the Bible clearly states that in fact, Jesus did take our sin. The above passage in 1 Peter says that He bore our sins. Colossians 2:13-14 says that He took our sins and nailed it to the cross. So in light of these passages, we can clearly interpret 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says that He was made to be sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. This does not mean that He literally became sin nor does it mean that He took the nature of Satan. It means that He was made to be sin in our place so that we could be credited with the righteousness of God.
Jesus did not need to be 'born again' because He is eternally the same. He may have veiled His glory, but He did not cease from being God. It is unnecessary and impossible for Jesus to be transformed into a satanic nature or to be born into a new divine nature. In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). It is contradictory to say that Jesus had to be reborn when the Bible says that He was God in the flesh and this would also contradict the Bible's claim that Jesus has never and will never change. When the Bible tells us that man is born again, it does not mean that man becomes divine in nature. It simply means that we have become a child of God and are spiritually alive in His kingdom. We no longer live for the world and our selfish desires, but as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, we now live for the spirit looking forward to the day when we will be changed into an incorruptible child of God.
Eddie Snipes
Is Spiritual Death Necessary?
Some teachers claim that Jesus' physical death on the cross could not redeem mankind but that He had to die spiritual to pay our debt. Some go so far as to say that we can't be saved unless we believe that Jesus suffered in Hell. Why do they make this claim? It is a myth that has been propagated and grown over the years, but is contrary to the Bible and Christianity throughout history. There is no scriptural reference supports this idea. The Bible says just the opposite. Look at Colossians 2:
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
How were our sins taken out of the way? They were nailed to the cross. Look now at Colossian 1
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight —
We were reconciled from our wicked works in the body of His flesh through death. If it is true and we can't be saved unless we believe that Jesus suffered in hell, why hasn't spiritual death been mentioned? Jesus' supposed spiritual death is not found anywhere in the Bible. Romans 10:9 says, "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved". The Bible does not say, "You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell". The Bible says that you must confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth and believe that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
Romans 8:3 tells us that Jesus Christ condemned sin in the flesh. 1 Peter 3 says:
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit
The Bible says that Jesus' death was in the flesh but His spirit was made alive. If the Bible teaches that death was physical and the Spirit was and is life, how can anyone claim that Jesus had to die a spiritual death?
You cannot find anywhere in scripture where it is even remotely implied that Jesus served man's sentence in hell. In fact, there is not a single implication that Jesus suffered beyond the cross. Everything in scripture points directly to the cross as the victory over sin and death. There is an erroneous teaching that says Jesus suffered spiritual death and was then revived by God in Hell. He was born again with a new spiritual nature and he then emerged with the keys of hell. They point to the Apostle's Creed as evidence that the early church believed the same things they are teaching. The point in the Apostle's Creed in question states:
[Jesus] Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead
Where is spiritual death in this statement? Where is suffering in hell in this statement? There is no question that Jesus descended into Hades because scripture clearly states this, but it does not say He suffered. The confusion comes from the KJV use of the word hell. In the Old Testament, the KJV uses the words grave and hell interchangeably. In the New Testament, the KJV makes no distinction between hell and Hades.
Before we dig in, let me stop and make it clear that I am not degrading the KJV. I am merely pointing out the fact that the King James Version makes no distinction between Greek words. This is common in all translations. As students of the scriptures, we should examine the original intent to clear up meanings between Greek and English. The great preachers of the past did not rely on translators. An example is Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon spent 40 or more hours a week looking up the meanings of words in order to understand scripture. He was arguably the greatest KJV preacher in history. However, he was committed to understanding the meaning behind the words in order to accurately understand the Word of God.
Understanding the word Hell
One basic principle I frequently reiterate is that the Bible is one complete revelation. To properly interpret scripture, it must be taken in light of scripture as a whole. We will see some examples that show why this is so important as we proceed. The concept of hell was not introduced until Jesus taught it in the New Testament. Old Testament saints had no distinction between hell and the grave. Jesus' teaching is the first glimpse of hell that God ever revealed. In the Old Testament, the word 'hell' comes from the Hebrew word 'sheol'. Psalm 18 provides an example of this word usage:
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
In this Psalm, David is lamenting his sorrows. The word 'hell' is the word 'sheol'. Even in the context of the passage it is being used, it is clear that the Bible is referring to the grave. Death compassed me; the sorrows of 'sheol' (or the grave) compassed me. It makes perfect sense to say that death and the grave is surrounding me. David was a man of God; he was used greatly by God and inherited the promise of God. He was the lineage that Christ would one day descend from. David was not going to hell when he died – at least not in the sense of today's meaning. Sheol simply means the grave. It may be translated as hell, but it did not mean to be separated from God and tormented.
Look at Psalm 88:
3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
Sheol has now been translated as the grave in the KJV. It is the exact same word and used in the same context, but this time it is called the grave. Now let's move to a passage that is used to show that Jesus descended into hell. Psalm 16 says:
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Is this passage foretelling of Jesus' separation from God, or is this prophecy pointing to His death, burial and resurrection? The apostle's save us the confusion and interpret this very passage for us. Look at Acts 2:
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.'
29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
Only the KJV translates this as hell in verse 27. The word 'hell' comes from the word 'Hades' which means 'the abode of the dead' or the grave. The KJV translates three Greek words into the word hell. We will examine this in more detail shortly. To the English reader it comes across as the same word, therefore it is assumed be the same meaning, but this is not so. It is understandable that the Old Testament never addresses the issue of hell. Sheol is always used. The grave (or death) can be judgment, but it is not always. As we have already discussed, the concept of torment in hell was unknown in the Old Testament because Jesus revealed this in His teachings. Before Jesus came, the grave was a dark unknown to the Old Testament saints. The New Testament reveals a lot about hell. Understanding the different references will clarify much of the confusion about Jesus' descent into hell.
There are three primary words translated into the word 'hell' by the KJV. Hades, geenna (or gehenna), and tartaroo are translated without distinction in the King James Version of the Bible. Hades is translated into the grave and hell in the KJV. Hades means the underworld, grave or place of the dead. Acts 2:27 is an example of Hades:
For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The KJV translates this as hell, but the Greek word is Hades. The KJV translates the exact same word as grave in 1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The prophecy of Jesus not remaining in Hades is talking about the body. Jesus' body did not remain in the grave, nor did His body see corruption (or decay). This is a reference to His resurrection.
The word Gehenna is also translated into hell. Gehenna was a valley of Hinnon just south of Jerusalem. This was a wasteland where animal corpses were dumped and burned. It was a horrible place and Jesus used this as a word-picture for hell fire and judgment.
Matthew 18 is an example of this word:
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
This word is intended to represent eternal judgment and torment. The Bible never mentions Gehenna as being the place of Jesus' destiny after the cross.
The last word for hell is Tartaroo (or Tartarus). This means the deepest abyss of Hades. This is where the Greeks believed the wicked dead were cast when they died. 2 Peter 2 is an example of this word:
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
The Bible is teaching that angels in rebellion are cast into the deepest abyss to await judgment.
Putting it into perspective.
Now that we can see the different words used to describe death, the grave, hell and the abyss, let's go back to the question of Jesus' descent into hell. Was Jesus condemned to hell? I heard one teacher say that the demons threw a net around Jesus and dragged Him into hell to torture Him. This would imply that Jesus was defeated on the cross and was later rescued by God. (Which would also imply that Jesus was not God). Jesus did suffer in hell when He died. His body went to the grave, but His spirit was fully alive. Jesus made this clear in John 2:
19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
It was the temple of His body that would be destroyed, not His spirit. When Jesus died, He immediately surrender Himself into the Father's hands. Of course we don't know the exact events or when they occurred, but we do know that after this He descended into Hades. We will discuss this in-depth a little later. Jesus' own words give us a small glimpse. On the cross, one of the thieves repented and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus responded in Luke 23:
42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
To remove the contradiction of Jesus' statement and the doctrine of Jesus suffering in hell, one teacher offered this explanation:
Jesus did not say, 'I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise' the comma is misplaced. It should read, 'I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise'. In other words, "Today I am saying this. You will be with Me in Paradise".
This is reading into the text. There would be no need for Jesus to tell the thief when this statement was being made. Even so, all we need to do is read three verses farther and Jesus clears up the issue completely.
46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.
It is a contradiction to say that Jesus' spirit was dragged into hell, when Jesus said His spirit was in the Father's hands. The Bible tells us that the first place Jesus' spirit went was to be with the Father. In light of what He told the thief, we can assume His destination was Paradise. Jesus' body went to the grave, but His spirit was fully alive. We may not know the exact events that happened after Jesus' physical death, but the Bible does offer several pieces to this puzzle. Look at 1 Peter 3
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Again I want to bring your attention to the truth of scripture. Verse 18 tells us that Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but alive by the Spirit. After making this point unmistakably clear, the Bible then tells us that He also preached to the spirits in prison. If the Bible is true, then the teaching that Jesus suffered for 3 days in hell must be false. There is a chasm between these two doctrines. Jesus claimed His spirit was yielded into the Father's hands, the scripture also claims that Jesus triumphed on the cross and then preached to the spirits in prison. How does suffering fit into these scriptures? It is not found in scripture, therefore it must be added.
Proverbs 30:6 warns us not to add to God's words or else He will rebuke us and we will be found to be a liar. Isn't that exactly what is happening in the doctrine of Jesus suffering in hell? Teachers are adding to God's word what clearly is not there. The Bible always points to the cross as Jesus' victory over sin and our redemption. The cross is the message of the gospel. If Jesus triumphantly declared, "It is finished", what right does any man have to say, "No, the process of redemption has only begun"?
Each of these passages of scripture testifies that Jesus was alive in the Spirit, in the Father's hands, entered Paradise, etc. No passage even remotely implies that He suffered beyond the cross. If there are countless verses that teach that He triumphed over sin on the cross and He preached in victory, and no passages say He suffered spiritually, then doesn't it make sense to take the Bible speak for itself on this subject?
Satan hates the cross and will attack it on every level. Look again at Colossians 2:
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
If Jesus made a public spectacle of Satan and his forces on the cross and through the cross He triumphed over them, is it any wonder that satan desperately wants to discredit the cross? Since the cross is a reminder of Satan's defeat, we can surely expect that he will do anything to take attention away from the cross.
Eddie Snipes


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I found this princess wandering the neighborhood last week. I don't know who she belongs to, but she followed me for a few miles until someone drove by and recognized her. I didn't want to let her go with them, but found out later that she got home safely. She's a Pitbull mix, and was really sweet.
I'm having a little bit of apprehension the last few days. I go in on Wednesday to have my wisdom teeth removed. I'm ready to have them out. They do hurt like the other ones did, though they are not nearly as infected. My biggest apprehension, though, has nothing to do with my teeth. A few years ago, a very dear friend of mine passed away from complications due to melanoma. I found a mole on my back, actually it is a series of moles on my back, in an area that's hard to reach. I found them after I noticed that one of them really itches. I'm prone to hives, my skin is quite sensitive, and it's dry here. I have many parts that itch at various times during the day/week. Needless to say, I am going to go into the doctor and have them take a look at the moles. Of course, I googled the symptoms and discovered, because I figured if I had melanoma (I have not been the most careful with sunscreen), that I would know if it spread. This is not true. If cancer becomes stage II or stage III there are often no symptoms. I strongly urge all runners note any moles they may have on exposed skin (the part of my back is exposed in a bathing suit, and I live in Florida), check them, and if they start changing go to the doctor. This has been a shadow over my weekend.


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Birthdays are a joyful time for everyone involved and planning how to celebrate should be as much fun as the celebration itself. If you need to mark an important time in someone's life, choosing the right celebration is important, especially if it is a particularly big birthday, a coming of age at 21 perhaps? Celebrations should always be surprises and should be joyful and colorful but how do manage to do this when you are apart. What ideas for a birthday gift can be joyful, colorful and especially a surprise? For many people the best way to celebrate is to say it with flowers. Whatever time of year, seasonal flowers. Roses are red violets are blue but only flowers say 'I love you' - in quite the same dramatic way. A bouquet of flowers arriving beautifully packed and looking stunning will deliver your birthday message very clearly. For special birthdays there's no better way of marking the occasion than a huge flower bouquet. There are so many types of flowers you can send whenever you are sending them. Seasonal flowers such as hyacinths and daffodils in the spring or carnations and dahlias during the summer make particularly good ties. Perhaps best of all the flowers for birthdays is a brilliantly colored mix of the season's best blooms. A flower bouquet is the chance to say happy 18th or best wishes on your 60th but whatever the occasion there is always a huge variety, whatever the time of year and your surprise will be most welcome. Some people prefer to send sweeter, more edible thoughts. Saying happy birthday with a gift basket is such a handy way of showing your thoughts. Gift baskets can be made containing many different luxury goods. The sort of goodies a person would never buy for themselves. Perhaps you want so say happy birthday with chocolate? Not just any chocolate, why not choose the best Belgian, Swiss or French chocolates to make your message particularly special. For someone coming of age their 21st birthday is very special and a bottle of good wine is always welcome. Why not find a good French burgundy that was bottled in the year that they were born in? What better way of declaring a good vintage? Of course, some people have a sweet tooth and if it's their birthday let them know how much you care with a hand decorated cake and all of these things can be included with their favourite flowers as a stunning gift basket.


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Case Detail
Sedric Jerome Gillespie
Case Details
Case Type: Homicide
Height: 5' 11"
Case Status: OPEN
Weight: 165 lbs
Identifying Marks:
Incident Date: 10/10/1999
Agency: Denver Police Department
City: Denver
Date of Birth: 12/10/1975
County: Denver
Date of Death: 10/10/1999
Agency Case #: 1999-038102
Age: 23
Judicial District: 2nd Judicial District
Gender: Male
Year Solved:
Race: African American
NamUs Case #: Unknown
Eyes: Brown
NCMEC Case #: Unknown
Hair: Black
About this Case:
Sedric Gillespie was inside of his vehicle that was parked in the 2200 block of Olive Street, a residential neighborhood located in northeast Denver. During this time another vehicle pulled up next to Sedric Gillespie's vehicle. Multiple shots were then fired into Sedric Gillespie's vehicle by unknown suspect(s) within this secondary vehicle. Sedric Gillespie was struck by the gunfire and unfortunately died at the scene. The suspect(s) responsible for the murder of Sedric Gillespie have yet to be identified. Anyone with information regarding this case, is asked to please contact the Denver Police Department.
If you have any information about this case, please contact:
Denver Police Department
ColoradoBack to Top


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Friday, 6:30 A.M. I'm standing in the cold, cheerless dawn, listening to the pattering of raindrops on the hood of my slicker and the squelch of mud beneath my dog's paws as he attempts, unsuccessfully, to find a dry patch of grass on which to squat.
Suddenly I hear the distant slam of a door and a call of "Sancho, come," followed by a frantic yip. Despite my rain-soaked clothing and my dripping dog, I giggle, because Sancho is the name of Gilbert Markham's dog in Anne Bronte's /The Tenant of Wildfell Hall/, possibly my favorite Victorian novel, not least because I devote an entire chapter to it in my dissertation. I strongly considered sloshing through the mud to my neighbor to inform him that his canine has the distinct privilege of sharing a name with that of a dog in a (moderately) famous work of Victorian Literature. IN my frenzy, I conveniently overlook the fact that the call to come" was delivered in heavily Spanish-accented English and that Sancho might just as likely be a nod to Don Quixote as to Anne Bronte, but it's too late to capture my imagination, which has wandered off like a wayward child down a path of rainbow fantasies: I am Helen Huntington, and the owner of that noble canine is Gilbert, and we will exchange greetings that lead to a long, passionate love affair. Never mind that Helen is attired in workout pants and a rubber ducky yellow rain slicker and Gilbert sounds more like Ricky Ricardo than a Victorian hero.
I am pulled from my revery by the brush of wet fur against my hand. My dog has apparently decided that the heavy precipitation is hardly conducive to relieving his bladder. ON-balance, I think it best to avoid capture by white-coated men and slosh back inside through the puddles without enlightening my neighbor about this fun factoid of literary trivia.
Conclusion: I am not, contrary to popular belief, certifiably insane, though I did wonder last summer when a TB test result I took mistakenly appeared as positive if there might be health risks to reading too much Bronte.


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White Pumpkin pachadi is one of my favorites that my Mom (Amba) makes. She makes this during festivals or Ammavasai (New Moon) pooja. It is also served in wedding during the lunch meal.
- White Pumpkin - 100 grams [ Peel the skin ]
- Onion (Sliced)- 1/4
- Green Chili - 4
- Curd - 1/2 cup
- Water - 1/4 cup
- Salt to taste
For Seasoning
- Oil - 1/2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds - 1/8 tsp
- Cumin Seeds - 1/8 tsp
- Chana Dhal - 1/4 tsp
- Urad Dhal - 1/4 tsp
- Curry Leaves - 4 or 5 leaves
- In a pan, heat Oil.
- Add the seasoning ingredients one by one. Ensure that the dhal doesn't get too dark.
- Add onion and fry for few seconds.
- Add slit green chili's and fry.
- Add pumpkin (You can cut it as you wish) and fry it for 30-40 seconds.
- When the color of pumpkin changes, add water, salt and let it cook until the water evaporates completely.
- Remove from flame.
- Let if cool for a while and then add curd and mix it well. You can add 1 or 2 tbsp of water if the mix is too thick. (Do not pour curd when the mixture is hot.)
Garnish: Coriander leaves
Serving Suggestion: Great accompaniment with Rice/Rotis. It tastes great with Sambhar with Rice or Rasam with Rice.


text: North Korea's foreign minister says President Donald Trump had declared war on his country and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its airspace. The increasingly heated rhetoric between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is raising fears of a risk of a miscalculation by one side or the other that could have massive repercussions. "The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country," Ri Yong-ho said in New York City on Monday. "Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country." In a direct reference to a Twitter post by Trump on Saturday, Ri said: "The question of who won't be around much longer will be answered then." US stocks fell sharply in late morning trading on Monday after Ri's comments. The five tech companies - Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet - were down between 3.7 percent and 1.05 percent. 'Mr Evil President' Ri told the UN General Assembly on Saturday that targeting the US mainland with its rockets was inevitable after "Mr Evil President" Trump called Kim a "rocket man" on a suicide mission. "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" Trump said on Twitter on Saturday. WATCH: Inside the war of words - Covering the North Korean threat Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from New York, said the latest comments by Ri represent a "real ramping up" of language against the US. "He said if US bombers were to fly near North Korea even in international waters, North Korea will shoot them down. The minister's comments on Saturday at the UN General Assembly were a blistering attack, but he's gone even further now." WATCH: Residents of South Korea and Japan worry over North Korean nuclear threat (01:30) North Korea, which has pursued its missile and nuclear programmes in defiance of international condemnation and economic sanctions, said it "bitterly condemned the reckless remarks" of Trump. They were an "intolerable insult to the Korean people", and a declaration of war, North Korea's official news agency said on Monday. Pyongyang accuses Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies. The US and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950s conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Kim's broadside In a rare direct statement on Friday, Kim described Trump as a "mentally deranged US dotard" whom he would tame with fire. Kim said North Korea would consider the "highest level of hardline countermeasure in history" against the US and that Trump's comments had confirmed his nuclear programme was "the correct path". Trump threatened in his maiden UN address last Tuesday to "totally destroy" North Korea if it threatened the US or its allies. For its part, China called on Monday for all sides in the North Korea missile crisis to show restraint and not "add oil to the flames". North Korea's Ri told UN that targeting the US mainland with its rockets was inevitable [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters] Asked how concerned China was the war of words between Trump and North Korea could get out of control, Lu Kang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, described the situation as highly complex and sensitive. It was vitally important that everyone strictly, fully and correctly implemented all North Korea related UN resolutions, Lu said, resolutions which call for both tighter sanctions and efforts to resume dialogue. All sides should "not further irritate each other and add oil to the flames of the tense situation on the peninsula at present", Lu told a daily news briefing. "We hope all sides do not continue doing things to irritate each other and should instead exercise restraint." Hydrogen bomb threat North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb test on September 3. Pyongyang said on Friday it might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. While China has been angered by North Korea's repeated nuclear and missile tests, it has also called for the US and its allies to help lessen tension by scaling back their military drills. US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers escorted by fighters flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea on Saturday in a show of force the Pentagon said indicated the range of military options available to Trump. In response to a question about the exercises, Chinese spokesman Lu said: "A continued rise in tensions on the peninsula, I believe, is not in the interests of any side." Wang Jingdong, president of the world's largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), said during a briefing the bank would "strictly implement UN Security Council decisions related to North Korea and carefully fulfil relevant international responsibility". SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies Asia Pacific North Korea Nuclear weapons Donald Trump


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Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Reviews | Beyond the Book | Readalikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
He glares at me, his jaw moving back and forth like a cow chewing cud. Incredible. He's actually eating the stuff.
The old ladies chatter like schoolgirls, blissfully unaware.
"They're here until Sunday," says Doris. "Billy stopped to find out."
"Yes, two shows on Saturday and one on Sunday. Randall and his girls are taking me tomorrow," says Norma. She turns to me. "Jacob, will you be going?"
I open my mouth to answer, but before I can Doris blurts out, "And did you see those horses? My word, they're pretty. We had horses when I was a girl. Oh, how I loved to ride." She looks into the distance, and for a split second I can see how lovely she was as a young woman.
"Do you remember when the circus traveled by train?" says Hazel. "The posters would appear a few days aheadthey'd cover every surface in town! You couldn't see a brick in between!"
"Golly, yes. I certainly do," Norma says. "They put posters on the side of our barn one year. The men told Father they used a special glue that would dissolve two days after the show, but darned if our barn wasn't still plastered with them months later!" She chuckles, shaking her head. "Father was fit to be tied!"
"And then a few days later the train would pull in. Always at the crack of dawn."
"My father used to take us down to the tracks to watch them unload. Gosh, that was something to see. And then the parade! And the smell of peanuts roasting"
"And Cracker Jack!"
"And candy apples, and ice cream, and lemonade!"
"And the sawdust! It would get in your nose!"
"I used to carry water for the elephants," says McGuinty.
I drop my fork and look up. He is positively dripping with self-satisfaction,
just waiting for the girls to fawn over him.
"You did not," I say.
There is a beat of silence.
"I beg your pardon?" he says.
"You did not carry water for the elephants."
"Yes, I most certainly did."
"No you didn't."
"Are you calling me a liar?" he says slowly.
"If you say you carried water for elephants, I am."
The girls stare at me with open mouths. My heart's pounding. I know I shouldn't do this, but somehow I can't help myself.
"How dare you!" McGuinty braces his knobby hands on the edge of the table. Stringy tendons appear in his forearms.
"Listen pal," I say. "For decades I've heard old coots like you talk about carrying water for elephants and I'm telling you now, it never happened."
"Old coot? Old coot?" McGuinty pushes himself upright, sending his wheelchair flying backward. He points a gnarled finger at me and then drops as though felled by dynamite. He vanishes beneath the edge of the table, his eyes perplexed, his mouth still open.
"Nurse! Oh, Nurse!" cry the old ladies.
There's the familiar patter of crepe-soled shoes and moments later two nurses haul McGuinty up by the arms. He grumbles, making feeble attempts to shake them off.
A third nurse, a pneumatic black girl in pale pink, stands at the end of the table with her hands on her hips. "What on earth is going on?" she asks.
"That old S-O-B called me a liar, that's what," says McGuinty, safely restored to his chair. He straightens his shirt, lifts his grizzled chin, and crosses his arms in front of him. "And an old coot."
"Oh, I'm sure that's not what Mr. Jankowski meant," the girl in pink says.
"It most certainly is," I say. "And he is, too. Pffffft. Carried water for the elephants indeed. Do you have any idea how much an elephant drinks?"
From Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. © 2006 by Sara Gruen. Reprinted by permission of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
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Martyna Świda
Certification Coordinator and Administrator
+48 605 083 183
Martyna is responsible for coordinating Chain of Custody audits in Poland.
Martyna is responsible for planning and scheduling audits managed by NEPCon office in Poland. She coordinates with clients and auditors to ensure the audits are planned and conducted. She also handles certification administration for Polish clients.
Martyna has an educational background in Environmental Protection.
She joined NEPCon in 2018.
We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Skills at a glance
- Client support
- Certification administration
- Coordination and planning
- FSC Trademark expertise
- Master's degree in Environmental Protection
- Languages spoken: Polish and English


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It Comes at Night (2017)
Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, the tenuous domestic order he has established with his wife and son is put to the ultimate test with the arrival of a desperate young family seeking refuge. Despite the best intentions of both families, paranoia and mistrust boil over as the horrors outside creep ever-closer, awakening something hidden and monstrous within him as he learns that the protection of his family comes at the cost of his soul.
Original Title: It Comes at Night
Country, Channel: USA
Release Date: 2017
Genres: Horror, Mystery
Creator: Trey Edward Shults
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Griffin Robert Faulkner, David Pendleton, Mikey, Chase Joliet, Mick O'Rourke
Runtime: 91 min
Language: English
Quality: WEB-DL 1080p
Resolution: 1280 x 544
Audio: AC-3, 348 Kbps
Video: x264, 3058 kbps
Size: 1.60 GB


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After every Champions League matchday, BetaSoccer highlights 10 marquee takeaways from Europe's preeminent club competition.
Courtois' form demands Areola chance
A deafening chorus of whistles at the Bernabeu isn't exactly a conclusive appraisal of a player. Real Madrid fans can be fickle, but on Tuesday, the jeers directed at Thibaut Courtois were merited. Sure, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were M.I.A. on Club Brugge's opener, but there's no escaping how clumsy the gaunt Belgian is.
Courtois has conceded 13 goals with two clean sheets in eight matches this term. Keylor Navas – who was shipped to PSG – needed 19 outings to yield the same number. That's now 81 goals on Courtois' watch in 58 matches. Apparently Courtois had an upset tummy, prompting a swap for Alphonse Areola at the half. It's time Zinedine Zidane considers a permanent switch.
Atalanta's Zapata ready for the biggest stage
It's strange Europe's biggest clubs weren't linked with Atalanta's Duvan Zapata this past summer. The Colombian had a career-defining year, finishing second in the Serie A scoring charts with 23, and this season, he's joint-tops on five. Against Shakhtar Donetsk, he scored La Dea's first-ever European goal.
Even with Atalanta attacking from wide positions against the Ukranians – with Papu Gomez thriving on the right before shifting into a central role upon Luis Muriel's second-half introduction – Zapata's work rate was stellar. Frighteningly robust and deceivingly swift, Zapata has proved he deserves a big-time transfer to a club with a dearth of No. 9 options.
Chelsea's undervalued talisman: Willian
On Wednesday in France, Chelsea were perilously close to completing the first two matches of group play with a sole point. Then, Willian happened, and for a young squad hampered by a transfer ban following Eden Hazard's departure, the Brazilian's continued contributions are massive.
Willian's astounding 78th-minute strike cemented a 2-1 victory over plucky Lille, and since making his Champions League debut for the Blues in 2013, no player has been directly involved in more goals than the generously maned attacker. That's now 10 goals and five helpers for the versatile 31-year-old. And people wonder why Christian Pulisic can't get in the team.
Takumi Minamino: A star is born
Salzburg striker Erling Haaland was in the spotlight heading into Wednesday's clash at Anfield, and for good reason. The goal-scoring Norwegian youngster bagged a first-half trio in the Group E opening battering of Genk. Against Liverpool, another star was born: Takumi Minamino.
The 24-year-old 19-time capped Japanese international was unplayable, and Minamino was arguably the best player on a pitch littered with world-class stars. He was a threat on the break courtesy of sneaky pace and elite vision, hitting a deft volley for Salzburg's second before finding substitute Haaland for the visitors' third of a surreal three-goal comeback. Cue the transfer rumors.
Real should consider Hakimi recall
Marcelo is in decline, Ferland Mendy is unproven, and Nacho – who suffered an MCL injury versus Brugge – is better suited in central defense than as a full-back. Despite seemingly endless resources and a trio of options, Real Madrid's best left-back might be plying his trade in the Bundesliga.
In the second term of a two-year loan at Borussia Dortmund, 20-year-old Moroccan left-back Achraf Hakimi is making a case for a future in Spain. The 20-year-old scored both of BVB's goals versus Slavia Prague, the first courtesy of a blistering run down the right before a cut-in and left-footed finish, the second a surge down the left that displayed his versatility. What a player.
Lewandowski in the form of his life
Perhaps it's his conventional, ordinary appearance, or maybe it's the proletarian-like industry and sublime technique that makes Robert Lewandowski easy to overlook. Bayern Munich pluck talent from rivals and sleepwalk to titles, so it's understandable why Lewandowski's tenure is not more celebrated.
This season, Lewandowski has been immense. The 31-year-old has scored in each of his last 10 matches, including Tuesday at Spurs. The Polish star scored twice in Bayern's bludgeoning of Tottenham, and with 10 goals through six in the league and three in Europe, Lewandowski is set to better a career-best 39 goals over the two competitions. Also, his touch is absurd.
Defensive miscues sink Spurs
On the topic of a Tottenham side that shipped seven goals at home for the first time in any competition, while Serge Gnabry and Lewandowski were unplayable, Spurs didn't help their own cause. Serge Aurier's awful showing was a symbol of a defensive unit out of its depth.
Dire defending led to Lewandowski's first goal, and Harry Winks gave the ball away 30 yards from his own goal for Gnabry's second. A flat-footed Aurier and off-the-pace Jan Vertonghen were at fault for Gnabry's third, and minutes later, Toby Alderweireld's daft pass was picked off by Thiago for Lewandowski's second before Gnabry made it 7-2 (above).
Preview of post-Mertens Napoli lacks gusto
Napoli got a glimpse at what life after Dries Mertens might resemble, and it wasn't great. The Belgian's terms lapse in the summer, and against Genk, Mertens started on the bench as Arkadiusz Milik led the line. Milik spoiled four quality chances after missing the target five times.
At the interval, Napoli boasted an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.48 thanks to Milik's wastefulness, though once Mertens came on in the 58th minute for Eljif Elmas to the left of the towering Pole, Napoli's movement in attack improved. Milik deserves the benefit of the doubt after suffering two significant injuries, though that window is closing, especially if Mertens leaves next summer.
Selfless Sarabia the key to PSG success
Save for Take Your Kid To Work Day candidate Eric Choupo-Moting, Thomas Tuchel will need to appease a stacked attack featuring Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, and Mauro Icardi. Against Galatasaray, Icardi opened his account thanks to the selfless play of Pablo Sarabia.
Newcomer Sarabia found a surging Icardi, and instead of firing at Fernando Muslera, he put it on a platter for the Argentine. For all the egos in his squad, Tuchel will benefit most from the altruistic efforts of Sarabia, Idrissa Gueye, and Ander Herrera. In 70 minutes, Sarabia boasted 88% pass completion. Decent return from an unlikely source.
Doubting Suarez is a fool's errand
Barcelona has had an underwhelming campaign by their lofty standards, and with Lionel Messi recovering from injury, the attack has been a popular target of derision. Luis Suarez is as culpable as any, and heading into the visit from Inter, the Uruguayan's residency at the Camp Nou came into question.
Few players are capable of transforming a match after a spell of anonymity like Suarez. Before equalizing with a nimble volley in the 58th minute, Suarez had 26 touches. Only goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen (15) and second-half sub Arturo Vidal (8) had fewer. Then, 26 minutes and 11 touches later, Suarez iced the fixture with a sublime left-footed finish. Doubters beware.
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