DEFINITIONS
The Church - God's Bride, the entirety of born-again believers who trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. God moves into their vessels and they become walking tabernacles for the Spirit of Jesus.
A church - a building or group of believers led by some form of human leadership for the purpose of reaching, teaching, and fellowship of other humans. Basically, a church is a sheepfold led by a shepherd.
Evangelism - In the context of the definition of church above, Evangelism is in essence, the effort of sharing the Gospel with humans who are likened to goats in the Bible. We were all born as goats. But we seek to create SHEEP by sharing the Gospel. So, once a person becomes Jesus' little lamb... they need a place to dwell in safety and find some pasture etc. Hence, the need for churches!
Saint - a person who is "made holy" by the Blood of Jesus. You are either a Saint, or ya Ain't! Holy or not holy. Born-again or dead in your trespasses and sins. Redeemed or on the highway to hell's eternal punishment. Narrow path or Broad path.
Jesus Christ - Yeshua Ha' Meshiach, Yesu, JesuCristo, Y'Shua, and so many others. The point is, per language, upbringing, preference, or which youtube video someone watched and heard of 5 different ways to pronounce the name of the Savior of the World, its the same person! We're talking about the Man from Nazaret who was born of God's seed through a lady we in English call Mary who was a Jewish virgin girl between the ages of 13 and 16 (who then had 6 or more children with her new husband Joseph according to the Bible). This same Man from God was the promised Messiah for all mankind promised in Genesis 3 and many other times throughout the Old Testament writings. This Man Jesus lived a sinless life and fulfilled all righteousness according to the Law that God gave the Hebrew people to follow as a means of being saved- which ultimately could not save them but those who believed and followed and then died before the Promise was fulfilled in Jesus, got a special visit from Jesus between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday down in the lower parts of the earth. (Yep, go read that part, it's like whaaaahh?!) This same Jesus also fulfilled hundreds of prophecies perfectly (please read More Than A Carpenter for the list) including the one about becoming the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind and returning from being dead by His own power three days after... This is Jesus. No matter what you call Him reverently, if you are referring to the One who came from Heaven and God Himself to die in your place, you can pretty much call Him whatever name you want and He will answer. But... "Homey" prolly ain't the best one. God sees your heart and He obviously answers prayers of those who call upon Him in many languages and accents and variations. Suppose a person with a speech impediment or TBI in English tries to say Jesus but it sounds more like "Eeezuh" or "Jee-uh" or even "Eee-ah"; will God hear that? Will God answer a person who uses sign language? There is a growing movement trying to emphasize certain older pronunciations of the Name of Jesus. For them, Jesus will answer. For everyone else, Jesus will answer the same.
That brings me to the next one...
God - Elohim, Yahweh Elohim, Yahweh, YHVH, The Lord, The LORD, Ya-hu-ah, Dios...
God is the general TITLE in all reality for what is commonly translated from Elohim.
In my early walk with Jesus, I did a breakdown of the Name Elohim from the original Hebrew. My understanding was the Name meant the following when completely broken down - The Self Existent Eternal One Who Continually Reveals Himself Over Long Periods of Time. I've never heard anyone confirm that and I've listened to countless messages on "God." But that was my own little deep dive study as a new believer and I like it still after 8 years of Bible college and many more years in ministry and study. The Book of Enoch and other ancient writings infer that the angels who fell called God the Father "Fate." Rather ominous for them I'd say. And several Old Testament records show us that people gave God their own personal names like YHVH ROI meaning the God who Sees Me. YHVH referred to Himself as YHVH Elohim which is a plurality. It encompasses the Trinity and also there are a few other verses kinda indicating our God has multiple personalities... not in a bad way though! So again, IF you are referring to the Creator of the entire universe and your very soul and spirit... you have one choice by default which is "God." If you call Him, "Big Man Upstairs" in sincerity, He will likely still answer you. If you call Him El Elyon (from the Bible), He will answer you. If you call on Him without even knowing His Name as we Bible thumpers might, He hears you because He hears your hearts cry for Him and your cry to come home to His arms.
Now, if you are using "God" as a swear word... prolly really doesn't phase Him too much. But... if you use "YHVH" which is His actual written name from the Bible (no matter how anyone alive today pronounces it) as a swear word... you might be in some kind of danger depending on your specific motivation and where you might be in God's specific sanctification plan for your life. He reallllllyyyy likes His Name and prefers that it is honored and respected. So... tread carefully. There is a difference between Name and Title and it might just be that the intent of your soul is what He responds to.
These are just my thoughts and musings for anyone who might want to chat about things or understand my semantical leanings. Plus I needed a second Blog to add here so I can figure out the format of this website for design purposes.
