The four gospels tell the story of the life of Jesus. The word "gospel" means "good news". The Gospel of Mark moves quickly, and the story shows how much Jesus worked during his short 3-year ministry. Mark's gospel tells many things about Jesus which are also found in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called "Synoptic gospels" for this reason.
Most scholars date Mark AD 65-75. It is thought to be the first of the gospels to be written. Mark's gospel may have been written with Gentiles in mind. It gives the meaning of some of Jesus' words in Greek that would have been known to Jews but not to other people. Mark's leaves out many details in the other gospels, such as the stories about the birth of Jesus. He includes many stories of Jesus doing miracles, more than any other Bible writer.
In telling about the arrest of Jesus to be crucified, the book mentions a young man who was almost caught by the guards, but who slipped out of his robe and got away. Some think this young man was Mark himself, since there is no other reason to include such a small detail. If it was Mark, means that Mark was a follower of Jesus who probably saw him crucified and come back to life after three days.
The last chapter of Mark has some verses after verse 8 that may not have been part of the original gospel, as they are missing is some early hand written copies of the book. However, they give further information about what Jesus said after his resurrection. These sayings are similar to what the other gospels record.
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is a book of the Bible. Like the other gospels, the "Gospel of Luke" tells the stories of the life and teachings of Jesus. It is the third and longest book of the New Testament and comes after the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark. The gospel is believed to be written by Luke, who was a friend of the Apostle Paul.
Luke was a doctor. He wrote his gospel for a man he calls 'most excellent Theophilus' (1:3). Luke wrote another book which is fifth in the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles which tells what Jesus' disciples did after his rise back to Heaven.
Unlike the gospel writers Matthew, Mark and John, Luke was probably not Jewish but was Greek. He wrote the gospel mainly for non-Jewish people, (who were called Gentile by the Jews). Luke wrote to prove that Jesus is the Son of God. Luke's gospel contains many similar stories of Jesus. He tells more about the Virgin birth of Jesus than the other gospel writers.
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is a book of the Bible. It is one of the four "gospels" at the beginning of the New Testament. The four gospels tell the life of Jesus. The "Gospel of John" is the fourth book of the New Testament, after the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
In the gospel, it is says that the book was written by "the disciple whom Jesus loved". It is believed that John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, wrote the gospel. He was probably the youngest of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. John lived a long life and was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos in his old age. He also wrote the last book of the New Testament, called the "Book of Revelation".
The Gospel of John tells many of the stories of Jesus' life that are in the other three gospels, but also contains a lot of different information. The Gospel begins by calling Jesus "the Word" (the Communication of God). It says ""In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."" In John's Gospel, the writer shows that Jesus was part of God, who came to live among humanity so that they could "hear His voice" and have the power to become true "children of God".
According to the gospel, the accounts are written so that the reader ""may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name"". (TNIV; John 20:31)
The book follows a pattern. There are seven "signs" leading up to the raising from the dead of Lazarus (this anticipates the resurrection of Jesus), and seven "I am" sayings and discussions, leading up to Thomas saying that the risen Jesus is "my Lord and my God"
There is some disagreement over whether the John who wrote the letters of John, the John who wrote the Gospel of John, and the John who wrote the Book of Revelation are the same person.
The phrase "born again" comes from the third chapter, and was the title of a book by Chuck Colson who was a lawyer for President Nixon but after being in jail became a prison reformer. The phrase was used later for any person who had a dramatic change in their life.
Chapter 3, verse 16 is perhaps the best known verse in the entire New Testament. "For God loved the world so much that He gave his only son (Jesus), so that whoever believed in Him, would not die but live forever". This verse was searched on the internet by millions of people after Tim Tebow, an American football player wrote "Jn 3:16" on his face in an important football game.
Sofia Rotaru
Sofia Mihailovna Evdokimenko-Rotaru (born in Marshintsy, Novoselitskiy Rayon, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine on August 7, 1947), simply known as Sofia Rotaru, is a popular Russian, Ukrainian, Moldavian and formerly Soviet singer, actress and producer.
Rotaru now lives in Ukraine. She has made many albums over the years; some of the more famous ones are "Ballade About Violins", "Lavender" ("Lavanda"), and "I Still Love You".
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle to the Romans or Letter to the Romans, is one of the letters written by the Apostle Paul to churches in different cities. Here, the letter is addressed to the early church in Rome, Italy.
Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to explain a very important point in Christianity. He proves, by quoting the Old Testament, that all humankind is guilty of sin before God. People whom God calls righteous can only do so by trusting in God's ways, and not by their own effort. Only by believing in Jesus, who is the Christ and who died for humanity for their sins, can people be saved.
Once this belief is had, the believer receives the Holy Spirit, who helps the believer live a new life. Paul asks the Romans to observe Christian ethics and submit themselves to authorities.
The letter remains very influential in explaining to non-Christians and new Christians what their Christian belief is all about.
Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak is a fictional character on the long running TV show The Simpsons. His voice is performed by Hank Azaria. He is the bartender of Moe's Tavern. He speaks with a rough voice.
Moe is the owner and only worker at Moe's Tavern. On some occasions he has had temporary help. The most notable of these occasions being in "Homer the Moe". His two most loyal customers are Barney Gumble and Homer Simpson.
First Epistle to the Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians, or the First Letter to the Corinthians, is a long letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church for a number of reasons. He realizes the church at Corinth is divided and explains that although himself and a few disciples had helped start the church, the church was really headed by Christ Jesus Himself. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow." (TNIV)
Paul scolds the church members there for sexual immorality and asks for these immoral people to be thrown out of the church.
He gives instructions for marriage, against worshipping worthless idols (idolatry), for spiritual gifts like prophecy. Paul praises the superior way of love and urges the church to be united.
At the end, Paul states that the resurrection of Christ is true. He supports it with testimonies from "more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters" and it is this very truth which makes certain the believers will have eternal life.
Finally Paul tells of his plans to visit the Corinthians, and that Timothy, his co-worker, is coming to their church very soon.
Epistle to the Hebrews