Scheduled for Fall, 2025
“The Greatest Biblical Archaeological Discoveries of All Time”
August 23, 2025
Topic: “The Greatest Biblical Archaeological Discoveries of All Time”—our weekly multimedia presentation will cover such finds as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Pilate Stone and more.
Teacher: Dr. Daniel McCabe, MACE, ThM, DMin—Executive Director of Shalom Y’all Ministries, former Instructor at the College of Biblical Studies and Pastor of Cullman Bible Church
Location: Golden Corral at 1720 Cherokee Ave SW in Cullman, Alabama
Time: Mondays, 6:00-7:15 pm, starting September 22, eight weeks
Cost: Free—you can attend the seminar without purchasing a buffet or you can choose to enjoy a meal before, during or after the seminar. All ages are welcome to attend.
To Launch: We need a minimum of 10 people to sign up for the seminar before we can launch, so please let us know of your interest by clicking on the attached link.
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Jesus by the Lake: Part 9
Questions and Faith Lessons from Luke 7:11-17
I. Questions:
Why did Jesus travel to Nain in the first place?
If only to raise the man, then why? Might he have known the woman and her son? Is it a random act of kindness or might there be some greater significance?
What might the young man have said after being raised (“he began to speak,” v. 15)?
What does it mean that Jesus “presented him to his mother”?
Since the miracle took place in Galilee, why does it first mention that the news spread to Judea?
II. Faith Lessons:
#1: Jesus cares about you when you grieve.
#2: God graciously intervenes in our lives on many occasions without even being asked. Jesus traveled to Nain without any evidence that he had been requested to come.
#3: If Jesus can raise the body of a dead man, then he can certainly raise the soul of all men “who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1; John 5:21).
#4: When we see God at work around us, let us never hesitate to worship him and tell others. Like the people here (v. 16). Like the shepherds at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:9, 20).
–Daniel McCabe
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Check this out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt7GBTksUYY
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Trivia
(Find the answer below)
According to the book, Genius and Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, what was the first modern Hebrew word created by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the Father of Modern Hebrew?
A. Apple
B. Bathroom
C. Coffee
D. Dictionary
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Life in the Land: A Jellyfish Invasion
Crawfish season in Louisiana runs ideally from March through May, and duck season in Alabama runs from late November through January. That’s some good eating, y’all, and sandwiched between the mudbugs and water fowl is jellyfish season along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried jellyfish gumbo or jellyfish stew, but the word on the street is that nomad jellyfish taste like chicken. Seriously, I’ve heard that they don’t have much taste at all, but still I think I’ll pass.
Millions of jellyfish assemble off Israel’s coastline from Ashkelon to Haifa each year from late June until the beginning of August, so before you get into the water on your next visit to one of Israel’s beautiful beaches, look for the purple flags that warn of increased sightings of jellyfish. Thankfully, nomad jellyfish only tend to swarm in water temperatures of 85 degrees and above, so most don’t stick around through the Fall.
The medium-sized, translucent-white, nomad jellyfish have long thin tentacles, and their venom can produce swelling and even second-degree burns. Their sting is commonly likened to an electric shock or the prick of a nettle.
Nomad jellyfish have migrated to Israel from the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, and they create significant problems each year for the electric power stations and desalination plants that line the coast of Israel, so their migration patterns are watched closely by both surfers and engineers. Fortunately you can check the online jellyfish map before planning your next beach trip to Tel Aviv. Click on the link below.
–Daniel McCabe
The Apostolic Fathers–Ignatius of Antioch, part 1
The Apostolic Fathers are those men taught or discipled by one or more of the twelve disciples of Jesus. In this short four-part series we’ll meet four of the Fathers—Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement and Papias.
First, Ignatius, who pastored in Antioch, arguably the second most important early church next to Jerusalem. You’ll remember that it was at Antioch where followers of Jesus were “first called Christians” (Acts 11:26). The site of the biblical city of Antioch is located in modern Turkey, due north of Lebanon and only about twelve miles from the Syrian border as the crow flies.
Said to be a close friend of the Apostle John and appointed as bishop of the church in Antioch by the apostles, Ignatius had a stellar reputation in his day, serving his congregation faithfully for forty years or more, beginning around 70 A.D. Some have even suggested that Ignatius was one of the children who Jesus took up in his arms and blessed as recorded in the Gospels.
Accused late in life of being a Christian during one of the many seasons in the history of the Roman Empire when Christians were often targeted for persecution, he was arrested and taken in chains under guard of ten soldiers from his church in Antioch through Asia Minor and on to Rome. During that trip he wrote seven letters, six to various churches and one to a young pastor in Smyrna named Polycarp. Upon hearing the news that Ignatius was being transported to Rome, the Christians there planned to use their connections, some perhaps of the “household of Caesar” (Phil. 4:22), but Ignatius reportedly rejected any attempt at intervention, saying, “I am the wheat kernel of God. Let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may become the pure bread of God.” As he faced the lions in the Roman Coliseum, witnesses recalled his final words, “I am made happy by these wild beasts.”
–Daniel McCabe
The High Priestly Prayer of John 17, part 1
John 13-17 is a long discourse that Jesus had with His disciples in the Upper Room. Movies about the Gospels often portray this section of Scripture as taking place in the Garden of Gethsemane or on the way to the garden, and it’s possible that Jesus talked with the disciples as He walked, but when Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven in 17:1, we tend to picture the outdoors, but really this just means that He lifted His eyes upward towards heaven. So I think He’s actually uttering these words inside the Upper Room. I’ve been to the location of the original house. Longstanding tradition states that it was the home of Mark’s mother and that she was a wealthy woman in the first community of believers. That’s why, for example, one of the two competing sites, the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, calls their Upper Room location, the Church of Saint Mark.
It’s interesting to conjecture where all this happened. Of course, it doesn’t ultimately matter where it happened. It doesn’t matter where Jesus physically spoke these words. What really matters is what He said and what His words mean for us. Also, we need to remember whom He’s speaking to in chapters 13-17. He’s speaking to the eleven disciples. As believers it’s tempting to look at every word of this passage and say, “Oh, this applies to me directly.” Well, not necessarily! Now I don’t mean to imply that many of the things that Jesus says can’t apply to us, but we just have to remember that He’s speaking specifically to His disciples. He’s preparing them for the difficult lifelong ministry that awaits them, and He needs to prepare them for this ministry since He won’t be there physically with them.
Now we get to chapter 17 which I want to walk through very carefully. Often in our studies I select chapters of Scripture that have many hard things to understand, and I try to unpack them for you, but chapters 13-17 don’t contain a lot of deep, complex mysteries even though the teaching of Jesus here is profound and very meaningful. Even though it’s simple, it’s so beautiful! It’s a very meaningful and impactful chapter that is good for all of us to walk through together.
–Adam Keim
Answer to the Trivia
D. Dictionary (The Hebrew word for dictionary is milon.)