- published: 07 Mar 2013
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The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία ta biblia "the books") is any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the contents and the order of the individual books (Biblical canon) vary among denominations. The 24 texts of the Hebrew Bible are divided into 39 books in Christian Old Testaments, and complete Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Bible. The Hebrew and Christian Bibles are also important to other Abrahamic religions, including Islam and the Bahá'í Faith, but those religions do not regard them as central religious texts.
The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, is divided into three parts: (1) the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), comprising the origins of the Israelite nation, its laws and its covenant with the God of Israel; (2) the Nevi'im ("prophets"), containing the historic account of ancient Israel and Judah focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites – specifically, struggles between believers in "the LORD God" and believers in foreign gods, and the criticism of unethical and unjust behavior of Israelite elites and rulers; and (3) the Ketuvim ("writings"): poetic and philosophical works such as the Psalms and the Book of Job.
The Magi ( /ˈmædʒaɪ/;Greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, or Kings from the East, were, according to Christian Scripture, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of the Christian tradition.
The Gospel of Matthew, the only one of the four Canonical gospels to mention the Magi, states that they came "from the east" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews." Although the account does not tell how many they were, the three gifts led to a widespread assumption that they were three as well. In the East, the magi traditionally number twelve. Their identification as kings in later Christian writings is probably linked to Psalms 72:11, “May all kings fall down before him”.
The New Revised Standard Version of Matthew 2:1–12 describes the visit of the Magi:
Francis Chan (born 1967) is an American preacher. He is the former teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, CA, a church he and his wife started in 1994. He is also the Founder and Chancellor of Eternity Bible College and author of the best-selling book, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, which came out in 2009. He released his second book Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit in August 2009. He also sits on the board of directors of Children’s Hunger Fund and World Impact.
Chan is known for speaking at major national and international events and conferences.
Chan and his wife founded Cornerstone in 1994 with only 30 people. Within two months, the church had grown to 100 people, and by 2000, Chan was leading a $1 million project to provide for the 1,600 member congregation. Cornerstone is now one of the largest churches in Ventura County, California.
In 2005, Francis was the featured speaker in a now international video called Stop And Think (JustStopAndThink.com) which virally travelled, landing in every state and 30+ countries.