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Brethren: noun plural of brother. It is used almost exclusively in solemn and scriptural language, in the place of brothers.
Greek: adelphos [ad-el-fos’]- brethren [226], brother [113], From (as a connective particle) and delphus (the womb); a brother (literal or figurative) near or remote [much like ('ab)] Strong's Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. male children of the same parents, Mat 1:2; Mat 14:3; (2) male descendants of the same parents, Acts 7:23, 26; Heb. 7:5; (3) male children of the same mother, Matt. 13:55; 1 Cor. 9:5; Gal. 1:19; (4) people of the same nationality, Acts 3:17, 22; Rom. 9:3. Persons united by a common interest, Matt. 5:47; (7) persons united by a common calling, Rev. 22:9; (8) mankind, Matt. 25:40; Heb. 2:17; (9) the disciples, and so, by implication, all believers, Matt. 28:10; John 20:17; (10) believers, apart from sex, Matt. 23:8; Acts 1:15; Rom. 1:13; 1 Thess. 1:4; Rev. 19:10 (the word "sisters" is used of believers, only in 1 Tim. 5:2); (11) believers, with anēr, "male," prefixed, and with "or sister" added, 1 Cor. 7:14 (RV), 15; Jas. 2:15, male as distinct from female, Acts 1:16; Acts 15:7, 13, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.
I grew up in a small Midwestern town in the Northwest corner of the state of Ohio by the name of Delphos. The town had approximately 8,000 people during the days I lived there [1951-1970]. It was a quaint little town of athletics, robust shopping places and 3 soda fountain shops, kind of like the one in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ starring Jimmy Stewart.
One of the things I remember was the observatory and famous astrologer by the name of Peltier who had built a neat observatory on his property on the edge of town. He was a man that kept to himself yet had his children attend the local public school. At the time they say he was a very famous man who had discovered a Comet and named it after him. It was called Peltier’s Comet.
After school hours we excitedly attended the Powel Store soda shop and had the greatest cherry coke anyone could even imagine. Coupled with this was the jumping of the parking meters that lined the main street in front of all the businesses that were flourishing downtown. 3 men’s clothing stores, 3 women’s clothing stores, 2 five & dime stores, several meat markets, two groceries stores, an amazing Western Auto store that had the greatest Christmas display on its second floor that any child could only dream about. Our stadium was second to none and had a huge pool, large stands for our many football games [St. Johns holds the record in the state of Ohio for consistent wins and state Championships; 54 straight wins and 5 consecutive state championships]. As one can understand, it was a time of great brotherhood, and the kids of this little town were in harmony, and I don’t remember absolutely any negative in all my years of growing up there. Things seemed to be in complete harmony and by my recollection, it was times in my ‘history’ that would be irreplaceable.
Delphos was called the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ and somehow the early founding fathers brought this great spirit to this little town. Most of what I remember has long gone but the history and brotherly fellowship rings on in my heart and life and am proud to have been a part of that little town.
Jesus came from such a place and was instrumental in my decision 11 years ago to start this writing ministry and now is being published across the country and into some foreign ones. I struggled at first in asking myself, “does anyone want to hear what a guy from ‘Delphos’ has to say about the Bible and life’s experiences”. After all, most ministries that are impacting came from Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Denver only to name a few.
But God spoke these simple words to me and encouraged me to ‘Just Start”! John 1:46 (NKJV) And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth [Delphos]?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." I understand what Jesus was saying to me and that day I decided to move forward with simple texting to a few friends. That was 11 years ago in March and after over 2,700 letters written to my readers and partners, the Holy Spirit is still directing me to say a word of training to all of you.
I encourage all of you to become partners in this endeavor and get behind with me the ministry of teaching from Delphos, to Ohio, to the United States and to the uttermost parts of the world and as I devote more of my quality time to this BMP and to teaching and training young men [The Warrior Class] to raise their families and run a successful endeavor. Acts 1:8 (KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
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