I have to agree with Paul. Your searching is admirable and your
comprehension is very good, but the randomness may well leave you with a
confused burnt out feeling. John is a great book to start soaking up stuff
also James or Romans, but why not try to take one book and make a study out
of it, getting the most out of it you can and as you go, things will be
less scattered. Whether Joanne was a loved one or not matters none in
essence, and in fact if you wer3e to take a book as John and read it
through, you'd have your answer to that question of who is the beloved one
of Jesus. Just my opinion.

Brad


At 12/31/2003 on Wednesday, you wrote:
>No, no, Matt.  The disciple whom JESUS loved is John, the apostle, a man,
>but it wasn't a homosexual kind of love it was the love that GOD has for us.
>Nothing kinky about it.
>
>You need to get disciplined and not get sidetracked because your notes are
>giving me heart attacks.  Laughing out loud.  Seriously, though, that's why
>you're so confused because like with switching channels on the TV between
>programs you're getting youself all mixed up without knowing what's going on
>in each spot and none of the shows or Bible stories in this case make sense.
>And there's just no way to straighten it all out in e-mail notes.
>
>The closest group JESUS had with Him were the twelve apostles, all men.  But
>there was a much larger group called the disciples.  These were both men and
>women.  One of these was Joanna.  This is actually a funny or ironic story
>because Joanna was the wife of Herod's steward.  In other words, she was
>married to the guy who was the right-hand man for the guy who was trying to
>kill JESUS.  Her husband got paid by Herod and she got the money from her
>husband and used it to support JESUS and the disciples as they went from
>place to place.  So Herod was the one providing for the disciples and never
>even knew it.  Smile.  Kind of funny when you think about it.  (You can read
>about it in Luke 8:3.).
>
>It is exciting to read the Bible and find out everything it has to say and
>that the LORD has to say to you through it.  But you've got to get a plan or
>you're going to go bonkers.  Smile.
>
>Paul
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Matt" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 10:02 PM
>Subject: Re: The book of Thomas?
>
>
> > OY!  Homosexual Jesus, I had not heard or thought of that one.
> > Sounds like manipulative bull to me though, as you already pretty much
>said.
> > Your explanation of the use of the word loved in this instance pretty much
> > clears it up.
> > That just makes one think one above all he loved, Hmmm, must have been a
> > woman.
> > Then, in one place where it is talking about the women who came to tell
> > everyone about the stone being rolled away it says, Joanne or some such
>name
> > was their and that makes me stop because I thought jesus's group was
>mostly
> > men, accept for this mary Magdalin and his mother.
> > I did do the organized bible study but as is my way, I got derailed by my
> > own curiosity.  I read John, and Luke and the acts of the aposals and then
>I
> > got side tract looking up other stuff.
> > I am fasenated with all of the stuff which originally came from the bible.
> > Sayings and ideas and rules and such.
> > I run into things without even really looking.
> > I found Brad's discription which could have been reference to a dinosaur
>in
> > Jobe and I jump around as I listen to Jimmy Evan's teachings and mark all
>of
> > the text having to do with marage and what we are supposed to do and all
> > like that.
> > I ran into exidis 22 28 which seems to be a good thing to quote when
>people
> > want to gripe about our president.
> > Oh, and our saying, there is nothing new under the sun?
> > Check out aacleazasties 1 9?
> > Butcher job on the name of the book, but you shall over come I am sure.
> >
> > Matt