Shalom Saints,

One weekend, my Mom dropped my sister and me off to stay with her sister, Annie. It just so happened that my Uncle, their brother and a contractor, was there too. He was painting and his base of operation was the basement where all of his brushes and paints were stored. He should have known better than to leave his stuff open and tempt us children into mischief!!

This was the mid-fifties and a popular toy was a large pedal car that children could sit inside of it and pedal to make it go around the yard or up and down the street. My two cousins had a burgundy car. However, we all decided it would look better green. Uncle just happened to have green paint in the basement! We pushed the car into the basement, unnoticed, and got busy. Well… before we could finish the project, my Aunt discovered us and she was furious! She told us that we were going to get whipped just as soon as we finished eating the lunch she had prepared.

When she went upstairs, we turned to Uncle and asked if he could help us. I still remember what he said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t get you out of this one!”

As the oldest of the cousins, I figured that she would be worn out by the time she got to the 4^th whipping, so I ate s-l-o-w-l-y. My youngest cousin didn’t have a concept of really what was going on because he gobbled down his lunch and was yelling, “I won’t do it again!” and begging for mercy as the rest of us ate.

Arthur, in this teaching, explains that we are all subject to some of the same experiences, rewards and sufferings as the people we associate with. Peter chose to be a bond-servant of Yeshua’s. Therefore, Peter was subject to some of the same abuse and persecution that our Messiah suffered.

Summary of the Teaching

Our words have power whether we believe it or not, or know it or not. Our words have power even when we jokingly, foolishly, or just say them “off the cuff.” Arthur prefaced the “Declaration” by reminding us that it is paramount that we pay attention to what we say about ourselves, our family, our neighbors, etc. We should speak blessings over ourselves and others and refrain from speaking curses. For instance, “My back is killing me;” “This is the season for my child to get hay fever;” “All my relatives died before 70, so I figure I’ll go before 70 too.” Truly, death and life are in the tongue. When we internalize the fact that everything we see on this earth was spoken into being, we will recognize that words have power.

This teaching is an Introduction to the second letter of Peter. There was initially some controversy about whether this letter was written by Peter. However, by the end of the 1st century this letter was accepted as being written by Peter.

Arthur spent time on discussing the 6 names by which Peter is called in the Bible and which ones he would have actually been called in his lifetime. Did you know that Peter is an English translation of his name?

Listen to Arthur describe how we can be locked into ways of thinking without us consciously being aware of how we think. We must be Masters of our own minds and be renewed in our thinking. The tools Arthur refers to are Bible Dictionaries, Strong’s Concordance, Maps, and Commentaries. 

Listen as Arthur talks about false teachings and false teachers. “Oh! No! When I taught Sunday School, I was a false teacher!”

This was a great Introduction to the letter from an eyewitness that spent 24/7 with our Messiah. I am looking forward to what Peter has to share in his second letter and to what Arthur has been given by the Holy Spirit to share about Peter’s letter.

Buzz on the Teaching

Immediately after the teaching, I saw Karen rushing towards me with a radiance on her face and an excitement that was bubbling over. “Sharon! Arthur talked about the exact things that my Mom and I discussed just this week.” “Really! What was that?” She then listed them out: