A renowned verse, frequently quoted throughout history and later literature. There are numerous definitions of what a soul is, but the most common biblical translation is the spiritual and immortal part of a person. To God, the soul defines who we are as individuals.

“Gain the whole world, and lose his own soul” describes the sacrifice of spiritual well-being in favor of worldly goods and pleasures. A basic paraphrase is: What good does it do someone to gain the whole world and forget about God in the process?

The Greek word used here is psychē (which often means “breath of life” or “life”). The same word is used in Matthew 16:25:

“For whosoever will save his life (= psychē) shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life (= psychē) for my sake shall find it.”

Also in the so-called “Parable of the Rich Fool,” Luke 12:20:

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul (= psychē) shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

“Thy soul shall be required of thee” means “your life will be required of you.” Figuratively speaking, the rich man had “gained the whole world,” or at least he thought he had.

The Hebrew word usually translated as “spirit” is ruwach, and its Greek counterpart is pneuma. In many cases, it refers to “life-sustaining energy” (for lack of a better term). Also, pneuma is the word for “Spirit” in “the Holy Spirit.” Before dying on the cross in Luke 23:46, Jesus cries:

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (= pneuma)."

He dies a few seconds later, and the “life-sustaining energy” returns to God who gave it. The following verse from the Epistle of James (2:26) is also worth considering:

For as the body without the spirit (= pneuma) is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

God wants us to utilize the gifts He has given us; not only for our own benefits and pleasure, but also to share the gospel with others. We can use our gifts to achieve great results for ourselves, however at the same time we can produce greater results by exposing people to the word of Christ.

Your gift doesn’t necessarily have to be preaching for you to let people know about God, it can be anything.

The Blu-Ray edition of the Star Wars saga has become particularly infamous amongst intensely loyal fanatics and critics of the franchise due to the sheer amount of scenes altered and unnecessary additions which ‘took out the classic feeling’ from the movies, leaving fans with the question – What happened to the Star Wars I used to know?. Some notable mentions include

• A rather ridiculous sounding scream addition for Obi-Wan scaring off the Tusken Raiders. (A New Hope)

• A new door for Jabba the Hut’s palace. Which seemed a little disproportionate to its surroundings.

• Blinking Ewoks

• A CGI alteration made to the original puppet Yoda. Many fans complained that the substitution of the Yoda ruined the nostalgic feel to phantom menace.

• Darth Vader now cries ‘NOOOOOO’ when he throws Emperor Palpatine off the bridge in Return of the Jedi.

Ultimately enthusiasts were confused as to why George Lucas couldn’t just leave the saga alone and stop tweaking scenes (this is certainly not the first time). All of these implants where pointless and instead of having a positive effect on the fanbase as intended, ended up doing quite the opposite. The Blu-Ray release has gone down in history as another unsuccessful attempt at releasing an unedited Hi-Quality rendition of the classic saga.

The homie Ahaz lettin' his kids shine

Ahaz was the successor and son of Jotham. Ahaz ruled over Judah for sixteen years. He possessed a completely different character than his father and encouraged his land to worship Baal idols. In 2 Chronicles we see that Jotham his father lived for the Lord (2 Chronicles 27:2). The Bible tells us in 2 Kings that Ahaz did not live for the Lord and that he was a rather evil and oppressive ruler.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done

2 Kings 16:2

Ahaz even sacrificed some of his own children by burning them in a fire as an offering, which was one of the common practices of the pagan nations. He also constructed altars in every part of Judah. This greatly angered God. Because of the evilness and corrupted practices being encouraged by Ahaz, the Lord decided to humble the city.

The LORD humbled Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel. Ahaz had spread sin throughout Judah and was unfaithful to the LORD.

2 Chronicles 28:19

Ahab died at 35 years old and he was buried in the city with his ancestors rather than the tomb of the kings. His son Hezekiah became his successor who unlike his father was a very faithful king. The full written account of Ahaz can be found in 2 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 28 and Isaiah 7, 9.