(June 23) Fifty Most Subscribed Religious YouTube channels

I define a religious channel as one that has the majority of its videos dealing with Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, Mormonism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism to some extent. This list excludes atheist channels, majority-comedy channels and channels with non-English names. This list has created on June 23, 2015. 

1.) Jefferson Bethke has 539,483 subscribers. 

2.) skilletband has 400,457 subscribers. 

3.) Anthem Lights has 356,342 subscribers. 

4.) The Merciful Servant has 355,936 subscribers. 

5.) Mormon Channel has 342,577 subscribers. 

6.) Reach Records has 286,230 subscribers. 

7.) Hillsong Worship has 266,856 subscribers. 

8.) Bethel Music has 266,725 subscribers. 

9.) NewsboysVEVO has 265,082 subscribers. 

10.) The Daily Reminder has 263,641 subscribers. 

11.) Talk Islam has 263,354 subscribers. 

12.) ChrisTomlinVEVO has 238,636 subscribers. 

13.) DigitalMimbar has 208,456 subscribers. 

14.) Jesus Culture has 205,965 subscribers. 

15.) Islamic Guidance has 186,255 subscribers. 

16.) TobyMacVEVO has 183,385 subscribers. 

17.) Muslim Speakers has 169,513 subscribers. 

18.) KariJobeVEVO has 162,352 subscribers. 

19.) TheAnimaSeries  has 141,257 subscribers. 

20.) Living Waters has 124,068 subscribers. 

21.) P4CM has 123,412 subscribers. 

22.) RELEVANT has 123,900 subscribers. 

23.) LoveAllah328 has 121,077 subscribers. 

24.) TheProphetsPath has 119,767 subscribers. 

25.) vatican has 116,574 subscribers. 

26.) The Skit Guys has 113,485 subscribers. 

27.) TheDeenShowTV has 109,507 subscribers. 

28.) imad07 has 101,434 subscribers. 

29.) Mormon.org has 97,814 subscribers. 

30.) Paul Begley has 96,630 subscribers. 

31.) CastingCrownsVEVO has 91,926 subscribers. 

32.) Mormon Tablenecle Choir has 89,002 subscribers. 

33.) I'll Be Honest has 85,893 subscribers. 

34.) Ravi Zacharias International Ministries has 84,176 subscribers. 

35.) Desiring God has 83,834 subscribers. 

36.) FrancescaBattistelli has 81,304 subscribers. 

37.) ComeToTruth has 70,058 subscribers. 

38.) MandisaVEVO has 69,416 subscribers. 

39.) MercymeVEVO has 67,052 subscribers. 

40.) NickVujicicTV has 64,008 subscribers. 

41.) Fr. Robert Barron has 60,501 subscribers. 

42.) EWTN has 59,100 subscribers. 

43.) BuddhistSocietyWA has 58,954 subscribers. 

44.) chaseGodtv has 58,477 subscribers.

45.) Grace to You has 58,340 subscribers. (chaseGodtv now has more subscribers.) 

46.) Wretched has 57,146 subscribers. 

47.) ThirdDayVEVO has 52,741 subscribers. 

48.) JeremyCampVEVO has 49,497 subscribers. 

49.) BDWmusic has 44,408 subscribers. 

50.) Acts17Apologetics has 43,502 subscribers. 

How Wealthy was King Solomon?

You may know that Solomon was rich, but how much would he lived today? How does he compare to people like Bill Gates, Al gore and the medieval African Mansa Musa?

According to 2 Chronicles 9:13 Solomon, as a King gained "over twenty-five tons of gold" every year. 

1 ton = 907.185 kilograms 
25 tons = 22679.625 kilograms 

1 kilogram = $38648.41 (us)
22679.625 kilograms = $876531445.646

So, in terms of today's (June 19, 2015) currency Solomon had $876531445.646 as a monarch
 to use for building projects. And that's only for one year. The record doesn't even include trade 
revenue taxes for merchants or gifts. Were told Solomon reigned for forty years but it isn't clear 
when Solomon started making more than twenty-five tons of gold. I'm going to assume that 
Solomon only began making so much money after twenty years of his reign; I make this 
assumption because some major sources of his revenue appear to come after The Temple 
and his palace was built. For example his marriage to Pharaoh's daughter and his ships setting 
out for Ophir. 

$876531445.646*20 is...
$17,530628912.9 US (which would put him 51st on Forbes current list.)
$21,542951605.34 (Canadian) 
67,107247478.58 (Israeli shekel)
15,464426915.72 (Euro)
11,037701192.53 (British pounds)         


It's worth noting however that Solomon as King of a Kingdom that stretched from the wadi to Egypt (in the north-central Sinai area) to the river Euphrates he was obligated to spend money on repairing and fortifying cities, making sure the military was up to shape and making sure every Israelite in the Kingdom has some level of quality of life. Imagine if your country's income went to one individual who choose to give to his people at will. 

Sadly for Israel the United Kingdom would be divided and also raided by Pharaoh 

Sheshonq within one hundred years after Solomon's death. Sheshonq left this as an undeniable proof: 

Who was Eshbaal?

As you may be aware Israeli archaeologists found an inscription dating back to between 1000-900 BC. It read "Eshbaal Ben Beda". There was a Eshbaal who was one of the sons of King Saul of Israel, but it's clearly not the same guy as the one in the Bible. How do we know this? Well it's rather easy; in Hebrew Ben means "son of". So when translated it means Eshbaal son of Beda, while the Prince would have been called Eshbaal son of Saul. The find is still significant because it proves the name was being used around the time of King Saul.

However, this is still a great opportunity to discuss who Eshbaal was and why he was one of the more significant figures of the Bible though he is rarely ever discussed. 

Eshbaal was born in about 1050 BC as a member of the tribe of Benjamin; his father Saul became King of the twelve tribes, his mother was named Ahinoam. He had three brothers, one of which was the well-known Johnathan (the beloved friend of David.) In 1010 BC he lost his father and three of his brothers during a battle between the Philistines and his own people, the Israelites. Which can be read about here.


As David was accepted as the King of the tribe of Judah, Eshbaal was accepted as King over the other eleven tribes at age forty. This bought a conflict between the Hebrew people. The two sides came together to settle the dispute for who should rightfully reign over the twelve tribes. 

The two sides sat across from each other at a pool in the city of Gibeon. Then Abner (the military commander of the eleven tribes) said to Joab (Judah's commander) "Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us." Joab agreed. They brought out twelve men from both sides and lined them up facing each other. During the melee that followed all men drew their daggers, plunged it into their enemies sides and died. 

The conflict quickly exalted to an all out war which became one of the most dramatically told wars in the entire Bible. It begins here. 

Eshbaal's life ended two years after becoming King; he was struck in the stomach by two assassins named Rechab and Baanah. When David heard of this he deemed it totally unacceptable (Eshbaal's father had tried to kill David many times, but David thought it was to vile to murder his own King. Now these two dared to kill their own King while being heads of assault teams--to David it was a disgusting act of betrayal.) David had the two assassins killed; he had their hands cut off along with their feet then he had them hung in Hebron where he had been made King over Judah. Some time later David would become King over all of the tribes while King Eshbaal would hardly be known compared to David, his father and brother Johnathan.
Still he played a significant role in shaping Israel's history and thus the history of all Hebrews today. 

(June 13) Fifty Most Popular "Religious" YouTube Channels List

I define a religious channel as one that has the majority of its videos dealing with God, Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, Mormonism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism to some extent. This list excludes atheist channels, majority-comedy channels and channels with non-English names. This list has created on June 13, 2015. 

1.) Jefferson Bethke has 538,347 subscribers. 

2.) skilletband has 396,526 subscribers. 

3.) Anthem Lights has 353,919 subscribers.

4.) The Merciful Servant has 347,184 subscribers. 

5.) Mormon Channel has 340,975 subscribers.

6.) Reach Records has 283,420 subscribers. 

7.) Hillsong Worship has 263,772 subscribers. 

8.) Bethel Music has 262,304 subscribers.

9.) NewsboysVEVO has 261,982 subscribers.(NewsboysVEVO had more subscribers than Bethel Music ten days ago.)

10.) The Daily Reminder has 259,578. 

11.) Talk Islam has 259,458 subscribers. 

12.) ChrisTomlinVEVO has 236,033 subscribers.

13.) DigitalMimbar has 205,801 subscribers. 

14.) Jesus Culture has 204,249 subscribers.

15.) Islamic Guidance has 182,448 subscribers. 

16.) TobyMacVEVO has 181,957 subscribers. (TobyMacVEVO was ahead of Islamic Guidance ten days ago.) 

17.) Muslim Speakers has 164,611 subscribers. 

18.) KariJobeVEVO has 159,366 subscribers. 

19.) TheAnimaSeries 139,711 subscribers. 

20.) Living Waters has 123,430 subscribers. 

21.) P4CM has 122,893 subscribers. 

22.) RELEVANT has 122,448 subscribers. 

23.) LoveAllah328 has 119,037 subscribers.

24.) TheProphetsPath has 115,779 subscribers. 

25.) vatican has 115,744 subscribers. (The Vatican`s official English channel was ahead of TheProphetsPath ten days ago.)

26.) The Skit Guys has 112,736 subscribers. 

27.) TheDeenShowTV has 108,271 subscribers. 

28.) imad07 has 99,659 subscribers. 

29.) Mormon.org has 97,461 subscribers. 

30.) Paul Begley has 95,821 subscribers. 

31.)CastingCrownsVEVO has 90,895 subscribers. 

32.) Mormon Tablenecle Choir has 88,376 subscribers. 

33.) Ill Be Honest has 85,290 subscribers. 

34.) Ravi Zacharias International Ministries has 83,635 subscribers. 

35.) Desiring God has 83,153 subscribers. 

36.) FrancescaBattistelli has 80,498 subscribers. 

37.) ComeToTruth has 69,155 subscribers. 

38.) MandisaVEVO has 68,896 subscribers. 

39.) MercymeVEVO has 65,493 subscribers. 

40.) NickVujicicTV has 63,662 subscribers. 

41.) Fr. Robert Barron has 60,075 subscribers. 

42.) EWTN has 58,690 subscribers. 

43.) BuddhistSoceityWA has 58,550 subscribers. 

44.) Grace to You has 57,884 subscribers. 

45.) chaseGodtv has 57,820 subscribers. 

46.) Wretched has 56,658 subscribers. 

47.) ThirdDayVEVO has 51,943 subscribers. 

48.) JeremyCampVEVO has 48,925 subscribers. 

49.) BDWmusic has 43,976 subscribers. 

50.) Acts17Apologetics has 43,039 subscribers.  

Did Jesus speak of a Literal Hell?

The issue of Hell is one of great contention. Its eternal, painful and a place of punishment. But is it real? If reality was based on opinion the answer would be no; most people don't want to believe that members of their own families and perhaps even themselves will suffer for all eternity. They would rather there be no proper justice for those who sin against God so they say; this isn't difficult to understand for they neither recognize how much they have sinned against God nor how holy and just He is.

But for this blog I will try hard not to use rational argumentation that reaches out to all people (although such arguments exist and I hope you'll take time to consider them); but for this post I'm addressing those who call themselves Christians, by which I mean follows of Christ, not the Jesus of society, your church or your biases but the One Who can be found in our earliest records: The Gospels.

Here are five references Jesus makes to Hell, I hope you'll keep in mind that the truth of this matter depends not on emotions or feelings but on the transcendent reality. For if Hell is real in the literal sense no matter how much we want to deny its existence it will still exist after our death.

1.) "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of Hell."-Matthew 18:7-9

2.) "And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell?"-Matthew 23:30-33

3.) "In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."-Luke 16:23-24
(Even if you take this as a parable one must conclude that it is a greater story for all people who are selfish in this life, will suffer in the afterlife.)

4.) "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."-Matthew 25:41, in the context Jesus views Himself as the very King Who is damn certain people to Hell, which we can note is called eternal fire. Matthew 25 is especially difficult for those who hold what I call the "hippie-Jesus" view; this is because Jesus's ethical statements about taking care of others are tied to His warnings about Eternal damnation.  

5.) "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' "But He will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out."-Luke 13:26-28

These are only a few examples, but they are nonetheless clear. C.S Lewis famously made the point in his popular book Mere Christianity that Jesus was either Lord, a lunatic or a liar. If you claim to be a Christian you must believe that He is Lord, and if you accept Him as Lord you are obligated to believe His words (and not to sooner follow your own feelings or who you want Jesus to be.)

Why 66? Why Christians consider 66 books inspired by God

If you look at The Books of The Bible separately you may find it odd, especially if you're not a Christian; there's one including Law Codes from 2500 years ago, a poem dealing with suffering, and a romantic Song with sexual imagery--what are these doing in The Holy Book? How did they get there? Well their are three reasons we have the Bible that we have today and that other books weren't accepted: (1) Jesus, (2) first century Christians and (3) Christian tradition.

Jesus

Jesus, the head and founder of Christianity was a Jew Who believed in the Jewish scriptures, we know what books He believed in specifically because He often quoted from the Hebrew Bible. In fact more than half of all Jesus's teaching are based off the Hebrew Scriptures. But what books did Jesus believe in? Well, here's a chart:

What Book He used	Reference
Deuteronomy	Luke 4, Matthew 4
Isaiah	Luke 4, Mark 4
Exodus	Matthew 5
Leviticus	Matthew 5
Numbers	Matthew 5
Hosea	Matthew 9, 12
Micah	Matthew 10, Luke 12
Malachi	Matthew 11, Luke 7
Genesis	Matthew 19, Mark 10
Jeremiah	Matthew 21
Psalms	Matthew 21-22, 27, Mark 12,
Daniel	Matthew 24
Zechariah	Matthew 26, Mark 14

 Jonah                                                                         Matthew 12       

The bold ones show the Books that would be accepted solely based on Jesus's words:

Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy

Joshua 

Judges 

Ruth 

1 Samuel 

2 Samuel

1 Kings 

2 Kings 

1 Chronicles 

2 Chronicles 

Ezra 

Nehemiah 

Esther 

Job 

Psalms 

Proverbs 

Ecclesiastes

Solomon's Song of Songs 

Isaiah 

Jeremiah

Lamentations 

Ezekiel 

Daniel 

Hosea 

Joel 

Amos 

Obadiah 

Jonah 

Micah 

Nahum

Habakkuk 

Haggai 

Zephaniah 

Zechariah 

Malachi 

The Early Church

The early church (by which I mean the Christian community living between 33 and 100 AD.) discovered that the Hebrew scriptures such as Isaiah (chapter 53) were about Jesus, in making speeches and in their letters they understand certain other books to be inspired by God Himself. 

What Book they used	Reference
Joel	Acts 2
2 Samuel	Acts 2
Joshua	Acts 7
Amos	Acts 7
1 Kings	Acts 7
1 Samuel	Acts 13
Hanukkah	Acts 13
Nehemiah	Romans 10
Job	1st Corinthians 3
Confirms Ezekiel’s visions	Revelations 5

Which means that at the end the first century the following books were accepted as inspired by God (specially The Holy Spirit):

Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy

Joshua 

Judges 

Ruth 

1 Samuel 

2 Samuel

1 Kings 

2 Kings 

1 Chronicles 

2 Chronicles 

Ezra 

Nehemiah 

Esther 

Job 

Psalms 

Proverbs 

Ecclesiastes

Solomon's Song of Songs 

Isaiah 

Jeremiah

Lamentations (Assumed because Jeremiah is accepted as a Prophet)

Ezekiel (Assumed because his visions relate to those in Revelations.)

Daniel 

Hosea 

Joel 

Amos 

Obadiah 

Jonah 

Micah 

Nahum

Habakkuk 

Haggai 

Zephaniah 

Zechariah 

Malachi 

At the end of the first century it is unclear that the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written. Certainly those letters of Paul (an important Christian evangelist), Peter (an Apostle), John (another Apostle) and James (Jesus's human brother) as well as any verifiable records about Jesus would be deemed as sacred, but not necessarily inspired by God in the same sense that God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah for example. 

Christian tradition 

Christian tradition over the next two hundred years would allow the inclusion of Judges, Ruth, Ezra, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song of Songs, Obadiah, Nahum, Haggai, Zephaniah along with the twenty seven books of the New Testament. (Although it is very likely that many Old Testament books were accepted because the early church was mostly Jewish.)

Christians then began to believe that Paul's words in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Even though it is very possible that Paul was only thinking of the Hebrew Scriptures when he wrote this. 

Books such as the Song of Solomon was argued against canonization because of it's sexual content, and the protestant Reformer Martin Luther expressed concern about the book of Esther (which never mentions God's Name even once) and Reformer John Calvin hardly wrote about it in commentaries.

To this day Esther is hardly preached on.