The Way We Live and Die Now

May 7, 2023 Leave a comment

“According to the report “Martyred Christians in Nigeria” issued by Intersociety, over the past 14 years at least 52,250 Nigerian Christians have been brutally murdered at the hands of Islamist militants.’

Over 50,000 Christians killed in Nigeria by Islamist extremists – Vatican News

5,068 Citizens Massacred For Being Christians In Nigeria In 2022, 1,041 Slaughtered In First 100 Days Of 2023 – InterSociety (intersociety-ng.org)

“The attackers targeted the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the town of Owo as the worshippers gathered on Pentecost Sunday, according to local officials. They gunned down parishioners and detonated an explosive device, local media reported.”

Nigeria: gunmen kill dozens in ‘satanic’ attack on Catholic church | Nigeria | The Guardian

The world hates and crushes those not in conformity to its prescribed world-order manifestations.

A prescribed world-order? Above, Islamic extremism carried out genocidal attacks. Here’s another example from the last century:

“Although the Bolsheviks called for the abolition of private property, their real goal was spiritual: to translate Marxist- Leninist ideology into reality. For the first time, a state was created that was based explicitly on atheism and claimed infallibility. . . In countries where communism came to hold sway, it hollowed out society’s moral core, degrading the individual and turning him into a cog in the machinery of the state. Communists committed murder on such a scale as to all but eliminate the value of life and to destroy the individual conscience in survivors.”

100 Years of Communism—and 100 Million Dead | Hudson

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn chronicled the dehumanizing and destructive force of a prescribed world-order – Marxist-Leninist Stalinism – with its relentless steamroller of conformity.

The same crusade to exact conformity to the prescribed world-order is present today. We see this in calls for “Diversity”, conformity in drag. “Diversity” is one of the ruses used to sort out those who conform from those who do not conform to the prescribed world-order.

COVID mandates – lockdowns, masks, social distancing, vaccines, etc. – were all done by edicts to bring about conformity to a prescribed world-order. Turning over America’s sovereignty to the World Health Organization (WHO) is meant to enforce conformity to a prescribed world order.

A system of spying on people is meant to enforce conformity to a prescribed world order.

New WHO Pandemic Initiative Uses ‘Listening Surveillance Systems’ To Identify ‘Misinformation & Rumors.’ – Stephen K Bannon’s War Room

A digital currency is meant to enforce conformity to a prescribed world order.

Digital Dollar: When You Don’t Own Money – In The Tank #395 – The Heartland Institute

Steamroller conformity measures – executive orders, regulations, etc. – are now being rolled out for the “climate crisis”. Any who do not conform will be dealt with one way or another.

The same spirit of the world, with its drive to conformity, existed in the first century.

In the gospel according to Mark, we read that religious and political authorities did not like what was Jesus was saying and doing. Jesus had posed a question to a sabbath synagogue group, which by their non-answer, exposed their hard-heartedness. In spite of their conformity-based silence (who would dare speak out with religious authorities in the room?), Jesus went on to heal a man with a withered hand on the sabbath. Offense was taken, for Jesus didn’t conform to the pre-scribed world-order. He didn’t play by the rules.

“The Pharisees [religious authorities] went out right away and began to plot with the Herodians [political authorities] against Jesus, trying to find a way to destroy him “(Mk. 3:6).

Bearing faithful witness, as the early Christians did when they accurately reported what they had seen and heard of Jesus including what they witnessed during his post-resurrection appearances, is a costly commitment of life as it stands up against the prescribed world-order. Some called the witness subversive and divisive. Others alluded to it as misinformation. What the early Christians testified to did not conform to the pre-scribed world-order and so they had to be put down. Many such witnesses proved the fortitude of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death.

“. . . all fortitude has reference to death. All fortitude stands in the presence of death. Fortitude is basically readiness to die or, more accurately, readiness to fall, to die, in battle. . . “man must be ready to let himself be killed rather than to deny Christ or to sin grievously.” Readiness to die is therefore one of the foundations of the Christian life.””

Josef Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues (University of Notre Dame Press, 1966) 117, 118

“Just like the early church, we are being persecuted. When I became bishop years ago, I inherited a persecuted church. I had no intention then to let the church lose steam, and I don’t want that happening now. We must not be afraid or lose confidence, but plow ahead with mission in the midst of persecution. Courage only comes from God. Outside of Jesus, your own courage will fail you. When you see the gospel at work saving lives, you count your suffering for nothing.”

Benjamin Kwashi, Archbishop of the Province of Jos, Nigeria

(From the Greek word martus (a witness) comes the English derivation “martyr”.)

“If the world hates you,” Jesus went on,” know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were from the world, the world would be fond of its own. But the world hates you for this reason: that you’re not from this world. No: I chose you out of this world.”

Jesus, in the gospel according to John 15: 18-19

This world hates and crushes those not in conformity to its prescribed world-order manifestations. It hates any exposure of its diabolical machinations working to conform people to the ruler of this world. And that is what the Christian life does – exposes world-order lies.

One testifies that one is not loyal to the prescribed world-order as one embodies new creation-ordered reality – Christ in you – and lives that reality out in the home, in the church, and in the community of creation. As spirit-filled Christians we live in the new creation-ordered world. And that puts us in opposition to any conformity to a spirit-voided prescribed world-order.

Some will mock and jeer those not conformed to their prescribed world-order. Others, as history has shown, may gun down those who do not conform (Listen to homily below). For, unlike Christians who take new creation life from the True Vine (Jn. 15), those of the world-order take their life from the fallen, dried up, and withered branch of ideology. For them, adhering to the ideological life is everything. And so, their scripture might read . . .

“Do not be shaped by new creation-order but be fundamentally transformed by the renewing of your mind with prescribed conformity. Then you and others will be able to disapprove of and resist God’s authority and accept the authority of the world-order.”

Antichrist’s Letter to the church in Media 12:2

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“If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.” -1 COR. 12:26

The Crisis of Christian Persecution in NigeriaDownload

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Mass for Persecuted Christians

Music: Paul Jernberg

Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven – YouTube

Homilist: Fr. Benedict Kiely (founding director of Nasarean.org)

0:33 – Introit: Look to Your Covenant, O Lord

4:38 – Confiteor / I confess to Almighty God

5:54 – Kyrie / Lord, have mercy

6:37 – Gloria / Glory to God in the Highest

9:39 – Responsorial Psalm: Let the Nations Know

12:45 – Alleluia (traditional Melkite)

14:09 – Homily

31:32 – Universal Prayer / Great Litany (Roman Hurko)

35:15 – Offertory antiphon: You Will Save the Humble People, O Lord

39:51 – Sanctus / Holy, Holy, Holy

41:31 – Pater Noster / Our Father

43:22 – Agnus Dei / Lamb of God

44:32 – Communion antiphon: That Which I Tell You in the Dark

48:15 – The Beatitudes

52:10 – Marian Hymn: We Fly Unto Your Heart of Compassion

53:38 – Closing Hymn: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

Nasarean.org | Aid & Advocacy for Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

The Voice of the Martyrs (persecution.com)

VOM Radio – LAOS PASTOR: “God is Real and He Healed Me”

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Josiah Lippincott, a Hillsdale college alum and former page for Devin Nunes, has an essay at American Greatness: Conservatives Lost the Culture War and the Trump Agenda Is the Only Path Forward. Here are a few excerpts:

“COVID-19 made the weakness of American Christianity painfully clear. Protestant and Catholic churches alike overwhelmingly declared themselves nonessential during the spring of 2020. That was, sadly, merely an acknowledgement of a longstanding reality. . .

The vague admonitions to “have faith” and “follow Christ” that pepper the Sunday morning pastoral exhortations from America’s pulpits generally lack any practical core. America’s pastors, with few exceptions, shy away from fighting for the faith they supposedly love. They lack the sternness and fidelity of their forebears. Compare a St. Augustine to a Pope Francis or a Martin Luther to a David French. Our Christian forebears had iron in their souls. The modern pastor is generally soft. . .

America is awash in men’s groups, Bible studies, discipleship training, women’s seminars, and worship conferences. Yet divorce is through the roof, abortion is common, and homosexuality lauded from the very centers of American financial and political power. Whatever utility all this frenetic religious activity has had for the private faith lives of ordinary Americans, it is abundantly clear it has not had any real benefit for the moral and spiritual health of the nation as a whole.”

Josiah makes the point that “Political power doesn’t flow from scoring debate points in the “free marketplace of ideas.” It comes from the willingness to impose one’s beliefs on others and possessing the resources to do so. 

All morality requires enforcement.”

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Subversive podcast with Josiah Lippincott

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Informed Dissent:

“A new pandemic prevention initiative by the World Health Organization will rely on “social listening surveillance systems” to identify “rumors and misinformation,” War Room can reveal.

The initiative – Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) – seeks to “guide countries in pandemic planning” while “incorporat[ing] the latest tools and approaches for shared learning and collective action established during the COVID-19 pandemic.””

“Module one of the initiative’s blueprint describes how the spread of content deemed “misinformation” amounts to a new “health threat” called “infodemics.”’

New WHO Pandemic Initiative Uses ‘Listening Surveillance Systems’ To Identify ‘Misinformation & Rumors.’ – Stephen K Bannon’s War Room

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Live from the Darian Gap: Chinese Communists Plan to Take Over the United States Exposed (banned.video)

‘Net Zero is taking the world’s population backwards’ | Neil Oliver issues grave Ulez warning – YouTube

Filed under 2023 current events, Christianity, Persecution, Political Commentary Tagged with , , , , ,

The Nature of Things

February 5, 2023 Leave a comment

I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?

-Samwise Gamgee to Frodo Baggins, reflecting on their journey

The twelve of us are in fishing boats anchored just offshore. Four of us – me, Andrew, James and John – are fishermen and the rest, landlubbers.

Jesus, the one who called us together to be with him, is standing on one of the fishing boats facing a huge crowd on the shore. He is teaching about the kingdom of God in parables.

At the end of the day Jesus says, “Let’s go over to the other side.”

Our boats leave the crowded shore and head across the sea toward the land of the Gerasenes. On the water, wind in our sails, we have downtime. Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern of my boat. I guide the craft with oar and sail and reflections. Where have we been and where are we headed?

I look around. The twelve of us come from small villages in Galilee. Most of us have attended synagogue. The tax collector hadn’t shown his face there until Jesus called him to follow along. We each share some common knowledge about God and our world. Is that why Jesus called us to follow him?

In synagogue we recited Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. We were taught that our God brought order out of chaos when He formed the world. We were taught that God gave the created order functions and promised As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. We learned that our God is involved in our world.

We were taught that we are made in the God’s image and that we are to function as God’s image in this world.

We learned the history of our people. The law, the prophets, and psalms were read.And there was talk of someone that would save Israel from her oppressors.

Jesus came along and announced that the kingdom of God has arrived. He began teaching us to understand things in kingdom of God ways. I cast a net into the sea and I catch fish and men. I plant a grain of wheat and wheat grows and the kingdom of God grows.

We’ve heard Jesus say astonishing things in synagogues across Galilee.  We’ve witnessed Jesus casting out demons and healing all kinds of afflictions. Right before our own eyes we saw him restore order and function. It is exciting and daunting to be with Jesus. What’s next in our journey?

Suddenly, the wind starts whipping our sails back and forth. A big storm is upon us. Monster surface waves are beating on the boats. Can we stay afloat? Each boat is quickly taking on water and with it the fear of the destructive power of nature. What are twelve men and a carpenter-teacher against such a storm on open water?

Andrew rouses Jesus.

“We’re going down! Don’t you care?”

Jesus gets up, his garment soaking wet. He scolds the wind and says to the sea “Silence! Shut up!”

At once, the wind died and there was a flat calm. Order was restored. Jesus looks at our terrified faces. “Why are you scared? Don’t you believe yet?”

A great fear washed over us. Believe what? Hair on the back of my neck stood up. We looked at each other trying to comprehend who and what just happened. “Who is this? Even the wind and the sea do what he says!”

After that, thoughts came flooding in. How could they not?

In synagogue we had heard that the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God] swept over the face of the waters and that God created great sea monsters. We heard that God brought order and function to the churning, chaotic primordial deeps.

The deep, the wind, the storm, the great sea monsters – everything serves God.

As a fisherman, how could I forget the words of the Psalm I heard in synagogue last Sabbath?

Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the mighty waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their calamity;
they reeled and staggered like drunkards
    and were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out from their distress;
he made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they had quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to humankind.
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

And the Sabbath before that . . .

You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.

And the Sabbath before that . . .

At your rebuke the waters flee;
    at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

And the words of Job, the Sabbath before that . . .

The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the Sea;
    by his understanding he struck down Rahab

Could that mean . . .?! Whoa whoa whoa! I lived to tell this!

Adapted from the gospel according to Mark, chapter four.

Additional Texts: Psalm 89, 104, 107; Job 26

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You and I are in a tale of cosmic proportions. It’s a tale of the unseen as more real than the seen and where mysteries are revealed. For God is always active in the world in countless and often undetectable ways.

It’s a tale of learning to practice the presence of God. It’s a tale of life in sacred space. For God is with us. And should we then be presumptive of God and domesticate him with our theology? Or, should we learn to be practitioners of his presence come what may?

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Mark Chapter 5: when the boats reached the land of the Gerasenes, Jesus and the group of twelve are met by a man with an unclean spirit. The demoniac, feared by everyone around, brought disorder to God’s creation. People tried to bring about order by restraining him with chains and shackles. But he tore up the chains and snapped the shackles.

Jesus sent the Legion of demons into a herd of pigs. The herd rushed down the steep slope into the recently “ordered” sea and drowned. He restored order in that district.

Only God is able to bring order out of cosmic disorder. (The World Economic Forum cannot no matter how many shackles and chains they apply.)

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Order and function in all that is:

As Kingfishers catch fire

By Gerard Manley Hopkins

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

“Each of these objects does exactly what its nature dictates, in a kind of (unwilled) self-assertion. More generally, every “mortal thing” might be thought to do the same: to express that essence that dwells inside (“indoors”) of it.”

Hopkins’s Poetry “As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame” Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes

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John H. Walton (Ph.D. Hebrew Union College) is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School where he has taught for almost twenty years

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Informed Dissent:

“What of the vaccine damaged and dead”?”

Speaking for the Dead – by Robert W Malone MD, MS (substack.com)

And who is Martha Stewards’ audience?

Whoa! Pfizer’s Latest Ad with Martha Stewart Claims the COVID Booster Shot will Take Out the COVID Virus – A COMPLETE LIE (thegatewaypundit.com)

Bill Gates concludes that mRNA shots aren’t actually useful, warns of ‘next pandemic’ (substack.com)

Project Veritas massive #Pfertility bombshell… going viral online now… – Revolver News

Science vs. religion as Greek priests lead the anti-vax movement – POLITICO

Dr. Naomi Wolf on COVID Vaccine: “A Bioweapon – Manufactured in Concert with the CCP – In a Slow Way to Debilitate If Not Kill Off the Population of North America and Western Europe” (VIDEO) (thegatewaypundit.com)

Project Veritas has broken Pfizer’s Gain-of-Function Research Program Wide Open. (substack.com)

The Lancet, which scammed the world by publishing a rigged study against ivermectin, now says climate change is a “medical emergency” – NaturalNews.com

Risk-Benefit-FinalDownload

Prof. Retsef Levi from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) warned about the risks associated with experimental mRNA COVID vaccines.

Renowned MIT Professor and Drug Safety Analytics Specialist Calls for Immediate Suspension of all mRNA COVID Vaccines (thegatewaypundit.com)

Top Insurance Analyst Finds a 7% Increase In Aggregate Mortality for Each C19 Dose Received [VIDEO] (redvoicemedia.com)

THE PLAN – WHO plans for 10 years of pandemics, from 2020 to 2030 (rumble.com)

Pfizer reports $100 billion haul, with vast majority of profits looted from US taxpayers (substack.com)

It is the most expensive “free” product of all time.

Pfizer colluded with the federal government to siphon off $100 billion dollars from the American taxpayer last year, in filings announced Tuesday by the drugmaker. $31 billion of that massive haul amounted to pure profit, which was up 43% from 2021. (Emphasis mine.)

EXCLUSIVE: The Federal Government Is Tracking Unvaccinated People Who Go To The Doctor And To The Hospital Due to CDC-Designed Surveillance Program – National File

Nothing to see here, only Sudden (Slab Jab) Deaths and the culling of the human population to save the planet:

18-Year-Old Freshman Dies Suddenly After Collapsing During Workout (thegatewaypundit.com)

Famed Olympic athlete and rugby player dies suddenly at 35 (wnd.com)

Jessie Lemonier dead at 25: Ex-Detroit Lions and LA Chargers linebacker, news confirmed by team | Daily Mail Online

19-Year-Old WSU Student Found Dead in His Dorm – No Evidence of Foul Play Involved (thegatewaypundit.com)

32-Year-Old Firefighter and Marine Corps Veteran Dies Suddenly (thegatewaypundit.com)

(READ) Autopsy analysis of 2 teen boys who died days after 2d Pfizer Covid-19 shot | Sharyl Attkisson

Former NFL linebacker dies suddenly at 25, no cause of death given – LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)

BREAKING: Beloved Tennis Player Dies Suddenly After Collapse On Summerlin Court – [your]NEWS (yournews.com)

Tragic: 14-Year-Old Israeli American Girl Suffers and Dies from COVID Vaccine – Makes a Video of Her Story Five Days Before Her Death (thegatewaypundit.com)

Search Results from the VAERS Database (medalerts.org)\

Vaccine Caused Excess Deaths?

Do you want to be free from medical tyranny?

Health Freedom Advocacy Center | Stand For Health Freedom

Bills to watch:

  • Representative Andy Harris’ HR118 – No Vaccine Passports Act
  • Representative Andy Biggs’ HR72, which prohibits the use of federal funds to maintain or collect information that can be used to identify any individual to whom a COVID-19 vaccine is administered, as well as for other purposes.
  • Representative Thomas Massie’s HR185, which will terminate the COVID vaccine mandate on foreign travelers flying to the United States.
  • Representative Chip Roy’s HR343 – No Taxpayer Funding for the WHO Act
  • Representative Andy Harris’ HR79 – WHO Withdrawal Act

More wealth transfer:

Filed under Christianity, Gospel of Mark, Short Story Tagged with , , , ,

Claim We Can Believe In

July 24, 2022 Leave a comment

Have you tried out claims that promise a change for the better and then found that they fall short of their ballyhooed benefits? Have you tried, say, using tooth whitening strips and gels and find that your teeth didn’t whiten as advertised? Did you lose the weight promised through a much-hyped weight reduction program? Has the COVID vaccine proven to be “safe and effective” and a protection against COVID as claimed by the CDC, Anthony Fauci and the media?  

Have you given in to high-pressure sales such as the latter? Did you act without sufficient information as to the risks and benefits? According to the FDA, when drugs are advertised A product claim ad names a drug, says what condition it treats, and talks about both its benefits and its risks. An ad must present the benefits and risks of a prescription drug in a balanced fashion. Balance depends on both the information in the ad itself and how the information is presented. In this ad, the benefits and risks are presented to give a balanced impression of the drug. Did you see any of the required FDA ad information for the COVID vaccine crusade?

Have you voted for the ostentatious claims of political campaigns? A few recent examples include “Change We Can Believe In”, “Hope and Change”, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”, “This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal”, and “We can Build Back Better”.

If you are into audacious claims and a Claim We Can Believe In, then here’s one:

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and last, the beginning and the end.” -Jesus, The Revelation of John 22:13

Before this claim is made by the risen-from-the-dead Jesus and before any of the seven “I am” claims stated in John’s gospel account, Jesus revealed empirical proof to eyewitnesses and taste-witnesses that would substantiate his incredible claim.

The revelation came about during a wedding feast. Without much ado (Jesus didn’t blow smoke about himself like so many have done to draw attention to themselves.), Jesus revealed himself to be the first and last of any sequence. The account is recorded in John’s gospel chapter 2:

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

The wine ran out.

Jesus’s mother came over to him.

“They haven’t got any wine!” she said.

“Oh, Mother!” replied Jesus. “What’s that got to do with you and me? My time hasn’t come yet.”

His mother spoke to the servants. “Do whatever he tells you”, she said.

Six stone water-jars were standing there, ready for use in the Jewish purification rites. Each held about twenty or thirty gallons.

“Fill the jars with water,” said Jesus to the servants. And they filled them, right up to the brim.

“Now draw some water out,” he said, “and take it to the chief steward.” They did so.

Biblical vector illustration series, Jesus turns water into wine

When the chief steward tasted the water that turned into wine (he didn’t know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawing the water knew), he called the bridegroom.

“What everybody normally does,” he said, “is to serve the good wine first, and then the worse stuff when people have had plenty to drink. But you’ve kept the good wine till now!”

This event, in Cana of Galilee, was the first of Jesus’s signs. He displayed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

-The gospel according to John (the Elder) 2: 1-11

Water into wine. The first and last of a sequence and the transubstantiation of one substance into another. The sequence bypassed grapes, sunlight, soil, a winepress, and fermentation. We logically expect the process to explain things. How could science explain this? H2O changed from a simple formula into a complex mixture of chemical compounds in an instant.

John records empirical proof substantiating Jesus’s first-last claim – the wine-tasting done by the chief steward. We learn from the steward that the wine Jesus produced wasn’t the “worse stuff”. It wasn’t sour grape water. It was, in fact, “good wine”. The chief steward had no idea the “good wine” was sourced from the First and Last Vineyard.

“Ask any winemaker and they’ll tell you that winemaking is a complex business. . . the chemical profile of the grapes can also vary depending on how much sunlight and water they are exposed to, how quickly they ripen, their ripeness when picked, and on conditions such as the climate and the soil.”

Scripture gives insight to Christ’s threefold claim Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and the end. Psalm 91:1 is an example of the parallelism used in the claim.

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty

The coupling of words deepens and expands the meaning of the words. “Abide” has a deeper sense of belonging than “live”. “Shadow” has a greater sense of comfort than “shelter” and “Almighty” has a greater sense of omnipotence than “Most High”.

Jesus claims to be A to Zed and more. Jesus claims to be the first and last of any sequence and not just what is a readily known sequence. Jesus claims to before the beginning as the beginning and after the end as the end. He claims to be the arché and telos. Jesus claims to be the source of a sequence and the goal of a sequence. The most extraordinary deed ever recorded substantiates his claim.

John wants the readers of his gospel account to know that this most extraordinary deed of Jesus is archetypal of what Jesus will do and is sourced in who he is.

This event, in Cana of Galilee, was the arché of Jesus’s signs.

Colossians 1:15-17

Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was through him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen. Through him, and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority. In fact, every single thing was created through, and for him. He is both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation. 

The first and last sequence, the beginning and end, the sustaining principle and destiny of all things is a person. The arché and telos of every level of reality is a person. Living water and new wine is a person.

NB: John opened this account with “On the third day . . .”, a reference to another extraordinary sequence completed in Christ – the resurrection.

More than a Claim to Believe In was confirmed at the Cana wedding. I see the love of Christ demonstrated. Without calling attention to himself, Jesus acted to bless the wedding and keep the bride and groom as the focus of the celebration. He acted behind the scenes to uphold the whole scheme of creation.

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‘Atheism too lives by an indemonstrable faith; whether it is faith in human nature (Feuerbach), or faith in the future socialist society (Marx) or faith in rational science (Freud). The question then can be asked of any form of atheism whether it is not itself an understandable projection of man (Feuerbach), a consolation serving vested interests (Marx) or an infantile illusion (Freud).’  Hans Kung, Why I am still a Christian (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987), 229-30.

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Informed Dissent:

Dr. Birx Praises Herself While Revealing Ignorance, Treachery, and Deceit ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Send in the HHS clowns – by Robert W Malone MD, MS (substack.com)

“An accomplished litigator, Kennedy seeks to persuade jurors who purchased his book that the “real” Anthony Fauci is a “serial liar,” a “corrupt,” “vindictive,” and “disingenuous” “fraud,” who ingratiated himself to a “servile” press as well as all seven presidents who took his public health advice. According to Kennedy, Anthony Fauci remains the undisputed “ringmaster” presiding over a “Ministry of Fear” whose “tentacles” now reach into almost every powerful organization in the world.” 

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Takes on Fauci in ‘Most Important Book’ of our Times – UncoverDC

“The World Health Organization (WHO) has been pushing forward with preparations for an agreement to create a global health governance. Although it has been referred to as a “pandemic treaty,” it’s been openly discussed that the agreement should cover much more. . .

Nowhere has this been described as an agreement that would only be in effect in case of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), but it would instead set up standing surveillance methods in attempts to prevent another pandemic.”

Read this article – WHO Update | Stand for Health Freedom – and see the steps you can take to ward off WHO intrusion into our lives.

Fully vaccinated account for 91% of COVID deaths in one country (wnd.com)

W.H.O. declares Monkey Pox a ‘global health emergency’… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

Monkeypox:

Don’t dare call them groomers…. 98% of cases are among gay or bisexual men and 95% of cases are suspected to have been transmitted during sex. Now children are infected.

CDC Reports First Two Cases of Monkeypox in Children, Both ‘Adjacent’ to the Gay Community (thegatewaypundit.com)

Monkeypox or Moneypox? – by Robert W Malone MD, MS (substack.com)

Marxism:

Carrying Water For The Revolution – by Sam Faddis (substack.com)

Courage Update:

Pastor Artur Pawlowski at Rebel News

Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 on Twitter: “🚨BIGGEST ALBERTA NEWS STORY OF 2022. The Alberta Court of Appeal just destroyed Jason Kenney’s two-year persecution of Pastor Artur Pawlowski. They ruled that the injunction against him, his arrest, his jail time, the censorship order and fines against him were illegal.” / Twitter

“A scared world needs a fearless church.” – AW Tozer

Jan 6th political prisoners:

Climate Change in the Dock:

Don’t mess with the man from MIT… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

Filed under Christianity, Political Commentary, The Gospel of John Tagged with , , , , , , ,

The Eyes Have It

April 15, 2022 Leave a comment

At the cross. At the burial. At the empty tomb. Three wait-and-see days. Three women.

The gospel according to Mark begins with the ushering in of “the good news of Jesus the Messiah, God’s son” (Mk. 1:1). Composed of short narratives that could be easily visualized by those who heard its reading, Mark’s terse and unembellished gospel clears a straight path so that the reader can see and perceive Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises (Mk. 1:3).

For example, Mark uses literary bracketing (inclusio) to focus in on that fulfillment. Two accounts of blind men receiving their sight bracket Jesus telling his disciples (three times) that he will be rejected, handed over to the authorities, killed and then rise from the dead after three days.  (Beginning Bracket: Mark 8:22-26; End Bracket:  Mark.10:46-52.)

Because of their own unwillingness to really really look at Jesus (cf. Mk.8:25) the disciples do not perceive Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises through death and resurrection.

At a mission critical point in the gospel account -Mark chapter 8 – Jesus reproaches his disciples for their lack of understanding. We learn from the brutally honest account that those closest to Jesus, each with two good eyes and two good ears, still did not grasp that the Messiah had to be crucified and then rise again. We hear that in Peter’s repudiation of that mission (Mk. 8:32).

Peter is Mark’s principal eyewitness source of what Jesus said and did and of the disciple’s reactions. But after the end of Mark chapter 14, where Peter’s denial is recorded, Peter and the male disciples are nowhere to be seen or heard from.

Three women are introduced into the passion narrative (Mk 15). They are the source for Mark’s passion account. They are eyewitnesses of what occurred at the cross, at the burial and at the empty tomb.

Earlier in the text, Mark wrote of the blind gaining sight, of those with two good eyes not seeing and not perceiving what was taking place. Mark now places emphasis on seeing that would lead to perceiving and, hopefully, to belief. He records the seeing of the women seven times:

Henry Ossawa Tanner

At the cross. Some of the women observed from a distance. They included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. They had followed Jesus in Galilee, and had attended to his needs. There were several other women, too, who had come up with him to Jerusalem. (Mk. 15: 40-41).

(Note that Mark added that these women had also been with Jesus for most of his ministry. He is telling us that they had observed Jesus from his early ministry to the empty tomb. These women likely heard Jesus teach his disciples new things: about him being handed over to be killed and his rising from the dead after three days. (Mk. 8:31-32; 9:31-32; 10:32-45)

At the burial. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where he was buried. (Mk. 15:47)

At the empty tomb. After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they could come and anoint Jesus …” who’s going to roll the stone away for us?”

Then, when they looked up, they observed that it had been rolled away. (It was extremely large.) (Mk. 16: 1-4)

So they went into the tomb, and there they saw a young man sitting on the right hand side. He was wearing white. They were totally astonished.

“Don’t be astonished,” he said to them. “You’re looking for Jesus of Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been raised! He isn’t here! Look – this is the place where they laid him.

“But go and tell his disciples – including Peter – that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just like he told you.” (Mk. 16:5-7)

The earliest manuscripts of Mark’s gospel account end at 16: 8:

They [the three women] went out, and fled from the tomb. Trembling and panic had seized them. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

This is a curious ending for a gospel that begins with “the good news of Jesus the Messiah, God’s son”. Mark clearly wanted the readers to perceive Jesus as the Messiah, God’s son. He clearly wanted the reader to take in the crucifixion of the Messiah and his bodily resurrection. Why end good news with fear and trembling?

Mark’s gospel account may have had a longer ending. If the original manuscript was written on a scroll (likely), the edge of the scroll containing his ending may have deteriorated. This also happened to many dead sea scrolls.

Later copies of Mark contained appended text (Mk. 16: 9-20). This text may have been added by a scribe in the second century who was familiar with Luke’s gospel account. There are similarities. Mark’s promise of “the good news of Jesus the Messiah, God’s son” has been restored- fulfilled – with the added text. And so was Mark’s emphasis of those not perceiving what is taking place.

Mark’s narrative emphasis on hardness of heart leading to unbelief – rejecting what has been seen and heard by eyewitness accounts– is reinforced in the added text:

When Jesus was raised, early on the first day of the week, he appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told the people who had been with him, who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive, and that he had been seen by her, they didn’t believe it.

After this he appeared in a different guise to two of them as they were walking into the countryside. They came back and told the others, but they didn’t believe them.

Later Jesus appeared to the eleven themselves, as they were at table. He told them off for their hardness of heart, for not believing those who had seen him after he had been raised. (Mk. 16: 9-14)

At the cross. At the burial. At the empty tomb. Three wait-and-see days. Three women seeing seven times. Eleven hard-hearted disciples. And you? You still don’t get it? (cf. Mk.8:21)

All God’s promises, you see, find their yes in him: and that’s why we say the yes, the “Amen,” through him when we pray to God and give him glory (2 Cor. 1:20)

The eyes have it. Amen.

****

“Nowhere in early Christian literature do we find traditions attributed to the community as their source or transmitter, only as the recipient. Against the general form-critical image of the early Christian movement as anonymous collectivity, we must stress that the New Testament writings are full of prominent named individuals . . . Compared with the prominence of named individuals in the New Testament itself, form criticism represented a rather strange depersonalization of early Christianity that still exercised an unconscious influence on New Testament scholars.”[i]

[i] Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, MI), 2017), 297

Filed under Christianity, Easter, resurrection, The Gospel of Mark Tagged with , , , , , ,

Can I Get a Witness?

October 3, 2021 Leave a comment

Can you affirm the following?

“We know that the entire creation is groaning together, and going through labor pains together, up until the present time.” – the Apostle Paul

Have you heard the wind howling? Have you heard the endless pounding of the surf on the shore? Have you heard nature singing in a minor key? While creation is an utter joy for me to take in –the birds singing, the brooks babbling, the palette of fall colors, the smell of lilacs and rain – I also get from nature a sense of melancholy and unsettledness.

Over the past eighteen months, many lives have been devasted by the Wuhan virus and by the response of the experts and authorities to the virus. The cures are proving worse than the disease.

Evening Melancholy I 1896 – by Edvard Munch

To wit, the Biden regime is mandating that private sector employees be vaccinated with a vaccine that has not be fully tested and has produced a rapidly growing number of adverse effects AND DEATHS and does not stop the transmission of the virus or protection from the virus. Pointless. Senseless. Evil.

Biden told America that his patience is wearing thin with the “unvaccinated minority”.

Life is hard enough as it is without the accusations, the antagonism, the name-calling, the stifling, the censoring, the blacklisting, the plundering, and the destroying done by the so-called experts and authorities. And, especially when it’s done in the name of very questionable science. Life is hard enough as it is without adding more pointless futility to it.

Does Edvard Munch’s Evening Melancholy symbolize your present state of mind?

This summer, after memorizing several Psalms (1,4,103 and 104), I began to memorize the gospel according to Mark. By the end of chapter three, I was struck by the same evil and destructive behavior of the authorities in Jesus’ day.

When someone comes on the scene and says what Jesus said, one would expect questioning of his authority. But as Jesus validates his authority through his teaching, through healings, and the casting out of unclean spirits, we find that there is a system of power in place that seeks to quash all challengers to its authority.

Let’s briefly recall what took place.

Mark chapter one. Jesus is announced as the Messiah and son of God. John the Baptizer points to Jesus as the one who will plunge people in the Holy Spirit. After his baptism by John, Jesus is pushed into the desert where he is tested 40 days by the Satan.

Jesus then goes into Galilee announcing the good news: “God’s kingdom is arriving”. He calls Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. (These and others will be eyewitnesses to what Jesus says and does.)

So far so good. Many Jews at that time were looking for a Messiah.

In Capernaum, Jesus goes into the synagogue and teaches. Everyone there is astonished by his teaching. They said that he wasn’t like the legal experts. He said things on his own authority. (Uh-oh!)

While he is there teaching, an unclean spirit makes itself known. (At this point, I think that the hovering legal experts and the unclean spirits begin realizing that their domains were under assault.)

Jesus casts out the unclean spirit. Word about Jesus spreads at once across the surrounding districts of Galilee. The healing and the casting out of unclean spirits continues.

Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever.

The townspeople bring the sick and demon possessed to Jesus. He heals people suffering from all kinds of diseases and he casts out many demons. (This is a good thing, right?)

Jesus goes to other towns in Galilee to tell the good news and to cast out demons.

A man with a virulent skin disease is touched and healed by Jesus. The man spreads the news so effectively that Jesus has to stay out in the open country because of the large crowds.

Mark chapter two. Jesus returns to Capernaum. A crowd gathers at the door when people hear that Jesus is at home. They want to hear the good news. They want healing. They want unclean spirits cast out. They want the groaning to stop.

As Jesus is teaching, a paralytic is lowered through the roof (the only way to get the cripple close to Jesus even though not OSHA approved). Jesus took note of their faith. Jesus tells the man laying before him that his sins are forgiven. (Uh-oh!)

The jot and tittle police begin to grumble.

“Why does this guy talk like that? It’s blasphemy! Who can forgive sins except God!”

“Why do your hearts tell you to think like that?” Jesus asked them.

Jesus goes on to question the flaunted leverage of the legal experts: “Is it easier to say to this cripple ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk’?

“You want to know if the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins?’

Jesus tells the cripple “Get up, take up your stretcher and go home”. The man gets up, picks up his stretcher in a flash, and goes out before all of them with forgiveness of sins and the ability to walk brought about by the faith of others.

Large numbers of people are following Jesus. The jot and tittle police are worried about losing their grip on the public. They go beyond grumbling and begin pointing their finger.

Jesus calls tax collector Levi to follow him. Plenty of tax associates and sinners join Levi as dinner guests of Jesus and his followers. The legal experts from the Pharisees (who were into social distancing) ask Jesus’ disciples “Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”

Jesus hears their question and replies to their obtuseness.

“It’s sick people who need the doctor, not the healthy ones. I came to call the bad people, not the good ones.”

People start questioning Jesus about religious practice. John’s disciples and the Pharisee disciples were fasting. Jesus’ disciples were not fasting. The reason Jesus gives: “The bridegroom is there with them. How can they fast?”

More conflicts with the see-the mandate-and-not-the people authorities.

One sabbath Jesus and his disciples are walking through a cornfield. Not only are the disciples not fasting, they are plucking corn as they go along with “the bridegroom”.

The Pharisees corner Jesus: “Why are they doing that which is illegal?”.

Jesus responds to their contention with a reminder of David doing something similar. He recounts that David, when he was distressed and he and his men were hungry, ate the ‘bread of the presence’. 

Jesus tells them that the sabbath was made for humans and not the other way around.

Mark chapter 3.  Things are heating up. Jesus goes to the synagogue once more. A man with a withered hand is there. People are watching to see whether Jesus heals the man on the sabbath. If he does, they will frame him with a sabbath-no-no charge.

(Were the people afraid of being expelled from their synagogue by the legal experts for going along with Jesus? Were they told to snitch on Jesus?)

Jesus asks the man to come forward. Jesus then questions the ready-to-jump-on-him group.

“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?”

The group (submitting to the authorities) remained silent.

Jesus is deeply upset with the hardheartedness of the lockstep group. He looks around a them angrily.

Jesus restores the man’s hand. The Pharisees see this as an act of insolence against their version of God’s law. They rush out and begin to plot with a political group – Hellenistic Jews called Herodians – against Jesus. They want to destroy Jesus (based on technicalities).

Healing a withered hand appears to be a non-issue for the legal experts and Pharisees. Power to say what the issues are is the most important matter to them. Power to make people dependent on them (like a vaccine that lasts six months and then requires booster after booster).

(I wonder. Do Jesus’ questions imply that doing good (and evil) and saving life (and killing) do not take a day off? Is he asking to what end keeping the sabbath serves? And, does it serve those who enforce it? Did the legal experts weaponize the sabbath to bring about conformity to their will? Would not doing what is good and saving life (as in the CDC not promoting Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin) be a crime against humanity?)

Following the underwhelming response of the synagogue zombies and seeing the reaction of the beard-stroking Pharisees, Jesus heads off toward the sea with his four disciples.

Great crowds of people are swarming him. There is a real danger that Jesus will be crushed by the crowd. Sick people are pushing in toward him to touch him (No masks or social distancing here!). The groaning of creation is growing louder. And so is the shrieking.

When the unclean spirits see Jesus, they fall down in front of him and yell “You are the son of God!”

Jesus goes up a mountain. He summons twelve men. He names them apostles. They are called to be with him, to be sent out as heralds, and to have authority to cast out demons. (Jesus shares his authority and power. It appears from the gospel accounts that the Pharisees and legal experts like to retain theirs.)

When the group descends and goes into a home for a meal, a crowd gathers again so they couldn’t even eat. When his family hears about this, they come to restrain him. “He’s out of his mind,” they say.

(Was calling Jesus a crazy man a way to distance themselves from Jesus? You bet it was. Was the family of Jesus afraid of the legal experts and authorities like those in the synagogue? Were they also afraid of being expelled from the synagogue? Was this name calling a betrayal of Jesus long before Peter’s betrayal of “I don’t know the man”?)

Head wagging legal experts came from Jerusalem. They had their own brand of groaning – the “tsk tsk” kind. They came, not because a man with a withered hand was healed. They came to take control of the situation. They want Jesus sidelined, canceled, boycotted.

When your credibility hinges on being self-important, you villainize others. The experts blacklisted Jesus by calling him possessed by Beelzebub. They discredited him by saying that Jesus did what he did by the prince of demons. This was their ‘science’.

Jesus pushes back, first by talking about the absurdity of their claim: “How can the Accuser cast out the Accuser?” He explains that a kingdom or a household split in two cannot last. Then, in no uncertain terms, he tells the people that if anyone blasphemes the holy spirit that sin will not be forgiven.

Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters come to where he is and wait outside. They ask to see him (Did they come with a restraining order from the Pharisees?). Those sitting around Jesus see them outside and say “Look, you mother, brothers and sisters are looking for you!

“Who is my mother?” Jesus asks those with him. “Who is my brother?” He looks around at those sitting in circles around him. “Here is my mother. Here is my brother. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother, my sister and my mother.”

The showpieces of the self-righteous demand service to their drama. Right now, we have high drama as captured in the curse “May you live in interesting times”

We are told what to do. We must be vaxxed or be vilified. We must accept lies and lie to ourselves. We are told to submit to the Federal Pharisee guidelines. We must conform or be expelled from society or be crucified.

Right now, we are being told by the experts and authorities to mask up, take the jab, be gay, be effeminate, abort freely, hate our country, hate the color of our skin, hate our history and “follow the science”.

Right now, the entire creation is groaning and wanting relief. But drama from the experts and authorities is what we get.

Jesus dealt in simple terms. Do good. Save life. Put the world to rights. Relieve suffering and not add to it.

Follow the Savior. Can I get an “Amen”?

*****

Episode_1299 You are in danger of becoming a debt slave Dr. Betsy McCaughey, Dr. James Poulos, Dr. Peter Navarro, Joe Allen
Episode_12986 Debt Americans blocked from flights Kris Kobach, Ben Bergquam, Mark Geist, Kari Lake

*****

THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND POLICY RESPONSES ON EXCESS MORATLITYDownload
covid19-greatest-hoax-in-historyDownload
My Body My Temple_ The Constitutional Requirement for ReligiousDownload
Estimating the number of COVID vaccine deaths in AmericaDownload

*****

INFORMED DISSENT:

30 facts you NEED to know: Your Covid Cribsheet – OffGuardian (off-guardian.org)

Former Pfizer employee flags FDA study, warns that Pfizer vaccine increases COVID by over 300% (afinalwarning.com)

“We find that following the implementation of Shelter-in-Place (SIP) policies, excess mortality increases,” the researchers wrote. The researchers used SIP as a blanket term to refer to lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and other similar draconian mandates.

Lockdowns result in more lives lost than saved: Study – LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)

Covid: 54% of hospital patients with virus are fully vaccinated (irishtimes.com)

Dear God — Pfizer plans to Vaccinate (inject experimental mRNA) into 6 month-old babies starting this winter… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

Covid US: BABIES could be given low-dose of Pfizer’s jab this winter | Daily Mail Online

People who received Moderna’s vaccine early are TWICE as likely to get a breakthrough infection | Daily Mail Online

Fully Vaccinated Daily Beast writer reveals ‘awful’ bout with Covid… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

STUNNING: AMA Is Teaching Doctors How to Manipulate Information in Order to Coerce the Unvaccinated (thegatewaypundit.com)

Welcome (openvaers.com)

Exclusive: Physician ‘Horribly Injured’ After Pfizer Vaccine Pleads With Top U.S. Public Health Officials for Help — and Gets None • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org)

Nearly 15,000 Deaths, More Than 700,000 Injuries Reported to VAERS Since December 2020 Rollout of COVID Vaccines in U.S. • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org)

COVID vaccines are revealing the disrespect some leftists have for Blacks – American Thinker

Tennis Star Says His Season is Over after Taking COVID Vaccine a Few Weeks Ago (thegatewaypundit.com)

Top 100 tennis pro quits ATP season after getting Vaccinated… ‘I feel violent pain all over my body’… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

TFNT9: CDC and FDA vaccine committees fail to spot any safety signals (15 minute version) | Steve Kirsch (gab.com)

TFNT10: Myocarditis deception (rumble.com)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1442809449039769601

The Doctor – Stella Immanuel – is in:

https://www.brighteon.com/4d87bf17-f25a-4f00-a338-9cfcb8b8fecb

If your doctor won’t prescribe Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin go to Dr. Stella

Welcome to Dr. Stella Immanuel MD (drstellamd.com)

Pure Evil:

DEMONIC: FDA Purchased Intact Aborted Baby Heads, Fetal Organs on Ice for Experimentation with Mice (thegatewaypundit.com)

🚨 FDA Caught With Sinister Nazi Style Plan For Unvaxed Americans – Populist Press 2021 ©

Vaccine Brain Washing:

Researchers Say Some People Have Developed ‘Superhuman Immunity’ Against COVID-19 – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth (cbslocal.com)

The Great Reset:

Christine LaGarde IMF Reset – Interview With Christine LaGarde IMF – YouTube

The Great Madness:

American Airlines Flight Turns Around and Kicks Off Mother and Her Asthmatic 2-Year-Old Baby Over Mask Policy — Police Meet Them at the Gate (thegatewaypundit.com)

Biden Admin Goes to War Against Innocent American Boys – Revolver

Ivermectin:

HUGE: Uttar Pradesh, India Announces State Is COVID-19 Free Proving the Effectiveness of “Deworming Drug” IVERMECTIN (thegatewaypundit.com)

Finally!

NIH Now Includes Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Zinc as Recommended in the Prevention or Treatment of COVID (thegatewaypundit.com)

Religious Exemptions:

How to get a religious exemption for employer or college — THE HEALTHY AMERICAN™

If I were asked about my vaccine status, I would say, “I’m fully immunized.” (That means my immune system is working fine.) 

Filed under 2021 current events, Christianity, COVID-19, pandemic, Political Commentary, The Gospel of Mark Tagged with , , , , , ,

Who Says So?

June 27, 2021 Leave a comment

As kids we preceded “Who Says So?” and “Who do you think you are?” with “Oh yeah!” “These questions weren’t posed to source a truth-bearing authority we would readily accept. Rather, they were a demand to know “Who thinks they can tell me what to do?”

The hands-on-the-hips stance has been around since the Garden of Eden. It became the posture of mankind after Adam and Eve accepted the serpent’s imperious challenge to God’s authority. The posture of the defiant adolescent is in vogue today.

By way of a prolonged adolescence – from playground to the political realm, say – the childhood attitude has remained the same: “Who thinks they can tell me what to do? The past holds no authority. Truth holds no authority. Only my power holds authority.”

And so it was that elected officials dismissed the U.S. Constitution as an afront to their dictatorial ways. The playground stance became Woodrow Wilson’s “living Constitution” posture under the ruse of “progress”:

All that progressives ask or desire is permission—in an era when “development,” “evolution,” is the scientific word—to interpret the Constitution according to the Darwinian principle; all they ask is recognition of the fact that a nation is a living thing and not a machine.

Owing to the same progressive posture, FDR bullied the Supreme Court into accepting his definition of the Constitution’s “commerce clause”. He was then able, with the tentacles of bureaucracy, to regulate and control the banks and the U.S. economy. This wasn’t crisis management. This was the elitist “Who thinks they can tell me what to do?” FDR taking over “we the people”.

FDR’s reign created a monstrous welfare state. With the government’s imposition of the “New Deal” and the National Recovery Act, millions became dependent – infantilized – under the government’s new parenting role. Later, FDR would take account of his “enlightened administration”. He would call government welfare “a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit”.

LBJ, an FDR lackey, adopted FDR’s imperious attitude. He extended the New Deal’s use of a big and more powerful government to overhaul society.

“The truth is, far from crushing the individual, government at its best liberates him from the enslaving forces of his environment.”

With the enslaving forces of government and apparently ignoring FDR’s admission of welfare’s dehumanizing effects, the imperious LBJ created the ruinous Great Deal: the “Great Society” and “War on Poverty.”

Within the same “nobody can tell me what to do” echo chamber of elitists, the haughty Barack Obama’ announced the “fundamental transformation” of America. This was to bring about Obama’s version of “hope and change” for us little people.

Remember Obama’s spiritual and ideological mentors Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, Bill Ayers and Saul Alinsky? Remember these bullies with the playground attitude “Who thinks they can tell me what to do? I tell you what to do.” They taught Obama to impose his will onto others for the sake of radical transformation.

Remember Obama’s despotic weaponization of government against naysayers? Remember Lois Lerner and the IRS targeting scandal?  Remember the high and mighty Obama trashing America to foreign nations?

The almost inorganic “Oh yeah! Listen man!” Joe Biden and his regime, an Obama franchise, are “Building Back Better.” The regime wants $35 billion dollars to add 75,000 agents to further weaponize the IRS.

The regime is in the process of tossing the Constitution and creating a Woke “living constitution” form of government. This takeover of America will benefit most those in positions of power including globalists. You and I will have the Constitution ripped from our hands. We will be handed a “Here’s who says so” card. The European Union has already issued “permission” cards.

(The Biden regime’s focus on the WOKE religion of racialism will buy them votes. Biden and Progressives (FDR, LBJ and Woodrow Wilson among them) infer that black Americans are inferior and can’t function in society – whether in business or as a voter or in feeding and housing themselves – without them. Their solution is more of their “enlightened (Woke) administration” and less of the Constitution.  

“Juneteenth” is Biden’s token gift – a refrigerator magnet – to black Americans. It also serves to keep America annually focused on racialism, BLM and CRT.

It appears that behind Anthony Fauci’s defense of himself on MSNBC as the embodiment of science – people’s attacks on him “are attacks on science” – is “Who do you think you are?” 

Owing to a prolonged adolescence – from playground to philosophical realm, say – the religion of deconstructionism was born. Its tenets hold that there is no legitimacy or “Who says so?” authority in the world. This was the stance of the 60’s French deconstructionist Jacques Derrida.

The deconstructionist theory of textual analysis holds that a text has no stable reference. The theory questions traditional assumptions about identity, truth, certainty, and the ability of language to represent reality. Critics have rightly called deconstructionism a dangerous form of nihilism.

Due to a prolonged adolescence – from playground to popular culture, say – we hear “No one has the right to tell me what I can and can’t do except my political tribe.” The shutdown mind – no debate, no questioning, censored social media, etc. – is sold as the right thing to do.

Maintaining narcissist affirmation from an elitist’s perspective is the objective. Hence, the culture of repudiating and canceling anything that doesn’t conform to a narrative of empowered-self.

Just this morning I went shopping for groceries in a local super store. I passed the women’s clothes section. On the wall was a large ad photo of a large woman modeling some of the clothes being sold. The statement above her read “The maximum of self-love”.

The childish attitude of “Who thinks they can tell me what to do?” benefits no one. In fact, when it’s the posture of political overlords, philosopher-ideologues and the power-hungry, people are canceled, put through struggle sessions, de-platformed, blacklisted, killed, forced into labor camps or deported.

There are the willing who submit to a system that will not countenance disagreement. But minds that shut down to only accept the pablum given it by its tribal overseers will find that they have become infantilized. They will remain little children under the watchful eyes of the parent state.

(Read Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom to gain insight into the progression of narrow-mindedness since the ‘60s.)

A grown-up post-modern stance of questioning the source and legitimacy of assertions, is a welcome posture in any discipline. Science (including medical science Dr. Fauci!), philosophy and theology depend on inquiry. Questioning is a healthy stance when its objective is sourcing truth. Questioning is squashed for political ends or for the negation of truth.

Note:  a key indicator of whether something is true or a lie: truth never manipulates or coerces one to accept it; lies and half-truths serve to manipulate and coerce. As humans, we want to live in truth and be respected for that desire. We do not want to be manipulated by ideologues, technocrats, and bureaucrats.

One last thing before I move on. By now you know that Progressives, like the willful children they are, believe they know everything and that you should know everything about them. That is why they walk around with the offended attitude “Who do you think you are?”

Progressives are not mortals. They are superior omniscient beings with “enlightened” WOKE morals. Not only do the WOKE know their own hearts and minds inside and out from constant reprogramming, they also know what is in another person’s heart and mind. Yes, they are mind readers and the ministers of “science” and “hope and change”. Progressive Jesuits come across as being more Christian than Christ with what they readily accept.

Out of their prolonged adolescence, Progressives, like the proud and stubborn children they remain, project onto others all kinds of intent.

Progressives condemn people on the spot. That is how they can call me, a white woman, a “racist”. That is how they can call the Founding Fathers “racist”. That is how they can say that any disagreement is an attack on them, the embodiment of “science”. That is how they can criticize people about their purported effect on climate change or about gun ownership or about any multitude of internalized offenses.

We have ‘progressed’ out of the post-modern age back to the age of Pontius Pilate: “Truth is what I say it is and don’t you forget it.”

It is no surprise that the mental health of the users of the narcissism-based narcotic of Progressivism has declined dramatically. Social media documents the decline.

*****

The hands-on-the-hips stance has been around since the Garden of Eden. It has been used to stare down and de-platform anything that challenges a certain mindset. During the first century AD, Jesus encountered “Oh yeah! Who do you think you are?”

The gospel according to Mark reads as a response to that very question.

Mark opens the “good news of Jesus the Messiah, God’s son” with the authority of centuries-old Scripture. Words from prophets Isaiah and Malachi preface his account. (Note: Mark ascribes both texts to Isaiah, the more prominent author.)

Isaiah the prophet put it like this: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of me; he will clear a path for you.”

A shout goes up in the desert: “Make way for the Lord!” Clear a straight path for him!”

John the Baptizer is then presented as the one clearing the way for the Messiah – the Ultimate Authority. John tells his followers “Someone a lot stronger than me is coming close behind.”

Jesus is baptized by John in the river Jordan. The heavens open. The spirit in the form of a dove descends onto Jesus. A voice out of heaven says “You are my son! You are the one I love! You make me very glad.”

One would think that that event alone would suffice to qualify Jesus as the Ultimate Authority, but Mark continues to document the outworking of Jesus’ Ultimate Authority.

Jesus announces the kingdom of God (1: 15).

Jesus calls disciples (1:16-20).

Jesus teaches with authority in synagogue (1: 21-22).

Jesus casts out demons (1:23-27).

Jesus heals the sick (1:29-43).

Then (in chapter 2), a lame man is lowered through a roof to where Jesus is teaching. Religious legal experts were in the room. They were listening and waiting for Jesus to produce Messianic credentials.

 Jesus tells the lame man to get up and that his sins are forgiven. (2:1-12) These shocking words blew the roof off of the expert’s thinking.

“How dare the fellow speak like this?! Only God forgives sins!” Who do you think you are?

The next thing the legal inquisitors find out is that this guy who forgives sins also eats with sinners.  (2:16) What kind of Messiah is that? We don’t behave like that!

Mark records more hand-wringing by the religious authorities (3:1-5).  Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. This healing did not go over well – it was deemed as doing ‘work’ on the Sabbath. Jesus wasn’t “following the science”. So, Jesus had to be de-platformed:

“The Pharisees went out right away and began to plot with the Herodians against Jesus, trying to find a way to destroy him.”

Jesus continues to not “follow the science”. He “scolded the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Shut Up!” The wind died down and there was flat calm.” (4:35-41)

Jesus touches the unclean. (5:25-32)

Mark records that Jesus sends out his disciples with his authority. (6: 7-13)

Jesus feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. (6:34-44)

Jesus walks on water. (6:47-51)

Jesus’ disciples eat with unwashed hands. (7: 1-15)

Jesus removes an unclean spirit from a child. (7:24-30)

Jesus feeds 4000 with 7 loaves and “a few small fish”. (8: 1-9)

Jesus heals a blind man. (8: 22-26)

Jesus is transfigured (his glory revealed) before Peter, James, and John. (9: 2-8)

Jesus casts out an unclean spirit from a boy. (9: 16-27)

Jesus teaches his disciples about authority. (9:35-49)

The first half of Mark’s gospel account documents Jesus’ ultimate authority over nature, diseases, evil spirits and the “follow the science” orthodoxy of his day.

In the second half of Mark’s “good news”, we read that Jesus had set his face toward Jerusalem. What awaited him there was not a triumphal entry nor a clear path. He would encounter soldiers, betrayal, an angry mob, Pontius Pilate, scourging, and crucifixion. It was intended punishment for not “following the science”.

Jesus was handed over to be questioned by the “Who do you think you are?”- “What is truth?”- “follow the science” authorities. They proceeded to ‘de-platform’ Jesus.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus revealed his authority over evil, sin and death. It also revealed his authority over man-made narratives. Jesus answered “Who says? with utter humility and self-denial. Jesus is the Ultimate Authority. Yet there are those, still with hands on hips, claiming to be the ultimate authority. Let’s see them do what Jesus did and prove it.

*****

Episode 1,041 – The Age of the Digital Wallet is Here 

*****

COVID Court:

https://rumble.com/embed/vfot1d/?pub=4

Ex-Pfizer VP Yeadon Warns: Children 50 Times More Likely to Die From Vaccine Than Virus (rumble.com)

Former Pfizer VP issues warning: ‘This is Israel now, UK in just a few weeks’ – America’s Frontline Doctors (americasfrontlinedoctors.org)

93 Israeli doctors: Do not use COVID-19 Vaccine on children

Woman says ‘severe allergic reaction’ to second dose of Oxford vaccine left her unable to talk | Daily Mail Online

19-Year-Old College Freshman Dies From Heart Problem One Month After Second Dose of Moderna Vaccine (noqreport.com)

Exclusive: Dad Says Life ‘Not the Same’ for 21-Year-Old Student Who Developed Myocarditis After Second Moderna Shot • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org)

Why we petitioned the FDA to refrain from fully approving any covid-19 vaccine this year

Are Covid Vaccines Riskier Than Advertised?

CENSORED: Pro-vaccine doctor Francis Christian, over Covid-19 vaccine safety concerns | Sharyl Attkisson

(VIDEO) Exclusive Investigation: Separating rumor from fact on Covid-19’s origin | Sharyl Attkisson

CENSORED: Hydroxychloroquine | Sharyl Attkisson

Shocking lab results on masks… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS

Covid has emboldened our modern censors | The Spectator

Top Virologists Admit Lying to American Public for Months on Likely Wuhan Lab Leak Theory Because They Didn’t Want to be Associated with President Trump (thegatewaypundit.com)

Chief of Pediatric Critical Care: ‘Never Taken Care of a Single Patient With a Vaccine-Related Complication Until Now’ • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org)

The following video was removed from YouTube for “violating community guidelines”:

Top Immunologist and ‘Pro-Vaccine’ Doctor Issues Urgent Warning…

Dr. Byram Bridle Professor of Viral Immunology University of Guelph

‘We finally learned how and where the Vaccine antibodies are stored in the body’

‘The spike protein in Vaccines can kill you’

https://youtu.be/xVFrEorkTxM

Top Immunologist and ‘Pro-Vaccine’ Doctor Issues Urgent Warning… | Populist Press 2021 ©

Hydroxychloroquine + Azithromycin therapy at a higher dose improved survival by nearly 200% in ventilated COVID patients (news-medical.net)

“You are a pathetic liar”: CDC senior scientist to CDC’s head of immunization (DOCUMENT) | Sharyl Attkisson

Former Trump Official Slices Fauci Apart Over Hydroxychloroquine Fiasco by Matt Vespa (townhall.com)

Why Has “Ivermectin” Become a Dirty Word? – TK News by Matt Taibbi (substack.com)

Heart problems in vaccinated students trigger medical, legal scrutiny of campus COVID mandates | Just The News

30 Cases where PFIZER/BIONTECH COVID Vaccine produced symptoms of Brain Contusion or Brain Damage or Brain Injury

Fight Back:

TRO: Motion for Temporary Restraining Order Against Use of COVID Vaccine in Children

TRO Doc-1-AFLD-motionDownload

TRO – America’s Frontline Doctors (americasfrontlinedoctors.org)

Filed under 2021 current events, Christianity, Culture, Political Commentary, Politics, Post-Moderism, Progressivism, social commentary Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Copy-cat Revenge

June 3, 2018 Leave a comment

 

“How many children around the globe, we continue to ask, are growing up with “jihad,” “war,” “crusade,” “revenge,” “hatred” not only inscribed in their names but woven into the very fabric of their lives! For reconciliation to take place, the inscriptions of hatred must be carefully erased and the threads of violence gently removed. This, I think, is one important lesson of Jesus’ proclamation of the reign of God”.  – from Miroslav Volf’s book Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation

~~~

“Here Comes Revenge”

Little grave I’m grieving, I will mend you
Sweet revenge I’m dreaming, I will end you

I’ve been here since dawn of time
Countless hatreds built my shrine
I was born in anger’s flame
He was Abel, I was Cain
I am here
I’m hell unbound
Burn your kingdom to the ground
To the ground

Here comes revenge, just for you
Revenge, you can’t undo
Revenge, is killing me
Revenge, set me free
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
A life for a life, it’s my burden of proof
Revenge, just for you
Revenge
You ask forgiveness, I give you sweet revenge

I return this nightmare, I will find you
Sleepless, cloaked in despair, I’m behind you

Man has made me oh so strong
Blurring lines of right and wrong
Far too late for frail amends
Now it’s come to sweet revenge
Desperate hands
That lose control
Have no mercy on your soul
On your soul

Here comes revenge, just for you
Revenge, you can’t undo
Revenge, is killing me
Revenge, just set me free
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
A life for a life, it’s my burden of proof
Revenge, just for you
Revenge
You ask forgiveness, I give you sweet revenge

Here comes revenge, just for you
Revenge, you can’t undo
Revenge, is killing me
Revenge, set me free
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
A life for a life, it’s my burden of proof
Revenge, just for you
Revenge
You ask forgiveness, I give you sweet revenge

Sweet revenge

 -Metallica, Here Comes Revenge

 

Revenge has media backing. Entertainment media is suffused with violent images of revenge. Is not most of what is called action and drama cable programing and movies about taking revenge? Gladiator and Kill Bill come to mind but there are hundreds of revenge programs and movies. Tough guys and gals go settle scores via jihads, wars, crusades, etc., and pander to the basest of emotions for entertainment dollars. Revenge is valorized. 

Revenge is shown as what the character (and the viewer vicariously) must do to obtain closure. So, the ‘victim’ becomes the avenger. After killing the perpetrator, the avenger walks off mollified that he or she has justifiably killed another. Yet, in reality, taking revenge is never the end of the story. Revenge never brings the curtain down. How is this impulse for revenge, as depicted so often on the screen of black box, inscribed into our lives?

On Twitter a while back I engaged a woman in a conversation. As the thread became about control gun around a school shooting, I jumped in with a reply and stated that the media and those who consume those things are also blameworthy. I said that what is shown on TV and in movies and video games reinforces the idea that violent revenge is the answer to injustice.

In her replies to me, the woman was adamant that the media was benign. She replied with several of her Google search findings which she felt supported her position. I could tell from her responses that she also had a vested interest in saying the media was harmless. I learned that the kids she was caring for played video games. I ended the conversation with her mentioning that the sheer volume of programing that depicts violent revenge as the answer to a wrong must influence a person’s behavior subconsciously. She was resistant to the notion.

What I wanted to add: commercials are made to influence consumer behavior. The hourly and daily repetition of the same commercial will soon have a person, in Pavlovian response, finishing its jingle or its phone number or reciting the words of its comical product sketch at the office. Clearly, those who want to influence behavior use the media. The nightly newscasts that talk about “gun violence” are meant to stir up emotions against guns and their owners. Consider what the volumes of violent revenge images in the media do to the viewer, especially to the lone viewer and to the viewer with unresolved anger at some perceived offense? The scenarios do not depict reconciliation. The scenarios depict anger and rage fulfilled.

Consider also the effects of the news media’s attention to mass killers.

Most copycats have their private agenda in a rampage killing but seek to tie it in to other events that received a lot of publicity. In this way, they bask in the reflected publicity, so to speak. In many cases, the rampage killer wants to commit suicide but opts to take others with him…it is difficult to escape the conclusion that copycat killings are partly inspired by the publicity surrounding the original. Quote from Copycat Killings: Making sense of the senseless

 

As I thought about revenge and the incessant revenge depictions, the image that came to my mind was the one invoked by Jesus:

You heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: don’t use violence to resist evil! Instead, when someone hits you on the right cheek, turn the other one toward him.  Matthew 5: 8-39

As I try to wrap my mind around those words, I come to some conclusions:

A slap of my face would be a stinging rebuke. A slap of my face means someone is in my face about some matter and it is personal.  A slap of my face is a challenge prodding me to answer back with equal force or to walk away in shame. A slap in my face is a show of power.

A person acting out ‘An eye for an eye’ revenge says to himself, “There is no God who will hold the other accountable and therefore I must avenge myself.” Or, “There is a God but he is off somewhere. I will have my vengeance.” A person acting out revenge says to himself, “I am not responsible for what happens next.”  A person acting out revenge says to himself, “I will not stop the cycle of violence until I have conquered the other and have brought them to their knees.”

A person acting out revenge rejects the words of Scripture…

Don’t take revenge, my dear people, but allow God’s anger room to work. The Bible says, after all, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will replay, say the Lord.” Romans 12: 19

 

I am told by Jesus to turn my other cheek into the line of fire. Doing so is the real show of power – restraint with the knowledge that God sees the offense. My Father in heaven, who also sees me when I pray in secret, will make things right. How can I be sure? Jesus, with servant-restraint, made it clear as he stood before Pilate that there is a Kingdom not of this world where he reigns as king. Jesus let Pilate know that there was a new power in town and with it comes a new justice system based in truth.

How can I be sure? Jesus endured whipping and slapping and mocking – evil’s stinging rebukes – and yet Jesus did not retaliate. Jesus did not call down angels to annihilate his accusers and torturers. Revenge would not reconcile the world to himself.

This is how it came about: God was reconciling the world to himself in the Messiah, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting us with the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19

 

Turning the other cheek is about the ministry of reconciliation. To take revenge is to reject reconciliation. To not forgive as a means of revenge is to reject reconciliation. To copy-cat violence back onto another is to reject reconciliation. To take revenge with words is to reject reconciliation.

The message of reconciliation will be offered out of red swollen cheeks. Keep that image in mind and reject the images of revenge. The inscriptions of hatred must be fully erased and the threads of violence yanked from the media. End “sweet revenge”.

 

Interactive media has influence over you if you let it. Added 6/19/2018:

What is gaming disorder?

Gaming disorder is defined in the draft 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a pattern of gaming behavior (“digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.

For gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behaviour pattern must be of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months.

 

Filed under Christianity, media Tagged with , , , , , ,

Don’t Inherit the Wind, Inherit The Relationship

May 1, 2016 Leave a comment

fiddler47

Or…Looking for Value in All the Wrong Places

 

“There was a ruler who asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit the life of the age to come?”

…

“…for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.”  The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 1:12

…

As I read the Scriptures, I have come to the understanding that whenever Jesus talks about money in terms of riches he resets the scale, the metric, by giving ultimate gravity to a Relationship with the Father. And so the reset is offered in the Gospel account of the rich ruler (Luke 18).

“Life of the age to come” is a relationship with the Father.  And all that the Father is is made available to the one who inherits it. Such an inheritance could only be acquired through a transaction made possible because of Jesus’ own relationship with the Father. Legal decisions on the part of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit would be required for such an inheritance.

“Life of the age to come” would perhaps be something perceived by the ruler as a means to continue his power and wealth generation without interference.

When asked by the rich young ruler “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit the life of the age to come?” Jesus first responds by connecting the dots about who he is – the legal authority and means to an inheritance and its Trustee.  Then Jesus reminds the rich man of the gold standard used by his servants in his earthly Kingdom: The Ten Commandments.  The gold standard of his Kingdom is that which orders right relationships – relationships between God and man and between man and his neighbor.

“Why call me ‘good’?” said Jesus to him. “No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments:  don’t commit adultery; don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t swear falsely; honor your father and mother.”

The ruler responds, “I’ve kept them all,” he said, since I was a boy.”

Thus, the man appears to imply that his accounts are up to date, his credit line is perfect. And like any successful businessman and devout Jew he may have wondered if inheriting “the life of the age to come” would be the return on his moral investment.

It occurred to me that material wealth was often perceived as a “sign” of God’s blessing in those days and as far back as the days of Job. What an inheritance “of life in the age to come” may have meant to the ruler:  a means to further his accumulation of wealth and possessions and influence…. God’s blessing…forever?

Read more of this post

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Unlawful Entry (Adam Lanza, Dec. 14th, 2012)

December 16, 2012 2 Comments

Unlawful Entry (Adam Lanza, Dec. 14th, 2012)

The Unthinkable:

20 children dead.

…

First Man Adam chose unlawful entry into the things of God,

Sin followed him in.

First man Adam expelled from the Garden,

Sin followed him out.

First Man Adam returned to the garden

 ~ unlawful entry ~ with vengeance

And self-hate loaded with evil’s murderous projectiles.

…

The Unthinkable:

20 children dead within a sharp picosecond of eternity where angels wait,

20 unopened gifts are carried to heaven.

…..

The Unthinkable:

God becomes man ~ Second Man Adam,

Born during the time of Herod and

The Slaughter of Innocents!

Later crucified, One Innocent Man atoning for all First Adams,

Second Man Adam endured the Unthinkable as one of us.

 

By this evil is kept outside the door in outer darkness,

But access is granted to all who hear His resurrected Voice,

To all those who choose lawful entry:

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”

 

Under the wings of the Almighty ~

They overshadow you –

The terror by night or by day cannot enter.

 

Just ask the 20 children when you see them again.

 

 

© Sally Paradise, 2012, All Rights Reserved

Filed under Christianity, poetry, Writing Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Theory of Social Gospel Relativity

September 3, 2010 Leave a comment

“You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.” The Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthian church.

Increasingly I hear about a new and ‘relevant’ kind of ‘gospel’ called “social gospel”. The marketers of this ‘qualified’ gospel are saying that our government must be the instrument to meet human need. Perhaps this social gospel policy is an extrapolation of James’ admonition to the church in Jerusalem “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” Perhaps it is an extension of the Good Samaritan parable or and maybe it is an inference to the feeding of the five thousand. In any case, it is a stretch to fit any of the Gospel texts to fit their meaning of ‘social gospel’ as a national domestic policy.

More to my point: I have recently been reading the apostle Paul’s letters, specifically Corinthians and Galatians. I see how very much Paul desired to maintain the purity of the Gospel at all costs. My first and only concern in writing this post is how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being used today to market social justice in the political arena. Especially after hearing a ‘Christian’ in that context say that “wealth redistribution is what Jesus would do”. This is completely false and misleading.

WWJD: In his letter, the Lord’s brother James describes a practical close-to-home “work” to help those who are not able to help themselves. The Good Samaritan parable tells me who my neighbor is: He is a person you meet with a need. The parable also shows me how I am to treat my neighbor when a need arises: use my resources to help and then followup. Jesus fed the five thousand as a sign of His Person and His Power. This sign revealed His ability to provide for me in any situation. I am to depend on Him. He controls the outcomes. He controls the government, even in a Democracy. Nowhere is it written or inferred in the Bible that a socialized gospel should become a government’s domestic policy. Nowhere is it written that people should be forced to pay for others. Jesus never pushed political agendas and He certainly never taught that coercion in any form was the answer to need.

At no time did Jesus offer to heal or feed the entire world. At no time did Jesus demand that the Roman government feed or take care of the entire world, civilized or otherwise. Of course, Jesus could have said and done these things but He did not. He did not infer that his disciples would do this. Jesus did talk about individual responsibility and accountability to God, His Father, and to one’s close-to-home neighbor. He never talked about collective compassion or wealth redistribution. He never said “it takes a village to raise a child.” He did talk about the widow who, without coercion, freely gave her mite unto God. This willing, sacrificial act, done in secret, was an act of love for God and for her neighbor. The current social ‘gospel-eers’ market their brand of ‘gospel’ on the main stream media.

Having read and studied the synoptic Gospels and the letters of the Apostle Paul many times over I do not see any form of socialized or collectivized gospel in any way, shape or form within these writings. What I do see now, though, is that the true Gospel is being used as advertising label for a type of religious social movement in the US. This branding, I believe, would attract many Christian college students. These students are ready to take on the world; they are chomping at the bit for worthy causes. The social gospel gurus are very eager to take them into their fold. Many of the gurus are sixties radicals, now recycled and looking to make something of themselves before they pass on.

At no time did Jesus ever speak to his disciples about being a disciple of social need. As a Christian, you are not a disciple of a political-social-economic system or of a community organizer. Being absolutely and singularly identified with Jesus and His Kingdom is the key here. The medium (Christ’s disciple) is the message, so to speak.

You should know that it was the disciple Judas, the community organizer, who wanted a social gospel. Judas thought that Jesus would make the perfect radical. He thought that Jesus could bring about sweeping political, social and economic change for the struggling people of Judea. Judas, as the disciple’s treasurer, controlled the purse strings of charitable donations. He controlled the money bags of what he hoped would become a social gospel. Judas believed in the power of wealth redistribution, especially for himself. This is no different from the social gospel being preached today: control money and throw money at a problem to make it go away. This is what today’s political progressivism is all about. And, that is exactly what Judas does at the end of his life – throw money at the feet of the Pharisees. Judas, as we all know,  had betrayed Jesus, a political neutral, because Jesus didn’t fit the social gospel paradigm desired by Judas. To Judas, Jesus didn’t do what radicals are supposed to do: revolt, reign and redistribute. Akeldama, the field of blood, is where Judas ended his cutting-edge version of social gospel.

Let’s make it simple: Social gospel is progressivism and progressivism is a form of paganism and this paganism says that “You don’t need God. You can have effective social engineering in place of religious belief. You don’t need Christ. You have us. You can have our ‘gospel’ policies to meet your needs. We will throw in Jesus for free. Why look elsewhere.” Clearly, this form of ‘gospel’ is a subversion of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and it wrought by the Evil One. This form of gospel is a synthesis of good and “sounds good” at its core.

The Apostle Paul makes it even simpler: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatian church.

May God give me the grace and the resources to help others as He shows me their need! Having said this, I do not want a progressive political social agenda enacted to determine my personal gospel outreach (and thereby make it vicarious) through a forced redistribution of wealth to the poor. I believe compassion and empathy are to be individual, one-on-one matters, separate from the government’s intrusion, imposition and inefficiencies.

Regarding the Church, the Body of Christ: The apostle Paul, speaking in his Corinthian letters, desires that the church keep itself pure and undefiled just like his desire for the Gospel of our Lord. To me, the church is becoming a political organism and the social gospel I’m hearing about is another gospel – a gospel for a utopian society. The Lord knows what His Body needs. He will do what is necessary.

This post is not about being cruel and unkind to people. Rather, this post is about keeping the Gospel of Jesus Christ pure and undefiled by the world.  The pure and undefiled ‘religion’ of Christianity is about helping widows and orphans in their distress.  It is about offering a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name.  This ‘religion’ is not to be synthesized into a government policy.  We as Christians should seek and pray that government will stand back and let us do good works.  We must maintain our liberty and freedom from government and its coercion (being unjustly taxed to pay for social programs) in order that we may continue to help those in need, freely, with love.

***
For more information see my 09-15-2010 post about Stolen Goods.

Filed under Christianity, Current Events 2010, Politics Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

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