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davidgeorgevartanian · 4 years ago

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V. The Eye is the Lamp of the New Tabernacle

“Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord must be tended continually.” (Leviticus‬ ‭24:3-4‬ ‭NIV)

The Levitical sacrifices and cleanliness rules were meant to encourage a person to “turn away” (shub in Hebrew) from behavior which leads you “to go astray or miss the path.” (chata in Hebrew) These rules were used by the teachers of the law against Jesus to convict him of chata; such as, when he was accused of breaking the Sabbath and his disciples of uncleanliness due to unwashed hands. Jesus responded by calling his accusers to see beyond traditionally accepted paths, “right” behaviors, and and only what can be observed by others, and to instead focus on their cognitive behavior and a “change of mind” and mindset (metanoia in Greek). This mental transformation was the first thing Jesus commanded when he began his public ministry in Galilee (“Repent and believe the good news”), and it was the first thing Peter commanded when the gatherers at Pentecost were “cut to the heart” and asked him, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized...”) To help us understand this mind-change, Jesus said, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” He meant that out of integrity that is only witnessed by God, humility and pure motives would manifest authentic worship. Surely, what God would have wanted to say about the Pharisees is: “These people honor me with their lips and [their hearts are unified with mine].” But their hypocrisy and narcissism had blocked them from seeing and hearing the Christ in Jesus. Ego and ulterior motives impeded them from becoming worshippers who, with a pure heart, “worship in the Spirit and in truth.” This concept of repentance as a transformation of a believer’s thoughts and attitudes was coded into the very structure of the old covenant sanctuary.

The design of the tent of meeting, or tabernacle, was revealed to Moses on Mt Sinai and represented a “perfect” version of the sanctuary that is in heaven. The lampstand within the Holy Place of the tent was fashioned out of pure gold with a center column and six branches extending from each side. Its tree-like shape was made apparent by the three almond blossoms shaped into each branch. Why almond blossoms? Because the Hebrew word for almond, “shaqed,” sounds similar to “shoqed,” meaning “to watch.” This paronomasia, or word-play of similar sounding words - which is a common literary device in Hebrew scripture - is made clear when God asked Jeremiah to describe a vision, and the prophet responded, “I see the branch of an almond tree (shaqed),” to which God said, “ You have seen correctly, for I am watching (shoqed) to see that my word is fulfilled.” And so with twofold meaning, the lamp had twofold purpose: to provide a light source for the priests within the Holy Place of the windowless tabernacle, and to serve as a emblem of the relationship between watchfulness and holiness.

Jesus perhaps was referring to the golden lampstand when he said, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” Just as the priests were tasked with continually tending to the lamp within the Holy Place, Jesus is calling his disciples to maintain the health of their eyes, so that their body - the tent and temple of the Spirit of Christ - would be full of light. The eye is perception and the light is the gospel, and the connection between the two is God’s word, which in Psalms is described as “a lamp for my feet, a light into my path.” It is not enough to believe in God, spirituality requires that all thoughts and attitudes be continually watched and brought into the light of what has to be a joyful truth found in scripture. When a Christian’s beliefs and understanding is not good news, because they are misinformed about the heart and nature of God or their minds are corrupted by self-absorption, then it is impossible to have a faith that saves. When Jesus challenged his disciples to hold to his teaching in order to be set from from their sin, it was imperative that his teachings be something worthy of holding on to faithfully. For as it says in Hebrews, it is impossible to please God if we do not believe that “he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Where there is little freedom and reward in our doctrine and practice, sin becomes even more deceitful, our perception of God’s goodness gets skewed and veiled, and the light of awareness of God’s presence within us dims, as if our body is filling with darkness.

The attraction of sin is not merely in its often immediate and tangible pleasures, but in how it offers the egoic and false self something to objectify; that is, to imbue with arbitrary meaning that feeds an illusion of superiority and vain specialness. Take, for example, a believer’s knowledge of the bible. Any cursory view of history shows how doctrines have been often used, not to build unitive consciousness and peace amongst disciples and non-believers, but to puff up and embolden the prideful in their claims of having a unique monopoly on the truth. This is why first on Proverb’s list of detestable things to the LORD is “haughty eyes,” which can objectify spiritual disciplines as much as worldly possessions or societal status, providing the ego a platform from which to judge and condemn others.

Peter wrote that God calls his elect out of “darkness into his wonderful light,” making them into a “royal priest,” a new identity in Christ, free from the false self with it’s corrupting desires. Like the Aaronic priesthood, the duty of this royal priesthood is to tend to the lamp, but a lamp within themselves, with watchfulness. We are to take “captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ;” or else our eyes, our outlook on life and God, will become unhealthy and our whole body will be full of darkness once again, and begin to seek other masters. Jesus said, “But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” When seeking God is no longer rewarding, then it is inevitable that faithfulness will begin to feel like a burden, and we, who are meant to be enlightened royal priests will slowly become apathetic, and make sin and selfishness our master. And so it is vital to closely watch our life and schedule, our doctrine and perception of God’s motives, and the spirituality of our thought-life, witnessing what is being stored up in our hearts in regards to our faith. This work of watchfulness begins with humility.

Without sobriety to the futility of sin and ego-centrism, it is impossible to perceive God’s light as good news. Instead, walking in darkness, God will seem like a thief and overlord, who is trying to force believers into joyless conformity. This was addressed in a prophetic vision of Isaiah, who heard angels calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.” God proceeds in the vision to describe the darkness of the Israelite’s faith as “ever seeing, but never perceiving.” And what was it they could not perceive? It was God’s holy and perfect nature, which sets him apart from the conditional love, failing strength, and limited understanding that is found in the world. It’s God’s holiness that illuminates the word, and contextualizes even harsh sounding scriptures with his loving-kindness. To misunderstand God’s holiness is to lack a cornerstone of faith, on which the rest of discipleship is built. Faith that lacks focus on his holiness has a design failure that cannot be compensated for, not even by steadfast conformity to a ministry schedule or inexhaustible rituals. The forms will lack the essence, and the reality meant to be found within the rituals will be missed. No wonder spiritual maturity is hard to grasp. Who can grasp it unless their faith can first withstand temptation, distraction, calamity, and stress? But a foundation built solidly on practicing Jesus’ teaching with a correct understanding of God’s character will survive life’s storm. When faith cannot stand the tests and trails, then it is useless, like salt that has lost its saltiness, “fit neither for the soil nor the manure pile; it is thrown out.” This kind of fruitless faith that lacks understanding and experience of God’s sufficient goodness is what causes hearts to harden and compels us to look for answers and light and strength elsewhere. But the tragedy is: all that can be found outside of our relationship with God is a darkness that feels like “a chasing after the wind.”

Habitually attempting to create a light within oneself, sparked with illusory and perishable things is like being cursed, because it somehow keeps holding on to the promise of fulfillment, though the spark of satisfaction always burns out. From the time of Moses to time of Isaiah, the Israelites rebelliously worshiped idols in order to worship themselves, and in Jesus’ day the major idol was the Law. Historically, the Church has not fared much better, because the Law was replaced with doctrines and creeds, tribal fellowships, and performance-based ministry cultures. These things encourage “selfish ambition and vain conceit;” the very egocentrism that Paul said we should avoid by imitating the humility of the self-emptying Christ. The verse: “He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,” is the foundational principal of watchfulness, because it is the standard by which we judge our thoughts and attitudes. In relation to the world, the children of God should see themselves as nothing, because they objectify nothing in the world, seeing nothing of value in created or conditional things from which to add to their identity in Christ. But in relation to God, believers become truly themselves, receiving both: their significance as children affirmed by God’s loving presence, and their purpose; which is tend to light of that presence continually and at all costs.

Paul considered everything that the egoic false self could boast in as “garbage,” so that he might “gain Christ and he found in him.” The apostle was not talking about behavior, for his behavior as a “Hebrew of Hebrews” was “faultless.” He was talking about metanoia and the work of keeping his mind transformed by the light of the reality of Christ’s presence. His struggle was not against pagans, heretics, and poverty, but a struggle within himself to prevent any confidence in his own effort or abilities from extinguishing that interior light. Without the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh; his persistent weakness, he would not have been able to see the sufficiency of God’s grace, and the opportunities for God to demonstrate his strength. There’s a blessedness to our weaknesses, which is the wisdom in the Cross, because our limitations offer us a path to the self-emptying humility of Jesus, who boasted about nothing but God’s power and relied on nothing except prayer. We live in a culture obsessed with wanting to appear strong and self-reliant, but that culture has no place in the Eucharistic and cross-carrying church of Jesus. Paul proclaimed, “…I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” How can we stop struggling with our own energy and rely only on God’s energy? Does not faith require our own efforts in order to be a living faith? The answer lies in identity and intention, because faith without humility is dead, and good works without humility cannot engender oneness with God, but only cloud the mind with pride. Thomas Merton wrote in New Seeds of Contemplation:

“The joy of the mystical love of God springs from a liberation from all self-hood by the annihilation of every trace of pride. Desire not to be exalted but only to be abased, not to be great but only little in your own eyes and the eyes of the world: for the only way to enter into that joy is to dwindle down to a vanishing point and become absorbed in God through the center of your own nothingness. The only way to possess His greatness is to pass through the needle’s eye of your own absolute insufficiency.”

When Jesus said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,” he did not mean that it was our responsibility and burden to be loving, kind, gentle, self-controlled etc through sheer will-power and self-denial. Those are not the fruits of repentance, but the fruits of the Spirit. Our responsibility, which is our freedom in Christ, is to surrender to the Spirit in practices of humility, so that the Spirit himself can produce those fruits within us. All spiritual disciples, private and communal, must be humbling and not ego-boosting to allow the Spirit to work as the chief priest within the tabernacle of each believer’s mind and heart. For this, bible study must be humbling and provide knowledge of self to empower watchfulness with soberness and conviction, so that we can recognize sinful desires as they sprout in our hearts. Then we can take those desires to God in prayer to be annihilated by the light of his goodness. And so all kinds of prayer - spoken, quiet, and meditative - must also be humbling. Within the interior tabernacle, prayer must pass a believer’s thoughts through the Holy Place of their mind by the light of comparing their weaknesses with God’s perfection, in order to bring them to the Holy of Holies of their heart, which is intimate awareness of God’s indwelling and enveloping presence.

To keep us pure of heart in prayer, confession of sins within the fellowship must be common and humbling, for “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” This fellowship must be koinonia, a sharing in our faith and weaknesses and a partnership in teaching and influencing repentance in one another. When Paul says “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,” he uses the word noutheteó, which means “to place or set the mind.” This word has the same root word as metanoia, or “mind change.” And so with the word dwelling richly in us and through worship using psalms and songs, fellowship will teach and reset our minds on our peace in Christ. Fellowship that doesn’t aid in watchfulness doesn’t fulfill its purpose. We must help each other as priests to tend to the interior light of God’s peaceful presence, so that from the vantage point of our lowly and crucified egos, we can fix our eyes on things above, where Christ is seated in heaven. This is what shapes the organizing and movements of the church body, who’s ministry culture must be humbling in its work of making us nothing in relation to our false self, and everything in relation to our identity in Christ. It is in emptiness that we find fulfillment, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, empty of vanity, pride, boastfulness, and feelings of self-sufficiency, to become receptive to the Presence that fills and fulfills.

With these practices of humility, the light within the faithful will yoke them together, so that the church itself becomes a golden lampstand, as described in the vision of John; a lamp which stands before Christ, whose eyes are like blazing fire. The children of God witness him by their lamp of inner watchfulness, and become aware of how God witnesses them with a gaze of limitless compassion. God’s gaze is freeing, not dreadful. It affirms his care for his children, and the seriousness by which he takes his mission to reconcile all people to himself through the catharsis found in Christ’s atoning sacrifice. And it is cathartic, because those who allow his sacrifice to change their mind about living for their own glory and by their own strength are able to perceive the riches of God’s grace and let go of all fear, insecurity, and self-pity. Free of these yokes, they are able to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. And so with faith consummated by humility, those who desire to worship in the Spirit will find a righteousness that is not based on knowledge of doctrine and strict conformity to arbitrary ministry expectations. For such things can easily replace the Law, from which Jesus died to set us free. Instead, they will find what Jesus offers as the good news of a “righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith,” freeing us from the burden of proving our self-sufficiency through works. Without that burden, pride loses its purpose.

Pure religion, according to James, is one that keeps “oneself from being polluted by the world.” The mindset taught by the world is one that puts into orbit around the false self everything and everyone. But with faith in God’s holiness and sufficient goodness, those who wish to rest in awareness of his presence will learn to be watchful of everything that defiles that awareness, like Aaron continually tending to the lamp within the tabernacle. Watching is praying, and praying in koinonia with the Spirit purifies, or blesses us with singleness of mind. Prayer out of a rich indwelling of the word sets our minds on what the Spirit desires, which in Romans is defined as “life and peace.” Only when we are pure can we begin to grow in a knowledge of God’s “love that surpasses knowledge,” that we “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” And so with the well-tended lamp of the body filled with light, the Spirit of Christ will set us apart as “the light of the world,” illuminating his glory, that others may see our “good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.”

#tabernacles #mindfulness #spirituality #detachment #watchfulness

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mybeautifulchristianjourney · 4 years ago

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Devotional Hours Within the Bible

by J.R. Miller

David's Confession

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." - Psalm 51:1-2

The fifty-first Psalm tells the story of David's great sin. It tells of his penitence after his sin had been shown to him by Nathan. We see in it the path by which he returned to God. Since David wrote the words of this Psalm, thousands have used them, and they have become the liturgy of penitence for all who seek divine mercy.

Notice David's thoughts of God, as we find them in his confession. He saw Him as a God of unfailing love. In all the poignant sense of guilt that pressed upon his soul, there was not a shadow of despair. The moment he saw his sin - there poured upon him also a glorious disclosure of God's love. He confessed, "I have sinned," and at once Nathan said, "The Lord also has put away your sin." From this revealing of the divine mercy - hope came at once.

Had David not seen God in this light when the sense of his sin overwhelmed him, utter, hopeless darkness would have come upon him, and he would have been lost in the gloom. Thus it was with Judas, after he had betrayed his Lord, when the terrible tide of conviction swept over his soul. He saw no ray of hope, and in his dark despair - he went out and hanged himself. On the other hand, when Peter had denied his Master, and when, beneath the grieved look of that holy Eye, a sense of sin overwhelmed him - he went out and wept bitterly. But through his tears - he saw God as a God of mercy and love, and instead of despair - hope sprang up in his soul, and he was restored, living to be a glorious apostle. It is most important that the convicted sinner shall see God - as a God of mercy and love - as David saw Him, as Peter saw Him.

Notice also David's thoughts of his sin. First, he thought about his sin as his own. "My transgressions," "my iniquity," "my sin," "I have sinned," are the words he uses. He does not try to lay the blame of his wrongdoing, on some other one, as our first parents did. He does not plead the peculiar strength of his temptation and try to excuse himself for sinning so grievously. He does not talk of his peculiar environment or circumstances. He does not try in any way to explain his fall, or to mitigate in any measure the degree of his guilt. He frankly takes the whole responsibility on himself. This shows the sincerity of his repentance.

An old writer said, that nothing else in the world is so much our own - as our sins. We cannot push the responsibility off on any tempter or on any circumstances. Others may tempt us - but no one can compel us to sin. There is no sin in being tempted - sin begins when we yield to the temptation. Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are - but He was without sin. We are commanded to resist the Devil, and we are told that he will flee from us. Others may tempt us - and the guilt of the tempter is great. But no one can compel us to sin. Until we lift the latch - sin cannot enter our heart's door. We are responsible, therefore, for our sins, and must bear the burden of them ourselves.

We must also personally seek and find forgiveness for our own sins. No intercessor can obtain pardon for us; we must be penitent ourselves. Christ's expiation is for sinners - but even Christ's intercession will not bring forgiveness, if we do not personally repent and seek mercy. No one can obtain forgiveness for us - for any unconfessed sin of ours.

Another of David's thoughts about his sin, was that it was against God alone. "Against you, you only, have I sinned." The smallest wrong thing we do - is done primarily against God. If we speak a rude or impatient word to a beggar - it strikes God's heart, and the sin is against Him. If we are unkind to a dumb beast - we sin against God. Our unholy thoughts, which we think harm no one - grieve God. Every sin is a personal offence to Him. We may injure others and do wrong and injustice to them - but the sin is really and always against God. It is the law of God that we break, no matter what evil thing we do; and in breaking His law - we have struck God in the face. We stand in such relations to God all the while - that every act, word, or thought of ours affects Him personally: either pleasing Him and meeting His approval, or grieving Him and receiving His condemnation.

Another thought of his sin which David had, was that it was inborn. "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." He was not born holy. Sin is not altogether a habit which one acquires through years of living. It is not a result of bad education. It is not a little soiling of one's nature from the outside, by contact with an evil world. Sin is in the heart - and was born with us.

Notice also David's thought of the mercy he needed. First, there is a simple cry for mercy. "Have mercy upon me, O God." This was his greatest need. He did not begin his prayer by asking for favors, for prosperous circumstances, for many friends. Before any blessings could count in his life - he must get clear of his sin, and must have God's mercy. The words represent his transgressions as all written down against him in the book of accounts - and he pleads to have them blotted out, erased, rubbed from the page. There is something very startling in this thought that our sins are charged against us, and that unless we get the record expunged, we shall have to meet the penalty. But the blessed truth here, is that sins may be blotted out - no matter how many or how great they are.

"Wash away all my iniquity." Sin is represented as leaving a stain, and the prayer is that it may be washed off. That is, sin not only writes its record against us on God's book - but it also denies and pollutes our lives. We need not only to have the guilt removed - to be justified ; but we need also to have our lives cleansed - to be sanctified. We need a cleansing which reaches the very center of the being. The stains are deep, and the purifying process must go on until they are all removed. The ancient method of washing clothes was by beating or treading, and David asks God even to tread him down if necessary to remove the foul spots. We should pray God to wash us until every stain is taken away, however painful the process must be.

"Cleanse me from my sin." It is the language used of cleansing lepers. The word "wash" refers to garments and surface stains, and the word "cleanse" refers to sin as a disease, a leprosy in the soul. This prayer, therefore, is for the cleansing of the very nature.

There is still another expression in the prayer: "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." In certain ancient ceremonies, the blood was sprinkled with a hyssop branch. We may not be able to read into this prayer all the New Testament teaching about Christ's sacrifice, and yet the idea is certainly present, and for us means cleansing of Christ's blood.

Notice, then, David's thought about the renewal which comes with God's forgiveness. It is inward renewal. When the love of God streamed into his soul - he saw how much he needed to have done in him to make him what God would have him to be.

First, he had a new conception of the divine requirement. "You desire truth in the inward parts." Truth is genuineness, sincerity, righteousness. God despises hypocrisy. No mere external reformation will avail - while the heart remains wrong. With this lofty conception of the divine ideal of character, there is a beautiful evangelical teaching in David's prayer for renewal. He pleads for the application of the blood of atonement, to his life, then for the assurance of forgiveness, that the lost joy might be brought back.

Next he prays for renewal of heart: "Create in me a pure heart, O God." He has discovered the black fountain of sin in his life, pouring up its defiling waters and polluting all his soul. He cannot himself purify this black well, and he brings it to God that He may purify it.

The word "create" shows that David understood the necessity of a divine work in him, a work nothing less than a new creation. In this prayer for renewal, he pleads also that the Holy Spirit may abide with him, be with him. He remembered Saul's terrible fate, when God took His Holy Spirit from him, and pleaded that the same calamity might not fall upon him. "Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me." While he prayed for the continuance of God's Spirit upon him, he prayed also that his own spirit might be constant, steadfast, and free - that is, willing. In other words, he desires the spirit of entire consecration to God's will and service. Then he asks for the restoration of the joy of salvation.

Notice once more in this Psalm, David's thought about serving God. When he had been forgiven and the joy of salvation had been restored to his heart, he would begin to be a blessing to his neighbors and friends. We cannot bring others to Christ - when we have no joy of forgiveness in our own hearts. But the moment we are forgiven and the joy begins in us - we begin to desire to help others, to teach transgressors God's ways, and to lead sinners back home.

Other suggestions are found in the words which follow. The tongue of a forgiven man will sing aloud of God's righteousness. His opened lips will speak forth God's praise. The character of the service which God desires from us, is sketched in the closing words - not sacrifice of animals or any possessions. The sacrifice that pleases God - is a penitent spirit and contrite heart. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

#Devotional Hours Within the Bible #J.R. Miller #David's Confession #Psalm 51:1-2 #March 16 #2021

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xapitos · 4 years ago

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Who is Jesus of Nazareth? A study of the Gospel of Mark to answer this question.

Who is Jesus of Nazareth?

A Devotional Study of the Gospel of Mark

by xapitos

Introduction

This is a biblical study of the Gospel of Mark from the New Testament. This study is based on the Gospel of Mark (and in turn the entire Hebrew and Christian Scriptures) as being the inerrant (without error) words of God given to Mark and to each author of each book of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, known to many as the “Holy Bible.” God is interpreted as the God presented in those Scriptures, namely, the personal Creator of all things (except evil, a creation of man by his free choice), Sustainer of life and Giver of eternal forgiveness for one’s rebellious/sinful nature against God through the sacrificial offering of his Son, Jesus Christ, taking God’s wrath for such sinfulness upon himself on the cross out of love for all of mankind.

A little bit about me. I have been a Christian for more than 60 years, knowing at a very young age, that the Lord was my heavenly Father and that I would become a pastor. After a career of earning a Bachelor’s degree in Koine and Classical Greek, a Master’s of Theology degree in Old Testament Studies (a four year degree), being a missionary in South America, pastoring in three churches and being a hospice chaplain, I have never once found the Holy Bible to be in error. I have had to seek insight into some of its parts. Those parts, have no easy answers. That does not mean that there is no answer, nor does it mean that the hard to understand parts are errors. It means that I, the reader, do not understand what is put forth plainly in those parts. The understanding issue is not in the presentation but in the interpreter. I have also found that the great majority of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are straight forward, clear to understand and deeply challenging to the soul. I believe it is this challenging part that we as humankind use to deflect, hide from the truth that we find in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. For instance, the command to love your neighbor as yourself is broad and not always easy to apply. Some people are mean and obnoxious. Yet, they are my neighbor and my responsibility is to love them regardless of themselves.

Meditating upon the Holy Bible, whether we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior or not, and asking the Lord for insight and guidance usually results in the same. My personal growth in God’s truth is often the issue that prevents me, for a time, to understand and/or apply his truth. Furthermore, truth is both refreshing and confrontational. When I am to love my neighbor as myself, even though my neighbor may be an unloving, mean person, I am “confronted with God’s truth.” I can love, despite my neighbor’s actions, or be self-focused. The choice is mine, not God’s. Confrontation is not a bad thing but a good thing. Confrontation should be gentle. As someone once wrote, we all need to learn the art of giving a shot without the recipient feeling the needle.

It is my prayer that all of us who read/meditate upon this study will be honest with ourselves about what the Gospel of Mark says and that we sincerely search our souls regarding its claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all peoples from their sinful state to enjoy the wonderful and enriching relationship with the Triune God forever.

A Word About the Methodology of This Study

For simplicity sake, this study follows the paragraph breakdowns of The Greek New Testament, edited by Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Munster/Westphalia, Third Edition, United Bible Societies, copyright 1966, 1968, 1975. The Hebrew Scriptures referred to are from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Deutsche Bibelstiftung Stuttgart, copyright 1967/1977. The English translation used, when not translating from the Hebrew Scriptures and Greek New Testament, is the New International Version of the Bible.

Secondly, since this study looks at the Gospel of Mark as written and Hebrew Scriptures as referred to within the Gospel of Mark as taken at face value for what they claim, these documents are seen as the final authority in all matters to which they speak. When studying any book, the normal interpretative approach is to study a book at face value for what it claims to be. Thus, this study looks at the historical, cultural and grammatical contexts in which the Gospel of Mark was written. Mark claims in 1:1-2, that his book is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, based upon prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus, this study assumes the same. If contradictions and errors are found to exist, then the Gospel of Mark will be assumed to be false. Otherwise, it is only honest integrity and personal character to recognize and accept wholeheartedly what the Gospel of Mark presents.

Premise

The question at hand is, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” Mark, a disciple of the apostle Peter (whom Jesus left in charge before he ascended into heaven), wrote his book with this question in mind. All of us have premises. The question is, which one is the truth to be the foundation and cornerstone of our lives and the gift of life itself? This question makes the question “Who is Jesus of Nazareth” all the more imperative.

Study

Chapter 1:1-8

1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ (Messiah) son of God

Mark states the premise of his book in its opening words. With the use of the name “Christ” (the Greek word for the Hebrew word “Messiah”) Mark immediately draws attention to Jesus of Nazareth being the Promised One of the Nation of Israel. He wants all to know, especially Jewish people, that the Messiah they have been looking for has already come. Mark also claims that this Messiah is the Son of God. A debatable matter amongst Jewish and Gentile people. Yet, the claim is so bold, that it is worthy of investigation.

1:2-3 Just as it has been written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold I will send my messenger before you who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.’

Immediately, Mark lays claim to the Hebrew Scriptures as the supreme authority to backup his statement in verse 1. Isaiah was written approximately between 740-701 B.C., long before the arrival of the Mark’s good news/gospel that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Promised One to the Jewish people and to the world. Isaiah chapters 1-39 are about Israel’s rebellious, sinful ways (Isaiah 1-5), and then about the LORD’s coming judgment upon the Jewish people because of their chosen rebellion. Isaiah 39 reviews the coming judgment through the hand of the Babylonians, who will even ransack and burn the Lord’s temple and take his people into captivity. We know that Daniel 9 reviews the 70 year captivity. The context of Isaiah 40-66 is to comfort the LORD’s people (the Hebrews), that the times of judgment will not last, and that there will be the time to prepare the way of the LORD and make straight paths for him for his Messiah will redeem and restore his people and any who claim his name as Lord. It is with this comforting news that Mark begins the good news of Jesus Christ/Messiah God’s Son.

In both Isaiah and Mark, the forerunner of the Messiah is key. A forerunner prepares, go before. Thus, the very nature of a forerunner makes the message about what follows even more imperative and worthy of listening to with a change in action for the listeners.

1:4 Now there was John the Baptizer in the dessert and he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptizer performed his mission not in the cities and villages but in the dessert. Why? For none, there are less distractions in the dessert. Someone proclaiming a message and baptizing people would stand out more than in a city, where he could easily be ignored. Also, he was baptizing people in the Jordan river, where many go for water, bathing and washing of clothes, as well as to be refreshed from the arid, hot climate of Israel. Thus, word would easily spread about John and his message.

The historical context of Mark at this point is that the Hebrew people have been under the thumb of the Roman Empire for many years. They were heavily taxed, oppressed and helpless against a ruthless government that worshiped Caesar. Thus, the Romans were detestable to most Hebrews, who worshiped the LORD God of Israel through sacrifices at the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

What kind of message is John the Baptizer preaching? It isn’t one of sacrifices per the Law of Moses. It’s a new message, a different message of repentance for forgiveness of sins. A message that would smooth out the valleys and bring low the mountains of life. The roughness of life shall become level, its rugged smooth. Thus, his message stood out all the more. This would cause the message to spread quickly.

Self-Reflection

Where/what is our dessert? Where/what is the refreshment of our souls? To whom are we listening? One proclaiming the way of the Lord to make straight paths for him? Or, are we listening to the many voices, the confusion and the hustle and bustle of a hectic life, filled with many voices? How is our present state of life refreshing our souls and bringing us closer to who the Gospel of Mark claims Jesus of Nazareth to be? Name three ways in which you can change your life to listen better to John the Baptizer’s message, as well as the message of the Gospel of Mark thus far?

1:5 and all the Judean region and all those living in Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

The going out to John was an intentional one. One of purpose. Under the heavy hand of Rome (like the Hebrews of Isaiah’s and Daniel’s day being judged by God through the Assyrians and the Babylonians) there is now the time of preparing for the way of the LORD and making straight paths, leveling out life’s hardships and difficulties. This message is not carried out by throwing off the hardships and difficulties but by turning to the One who forgives sin and then makes our way smoother in the midst of the hardships and difficulties. Although the people of that time were used to traveling in the dry, arid climate of the Judean wilderness, it was still an arduous journey. The trip from Jerusalem to the Jordan River crosses a dessert area littered literally with millions upon millions of rocks of various sizes, deep crevices, low mountains, valleys, dust, heat (depending on the time of year), little to no water. The people of the region and of Jerusalem are so thirsty for a making straight of their oppressed and rugged lives, that they welcomingly travel the arid countryside by foot, donkey and/or camel to listen to this new message from a loner man, who lives in the dessert.

1:6 and John wore clothes made of camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.

To the Hebrew, this is a clear reference to the highly-esteemed prophet, Elijah. Mark is saying that one like Elijah, the mighty prophet and miracle worker of the Hebrews, is now here and his message is even greater, as the new Elijah, John the Baptizer. That Elijah is so pertinent to the Jewish culture of this time, Elijah himself is one of two people who appear and talks with Jesus on the Mount of Tranfiguration (Mark 9:2-13). Jewish people understand that Elijah must come before the Messiah arrives. Mark claims that John is that man.

Self-Reflection

Would we truly travel across a dessert area on foot or animal, let alone a vehicle of today, to listen to the message of a loner, who lives in the dessert? His hair has to be dirty and matted. His beard, eyebrows, ear hair long, possibly filled with dirt and grime. He stinks. His teeth are dirty and possibly rotting. Not only all of this, he dresses like a crazy man, wearing camel haired clothes (brown and tan against his sun darkened skin). He eats giant grass hoppers and unprocessed honey. What kind of truth does he have to offer? Would we be willing to accept him as greater than one of the greatest of God’s prophets ever? What would we do personally to change our lives in light of his message?

1:7-8 and he preached saying, There is one more powerful than I, after me, of whom I am not worthy to loosen the straps of the sandals of his feet. I baptize you with water, but he himself will baptize you with the holy spirit.

Baptism is a common concept to Jewish people. The Greek word “to baptize” is equal to the Hebrew ritual word used for the “ritual cleansing bath” a worshiper would take to spiritual cleanse oneself before offering sacrifices to the LORD at the Temple in Jerusalem. At the southern end of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem there is an archaeological find of what are known to be “mikvahs”. Mikvahs are the ritual cleansing areas one would use before entering the Temple Mount to offer sacrifices to the LORD at the Temple. Mikvahs have steps that descend some 4-5 feet into a small area that was filled with water to immerse one’s self for the cleansing ritual. The Mikvah area at the southern end of the Temple Mount is most likely where over 3000 people were baptized by Peter and other apostles with him when he preached on the Day of Pentecost, post-resurrection of Jesus (Acts of the Apostles 3).

The message here is clear, spiritually cleanse ourselves before the LORD by being baptized to receive forgiveness of our sins. In other words, instead of taking the symbolical ritual mkvah bath to present yourselves to the LORD at the Temple with your sacrifice(s) for him, be ritually/spiritually cleansed by offering yourself as the sacrifice to the LORD for the forgiveness of your sins. Clearly, a new message, the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ/Messiah Son of God has come to his people and to the world.

This new message brings a new gift, the holy spirit. In the Hebrew Scriptures of Psalm 51, King David (the one to whom the LORD promised an eternal kingdom) cries out in deep grief stricken repentance that the LORD will not remove his spirit from him. David was the man after God’s own heart, as the Hebrew Scriptures describe him. Yet, David committed adultery with another man’s wife (one of his soldiers), deceived others about this by calling her husband back from the war front to sleep with his wife, plotted to have him killed in battle (murder), and then lied about it for a year. The LORD sent his prophet Nathan to confront David for all of this. This is the context of Psalm 51. It is no wonder that David cries out begging the LORD not to remove his spirit from him. The LORD mercifully forgives David and grants his request. David knew that without the spirit of the LORD, he could not become the man and king that the LORD wanted him to be. John proclaims that The One who is greater than I, he himself will baptize you with the holy spirit. The religious leaders of Israel did not teach this teaching. They emphasized a distorted message of the LORD, because of which people from all over the Judean wilderness and Jerusalem itself, flocked to a loner, hairy, stinky, weird dressed, grasshopper eating man, who proclaimed a new message from the LORD, be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, for the Promised Messiah is coming soon.

Self-Reflection

How committed are we to obeying the call of the LORD upon our lives to live in a deepening relationship with him? What are we willing to give up in the comfort and convenience of our lives to be a lone soul in the dessert of life crying to any who will listen…There is a better way, a smoother way. There is a life worth living, that is not filled with the clutter of many voices and guilt ridden teachings and philosophies of self-dependence. There is a better life, because the only One who is worthy has come and invites us to live in the wonder and joy of his forgiveness and guidance to the deeper life with the Father. What will we do to live in, to embrace that life?

List three ways in which the Lord is speaking to you about such change:

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freetenshi · 4 years ago

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Who or What are the Angels?

The Bible’s answer

Angels are beings who have greater power and ability than humans. (2 Peter 2:11) They exist in heaven, or the spirit realm, which is a level of existence higher than the physical universe. (1 Kings 8:27; John 6:38) Thus, they are also referred to as spirits.—1 Kings 22:21; Psalm 18:10.

Where do angels come from?

God created the angels through Jesus, whom the Bible calls “the firstborn of all creation.” Describing how God used Jesus in creation, the Bible says: “By means of [Jesus] all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible,” including the angels. (Colossians 1:13-17) Angels do not marry and reproduce. (Mark 12:25) Instead, each of these “sons of the true God” was individually created.—Job 1:6.

Angels were created in the distant past, before the earth existed. When God created the earth, the angels “began shouting in applause.”—Job 38:4-7.

How many angels are there?

The Bible does not give an exact figure, but it does show that their number is vast. For example, a vision given to the apostle John included a glimpse of hundreds of millions of angels.—Revelation 5:11, footnote.

Do angels have individual names and personalities?

Yes. The Bible gives the names of two angels: Michael and Gabriel. (Daniel 12:1; Luke 1:26). Other angels acknowledged that they had names, but they did not reveal them.—Genesis 32:29; Judges 13:17, 18.

Angels have distinct personalities. They can communicate with one another. (1 Corinthians 13:1) They have thinking ability and are able to compose expressions of praise to God. (Luke 2:13, 14) And they have the freedom to choose between right and wrong, as seen when some of them sinned by joining Satan the Devil in his rebellion against God.—Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4.

Are there different ranks among angels?

Yes. The angel greatest in both power and authority is Michael, the archangel. (Jude 9; Revelation 12:7) Seraphs are high-ranking angels who are stationed near Jehovah’s throne. (Isaiah 6:2, 6) Cherubs form another high-ranking order of angels having special duties. For example, cherubs guarded the entrance to the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled.—Genesis 3:23, 24.

Do angels help people?

Yes, God uses his faithful angels to help people today.

Angels are used by God as he directs his servants in the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom of God. (Revelation 14:6, 7) This direction benefits both those preaching and those hearing the good news.—Acts 8:26, 27.

Angels help to keep the Christian congregation free of contamination by wicked people.—Matthew 13:49.

Angels guide and protect those who are faithful to God.—Psalm 34:7; 91:10, 11; Hebrews 1:7, 14.

Soon, the angels will bring relief to mankind by fighting alongside Jesus Christ to eliminate wickedness.—2 Thessalonians 1:6-8.

Do we each have a guardian angel?

Although angels look out for the spiritual welfare of God’s servants, this does not necessarily mean that God assigns an angel to each Christian as a personal guardian. (Matthew 18:10) Angels do not protect God’s servants from every trial or temptation. The Bible shows that God will often “make the way out” of a trial by giving a person the wisdom and strength to endure.—1 Corinthians 10:12, 13; James 1:2-5.

Misconceptions about angels

1. Misconception: All angels are good.

Fact: The Bible refers to “the wicked spirit forces” and “the angels who sinned.” (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:4) These wicked angels are demons, who joined Satan in rebelling against God.

2. Misconception: Angels are immortal.

Fact: Wicked angels, including Satan the Devil, will be destroyed.—Jude 6.

3. Misconception: People become angels when they die.

Fact: Angels are a separate creation of God, not resurrected humans. (Colossians 1:16) People who are raised to life in heaven receive the gift of immortal life from God. (1 Corinthians 15:53, 54) They will have a status higher than the angels.—1 Corinthians 6:3.

4. Misconception: Angels exist to serve humans.

Fact: Angels obey God’s commands, not ours. (Psalm 103:20, 21) Even Jesus acknowledged that he would call on God for help, not directly on the angels.—Matthew 26:53.

5. Misconception: We can pray to angels for help.

Fact: Prayer to God is part of our worship, which belongs to Jehovah God. (Revelation 19:10) We should pray only to God, through Jesus.—John 14:6.

If you want to learn more about God Jehovah, his Son Jesus and the Angels, you may request a visit from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in your area through this link Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Bible study is Free of Charge and you are not obligated to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in any way if you study with them. The purpose of the program is to show you what the Bible teaches. What you decide to do with that knowledge is up to you. They recognize that faith is a personal matter.

Disclaimer: The articles I post are not mine. I am merely sharing them to those who really want to learn the Bible.

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catholicliving · 6 years ago

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Hello. As a Jewish person, I just want to say that I have never connected with a Catholic person that way at all, and due to the history between my people and theirs I have to say that I'm a little bit offended by your most recent post. I just wanted to ask what roots you may be referring to? Also before you put something in the Jewish tag please consult an actual Jewish person.

Yes, I’ve seen that my recent post on relationships between Catholics and Jews has not been well-received, and I apologize. You’re right. I shouldn’t have tagged it with anything other than Catholic tags. I guess my own personal experiences with Jewish people -- plus a recent podcast I’d listened to -- had given me the impression that the overall relationship between Catholics (or Christians in general) and Jewish people was improving.

Obviously, there has been violence and atrocities committed in the past, and the best thing for both sides to do now is to have an open dialogue with each other, to understand each other and act with neighborly charity. We cannot let the violence and hatred of our forefathers define the relationship between our two religions going forward.

For further clarification: when I wrote about Christianity and Judaism’s shared “historical” roots, I did not mean anything from the last ~1,500 years. I meant more our shared history from Biblical times, with the word “roots” being the key to the meaning, I guess. Still, I can see how it was vague enough that people misread / misunderstood it.

After all, Christianity is one of the three Abrahamic religions, along with Judaism, and it is impossible - as a Christian - to understand the Scriptures and without a basic comprehension of what the Jewish people were experiencing at that time. Captivity in Egypt. The Exodus. The prophetic writings during the Babylonian exile. Etc. More than half of the Christian Scriptures (the Old Testament) are the Jewish Scriptures, too, as I understand it. Of course, we Christians view things a little differently, as we read certain passages and prophecies and believe that those are fulfilled in Jesus and His Church, etc. But, nonetheless, much of our Scriptures are the same.

And, then, when Christians read about Jesus’ life and the early Church, it is also important for us to understand the historical context of the Jewish people at that time. The Roman occupation. People awaiting the Messiah. Etc. There’s an entire passage in Acts of the Apostles (which discusses the foundations of the early Church) wherein the Apostles are trying to decide whether Gentiles should have to first convert to Judaism and then convert to Christianity. And, ultimately, Peter decides that the Gentiles should not. And, then there’s an entire letter in the Christian Scriptures where someone wrote to the Jews who had converted to Christianity, putting the Christian belief system in the context of the Jewish faith/tradition. Not only that, but we Catholics believe that every Mass commemorates the Last Supper, which was a Passover Seder meal that Jesus shared with his Apostles before His death. So, no Mass can take place without wine and hosts, which is unleavened bread.

So, again, I was trying to address more the shared BIBLICAL history between our two religions. As said, the atrocities that Catholics (or Christians in general) have committed against the Jewish people is unacceptable, and for what it’s worth, the Church has condemned those actions. We Christians believe in living a life like Christ -- of compassion, mercy, and charity -- and following the Ten Commandments as described in the Scriptures; and those acts people described in the responses to my original post are certainly not Christlike. I cannot apologize enough for the absolute cruelty the Jewish people have suffered at the hands of my fellow Catholics. I can only ask, once again, that we try to build a good understanding between each other.

I should’ve mentioned earlier that the original post was inspired by a recent episode of The Catholic Talk Show podcast, where the Catholic hosts had a Jewish rabbi on to discuss some of the things that I mentioned above - basically, the shared spiritual, historical and liturgical roots of our two faiths. Again, meaning in a Biblical context.

I encourage all of you to check it out. I’ll post a link on my timeline for anyone on mobile, etc. Maybe it’ll give you a better idea of why I posted what I did, and why I was excited to do so.

I’ll add to all this that, as a Christian, I come for a place of relative ignorance on the intricate details of current Jewish culture and faith practices. I’d like to think that I have enough context of Judaism to read the Bible, but I would certainly like to learn more about my Jewish brothers and sisters and how they celebrate and practice their faith today.

In any case, I would again like to apologize if you were offended by my post. That was not my intent. And I hope we can all come to a better understanding.

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years ago

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12/03/2020 DAB Transcript

Daniel 11:2-35, 1 John 3:7-24, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1

Today is the 3rd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today. It is great to come in out of the storm of everything that…that goes on in a day and just exhale and just be here and let God's words speak. So, it's so good to be here with you today. And what we do here every day is pick up where we left off yesterday in this never-ending rhythm that allows the word of God, the Scriptures to speak into our lives. And, so, here we are to take the next step and the next step leads us back into the book of Daniel in the Old Testament today. Daniel chapter 11 versus 2 through 35. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there were a number of clarifications written down in the letter that we’re reading right now, first John. And a lot of times when we’re reading the letters...well…you may have noticed, as we've been reading these letters, there’s not like a whole lot of personal stuff going on, like “Aunt Mary's doing fine. Uncle Joe broke his arm in a fall.” Like, there’s not that kinda stuff in here. The letters are pretty direct about what they're saying. And a lot of times when there's clarifications then we can assume that there was a question at some point that needed clarified, some kind of question had been raised, even if it was a proverbial question, even if the writer John here wanted to answer a question that hadn’t been asked just to simply help encourage the people. And a lot of times we can assume because these churches were spread out and communicated by letter. And, so, between letters a lot of things happen. Ironically, the clarification of the answers to the questions today are things we ask. So, let's just go back through here and try to ask the question and then receive the answer from first John. So, the first one we encounter would be, “why was the son of God revealed?” And, so, from first John we read. “The son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the devil's works. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin. Because His seed remains in him, he is not able to sin because he has been born of God.” Okay, and then moving deeper into this topic, the next question would be, “how can you tell the difference then? How can you tell the difference between God's children and children of darkness?” And the answer, I’m reading from first John, again. “This is how God's children and the Devils children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.” We could look at something like that and go, “that's kinda harsh”, but the distinction of our love for one another is the foundational evidence that we are disciples of Jesus. If you will remember before his crucifixion at his last meal Jesus told His disciples, “a new commandment I give to you, that you will love one another as I have loved you.” This is a fundamental distinction of the body of Christ, which should bring a bit of conviction as we look at our own lives. What we are supposed to be doing is showing and modeling for the world how to love one another because if everyone loves one another as they love themselves, if everyone loves one another as Christ loved us the problems in the world go away. And yet we look inside of ourselves and see we've got work to do. It's so easy for us to point out how somebody else isn't loving their brother or sister and so difficult for us. We give ourselves such a pass for the ways that we behave sometimes. And like James said, it's not right. It's not right. Peter said similar things. John is saying similar things. Let’s move on and just kind of telegraph another question. John has been talking about holding on to the things that you were taught from the beginning. And, so, the question would be…well…remind me, what's the message, what is the core message that we've heard from the beginning that we’re supposed to hold onto? And the answer…and again I'm reading from first John, “for this is the message you have heard from the beginning. We should love one another unlike Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous.” Okay. So, we move into all things here, all kinds of things here. The murder…the murder of Abel by Cain didn't just happen at a whim. His deeds were evil according to first John. And, so, leading up to that murder what do we have? Things like envy, things like jealousy, things like comparison, things that lead us away from loving one another. These are the things that lead to worse and worse and worse things. What John is bringing out here, “the message that you heard at first is the message that you must love one another.” Okay, let’s move on to another question. How is it that we know God's love? And I'm answering again by quoting first John. “This is how we have come to know love. He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world's goods, and sees a fellow believer in need, but withholds compassion from him, how does God's love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” Okay. So, we see the theme that’s arising here is the reminder that this whole thing does not work without love. I mean the fundamental commandments in the law in the Old Testament would be that we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, with everything that we are and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. The fundamental commandment of the New Testament coming from the lips of the Savior would be, “a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This is basically all John’s saying. He’s saying like, “this is the core. This is what you've heard from the beginning. This is the essence. This is the starting point.” And very similarly to James, John is here saying, “look, you can say what you want to say. If it's not borne out of new life it's not true” or quoting him, “let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” In other words, truly from our hearts we are putting ourselves into action the action of loving our brothers and sisters as Christ has loved us. Then John goes on to say like, “it's in your love that you begin to know that you belong to the truth and that you are going where you’re supposed to go.” Like, “if you are loving your brothers and sisters as Christ loved you then you know you are on the right path.” John says it this way. “This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts and He knows all things.” John is referring to our love for one another, reassuring us that we are doing the right thing. And then last question from our reading today, if we’re holding on to what we heard from the beginning, what is the command of God, what are we supposed to be doing? And I answer again from John. “Now this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him and He in Him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.” So, again this all does boil down to loving one another and that love transforming us and that love compounding upon itself so that it grows, so that we walk around on this planet with the Spirit of Christ in us operating precisely as Jesus did. This is the goal. Christ-like is the goal, that Jesus came and this one man, the very image of God in human form, lived a life modeling how this is supposed to look. If everyone looked that way then the world would experience shalom, things as they were intended to be. This is what the body of Christ is supposed to be modeling. I guess I’m getting a little bit passionate here. I have plenty of work to do. I have plenty of work to do to but it's not enough anymore to just say we have work to do. It's actually time that we do the work because it's time to move forward. I remember at the beginning of this year praying for vision and believing that we would see vision and we did. It was nothing like we intended it to look, but we were exposed, humanity was exposed. We have seen ourselves at our worst. We have seen things more clearly than we have seen maybe in decades. We see how things are. The thing is we can't keep talking about how things are. The way forward from here is loving one another as Christ loved us. This is His command. There is no way forward without that element and we aren't capable outside of the fact that we have the Spirit of Christ within us. I know we are at the beginning of this month. I know what this month represents. I know how crazy this month can get and I know that we’re going to blink our eyes three times and it's going to be New Year's Day. What we do right now through this season is gonna round out what this year meant for us and for our lives. And if love, actual genuine love coming forth from our very being and spilling out into the world isn't a part of the equation we’re just gonna keep having the same kinds of years over and over and over. Maybe not with…maybe not with a virus, but the same circle. We will just keep making the same circle pointing out everyone else's failures and never addressing the work that we must do to love one another as Christ loved us.

Prayer:

Father, this is kind of pointed and kind of hard but it's kinda true. In fact, it is true. This is the leading edge of the work that we must do. We keep trying to correct all kinds of symptoms without actually dealing with the problem. And, so, we keep bandaiding things together just to get us down the road without dealing with the issue. So, Holy Spirit, come. Well up within us. We become aware of where You are leading us. And we pray most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry. And we humbly repent. In Your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are and direct what we will be, that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You, our God. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi siblings this is your little sis, His little Cherry in Canada and I’m calling because I want to call so many times and I don’t and I’m not sure why. Well there are thousand reasons why, but I won’t get into all of that. But I am calling because I’ve decided that I need you guys and even if my messages don’t sound perfect, even if I’m not exactly happy with what I…what came out of my mouth I’m just gonna call when I feel I need to and I hope that’s okay. Of course, that’s okay, right? If it was anyone else, I would tell them it’s okay, call, we need you, we need you. And, so, I am calling not so much because you need me but because I need you. But anyway. Blah blah blah. I’m calling because tomorrow is the first day of Advent and I am celebrating Advent with all my heart this year. Advent is about waiting, preparing, expecting, salvation. And boy I don’t know about you, but I need that. If there was ever a year that begged for Advent, it’s 2020. So, I’m refocusing on waiting, waiting for salvation because that’s the part that I can really relate to. So, tomorrow as I deliberately observed the first Sunday of Advent I am really wholeheartedly waiting for salvation and I know that can only come from the Messiah.

Greetings Daily Audio Bible family this is Egbert from Belize by the way of California. I’m calling in for a young lady by the name of Asherah she’s a college student and the spirit of fear is evident in her life. I ask that you would pray for her, that she would be able to be healed from whatever traumatic circumstances she is facing, whether it’s friendship that she’s in need of. Asherah be advised that you do have a virtual family with the Daily Audio Bible family and we will pray for you. I will pray for you. And sometimes you may not hear your actual name, or you may not hear the prayers that others choose to pray for you. They may just do it based on hearing the request and not announce it. So, I’m calling to assure you that this virtual family do pray and that’s what we do through the Spirit of the living God in us and we know that in the times we’re living in that prayer is one of the most essential things that we have to combat the enemy. So, rest assured that you’re being prayed for and we pray for your families, other people, and other students that may be dealing with a similar situation. We love you. God bless you and we are sending you a virtual hug in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Hey everyone, this is Gigi from Gainesville and I just want to add my thanks to the Thanksgiving prayer list because everyone else has been so…been encouraging and thought you’d at least find my story amusing because I’ve had time. I’ve been having a hard time recording this. I keep like feeling so awkward. I don’t know why. So, I just want to say thanks to God for bringing me the man that I would fall in love with and get married to. I’ve just been this odd type of person I guess that never has felt like that was for me and…but I told God, you know, I’m open to your will and if you do want me to engage in such behavior you need to bring the person directly to my doorstep. And he did so. And it was strange. I mean as soon as I saw the person, Seth, it was just like unlike any other person and I treated him very differently. I was not very composed. And, so, my whole life has changed because, you know, the plans that I had were for a single woman, you know, maybe in the mission field or something but now I probably will have a family and he’s been just so wonderful and he fits in so perfectly. We live with my mom because actually my dad’s passing it’s just so much nicer to stay together and we’re…it’s just so encouraging to be altogether, and it’s so blessed and it’s just so many happy feelings and emotions. It’s great. And I just wanted to wish you guys all a happy new year. Very Christmas.

Hey Daily Audio Bible this is Hope from the Heartland. Listen every day love each one of you so much. Thank you for your voices and your prayers and for this ministry Brian of reading the word every day. And I’ve been meaning to call in for a while and just wasn’t sure what exactly to say so I thought I would just begin to pray for myself and others and…and leave the rest to God. Father God we just come before you today Lord just with hearts full of praise for who you are. God you are sovereign, and you are good. You’re our anchor in these hard days. You see us God as you saw Hagar in the desert and Lord we just lift our hearts to You. I pray You’d be with each one that is listening to this Lord and that You would just continue their work in their…Your work in their lives. And Lord I just lift up my own family today Lord. My husband has been out of work for a while and I’m not sure where he stands with You. The dynamics of our family are very very hard. Tomorrow I’m going to be starting some part-time work and Lord You know that my desire is just for my husband to walk with You and to find joy and for our family to have peace father in the midst of this chaos and that we would love You and serve You with all of our hearts for all of our days. And right now, Lord people are just not getting along. And I just want to have You be high and lifted up Lord. Please bless each member of the Daily Audio Bible. I love You. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Hi China, congratulations on finding out the…that the baby was a girl. And we are so happy for all your friends are missing you. They’re saying God bless. We pray that the child doesn’t miscarriage __ the child come to full term and be born a most healthy baby. We pray that she will be a great prophetess of God and close to God’s heart in influencing the children of God all over the world and all children of God and we also pray that she never be having __ problems and this thing that thing, you know, all the problems that she may have a perfectly happy life. God bless China harden and Ben. Bye everybody. It’s been lovely talking with you.

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jq37 · 6 years ago

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[obligatory recap ask]

**spoilers for subway skirmish and borough of dreams**

@kickmuncher3 and @galfast: ty for your asks, I’ll use them for the next two recaps. this is probably the least efficient way for me to handle this but I want to keep all of these visually consistent dammit.

One of the funniest things about this season of D20 is most if not all of the cast has lived in NYC which manifests as very specific references and in character complaints that you just know come from a place of truth and experience. Which is to say we got a lot of that in these episodes.

Also, this has nothing to do with anything but living in NY update: On Sunday, I saw a man hanging upside-down from a tree--by his feet--and playing the flute. And barely anyone registered it at all. So I really cannot stress enough how much New York is Like That.

Pete opening the fight by blasting a fireball and then telepathically calling out Kingston is--como se dice--a Power Move.

Brennan *immediately* channels the opposite of whatever energy Emily's on and goes right for Ricky's dog to the horror of everyone at the table and his absolute delight. Like, it's a spectral dog but still. Bro. Dog.

Kingston taking the heat metal damage to get Epona to drop him is so raw. But then, for the rest of the fight, he doesn't say a single thing except for his Command spells which is a very different kind of raw.

Question: Is Riz's mom the only good cop that exists in D20?

I know this was an RP ep and I know they knew it was gonna be an RP ep but I wonder what would have happened if they had pretended to cooperate with Epona to get more info. Probably just an extended RP ep that would have segued into this same fight eventually. But I'm curious about what information they let get eaten by a swarm of rats.

Misty's Irresistible Dance spell is very clutch.

The gators from the last fight are back in the form of Kug's summons and one of them still has a grudge against Misty. Misty is all, "send me your resume!" because she appreciates the spunk. I was starting a sentence about what the hell play this sentient gator is going to be in but as soon as I hypothetically asked it my brain was like, "Peter Pan. Next question."

Y'all, this really was Kug's fight. Between calling the roaches, crocs, and gators, channeling Moonshine to call lightning, and killing Epona within 40 mins of the ep, he truly was on fire. Good for him. He also turns into a bear but specifically a bear that would have escaped from the zoo. It's the little details that make this show great.

Brennan putting his foot down on tying rats together not being acrobatics is the eternal DM mood.

Back to Epona for a second, do we think she was working for Robert directly? Someone connected to him? Something else? When her shadow split after Ricky's attack was that meaningful or just flavor? Where did that badge come from? Has it always existed? What does destroying it mean? It didn't seem to help. The bad cop ghosts were still around, just no one could control them at that point. If they had yoinked that badge, could they have had a summoning item that hey could use? Or is it bad karma to use something like that? Is it still bad if you're forcing the bad cops to do good stuff? Did Brennan anticipate this or is the Coach Daybreak 2: Electric Boogaloo? Lots of questions.

Misty's cutting words to the cop (saving Ricky) making the Law and Order "DUN DUN" noise is great.

Emily ends up not needing to roll to make rat nunchucks because her health goes low enough that her magic ring activates but I feel like she low key wanted rat nunchucks.

Wild that Kingston went down for just long enough for it to be cinematic before being revived by Misty ("Get up, old man,")

Also wild that this whole fight only took about 45 seconds of in game time. It makes sense if you think about it the way you would a movie and that's how most D&D fights are but that's so much play time for so little game time and it hit me this ep because I was actually keeping track of rounds.

Anyway, I have not mentioned up until this point that the whole crux of this fight is to last long enough for Alejandro to roll high enough to summon the train to Nod but, long story short, Pizza Rat shows up to save the day. Does that make more sense in context? Marginally.

I like that the train to Nod shows up on the wrong side of the tracks. Like I said, man. Details.

Oh and to my above point about the cast making comments about NY as people who have lived in NY, I loved Brennan looking directly at the camera when he was going off on people who just stand at the door like idiots while you're trying to get in and then Siobhan pokes like half her head into frame so she can also stare directly into the camera. Mood.

When Ally said Pete shoots Kingston I half believed it for a good couple of seconds. I was right there with Lou.

OK, so I don't know how many of you have watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl (and, if you haven't feel free to skip this bullet) but no movie has brought me more enjoyment overall than SB&LG. Not because it's good because it's not. But it's so insane that it's amazing. It's right in the sweet spot. I always say, if it was any better, it would be Spy Kids 3 and, therefore, unwatchable (SK 1 + 2 are dope as hell though, for the record). I bring it up because the way Brennan describes Nod reminds me a lot of Drool in SB&LG. Like, the rollercoaster subway car def could be in the same universe as the Train of Thought. This is all to say that I think Brennan could have written a version of SB&LG that was better without being worse. Idk if that comes across as complimentary, but it is, and to both parties actually.

From the way Nod (the kid) is being framed (in this ep and the next) I know we're not supposed to mistrust him but, put in that situation, there is no way I would trust the gray faced, black eyed, creepily gliding dream child.

Post fight, Kingston wants to offer an apology for what he said about Pete and Nod wants to apologize for putting Pete in his current situation. Also, the group decides to be more open in general. Kug, as most of us guessed, got beauty and the beasted for white collar crime by his business partner (Gabby) who is Esther's mom and a witch (also, Ricky thinks his crush on Esther is a secret which is just adorable and completely incorrect).

Brennan cuts sharing time off because this is the combat episode dammit! Save it for next session. But, because I'm behind, next session is now! Let's get into The Borough of Dreams.

Misty, as a faerie, is instinctively mistrustful of vising other magical worlds and eating the food or taking things at face value. I love that she's playing a character where she can ask these questions and not be meta-gaming because I had some of the same concerns.

Wildly, WALLY walks out of the train as he just happened to be on it (as conductor) at the time. Kug bursts out with the fact that he's his dad and Wally takes this to mean that Rat Jesus is his bio dad but, even after being left alone for so many years, he claims Bruce as his real dad. He's wrong but he's sweet.

"I thought you were mad at me." Brennan, you didn't have to do that.

Murph clearly trying to not accidentally call Wally a piece of shit because that's his go to Kug way to describe things is so funny.

"We could turn me into a rat." WALLY

Kingston and Misty looking at each other like, "These absolute children," while Pete and Soph are making Brittney Spears references.

So we find out what all of the magic stuff they picked up does. Misty's mirror can see invisibility. Pete's grill helps with persuasion. The thousand hour energy makes you immune to sleep for 42 days(!) The bagel can be used for divination or to essentially kill a person but spread their essence throughout the universe (which low key sounds like a sacrifice someone might make to help cancel the spread of say an undead presence or a money virus).

I want Ricky and Wally to be friends forever.

Kingston's lack of connection to the dream world is so sad. Like, he's no nonsense but he's like NO NONSENSE. Like no nonsense possible. So he's just walking around like Eddie Valiant in Toontown.

And, at the same time, the rest of the party is doing the MOST nonsense. Mary Poppins-ing into the sky. Misty is making out with the moon. Wild.

SOBER SALAD

Ally drops the ketamine on the tomatoes line and Brennan fully breaks

Very sweet for Pete to bring Kingston a salad, even though that's such a random food to just have in your pocket(???). Why does salad keep coming up on this show? One more time and it's officially a motif.

So the dream world basically works on Sharkboy and Lavagirl/Xanth/Phantom Tollbooth/Wonderland/Toontown logic. If you've seen/read any of those, you basically have it down.

"Only people with Sprint have service."/"Oh, amazing!" Brennan threw that softball out for anyone who wanted it and Emily, as usual, hit it out of the park.

Brennan very clearly knows his NY history. The mob boss (lucky Luciano, no not that one) that he mentioned during the sleeping with the fishes bit is a real dude and basically the dude who brought organized crime to the US (in the form we know it now).

Ricky and the mints. Lord.

Anyway, the one item I didn't mention earlier is the holy grail detergent which can literally clean souls. Which sounds mighty interesting considering some of the other stuff that's come up this campaign.

(Also, I wonder if you could use the bagel as spell components since it contains everything in the universe in microcosm).

I can't believe Pete was the one saying, "At least eat before you shotgun that 1000 hour energy." By the by, the 42 hour span of the energy drink makes me suspicious. Is that just for humor (and accurate math) or it this a Chekov's Gun kind of an item indicating some kind of time jump at some point? Ricky drinks it later in this ep so, if there's a clock attached to that, it's ticking. I'm prob reading into this but I assume if you're still reading these, this is what you're here for.

Ally making sawing motions before being told an egg creme has nothing to do with eggs and is in fact a drink.

Pete! OK, so Pete has made some good steps in this ep, starting with promising to start reining in the drug usage. Later he works on his magic and also gets over Priya. This is the most endeared I've been to him all season. Especially his, "I try to do a good job," line. I felt that.

"It's still open to you." Aw.

Brennan clearly saw the chance for a lore drop this ep and boy did it drop. Let's run through the highlights.

Nod dumped all this on Pete the way they did because it's super super hard to contact a Vox Phantasmus beforehand due the the natural, waking world inclination to brush off dreams. You have to have the job before you can talk to the boss. Cruddy system but that's how it goes.

When Sophie said the thing about Robert Moses creating spaces that can't be accessed she meant by magic but it's an interesting way to phrase it because the irl Robert Moses is known for (allegedly, but like, it tracks) trying to keep black people out of certain spaces.

Robert Moses sold his soul to Hell and Faerie which is why he's still alive it seems. No one wants to collect on his soul and anger the other party.

Whoever predicted that the golden door for Emma Laz's poem was the rectangle from episode one, collect your prize because it's confirmed in this ep.

We learn about the ephemeral axiom which basically says, a dream can be all things but once it manifests, it's a single thing. (you might even say, "it is what it is".)

So another big thing we learn is that if a dream gets so big that manifesting them in the real world would break the game, it's called a Paragon. There are four total: Heaven, Hell, Faerie, and The American Dream. (Wild that The American Dream is the only country specific one that exists. Like, I rep my home team of course but the U.S. is a pretty latecomer to the country party. You'd think someone else might have gotten Paragon status at some point.)

"Was one of them the Grand Canyon?"

Anyway, dragging the American Dream into the waking world would fix the American Dream to mean one thing--I assume making tons of money if Robert Moses has his way. I'll admit, I was a little fuzzy on the mechanics of this on my first watch-through because pulling the American Dream into the real world sounds like it should be a good thing. But I think, at the most basic level, it's a matter of you shouldn't put magic that shouldn't be in a box in a box. I'm still wondering about the exact implications for the waking world if he succeeds though. Like, how would that manifest? Would everyone suddenly become money hungry (lol, how would you tell)? Would people still want what they want but the American Dream would just be understood to mean making stacks and none of the good Superman-y stuff?

"It's not Protestant work ethic is it?"

Robert Moses is undead and can't get into Nod, so those are good things to note.

I was so ready for Wally is get dispelled and for him to be a figment of Kug’s imagination or a dream or something. I braced myself so much. I was ready to set up a firing squad for Brennan for doing that to Kug.

Who tipped the bugsters off to where Pete was gonna be? As far as I can tell, the only people that knew were the gang plus Alejandro and Esther. Maybe someone was scrying on them and that’s what the roll Zac failed during the wedding ep was.

As soon as Brennan mentions locking the door, Ally immediately makes the connection and goes, "Key to the city." Nod "locks" the American Dream and gets rid of the lock which seems to mean the American Dream is temporarily unavailable. Which seems not good and like it's gonna have collateral damage for sure but I guess you bad is a matter of degrees and Robert getting in would be worse. But still, imagine your immigration papers get declined because some random kid decided to close down the American Dream for a couple of days.

So, we get some backstory of Misty. She apparently just was straight up not having a good time in Faerie so she stole Titania's shoes (allowing her to be in iron-filled NYC without triggering her fairy vulnerability) and peaced out.

"She's gonna kill you."/"Only if she can get here and I have her Goddamn shoes." (**A million airhorns in the distance**)

I love that Emily is still on the souls thing. Emily doesn't believe in Occam's Razor. In fact, I'd like to propose a corollary called the Axford Axiom: The coolest path between two points probably isn't the correct one, but it should be! I want her to run a campaign so bad so I can see her be in a game where her crazy endgame is what's going on because she's the one who wrote it.

Misty: Let's go to hell!

So much like a videogame, the map has opened up and we have three places to check out. The former locations in the dream world of Faerie (Carnagie Hall), Heaven (JFK airport), and Hell (where do you think? Hell's Kitchen). The gang splits up to look for clues (and drinks, in Misty's case). Actually, make that four places: Pete goes to the Met Museum of Memories to basically Avatar mind meld with the other Voxes and get a handle on his magic to a degree (thank God--Nod?). We'll take these in order of appearance, which means we're off to Hell with Kug and Ricky (plus Ox and Wally).

(Focus on the Pizza, baby!)

At first I wanted Ricky, the good boy, to go to Heaven, but the idea of a firefighter in Hell also has appeal.

Re The rat holding his guts: Gross.

Ricky holding his axe like a cell phone.

So we and Kug learn that the rat-spell that was cast on him wasn't actually a rat-spell. It was a spell that would make his outsides reflect his insides and his insides happened to suck. I'm wondering if that means that it's a static spell that reflects his outsides at the time it was cast and it would need to be recast to reflect any moral progress made or if it will just revert him once he's made enough progress.

I'm also wondering (partially bc one of my players asked to do this last session) can a Druid wildshape into a person? I feel like no, but like, did any of you ever read Animorphs? You know how in book 1 Tobias gets stuck as a red-tailed-hawk but then later her gets his morphing ability back and then he can turn back into his human form for 2 hours at a time? What if Kug just started doing that? Just being a rat who is sometimes a dude.

They also go to the statue of liberty (which has a French accent, natch) who shows them that there's, like, a money/greed virus infecting the Dreaming and the American Dream. Ricky smells undeath again. They think vampires. That's plausible but I'm not sure.

OK, Heaven.

WHOOOO, strap in y'all

(Sidenote: I wonder what would have happened if Soph hadn't chose to go to heaven. I feel like she could have easily run into you know who in hell had she chose to go there, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Brennan actually tries to lead Emily into the thinking about Dale mindset but Emily, having reached a note of closure in Soph's character arc, pushes back on that.

honeyougotastormcoming.gif

Brennan,about to wreck her entire life: Cool.

I and the cast keep saying heaven a lot but it's like an all roads lead to Rome situation. It's heaven, Valhalla, Elysium, nirvana. Like, whatever Good Place you believe in. It's the Good Place.

Sophie, upon being told that if she jumps into the fight at the Pearly Gates she knows nothing about, she might literally die: And what about it?

Emily's face when Brennan says, "And you see Dale," is so much. You can see the entire range of human emotion in her eyes in that moment.

Sidenote: I wonder how much of her backstory Emily planned and how much Brennan dropped on her. Like, she knew Isabella was part of her backstory obv. Did Brennan come up with all of this whole-cloth or did she say she wanted there to be something supernatural and and let him fill in the details. Very curious about the collaborative process.

When Dale's character art comes up, it says "Sophie's Angel" for Dale's descriptor so where I thought we were going was that Dale was Sophie's Guardian Angel who wasn't supposed to be romantically involved with her and the reason he was gone is that he was forcibly brought back to heaven. But that may be because I recently watched this.

Dale, is upsettingly sweet with Sophie, calls her "sweetie" the entire time they're together, fights a ton of angels to get to her, and says he got her text message. Emily is about to cry. *I'm* about to cry. I'm sure the only reason Brennan isn't fistpumping is because he needs to stay in character.

Dale gives this cryptic piece of advice before he is dragged off by angel guards: When you get to the top, I know what it'll seem like, but there is someone there.

Emily, of course: I fight the angels.

The angels, hilariously, don't take it personally that she's fighting them--and very well, but not well enough to beat a nat 20. Sometimes the dice are spooky in tune with the story.

"He's got a job to do here. Who's gonna watch the deer?"

Dale also tells Soph to tell Jackson he said hi which is interesting to say the least.

Emily gets two very dope lines in a row:

"Let me hold your hand through this Alejandro."

"I'm gonna kill her. And I don't think she's going to the great big airport in Brooklyn."

That's it for her for now, but let's put a pin in that for now and come back to it after we check in with the others.

Siobhan and Kingston are at the former spot of Faerie, the Glamour Bar.

Zac jokingly (I think) guessing Dr. Doolittle as the thing Siobhan can't remember when she says Eliza Doolittle is so funny.

Also, her terrible cockney British accent on top of her actual British accent is great.

I love that the two actual Real Adults are the ones who go and get wasted mid-mission.

Brennan introduces "Bobby Goodfellow" and it takes Siobhan exactly four seconds after Brennan finishes the word "Goodfellow" to be like, "It's Puck." She knew and she knew her character would know it and she hardcore pounced.

I meant to mention this before but it's super funny that Kingston has been around the magical block but there's still so much he doesn't know. He was surprised by a bunch of stuff in this ep that I'd think he would know about (like the Midsummer's faeries being real) but nah. He's like, "This is my specific brand of magic nonsense. That's what I know about. I don't mess around with any of *that* stuff. I stay in my lane. I stay in my city."

Ty Brennan for teaching me how to pronounce sláinte. This is the first time I'm hearing it out loud.

I love his Puck voice. Like, the little British street urchin voice.

No big surprise, Puck sent the mirror on the order of Oberon and Titania (who are not back together but are knocking boots according to him).

Puck warns Misty, "The world of mortals is not long for this world," and follows it up with a seemingly sincere, "Come home. We miss you," which is an interesting thing to say after announcing that Titania is gunning for her. Who is this we, Puck? Your boss wants to bodyslam her!

Also, what do the faeries know that they're not saying? All of them in the bar seemed to know something was off but none of them said anything and Puck didn't elaborate.

I've always liked the trope of the person from the otherworldly, magical or super advanced being like, "Idk what you're talking about. Humans are great!" because it's the opposite of the snooty elf/vulcan/whatever trope that I really can't stand. Misty showed shades of that in this conversation but I feel like there's still so much that we're missing in her backstory and I wanna know what it is.

(Also, this is prob just me being a little pepe silvia but I would be very unsurprised if Misty got an opportunity to betray the party at some point. Don't @ me. It's just something I could see myself offering to a player for the drama of it all).

Anyway, Kingston is extremely uncomfortable in the bar and makes a hasty exit so let's go to the museum with Pete and Nod.

Ally jumps onto the, "Suggested donations are for suckers" train w/ Siobhan.

Turns out, Pete f'd up Robert up so much that he has kind of a brain link with him. I wonder how long that's gonna last.

Pete gets proficiency in arcana and a choice between lesseing wild magic surges or gaining some control over them (2 wild magic rolls on a fail and ally gets to choose which effect takes place). Obv the second one is more fun rp-wise so that's what Ally picks.

It's a memory museum so OF COURSE he gets a chance to look at the memories of the rest of the party. But it's getting late so he only has a chance to check on one person's memories. He, naturally, picks Kingston. Makes perfect sense from an RP perspective but out of character I feel like Misty is the most closed book of the party.

Pete sees Kingston's life from his childhood to the present (Brennan puts Lou on the spot to do some improv...I mean beyond the improv they're already doing) and it's about what you would expect based on what we know about Kingston but it's very beautifully described (sidenote: did any of y'all ever watch the life and times of juniper lee? where she can't leave the city bc she's like the buffy of that world? I really felt shades of that, except more self imposed).

During that montage, a character is like, "You could make hundreds of millions of dollars--I mean, I'm exaggerating," (s/t like that) and I'm not gonna go back and check but I feel like Brennan (or maybe Lou) made almost exactly the same comment in the first ep of this season in a very similar context.

Oh, also, Kingston gets dubbed Vox Populi by a dragon on Bleecker Street in case you were wondering about logistics.

Again, Nod says that inviting Liz into his life was basically dooming Liz to be stuck dealing with the Unsleeping City but I feel like unless you have a Vox position or something similar you should be able to, like, opt out. So what you need to ignore some weird stuff day to day? May I direct you to my earlier anecdote about the flute dude in the tree. New Yorkers are good at that. And if she moved away, would it even be an issue?

Actually, that raises another question. Is NY the only place where magic is happening? It can't be because Santa is doing his thing at the North Pole. And NY has the Umbral Arcana which shields magic from muggles. Does that mean that elsewhere, magic just isn't hidden? I'm guessing that works because the bulk of magical happenings are happening in NY. Which, again, if so, couldn't Liz just move if she really wanted to? Or is she actually being *kept* there?

Ahhhhh, that argument scene with Kingston and Liz. Ow.

Robert's subconscious is heckling Kingston's memories the entire time.

The party gets back together, Pete immediately lets Kingston know he was memory spying on him and hugs him (while Misty is drunk a singing over him). Their rift literally caused a kind of rift in NYC which is now healed (which causes Sophie to see the Unsleeping City/Dreaming Yin-Yang sign over their heads).

Ricky drinks the 1000 hr energy so start the clock I guess.

Misty, upon hearing that Dale is dead basically does that John Mulaney bit: Hey, do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like [s]he sucks and I will totally kill that guy for you.

It's the day of Priya's art show which I totally forgot was happening. Before that, Sophie finally goes to see her brother and we can return back to that pin I mentioned earlier.

(Also, it’s the 20th which means we’re getting really close to Christmas)

He says that their family got mixed up with the Confettis and they've been helping to launder magical items that Confetti is paying some rep from Hell (an associate of Robert's).

And by, "Some rep from hell," I mean Isabella Infierno specifically.

Emily, hilariously riffs for a while about how small it was of her to call Isabella a succubus even though she clearly knows at this point that Isabella is some kind of demon. I mean...Infierno. Come on.

Sidenote: Which demon actually trying to be subtle would pick the last name Infierno? You wanna blow your cover for the aesthetic that bad?

Emily goes, "Oh my (beat) Nod," which I think is the exact way she dropped the first, "Oh Melora," in one of the first eps of Naddpod.

Anyway, it turns out that Soph's family knew that Isabella was gunning for Dale (he was getting close to realizing something shady was going on) and, while they didn't call the shot, they let it happen.

Oh! He also says Dale was a chosen one from "some monastery" which, of course, fits in with Dale's comment about saying hi to Jackson. Now I'm wondering if his other comment--about there seeming like there's nothing at the top--is about whatever chosen one test he had to take to get the position to begin with. And maybe he was giving a clue to Sophie so that when she takes it, she'll for sure pass and get whatever dope powers or weapons or privileges come with the position.

"The only reason I'm not going to go after you right now is because I'm not organized enough to give you the fucking revenge you deserve." Soph is cold as ice after hearing about what her family did.

"Maybe you should have said that to Isabella before she went after me." Another mic drop line from Emily. This really was her episode. You can really see Emily channeling hr genuine emotional reactions into her character.

La Gran Gata shows up to let Soph know she has her back to hunt down Isabella. The only other warlocks really seen played are Fjord on CritRole and Leiland on Bloodkeep so it's wild to see a character with such a chill relationship with their patron.

So, Priya's art show. They show up (to a distressingly unsafe building from Ricky's perspective) and it turns out, not only is it performance art (the worst kind) Pete *is* the art.

"I present to all of you: cruelty, a exploration of a relationship. Peter, take my hand."

major barf.

Pete goes OFF

Kingston: Picasso is art, this is bullshit!

Siobhan: Her last name is Danger? I hate this bitch.

Pete gets over Priya instantly which totally tracks because, like I said, barf.

Sophie stealing Ricky's thing and rooftop jumping. Zac narrows his eyes when she says that.

I love Isabella's title card. It says, "Literal Succubus". It reminds me of the funniest scene in Bedazzled when the Devil (Liz Hurley) gives Brendan Frasier her business card and it just says, "The Devil".

But she's here and she's here to fight! I'm so excited for this one y'all! Unsafe building. Lots of civilians. Sophie (and Emily) going totally feral. I haven’t looked forward to a fight this much since Adaine went for Aelwen. Let's gooooo!

#asks #dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 #riz-gukgak #this is 5k words #aren't I good at utilizing my free time

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lechemoflife · 5 years ago

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Getting out of Comfort Zone or remain in God’s Zone of Grace?

What comes to our mind when we hear the combination of words of “Comfort Zone”? I’m sure a lot of motivational speeches and inspiring quotes flashes across our minds. It’s because we often hear that we must move out from our Comfort Zone to succeed. On the other day I was listening to this Tedex Talk where I heard, “Successful life begins at the end of Comfort Zone”. So what do you think is Comfort Zone? Should we remain within comfort zone or move out of it? Well, personally for me, this is quite debatable. I’ll be trying to elaborate this on both the school of thoughts as listed below:

Step out of your comfort zone; success begins at the end of your comfort zone

Never come out of the Comfort Zone. Keep learning, keep expanding your Comfort Zone

Let us take a look at the first point. Does “stepping out of comfort zone” refer to some sort of adventure? We understand that it’s quite traditional to think that we must move out of our comfort zone in order to succeed. It has naturally become such a widely accepted thought. Yes, we must. We must get up and get out of our bed early morning even during the winters. We can’t lazy around like the way I do sometimes. We must get out of our homes to get to our respective work place. We can’t just sit and expect our rice-n-noodles bowl to come to our table on its own. We have to get up and get going. With respect to our professional life, areas where we feel we need to upgrade, we must step out, step up and open ourselves to learn the new methodologies, new technologies, adapt to new processes, pick up new skill sets and upgrade ourselves. We must open the door of our commitment levels; open and get out; open to learning, to practicing and be more effective. This is applicable to our jobs, business or even our personal lives. When we learn about Peter, we see him stepping out of his comfort zone. Peter seeing Jesus walking on the water, dares to step out of the boat in faith. Below is the excerpt from the passage; Gospel of Mathew 14: 24-29: 24But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

To step out from the boat on the stormy sea can be seen as a case of someone girded with a robust degree of faith and be perceived as an apparent case of stepping out of comfort zone. It takes courage and a mind that is incredibly faith-conditioned to do something seemingly so bizarre. It isn’t quite an informal affair…Is it?

Now, let us move to the other side of the table, to a school of thought that is poles apart. Let us turn to few references from The Word. Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Let me tell you something you may already know; “The wisdom of this world is always contrary to the divine Wisdom of God”. However, if you notice I quoted from The Word in support of the first school of thought. And perhaps one could serve even more references to support the same; and this is because The Word of God is a two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and we the children of God need to discern by His divine Grace what means to whom, when, in what context and why. God’s Word has repeatedly mentioned about 6 times directly or indirectly that means “the JUST shall live by FAITH” (Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38, Ezek 18:9, Ezek 18:22). If that is the case, then why step out from the secret place? Why step out from under His wings? Why shouldn’t we abide under the shadow of the Almighty? Now Bible says in Hebrews 11:1 that “Now faith is the substance of the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

The wisdom of this world that promotes stepping out of our Comfort zone needs to take a back seat at least until the end of this article. I leave it up to you if you would want to bring it back to the front seat. Allow me to take you back to investigate the scenario of Peter deciding to step out of the boat into the raging sea to walk toward Jesus and a little further. Mathew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Imagine this whole episode prudently may be with your eyes shut just as it happened. You’ll learn that Peter’s mind wasn’t fully conditioned with the kind of faith that Jesus talks about in Mathew 17:20. Faith of Peter, it was a momentary excitement seeing Jesus walking on water. If Peter had a high degree of faith-conditioned mind, he would have stepped out of the boat just as if he’s stepping inside the boat. Friends, when Jesus is walking on water, when Jesus the creator and the master of this Universe is walking on the water, when Jesus who gave us the authority to be called as the children of God through his name (John 1:12) is walking on the water; then why can’t we too simply step out of the boat and join him on an evening walk talking to him with his loving hands resting upon our shoulders?

I call this phenomenon as “Expanding the Comfort Zone” which is a greater challenge than stepping out of the comfort zone. For instance, in our professional life too, we need to take up the process of learning and development as a routine and not some sort “stepping out” ceremony. A true child of God, doesn’t need to step out from God’s zone of Grace but needs to keep conditioning his faith to perfection like how an athlete conditions his body for his race (I Tim 4:7 ….exercise thyself rather unto godliness). Let me reiterate, “The wisdom of this world is always contrary to the divine Wisdom of God”. Remember…. while most of us believe in the phrase “Survival of the fittest” that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory, God teaches us something that is altogether conflicting in its entirety. Let us turn to the Gospel of Mark 8: 35 “For whosoever will save his life shall loose it; but whosoever shall loose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it”. This verse is just so brilliant and if you notice, is the precise inverse of Darwin’s theory, which simply means don’t try to safeguard yourselves or your life to survive and sustain; because in doing so, you’ll LOSE your life. And what Jesus further puts forth is also very significant.

Consider the professional athletes; an athlete has to step out of his comfort zone early morning and be on the training tracks regardless of summers or winters. He keeps conditioning his body every single day for years no matter what comes his way, certainly not to lose the race right? The pursuit of a true athlete is not just limited to winning the race on the track but also many associated reasons; Respect, Honour, Expectations, Anticipations, Pride, Signature identity, Mending broken relationships. It could be any reason; I can tell you these because I was myself a trained athlete for 800mtrs track event in school. However, what do we see in the Gospel of Luke 13:30 “And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last”. I understand this verse doesn’t mean literal but spiritual. Whatever the case, in God’s word “race” is always referred to as a “Quest” or a “Pursuit” of certain accomplishment. In I Corinthians 9:24-25 this accomplishment is referred to as “an incorruptible crown”. Further in I Tim 4:7-9, it’s advised to “….exercise thyself rather unto godliness” and while this world and its wisdom tells us to focus on physical fitness and endurance, the God’s word sets the tone straight; “…bodily exercise profiteth little”

Remember Noah whom God commanded to create an ark? Noah took about 120 years to create an ark, a 120 years to create a zone of comfort, a zone of safety, a zone of prayer and fellowship with his family and loved ones. God specifically told Noah to get locked up in an ark, and while he built the arc, he kept preaching too for 120 years. He built the ark exactly as per the mandate and blueprint that God gave to Noah. Because it was God’s will that Noah remains sealed in His grace.

Remember the garden of Eden? …where the first man Adam and Eve stepped out of the comfort zone to try some sweet adventure? This wonderful garden was created especially for both to remain within the divine grace and with all the comforts. That little adventure affair of disobedience had to be paid by the cost of having to step out of the garden forever losing the grace in God’s sight.

Remember Cain who ran away after killing his brother Abel? He was distanced and out of sight, fallen from God’s grace. Jesus says in the Gospel of Mathew 11:28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you “rest”. Jesus isn’t calling us for an adventure but rest and comfort. Honestly, stepping out of comfort zone is way easier than staying within the comfort zone and to keep conditioning our faith.

David, one of my favourite personalities, on many occasions of prayers and supplications mention that God is his hiding place. He never seemingly wants to be separated from God but always wants to be in His hiding place, in His safety and comfort. He keeps talking to God with so much of intimacy that it immaculately reflects in his Psalms. Let us look at few of them: Psalm 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble... Psalm 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield... Psalm 17:8 …hide me under the shadow of thy wings Psalm 27:5 …in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me... Psalm 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man... Psalm 64:2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked… Psalm 143:9 …I flee unto thee to hide me. Psalm 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me… Talking about Psalms, I recall Solomon the wise’ Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Yes, the righteous runs into it NOT out of it. Let’s examine if we are indeed righteous because we don’t see anyone running out or “Stepping out” and still remaining safe. Our strong tower is Jesus. I solemnly clinch on to the school of thought that a true child of God doesn’t need stepping out of God’s Zone of grace and run away into the wild, out of sight, distanced and fallen from His grace. Rather it’s so much more challenging to remain within God’s comfort zone. I’m strongly of the conviction that one should never come out of their comfort zone; rather keep learning, keep conditioning the faith, keep surrendering to God’s will and His divine grace, keep expanding your comfort zone (God’s Zone of Grace), invite others under your roof of prayer and worship, into your fellowship, share the gospel, keep advancing in your spiritual journey and intimacy with God”. Moses also kept listening to God. He kept learning and depending on God’s grace. And he did quite well. From Egypt to the Mount Sinai for an appointment to meet God, from a stammerer to a great evangelical and prophetic speaker, He was an “Exceeds All” Performer altogether. Wherever he went, he was confident because he was within the divine comfort zone, obeying and surrendering himself to the divine will of God.

Shall we meet Peter again who stepped out of the boat? By God’s grace, in His cover of comfort and assurance and by faith, every “stepping out” would become “stepping in”. Let’s depend more and more on God’s grace and be found sealed within His hiding place. And in this pursuit, may our focus be on conditioning of our faith. Praise God.

#BreadOFLife #LechemOfLife #StrumsOfLlife #JimsonKJoy #ComfortZone #ZoneOfGrace #JesusIsLord #JesusIsWay #JesusTheTruth #JesusTheLife #JesusTheWay

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 5 years ago

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19th January >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 1:29-34 for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A: ‘Look. there is the Lamb of God’.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

John 1:29-34

'Look: there is the Lamb of God'

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

Gospel (USA)

John 1:29–34

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Reflections / Homilies (5)

(i) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are still very much at the beginning of a new year. Just under three weeks into 2020 we still find ourselves looking ahead to the year that opens up before us. In this beginning time, our gospel reading is towards the beginning of John’s gospel, from its opening chapter. The gospel reading also refers to a beginning, the beginning of John the Baptist��s relationship with Jesus. John the Baptist says in that reading, ‘I did not know him myself’. He then says that, at some point in his life, God revealed to him that the one on whom he saw the Holy Spirit come down was the Chosen One of God. John saw this happening when Jesus was baptized. At that moment, he began to know Jesus, and, as a result, from that time on he began to make Jesus known to others. That is what we find John the Baptist doing in today’s gospel reading. He is making Jesus known to others as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, as the one on whom the Spirit came down and rested, and as the Chosen One of God. From not knowing Jesus, he becomes the powerful witness to Jesus. The gospel reading gives us access to the beginning of John the Baptist’s relationship with Jesus.

This gospel reading might prompt us to reflect on the beginnings of our relationship with Jesus, as we begin this New Year. How did we first come to know Jesus and how has our relationship with Jesus been sustained? To ask this question is to reflect on our spiritual autobiography, our faith journey, which will be very personal to each one of us. I don’t find the question, ‘How did I first come to know Jesus?’ an easy one to answer. John the Baptist could point to that moment when the saw the Holy Spirit come down upon Jesus. He immediately understood that Jesus would have a unique place in his life. I would find it hard to point to one such moment in my own life when Jesus suddenly became significant for me. That may be true of many of us. In a very real sense, our relationship with Jesus began at our baptism. It was then that we were incorporated into the Lord’s body, that his Spirit was poured into our lives and that he became our brother. However, most of us were too young to remember that day. Yet, we might remember experiences that brought to life for us what had taken place at the time of our baptism.

Certainly, my parent’s quiet but deep faith nurtured my relationship with the Lord and helped the seed sown at baptism to grow. I became an altar server at a very young age in Christ the King church, Cabra, and the church’s liturgy and my involvement in it helped to bring the Lord alive for me and brought home to me the significance of his body, the church. I became a member of the church choir in Phibsborough, while I was a pupil at Saint Peter’s National School, just beside the church. Looking back, that experience was hugely influential in nurturing my faith. Saint Augustine said whoever sings prays twice. The four part male choir of pupils and past pupils of the school sang the most beautiful four part harmony church music, so there was a lot of praying going on there. We had the most wonderful teacher who conductor the choir, Mr Paddy Sommerville. Another experience that really nurtured my faith in the Lord was at Secondary School. I went to Beneavin College in Finglas, run by the De LaSalle brothers. One of the brothers brought us through the gospel of Luke in religion class. Lesson by lesson, he was opening up for us the story of Jesus as told by Luke. It gave me a sense of the person and life of Jesus I hadn’t had before.

There were other many experiences which led me to the person of Jesus and helped to sustain that relationship, but those ones stand out for me. Looking back, I can now see that these experiences were all ‘John the Baptist moments’ in my life, when God was saying to me through others, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God, there is the Chosen One of God’. I am sure that everyone in the church could list their own ‘John the Baptist moments’, the people, events, experiences, through which God was pointing you in the direction of his Son. That is the way that God draws us to his Son, in and through each other. None of us comes to the Lord on our own. We need the community of faith to come to the Lord. We bring each other to the Lord. The journey of faith is always a shared journey. It is also a continuous journey, because we never come to know the Lord fully in this life. There is always a sense in which we can say with John the Baptist in today’s gospel, ‘I did not know him myself’, ‘I do not know him myself’. We continually need John the Baptist figures to lead us more fully to the Lord, and, sometimes, the Lord can even be asking any of us to become such a figure for others.

And/Or

(ii) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

When I was a child, if either I or one of my brothers pointed at something, my mother would always say, ‘Don’t point’. Pointing was considered bad manners, at least for children. I suspect that has ceased to be an issue for most parents today; they probably have more serious things to worry about. There are times, of course, when pointing was always considered appropriate. If I am giving someone directions, it can be helpful to point, in order to make clear what I am trying to communicate. If you have been searching the sky for the comet in recent weeks, you would no doubt have pointed it out to others if you had spotted it. You would certainly point to identify a source of danger to yourself and others.

In today’s gospel reading, John the Baptist points to Jesus so as to direct people to him. Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John declared: ‘Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. We can imagine John pointing with his hand as he spoke. Those words of John have become part of our Eucharist. As the celebrant holds up the consecrated host before Communion, he repeats the words of John the Baptist. John’s action of physically pointing to Jesus and identifying him as the Lamb of God sums up the meaning of John’s life. You could say that John’s whole life pointed to Jesus. The purpose of his life was to lead people to Jesus, to help them recognize Jesus as the ‘Chosen One of God’, in the words of today’s gospel reading. Indeed, John even pointed his own followers in the direction of Jesus. He wanted his followers to become followers of Jesus. With reference to Jesus, he said simply, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’. Great as John was, he had the humility to point to someone greater than himself, to make way for someone greater. Pointing to one greater than himself and leading others to this person was the purpose of his life and mission.

Most of us can probably think of people who, in the course of our lives, pointed us in the right direction. These were people who could see just that little bit more clearly than we could at the time. They pointed us towards what they saw - just as John the Baptist pointed people towards someone he saw clearly. We all need good guides from time to time; we need people who can point the way for us, people who, in the words of St. Paul, can direct us towards, ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable’. It is true that we can react negatively to people who come across as knowing what is best for us and who take it upon themselves to tell us what to do. However, the art of pointing others in the right direction is more subtle than that. John the Baptist did not say to his disciples, ‘Become disciples of Jesus’; he simply said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God’. Those who point us in the right direction are sharing with us something of their experience and insight. Their sharing serves as a kind of invitation rather than as a command. Such sharing will not always be responded to. Not everyone that John pointed in the direction of Jesus went on to become a disciple of Jesus. The art of pointing others in the right direction needs to be accompanied by a profound respect for human freedom. Today we give thanks for all those John the Baptist figures we have encountered in the course of our lives. We thank God for all those who were concerned enough about us to share something of their vision with us, and who remained loyal to us even when we failed to take the path they pointed out to us.

In thanking God for such people in our lives, we also acknowledge that the Lord calls each of us to become a John the Baptist for others. Our baptism calls on us to live lives that help to point others in the direction that God wants them to take. This is what John the Baptist was doing. He was pointing out the way that God wanted people to take, the way that leads to Jesus. We cannot become all that God wants us to be on our own; we need each other. God guides us through others, and guides others through us. We are dependant on each other if we are to take the path God is calling us to take, the path that leads to God’s Son. We can help each other take this path. We can also of course hinder each other from taking it. Jesus reserved some of his harshest words for those who led others astray, those who, in his own words, ‘put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me’. Those who lead others astray are at the opposite end of the spectrum to the likes of John the Baptist.

If we are to become a John the Baptist for others, if we are to point others in the direction of Jesus, we ourselves need to be pointing towards Jesus. John could only say, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’ because he himself knew the Lamb of God. John admits in today’s gospel reading that he only knew Jesus because God had revealed Jesus to him. We too need God to reveal Jesus to us. We depend on God to bring us into a deeper relationship with Jesus. This is not something we can do for ourselves. We each need to pray, ‘Lord God, help me to know your Son’. Only then can we go on to become a John the Baptist for others.

And/Or

(iii) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

I have a print of a painting by Caravaggio in my house that I like very much. The painting depicts the call of Matthew and the original is to be found in a church in Rome called St Luigi in Francese, the French National church in Rome. In the painting Caravaggio depicts Jesus pointing towards Matthew the tax collector who is seated at the table around which several of his colleagues are seated, and there is money on the table that is being gambled for. As Jesus points towards Matthew, so Matthew is depicted as pointing towards himself, while looking at Jesus, as if he is saying to Jesus, ‘Is it me you are pointing to?’ The painting captures the moment just before Matthew stood up from the table and left his taxation business to follow Jesus and to share in his mission. It is the pointing of Jesus towards Matthew that initiates that whole transformation in Matthew’s life. The human action of pointing to someone else can mean many different things. It can have a quite neutral meaning; it can simply be a way of identifying someone in a crowd. It could also have a threatening meaning; the finger that points can be an accusing finger, a finger that condemns. In the case of Caravaggio’s Jesus, pointing carried the meaning of call, invitation, opportunity, promise.

In this morning’s gospel reading, we can easily imagine John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as he says, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. The pointing of John the Baptist in that passage carries the meaning of witness. John is bearing witness to Jesus; he is making known to others what he himself has come to know about Jesus, as John says at the end of the gospel reading, ‘I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God’. In that short gospel reading John witnesses to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the one on whom the Spirit has come down and remained, the one who is to baptise with the Holy Spirit, and the Chosen One of God. John bears a very full witness to Jesus, and he does so with a view to leading others to Jesus. Immediately after the passage we have just heard, we read that when John’s disciples heard John’s witness to Jesus, they left John and they began to follow Jesus. John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus proved to be very effective. John’s pointing towards Jesus sums up the whole of his life. The purpose of his life was to witness to Jesus. As he goes on to say later in the same gospel, ‘He must increase but I must decrease’.

Caravaggio’s depiction of Jesus pointing towards Matthew and the fourth evangelist’s depiction of John the Baptist pointing towards Jesus present in a very graphic way the two movements that are at the heart of our lives as Christians. The Lord is constantly pointing towards each of us as he pointed towards Matthew, not in an accusing way but in an inviting way, calling us to become his disciples and to go on living as his disciples. Living as the Lord’s disciple involves bearing witness to him, pointing him out, after the example of John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading. As the Lord points towards us, he wants us in turn to point towards him, to live lives that make him known, that reveal him to others, that allow others to meet him through us. Those two movements are closely interlinked. If we are to live lives that point towards the Lord, we need to become aware of the Lord pointing towards us. We need to hear the Lord’s call to us, as Matthew did, if we, in turn, are to call others to the Lord, as John the Baptist did. We have to first become a Matthew before we can become a John the Baptist. The Lord’s pointing towards us is always going to be prior to our pointing towards him. We need to give ourselves time and space to hear the Lord call our name. Only then will we be ready to speak the Lord’s name to others by our way of life.

The Lord needs us to speak his name to others, to point towards him, to witness to him. He needs many John the Baptist type figures. Otherwise, how will others come to know him? If we ourselves have a relationship with the Lord today, and our presence here at this Mass is evidence that we do, it is only because we have met John the Baptist figures in the course of our lives, people who, in one way or another, pointed out the Lord to us. I know that in my own case my parents were certainly John the Baptist figures for me, even though they gave expression to their own relationship with the Lord in a very low key way. They would never have seen themselves as John the Baptist figures. Yet, their role in my life was very similar to the role of John the Baptist in the lives of his disciples; they pointed me in the direction of Christ. For all his courageous witness, there were many people who did not go where John was pointing. All John the Baptist figures will have a similar experience. However, the Lord asks us to keep pointing towards him even though our witness may appear to be bearing little fruit.

And/Or

(iv) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

We live in something of a celebrity age. If I were asked to define what a celebrity is, I think I would struggle a bit. It is probably accurate enough to say that a celebrity is someone who is good at what he or she does and, as a result, lives in a constant glare of publicity. Cameras gravitate towards them like nails to a magnet and they keep appearing on our television screens and in our glossy magazines. Publicity is the life blood of celebrities. If they are to retain their status as celebrities they need to remain in the limelight. In a sense, they need to keep saying, in so many words, ‘Look at me’.

John the Baptist has been featuring in our liturgy for some weeks now. He is there again in our gospel reading this evening. John the Baptist is about as far from a celebrity as you can get. He has an aversion to saying, ‘Look at me’. He was very clear that his calling from God was to make a very different statement, ‘Look at him’, ‘Look at Jesus’. He declares in this morning’s gospel reading, ‘It was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water’. John was a very impressive figure. Many people went out to him in the wilderness and looked to him. He had his own followers. Yet, he consistently deflected people’s vision away from himself towards the one who, as he states in our gospel reading, ‘ranks before me because he existed before me’. His opening words in that reading are ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. ‘Look at him’, he is saying, ‘Go to him and follow him’.

Even though in our culture many people are saying in a very forceful way, ‘Look at me’, and, by implication, ‘Be like me’, the voice of John the Baptist continues to sound forth calling upon us to look at Jesus, to go to him and become like him. The words of John the Baptist, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’, have made their way into our Eucharist. Just before Holy Communion the celebrant lifts up the consecrated bread and says, ‘This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. At that moment we are invited to look upon the Lord in faith. Then, at the time of Holy Communion, we are invited to come forward, to come to the Lord. Having come to the Lord we then make our own personal confession of faith in the Lord, with that little word, ‘Amen’, our response to the Eucharistic minister’s declaration, ‘The Body of Christ’. Having come to the Lord and made our confession of faith, we are then invited to receive the Lord, to receive into ourselves the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Eucharist is a unique opportunity to do all that John the Baptist asks, to look upon the Lord, to come to him, to recognize him and to receive him.

Having looked upon the Lord and come to him and received him, John the Baptist would be very clear that there is a further step we need to take and that is the step of witnessing to the one upon whom we have looked, to whom we have come and whom we have received into our lives. John the Baptist was one of the great witnesses to Jesus. In the last line of our gospel reading this morning he declares, ‘I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God’. He was such a powerful witness because he himself had seen so clearly and having seen Jesus in all his rich identity had gone to him and had received him. Having seen, having gone and having received, he was very clear that there was an onus on him to witness. Witnessing was the necessary next step for him, and, indeed, for all of us. At the Eucharist we are invited to see the Lord, to come to him, to receive him into ourselves, and then we are sent out from the Eucharist to bear witness to the Lord in our day to day lives. In one way or another our whole lives are to make the same statement that the life of John the Baptist made, not ‘Look at me’ but ‘Look at him, look at the Lord’. We are called to live lives that in some way or other point to the Lord, lives that witness to the values that he lived and died for, the values of God’s kingdom. We can only do that, we can only be effective witnesses, if, like John the Baptist, we keep looking towards the Lord, keep coming to him, keep renewing our faith in him, and keep receiving him into our lives. The Sunday Eucharist is an opportunity for us to do all of that in a very focused way. In many ways John the Baptist exemplifies for us the whole Christian journey and all the crucial steps that are at the heart of that journey. John the Baptist is patron of our parish, but he is also worth taking on as our own personal patron on our faith journey.

And/Or

(v) Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is said of the recently canonized Padre Pio that after morning Mass he used to go up to the gallery of the church to pray for several hours. However, people could see him from the church below. When they started pointing up to him and making various requests of him, he used to get very agitated. He would point towards the Tabernacle and withdraw from their line of vision. He was clearly uncomfortable with people becoming too focused on himself. He saw his role as pointing people to Jesus.

This was also how John the Baptist saw himself. This morning’s gospel reading portrays him as pointing away from himself towards Jesus. When he saw Jesus coming towards him, he publicly declared, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. John the Baptist was clearly a very impressive figure. People flocked to him from all over and submitted to his rite of baptism. He quickly gathered disciples about himself. However, once Jesus appeared on the scene, he saw his role as directing people away from himself towards the one whom he describes in the gospel reading as ranking before him. He even directed his own disciples towards Jesus, encouraging them to become disciples of Jesus instead. As John the Baptist went on to declare to his disciples, ‘he must increase, but I must decrease’.

Even though John the Baptist was not a member of the church, having been executed before the church was born, he shows clearly by his whole demeanour what the church is really all about, and by the church I mean not just the hierarch or the clergy but all of us who have been baptized into Christ. The church, the community of believers, is called to point away from itself towards the Lord, as John the Baptist did. It does not exist for itself; it is there to lead people to the Lord and to reveal the Lord to people. If, as a church, we become too self-absorbed in internal church affairs, then we have lost our way. As a church, we need to be always outward looking, constantly proclaiming before all, ‘There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. The church exists to witness publicly to the Lord who came that we may have life and have it to the full.

That is the calling of each one of us who make up the church. We are all called to witness to the Lord, his values and attitudes, by the way we live. Faith in the Lord, always involves this element of public witness to the Lord and all he stands for. Although our faith may be personal to each one of us, it is not meant to be a purely private matter, something to be confined to the purely private sphere. Genuine faith always has a public face. This is what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples on one occasion, ‘Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven’. This is an echo of what we find in today’s first reading. The prophet Isaiah originally saw his mission as directed to the people of Israel only. However, at a certain moment in his life, he had a sense of God saying to him, ‘This is not enough for you. I have greater plans for you than this. I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth’. Isaiah’s horizon was Israel; God’s horizon was the nations of the world.

The Lord’s vision for our lives is often more expansive, more daring, than our own vision for ourselves. He often prompts us to be more generous, more courageous, in witnessing to the values which flow from our faith in him. He wants us to be confident about the potential of our faith to enrich the lives of others. Our faith in the Lord gives us a whole outlook on life, a purpose for living, that is worth passing on to others. It is a treasure in the field, a pearl of great price that we are invited to share with others. This is what we find John the Baptist doing in today’s gospel reading. He has made an exciting discovery that he wants to share with others. He is very much aware that this discovery was not down to his own efforts; it was ultimately a gift from God. He said of Jesus, ‘I did not know him myself’. How then did he come to know Jesus in all his rich identity? John acknowledges that it was the one who sent him, God, who enabled him to come to know Jesus, ‘he who sent me said to me, “the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit”’. Our faith in Jesus, our coming to know him, is ultimately a gift from God too. It is God the Father who has drawn us to his Son. It is a gift to be grateful for, to value, and, to bear witness to with confidence before others.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

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wolf-nir · 6 years ago

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The Members of the Decay of Angels

The Decay of Angels is a five-member terrorist organization. They specialize in being a “murder association”. Although few in number, all its members have powerful and threatening abilities.

So far has been presented two members of this organization, Fyodor Doystoyevsky and Nikolai Gogol. The other three members remain a mystery, however it is known that possibly all of them are infiltrated into the government and the Japanese police force.

From the two members hitherto presented, it is possible to deduce that the organization is probably formed by classical russian authors, since Asagiri likes to present groups and organizations with members having the same nationality. This is the case with the ADA, Port Mafia and The Guild.

However, I believe that only two of the remaining members can be russian authors, since Asagiri has been playing reference to one of the classic Japanese authors, Mishima Yukio, which would make sense for an organization with predictable base in Japan needing a Japanese connection.

Following this theory, we know that there are several classic russian authors, an example is the very organization commanded by Fyodor, who has mostly russian authors. However, because it is a tremendously dangerous organization, it is possible to deduce that the authors chosen by Asagiri are the best known and/or controversial in the history of russian literature, both IRL!Fyodor and IRL!Gogol being part of this list.

Among several choices I have separated five authors known for their fame and influence in literature. Since this is a theory, I will introduce some of the IRL! and their possible ability. Since I’m not Asagiri and I don’t have much knowledge about russian literature, I may be wrong on some points here and there, but I hope you enjoy it!

❝ Leo Tolstoy ❞

⌈ IRL! Facts ⌋

✓ Leo Tolstoy, born as Liev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is considered to be one of the greatest authors of all time. ✓ Born to an aristocratic russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852-1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. ✓ In the 1870s Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession (1882). His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist.

⌈ Ability ⌋

❝ Karenina ❞

✓ Anna Karenina is the tragic story of Countess Anna Karenina, a married noblewoman and socialite, and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. The story starts when she arrives in the midst of a family broken up by her brother's unbridled womanizing — something that prefigures her own later situation, though she would experience less tolerance by others. A bachelor, Vronsky is eager to marry Anna if she will agree to leave her husband Count Karenin, a senior government official, but she is vulnerable to the pressures of Russian social norms, the moral laws of the Russian Orthodox Church, her own insecurities, and Karenin's indecision. Although Vronsky and Anna go to Italy, where they can be together, they have trouble making friends. Back in Russia, she is shunned, becoming further isolated and anxious, while Vronsky pursues his social life. Despite Vronsky's reassurances, she grows increasingly possessive and paranoid about his imagined infidelity, fearing loss of control. ✓ Seen from a small perspective, Karenina is a novel focused on a toxic relationship because of Anna's mistrust and paranoia. (in fact I may be quite wrong, since I have never finished reading the book and probably never will -q) ✓ Thus, Tolstoy's possible ability could be something connected to causing paranoia/delusions in the victim or incubating the victim to betray his own allies. ✓ Seeing that Leo Tolstoy is probably also infiltrated in the Japanese government, it is quite possible that he is using his ability to cause discord among politicians, and if he finds himself infiltrated into another government or public force, his ability continues to be useful in conflict of national or international disposition.

❝ A Confession ❞

✓ The book is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question. “If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?”. Without the answer to this, for him, life had become “impossible”. ✓ According to IRL!Tolstoy, in the face of the inevitability of death and assuming that God does not exist, the most intellectually honest response to the situation would be suicide. ✓ Thus, the ability of BSD!Tolstoy would also be manipulative in content, perhaps something close to the ability of Yumeno or Fyodor, in that by touch or any other kind of contact, Tolstoy could manipulate the victim's mind to commit suicide, perhaps by incubating existential doubts or personal insecurities that, in extreme circumstances, could lead the person to the suicide. Honestly, that would be the last ability I'd like Atsushi, Akutagawa or Dazai to face (even if Dazai can cancel the ability).

❝ Andrei Bely ❞

⌈ IRL! Facts ⌋

✓ Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely; 26 October [O.S. 14 October] 1880 – 8 January 1934), was a Russian novelist, poet, theorist, communist, and literary critic. ✓ His novel Petersburg was regarded by Vladimir Nabokov as one of the four greatest novels of the 20th century. ✓ Boris Bugaev was fascinated by probability and particularly by entropy, a notion to which he frequently refers in works such as Kotik Letaev. ✓ As a young man, Bely was strongly influenced by his acquaintance with the family of philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, especially Vladimir's younger brother Mikhail, described in his long autobiographical poem The First Encounter (1921); the title is a reflection of Vladimir Solovyov's Three Encounters. It was Mikhail Solovyov who gave Bugaev his pseudonym Andrei Bely. ✓ Bely's symbolist novel Petersburg (1916; 1922) is generally considered to be his masterpiece. The book employs a striking prose method in which sounds often evoke colors. The novel is set in the somewhat hysterical atmosphere of turn-of-the-century Petersburg and the Russian Revolution of 1905.

⌈ Ability ⌋

❝ Petersburg ❞

✓ To the extent that the book can be said to possess a plot, this can be summarized as the story of the hapless Nikolai Apollonovich, a ne'er-do-well who is caught up in revolutionary politics and assigned the task of assassinating a certain government official — his own father. At one point, Nikolai is pursued through the Petersburg mists by the ringing hooves of the famous bronze statue of Peter the Great. ✓ The main character of the book is known for wearing a strange red domino mask and cape. This visual is a way of “acting like a fool” in front of the woman who spent a lot of time courting and being rejected. ✓ The ability of BSD!Bely could be deceptive, illusory, very similar to that of Oguri. ✓ His ability could be to hypnotize the victim so that she was able to see and do catastrophic things as just “silly things”. An example would be to turn a bomb into a simple bouquet of flowers or something else that would make the victim cause chaos without actually realizing it.

❝ Mikhail Bulgakov ❞

⌈ IRL! Facts ⌋

✓ Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (15 May [O.S. 3 May] 1891 – 10 March 1940) was a russian writer, medical doctor and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. ✓ He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, which has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. ✓ After illness Bulgakov abandoned his career as a doctor for that of a writer. In his autobiography, he recalled how he started writing: "Once in 1919 when I was traveling at night by train I wrote a short story. In the town where the train stopped, I took the story to the publisher of the newspaper who published the story". ✓ His first book was an almanac of feuilletons called Future Perspectives, written and published the same year.

⌈ Ability ⌋

❝ The Master and Margarita ❞

✓ The story concerns a visit by the devil to the officially atheistic Soviet Union. The Master and Margarita combines supernatural element with satirical dark comedy and Christian philosophy, defying a singular genre. ✓ The ability of the BSD!Mikhail is very similar to that of Lucy Montgomery, the only exception is that instead of a doll, Mikhail has the body of a dead woman as his marionette, he calls her Margarita. ✓ Margarita is described as a woman in a Russian style dress of the 19th century in a lush shade of red. His eyes are black and empty-looking. ✓ She is able to obey Mikhail's three specific orders. She “comes to life” during this process through the drinking ritual of Mikhail's blood. The more complicated Mikhail's desire, the more blood Margarita consumes.

❝ Heart of a Dog ❞

✓ The Heart of a Dog is a satirical work in which a doctor does an experiment on a dog rescued by him in which he transforms the animal into a human of personality and primitive aspects. (or at least that's what I understood, frankly I'm so confused with this book) ✓ The ability of BSD!Mikhail, in this case, would be quite simple: through physical contact, he is able to make a human being surrender to his most primitive and savage side, until that person becomes, in fact, a dog. ✓ Mikhail is able to control the duration of the transformation, meaning he is able to make someone turn quickly or slowly, depending on his intentions. Besides that, once the person is totally transformed, it is impossible to undo the transformation.

❝ Anton Chekhov ❞

⌈ IRL! Facts ⌋

✓ Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a russian playwright and short-story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. ✓ Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov practiced as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress." ✓ Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.

⌈ Ability ⌋

❝ The Seagull ❞

✓ The Seagull is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the famous middlebrow story writer Boris Trigorin, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son the symbolist playwright Konstantin Tréplev. ✓ The ability is to "send" your fatal injuries to the body of other people. According to BSD!Anton, the people with whom he makes this exchange are his mere seagulls who used to live happily and ignorantly, but who know him only to be a tool to kill his boredom. ✓ For the exchange to take place Anton must have made a "contract" with the other person. For the most part, people are women who have previously been their lovers or who are in love with him.

❝ Maxim Gorky ❞

⌈ IRL! Facts ⌋

✓ Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (28 March [O.S. 16 March] 1868 – 18 June 1936), primarily known as Maxim Gorky, was a russian and soviet writer, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and a political activist. He was also a five-time nominee for theNobel Prize in Literature. ✓ Gorky's most famous works were The Lower Depths (1902), Twenty-six Men and a Girl (1899), The Song of the Stormy Petrel (1901), My Childhood (1913-1914), Mother (1906), Summerfolk (1904) and Children of the Sun (1905). ✓ He had an association with fellow Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov; Gorky would later mention them in his memoirs.

⌈ Ability ⌋

❝ The Lower Depths ❞

✓ The play is centered on lower-class characters living in a shelter. Everyone has questionable ethical actions throughout the plot. ✓ Gorky's ability is based on people's lies. He is able to turn any and every lie that the person has already said into reality, most often causing the destruction - be it physical, mental or social - of the victim.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #decay of angels #bsd theory #this is huge #i dont even know #please dont hate me #my theory #bsd fyodor #bsd nikolai gogol

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theactsoftheapostles · 2 months ago

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"The Presentation." From the Acts of the Apostles 9: 39-43.

Peter in Joppa concludes with the resurrection of Tabitha, who was also called Dorcas, the Doe. Does are the tame version of a wild stag, which is synonymous with a wild boy who can eventually, if he desires to lead the pack enough, be the feature presentation in the auditorium or the parlor:

"In Hebrew, the word for "doe" is אילה (ayyala), which is the feminine form of the masculine word איל (ayyal), meaning "stag" or "deer". Psalm 42:2 uses the masculine word "ayyal" to describe a deer panting for water, which can also describe a fool panting for instruction. The feminine "ayyala" (doe) is used in Genesis 49:21 and Jeremiah 14:5."

The transition between a wild creature, be it a male or female deer into a socialite is the subject of the closing section of this Act. Recall from our previous frames we can't spend our days talking about Jesus, in spiritual retreats, waiting for the world to turn. We need to get out, to see and be seen, and become a fertile member of the human race. Heading out after a period of "development" Luke says is like coming to life again, like a change of clothes. But first, for this to happen, we must get up:

39 So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive.

40 Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

41 Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.

42 The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed on in Joppa for many days with a tanner of leather named Simon.

A tanner of leather=542, ך‎םב‎, techmev, "the domains of advancement."

The Torah insists man go farther than just obedience to the Laws and the Commandments, all the way to Shabbat, a state of enlightenment, one which occurs lifelong.

You might find your enlightenment in a toilet in the club or in a cubby in the bath house, the world still turns after one does such things, all superstition has been waxed away, but to learn how to purvey in other public places and shine like a star without any residual fear, that is what is called being tanned, a stage that takes place after Shabbat.

Even better still is being tanned by Simon, which means other people will speak well of you. So Peter in Joppa not only refers to seeing for yourself, but doing so for the purposes of an excellent reputation. Luke says for this, widows need not apply. One must have a new beau on one's arm or people will not provide the public with a favorable report.

God told me to find one "and brag." Which beats the alternative which consists of two stray cats I adopted 10 years ago. Except I am surround by numnutz and nunchuks, so it is going to be awhile.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 39: So Peter got ready. The Number is 15013, י״הא'‎יג‎, yetha‎yeg, "start when you are 13."

Thirteen is too soon to go out, but it is when life officially blooms in Torah years. One is responsible for oneself after age 13 and the consequences and victories associated with oneself. A thayeg, "beats the clothes underneath" , however, looks under the clothes his mom buys for him in search of his secret future underpants and the desire for these compel him forward.

v. 40: Peter put them all out of the room. The Number is 9144, ץא‎םד‎, zamad, "a pair."

"The root "zam" (זמ) appears in several related words, primarily referring to, plans, devices, or schemes, often with negative connotations."

This takes us back to Aeneas, who could not easily determine a purpose for himself. Once one knows who is under one's clothes, and has a plan to reside in Joppa like Peter, one has found the right pair of clothes, and is ready for "the presentation."

v. 41: Peter presented her alive. The Number is 7045, עםה, gov, The Hebrew word for "government" can be translated from the word "din" (דין) or "misrah" (מִשְׁרָה). "Din" is related to judging or governing, and can also mean judgment, plea, or cause. "Misrah" is only used in two verses in the Old Testament and means "to have power."

v. 42-43: The news spread all over Joppa. News is the Good News, that one searches for meaning through the secret science of Judaism called Kabbalah, not by runnnig scared from food or touching a penis. Everyone fears Jesus came to strip Jews of their Jewishness, but this is very far from the truth. He came to tell them how to do it right. It is called Shabbat.

The Number is 10097, י'‎ץז, ya'‎tzaz, "be and remain strong within the Self."

The final Gemara is ך‎םבי״הא'‎יגץא‎םדעםהי'‎ץז, tech‎mbbilavaha‎yagetsha‎meda'am'haya'‎tzaz, "The Hebrew Bible is just a book. The Holy Spirit instead."

Luke opens this section saying a Dead Dorcas is not the right outfit for a hindered soul that pants for the real life promised by Judaism. Trial and error are not enough, one must follow the Course till one finds the proof of a second life promised by God and Jesus in the Books.

Now take this multiple choice test and you will understand why I'm angry all of the time and cannot find a new set of clothes. Which one of these boys should I avoid the most?

A. Sorry, I relapsed that day.

B. The last guy ran away because I didn't tie him down tightly enough.

C. Things really get going after I put the cather(s) in.

Take your time, I know this is tough but hopefully afterward you will understand why I too am in search of Simon the Tanner.

Proper presentation is the topical subject found in the Shoftim, the origin of the word Shazam! If you're like me, in search of a new tent peg, the Shoftim can help:

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focusontheeasternlightning-blog · 6 years ago

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Christian Question and Answer: Why Did God Incarnate to Work in the Age of Grace?

By Xiang Wang

Many brothers and sisters in the Lord all feel confused: In the Age of Law, Jehovah God did His work and led the Israelites in Spirit, so why must God become flesh to work and save man in the Age of Grace? Couldn’t He do that work in a spiritual body?

On this question, I’ll share a bit of my understanding. As a matter of fact, every stage of God’s work is done based on the needs of corrupt mankind and also according to the steps of God’s plan of managing mankind. In the Age of Law, because mankind was minimally corrupted, what they needed was not God’s work of redemption. They only needed God to promulgate laws and commandments so that they could be aware of their sins and know how to worship God and how to live on earth. At that time, as long as mankind obeyed the laws and commandments, they could receive God’s care, protection, blessings, and grace. Therefore, in the Age of Law, God didn’t need to incarnate Himself to do His work.

At the end of the Age of Law, however, since mankind had become more and more corrupt, they couldn’t uphold the law anymore. After sinning, they had no adequate sacrifices to offer and so they made inferior offerings to Jehovah God. Everyone was facing the danger of being put to death according to the law. Thus, in order to save mankind from being condemned by the law, God personally became flesh and was crucified for mankind to redeem them from the clutches of Satan, so that man would no longer be executed by the law because of sinning.

So why didn’t God perform the redemption work in the Spirit? It is because God is Spirit, formless and amorphous, so if He doesn’t become flesh, He can’t be nailed to the cross and can’t be mankind’s sin offering. Just as Jehovah God said to Moses: “You can not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). The corrupt mankind can’t come into direct contact with God’s Spirit. If man were to come into contact with God’s Spirit, they would be smitten by God. If so, how could God redeem mankind? Moreover, since man can’t see God’s Spirit, he can only use his brain to imagine what kind of God God is, what disposition He has, and what His essence is. However, such understanding is not practical or precise. Besides, if God’s Spirit worked on man, giving man enlightenment, illumination, moving, and guidance, this would give man a sense of the mysterious and the unimaginable. So it wouldn’t be easy for man who has a mind and has been deeply corrupted by Satan to accurately understand God’s will, so man would feel a sense of estrangement from God. In this way, it would be impossible for God’s redemption work to be effective.

But the work of God in the flesh is different. God incarnate can practically interact with men, live among them, take part in their lives, and support, provide for, and teach them at any time. He can use the language of men to clearly tell mankind His demands, His will, His disposition, and all that He has and is. In this way, without having to cast about and search, men can clearly understand God’s will and know God’s work, so that they have a clear goal and direction and the accurate path of practice for believing in God. For example, we can understand from the Lord Jesus’ words what kind of people can enter into the kingdom of heaven, and that we should forgive others seventy times seven times, love our neighbor as ourselves, and be tolerant and patient to others, etc. From the utterances and work of the incarnate God, we can practically feel God’s love and compassion for mankind. God in the flesh has sympathy for mankind’s weakness and gives sinners chances to repent. As long as man sincerely repents and confesses before God, he can gain God’s pardon and forgiveness without having to give offerings. In this way, man no longer needs to be worried about being put to death according to the law when he sins and has no offering, and can break free from the bondage and shackles of the law. The work of God in the flesh can also reveal which believers have real faith and which believers are hypocritical, and let man know what type of person God likes and what type of person disgusts Him. For instance: The Pharisees were the leaders in the synagogues, and they read the Bible well, strictly followed the regulations of the law, purposely engaged in long prayers, and wrote scriptures on tassels of their garments. The Jewish people all thought they were the people who piously served God and thus imitated and followed them. However, the Lord Jesus revealed the essence and truth of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, and repeatedly condemned and cursed them, saying “woe to you,” which has given believers in God discernment. All of this is brought by God incarnate, and the work of the Spirit simply cannot achieve this effect.

As God’s word says: “The work that is of greatest value to corrupt man is that which provides accurate words, clear goals to pursue, and which can be seen and touched. Only realistic work and timely guidance are suited to man’s tastes, and only real work can save man from his corrupt and depraved disposition. This can only be achieved by the incarnate God; only the incarnate God can save man from his formerly corrupt and depraved disposition.”

It is now the last days. We humans have been deeply corrupted by Satan and all follow the evil trends of society. Relationships between people are built on the foundation of money and benefits. People have already lost all conscience and reason, and those who have believed in the Lord for many years are no exception. All their actions are according to their own will. They attack and belittle each other for their own fame, fortune, and status. They are arrogant and have no reverence for God, living in the state of committing sins and confessing them. Their sins are more serious than those of the people who lived in the Age of Law and they are more evil and corrupt. Just as the Bible says: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4). If in the last days, God worked in Spirit to bring the age to an end, then none of us corrupt humans could be saved and we would only be smitten by God and perish. This wasn’t God’s original intention when He made man. His management plan is to save man and bring those who are purified into a new heaven and a new earth. For this reason, God must become flesh again in the last days to work and save mankind, which contains His good intentions for mankind’s salvation.

The Bible says: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12-13). “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day” (Luke 17:24). “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:29). “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

From these prophecies, we can clearly see that when God comes back in the last days, He will come secretly as the Son of man to express the truth and do His work. When it comes to the Son of man, it refers to the incarnate God who is born from a human and has both normal humanity and complete divinity. The Lord Jesus also prophesied that when He returns in the last days, we corrupt mankind will resist and reject Him because we don’t love the truth and don’t know God. Just as the Lord Jesus said: “But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luke 17:25). However, for those who love the truth and long for God’s appearance, when they hear the news of the Lord’s return, they will be able to seek and investigate with a God-revering heart. It’s like Peter, John, and other disciples: When the Lord Jesus became flesh to work, they could humbly seek and pay attention to listening to the Lord’s voice. In the end, they followed the Lord and received His salvation. It is hoped that all of us can be someone like Peter and John who humbly seeks, puts aside their own conceptions, and accepts the truth, so that we can recognize God’s voice from His words, follow His footsteps, and receive His salvation of the last days.

#Devotionals #Bible Study Topics #God's Incarnation #Mystery of the Incarnation

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apenitentialprayer · 7 years ago

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In light of what happened on Saturday, I’m going to be telling you two stories. Both center around brave women who were inhabitants of Alexandria. They lived about a hundred years apart from each other. Both were brutally killed because they didn’t conform to the majority opinions of the societies that they lived in.

The first of these women would have been known by her friends and family as Ekaterini. She was a bright girl and a member of a noble family, possibly the daughter of the governor of the Roman province of Egypt. Early in her life, she revealed an interest in schooling and education, a passion that her parents happily indulged. By the age of fourteen, she was among the most learned individuals in the city. That was also the age that she decided to convert to Christianity.

The year 301, which would have been around the time that Ekaterini was baptized, marked the beginning of one of the darkest periods of Christian persecution in pagan Rome. Before this point Christians had been persecuted, but such persecutions had always been on a local level at the command of a regional official. This was not the case of the great Diocletian Persecution. This would be an empire-wide persecution, marked by a ferocity and intensity that had not been seen since the persecution headed by Nero over two centuries before.

This was not a sudden process; the seeds had been sown since the year 284, when Emperor Diocletian rose to power. For a long time already, Christians had come to be seen as an “anti-national” minority. Though they may have prayed for the Roman Emperor, as per Saint Paul’s orders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), but they refused to pray to the gods of the Roman elite. As such, they risked angering the gods, and thus were a threat to the metaphysical stability of the empire. Diocletian took this a step further; he identified himself more closely than any other emperor with the Divine, referring to himself as “Iovius” (Jove/Zeus) and demanding that he be worshiped as Lord.

But for Christians, Christ is Lord. He is the only Lord. And so many Christians felt that they could not venerate Diocletian in the way that he wished to be venerated. This made him very upset. First he had decided to purge Christians from the official bureaucracy and the army, but this was not enough; in the year 303, a general persecution calling for the extermination of all Christians who would not worship him was launched. This would be the political landscape that Ekaterini would have to face.

In the year 305, as the story goes, Ekaterini’s conversion to Christianity was made public, and she was confronted with this revelation. Given her young age –she would have been around 18– and the fact that she had a reputation for being well educated, she was questioned by fifty of the most influential philosophers living in Alexandria. The hope was that she would be humiliated by their skill in argument, but that did not happen; in the public debate that followed, several of the philosophers converted to Christianity, as did several hundred members of the crowd.

It was then that the governing officials switched from humiliation to violent cruelty. She was publicly scourged, and then starved while imprisoned for twelve days. During this time, she prayed, gave comfort to fellow Christians who had come to visit her, and received comforting visions of Christ Himself. The order for her execution was ultimately given, and she was beheaded. Those who had converted due to her example were killed afterwards. Today, Ekaterini is one of the most famous of all Catholic saints, Catherine of Alexandria.

The Alexandria that existed a century after Ekaterini’s death was a very different city. In the year 318, Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and forbade further persecution. In the year 380, the Edict of Thessalonica declared that the official religion of the empire was Christianity, and that all should convert to this official religion. The roles had been reversed; Christianity was ascendant, and paganism, already dying a slow death within the Roman Empire, would never recover. By the time of our second story, which occurred in the year 415, Alexandria had become largely Christian.

Among those dissenters was a woman between the ages of 45 and 65, a remarkable philosopher and scientist known as Hypatia. Hypatia ran her own school for mathematics, philosophy, and astrology. Several major Christian thinkers are numbered among her students, and she was regarded with warmth by pagan and Christian thinkers alike. As it has been mentioned, she took on Christian students; Hypatia did not think that the gap that existed between their community and hers could not be bridged, and she worked hard to make peace between the two groups.

Unfortunately, Hypatia became embroiled in a political struggle between two Christian factions fighting over the position of Bishop of Alexandria. The dominant claimant, a man named Cyril, ultimately earned the ire of the secular ruler of Alexandria, a friend of Hypatia and a recent convert to Christianity named Orestes. As tensions between these two men got worse, rumors began to spread that Hypatia’s influence was the reason that the two groups were not reconciling.

In March of 415, a group of Christians led by a lector named Peter took matters into their own hands. Waiting in ambush, the group seized Hypatia when she was traveling to her home. They dragged her into a church and butchered her. Her eyes were ripped out, her flesh was torn open, and she was ripped limb from limb. They took her parts outside the city and burned them to ashes. So ended the career of Hypatia the brilliant, Hypatia the teacher, Hypatia the bridge-builder. And so it was decided; there would be no peace between Christians and pagans.

It’s amazing how quick the Alexandrian Church had forgotten their roots. In the course of one hundred years, Christians went from being a violently oppressed minority to a violently oppressive majority. According to the records following the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, Christians expressed their disgust and horror at what the party of Peter had done. But that didn’t change the fact that the ever-shrinking pagan community became increasingly seen as outsiders, a minority that simply could not be an acceptable element of society.

I hope and I pray that Hypatia is in heaven with her ‘sister’ Catherine; I hope and pray that she can forgive the sins of my Christian brothers who performed this act of barbarity against her. And I hope that she and Catherine are both praying for the families of those eleven people who were shot dead during their visit to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh this past Saturday.

I said I was going to tell you two stories, but I lied. There is a third story. On Saturday morning, at 9:45 am, a man walked into a synagogue full of people getting ready to worship God. He opened fire on them because they were Jewish. He had a twenty minute reign of terror that claimed the lives of eleven people who had come to worship God. What should have been a time of peace and celebration was transformed into twenty minutes of blood, and shrieking, and horror.

In the past decade, the question of whether or not the United States was formed as a Christian country has been fielded many times. And it’s an interesting question. But here’s the thing; I don’t care whether the United States was formed as a Christian nation or not. That question is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that we are currently the majority of this country (75% of our population at least identifies as Christian) and that means that we have certain responsibilities towards the minorities that live among us.

The mind behind this tragedy saw Jews as an anti-national force, an existential threat to the stability of our nation. Does that sound familiar? He saw Jews as foreigners, as the architects behind the decline of our nation, as the children of Satan, as the murderers of his God, Jesus Christ.

That’s right. Robert Bowers was a Christian, just like me. Beyond that, he was a Christian nationalist, someone who did not see any room for non-Christians in our public discourse. He drew upon traditions of antisemitism that run deep in my faith.

For a millennium, the Jew has been the visible “Other” that Christianity has defined itself against. The Jew has been declared guilty of murdering Christ, despite being as temporally removed from that event as you and I are today. The Jew has been slandered as a butcherer of Christian children, a mutilator of Jesus in the flesh, as a greedy parasite who has contributed nothing to society while leeching off of the ‘virtuous’ Christian man. The Jew has been rhetorically transformed into a foreigner, despite having lived among us since the beginning of our shared history. The very word “Jew” has been transformed into an insult.

And today we see the fruits of these actions. Saturday was the most devastating antisemitic attack to ever occur on American soil. But Saturday was not an isolated event. In 2017 alone, over 2,000 incidents of antisemitic crimes were reported. Rates of violence against Jewish people are at their highest since 1979. The world looks at the Holocaust as the worst that can possibly happen to a minority. And maybe the world is right to do so. But we can’t look at the Holocaust as the only bar by which we view violent suppression of minorities. When we do that, we can distance ourselves from the pain and the suffering that occur in our very midst. Because, hey, at least we’re not Nazis, right?

It’s not right. Christianity in the United States has been on the decline for decades, but we’re still the majority. And the scary thing about being the majority is that we have the option, if we so choose, to steamroll over minorities, whether by performing the acts of violence ourselves or by ignoring those acts of violence. It is so, so important that we fight that majoritarian impulse with all we have. That’s the road to madness; that’s the road to fascism. And we cannot let that happen. We have to fight against antisemitic rhetoric when we see it. We have to fight against relegating minorities to being somehow outside our national pale. Because the truth is, minorities don't merely live alongside us. Minorities are a part of us as a nation. And we have to protect our own.

#Christianity #Antisemitism #Catherine of Alexandria #Hypatia #Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre

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