#a positive incarnation of the spirit that has made our city what it is today | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alejandrorivasv · 4 years

Text

THE HIDDEN MESSAGE

The message of the antiChrist will not be antiChristian; the devil will not want to kill you, on the contrary he will pretend perfectly well that he loves you and that he wants your happiness. The doctrine of prosperity and the doctrine of debauchery are the two weapons that the devil will openly offer you to deceive you and your family. The message of the beast will NOT be “beastly” but too attractive to anyone, look at the devil in the eden fooling the human being, do you see him screaming? Do you see him forcing eva to eat the forbidden fruit? really, the most notorious power of the devil is not strength but his labia, the deceiving words, remember that JESUS calls him “the father of lies”, the devil is EXPERT IN LIE, that spawn will not come with notorious lies but with lies completely in disguise, compare it with the false prophets: he will offer you exactly what you want to hear, direct and simple, he will magnify everything you like, everything you believe, everything you think, everything you are, the message of the Beast is humanistic, it is based on the EGO and that will LOVE the human being, the message of the beast will be acclaimed by the COMPLETE humanity.

The message of the beast is absurdly unbiblical but “backed” by the Bible, yes its message will be illogical, that’s why GOD sees it as blasphemies coming out of the beast’s mouth, but for human ears they will be “wonderful revelations” that come out of a “messiah.” Notice it with the spiritism of the new era, this spiritual falsehood did not enter to our nations with shouts and threats, but with attractive lies of an “advanced spirituality”, he spoke of “positive energies”, of “attracting the blessing” and “of meditation to find inner healing, ”in short, disguised the darkness of light and deceived millions. Today there are CHRISTIAN profiles that are spent publishing to attract energies to prosper and be light and harmony with the universe, while accompanying their lies with Bible verses! Can you imagine such a thing? and thousands follow their accounts and out of ignorance succumb to these diabolical ideas, and likewise people will succumb to the message of the beast. The devil will not force you to leave your religion, but it will make you decide to leave it for yourself, because you will believe in him. The devil’s message is not war but peace; the message of the antiChrist is not hate but love; the message of the beast is not delay but progress … many of the Church expect a type of hitler and the reality is that he will be a type of gandhi.

We don’t like the gospel, the gospel is not a message of “love and peace” but of DIVINE JUSTICE and that reality does not like, the concepts of “obedience”, “subjection”, “order” are rejected, but concepts of “freedom”, “respect” and “self-love” are accepted with applause. Who likes the idea of facing a judgment? Only those of us who know who the JUDGE will be.

THE ” LIVE” MESSAGE

Visualize it clearly: there is someone in your city who literally transforms it into a paradise, stops crime and terrorism with military strategy, opens up technology to your nation 100%, their speeches are biblically supported, directs the government as a true leader, everyone is genuinely impressed to see that corruption is over, and that there are new laws that support everyone, makes signs in the stars and in the weather, saves the world from the mega crisis and the most controversial: he is passed on the streets healed sick, distributing money to the poor, and the best: he comes to your house and tells you that he loves you, and agrees with your beliefs about life, offers you eternal life through science and truly fulfills it, and of soon someone comes and says "wait, he is the devil, hates you and wants to kill you", do you notice the problem? the problem with the devil embodied in the antiChrist is that he will seem like a messiah, and then when he has already won people's hearts, THEN he will manifest himself as he really is. The antiChrist will not be seen as a tyrant who demands adoration, but as someone who longs for global well-being by being "forced" to fight against that group of evil rebels who still cling to their beliefs of the past with JESUS; the persecution is not because the anti-Christ will hate you, but because you will hate him, TRUE Christians will not be seen as "martyrs who die for JESUS", but as "the only group of wicked that prevents us from advancing to global peace" .

The Miracles of JESUS were for Glorify GOD Father, the miracles of the false messiah are to glorify himself. In that it is recognized who is from GOD and who is not: to whom they give Glory.

THE MESSAGE’S BACKGROUND

GOD came to earth and they did not recognize him as Messiah but they crucified him; now the devil will come to earth and they will recognize him as messiahs and worship him; JESUS did not “seem” Messiah but He was, the devil will look like a messiah but he will not be. The devil will not look like a devil, the antiChrist will look like Christ. GOD ALREADY COME to the earth incarnate in JESUS, paid our sins on the cross, rose again on the third day and comes again to judge us and establish His kingdom. Therefore, satan will come to earth incarnate in the anti-Christ, falsify a sacrifice, pretend a resurrection, and long to establish a global kingdom, since the goal of the devil is to mock / imitate / falsify / appropriate all that GOD did. Sizing that reality is the precise Biblical BACKGROUND to understand the message of the antiChrist.

The final test of the Church is simple: choose JESUS over EVERYTHING else. Prosperity or JESUS? Applause or JESUS? Technology or JESUS? Food or JESUS? Music or JESUS? Fun or JESUS? Peace or JESUS? Comfort or JESUS? Freedom or JESUS? The world or JESUS?

The savior of the world has already come to earth, and will not return again in human flesh to work miracles and teach us things. THE MESSIAH ALREADY CAME, already made Miracles, already made the salvation sacrifice of mankind, and already resurrected, any “other” who does it, is not the true messiah but the devil falsifying Christ. The REAL MESIAS ALREADY CAME and will not return again as messiahs but as Judge. There is no longer “another” sacrifice for humanity, the only sacrifice that saves us from hell has already been made by JESUS on the Cross, any “other sacrifice” for humanity DOES NOT COME FROM GOD.

#GOD #JESUS #prosperity #money #Bible #biblestudy

1 note · View note

thotsonthebible · 5 years

Text

Infanticide, Lies, & Judgment

Genesis 18.20-21

Then the LORD said, 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.'

Some versions translate the phrase 'against Sodom and Gomorrah' as 'of Sodom and Gomorrah'. I checked the interlinear, I found that there is no preposition in the original Hebrew; it is assumed.

At any rate, I have wondered what was the source of that outcry. Have you ever wondered? Some say the outcry came from Lot, but I find that doubtful. Lot had moved into the city of Sodom and had arranged marriages of his daughters to men of Sodom, so he was hardly in a position to protest.

And, of course, the Lord did not need to visit the city to know whether the outcry was warranted; He is omniscient.

Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain were destroyed because of their egregious sin. Some years ago, evangelist Billy Graham said his wife Ruth was looking over the draft of a book he was writing about the downward spiral of America's moral standards and observed sadly, 'If God doesn't punish America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.'

Since Ruth Graham made that observation, the morality of America has fallen so much that there are no longer any standards. There are only lies, double-speak, and delusions.

I know that not all of you are Americans. The situation in your own nation may be better or worse than it is here. But bear with me while I address the very basic issues of abortion and infanticide.

Many of you know the Ten Commandments. This is the one we will be discussing today.

You shall not murder. —Exodus 20.13 (NASB)

As you may know, the New York state legislature recently enacted legislation legalizing abortion up to the time of birth and withdrawing protection for babies who, despite all attempts to kill them, survive abortion and are born alive. The legislators honored the passage of this bill with a standing ovation and Governor Cuomo celebrated by lighting New York landmarks, including the Freedom Tower, in pink lights. Vermont and Virginia are eager to join the slaughter of the innocents with the passage of their own legislation.

Democrats no longer bother to try to camouflage this deliberate infanticide by couching it in terms of 'women's rights' and 'women's health'. As you can see by the photo below, the aborted babies are not mere 'blobs of tissue' and this has nothing whatsoever to do with either 'rights' or 'health'; this is about murder, plain and simple.

Yes, those are children in that trash can. It grieves me to look at such atrocities. And as 18th century British politician and anti-slavery activist, William Wilberforce, so eloquently phrased it, 'You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.'

That denial didn't work for the Germans after World War II; it won't work for you now.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are not created to be tossed in the trash like so much garbage.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. —Psalm 127.3-5 (NASB)

David acknowledged that God formed him in the womb.

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139.13-14 (NASB)

An unborn child acknowledged the incarnate Lord.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. —Luke 1.41 (NASB)

The ancient Canaanites and Ammonites sacrificed their children to the pagan god Moloch; we sacrifice ours to pride, convenience, and selfishness.

Over 50 million children have been murdered under the guise of 'women's health care', over a generation lost. Imagine the potential destroyed! How much blessing has been burned in the furnace and thrown on the trash heap!

I don't know who raised the cry against Sodom, but I know who's raising the outcry against this nation: 50 million murdered children!

Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers and the author of the Declaration of Independence, said, 'Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.'

Do you think God will simply overlook such an atrocity? Do we expect that the God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their blatant sin will turn a blind eye to our own? No, judgment will come. A just God can do no less.

#Bible #Bible study #Christianity #religion #children #abortion #murder #Sodom and Gomorrah #judgment

13 notes · View notes

mcdougallunitedinpride · 5 years

Text

Baptized in Terror or in Grace?

by Gary Simpson

Call to Worship

One: Today we remember Jesus baptism.

All: In baptism, our Creator calls us

to use love to free people from hate.

One: In baptism, we celebrate being one in Christ

No longer are we divided by identity.

All: No longer citizen or immigrant.

No longer slave or free.

No longer rich or poor.

No longer male, female, other.

No longer straight or LGBTQ.

We are one in Christ Jesus.

We welcome and celebrate all.

Making all one in Christ.

One: Baptism the Spirit anoints us for ministry

Anoints us to embody divine love.

All: Today, the body of Christ

remembers and celebrates all.

One: Let us worship God and celebrate each other!

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (KJV) And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Baptism becomes baptism when God is present. According to both Martin Luther and Augustine, “Without the word of God the water is simple water’ and is not baptism.(1) The empowering of the Spirit is what makes the simple act of getting wet a baptism.

There are a number of different meanings of the word baptize. One Bible commentary in my library states that there are about 20 meanings for the word.(2) Some people emphasize meanings that relate more to water or more to immersion. I tend to emphasize more symbolic and more spiritual meanings. In baptism, we identify with Christ, with Christ’s death, with Christ’s resurrection. The most important meaning of baptize has almost no connection with water.(3) There is a sense in 1 Corinthians that the children of Israel were baptized into Moses.(4) In the Exodus narrative, the children of Israel did not get wet. They crossed the red sea on dry ground. The Egyptians were the ones who got wet that day.(5) James Dale wrote a book about John’s baptism. He describes baptism as taking place when the “character, state or condition” of an object is changed.(6)

A case can be made that Jesus’ baptism was unique. John the baptist baptized people in a ‘baptism of repentance’.(7) Jesus’ baptism was not like the baptisms normally conducted by John the baptizer, because Jesus was not repenting. Baptism signifies submission to God, allegiance to God’s will and inclusion with the restored people of God.(8) Through baptism, Jesus shows that He is in alliance with God, with the will of God and with humanity. Perhaps, in some way, Jesus’ baptism was an example for us and was a marker showing a change in Jesus from being a Jewish carpenter to being a powerful Jewish teacher.

Jesus was probably about 30 years old when He was baptized. Verse 23 is not part of the lectionary reading. In verse 23, we learn that Jesus was roughly 30 years old when He started his ministry. Priests were supposed to be at least 30 years of age to be installed in ministry.(9) Because Jesus is the high priest for humanity, it makes sense for Jesus to start His ministry at about 30 years of age.

John the baptist’s ministry is not one that I find particularly attractive. A description of his ministry makes me think of some of the street preachers in Edmonton, who stand on a box and yell into a public address system that everyone needs to repent or they will be doomed to hell. I try to scurry past them, in an effort to protect my ears from the loud preaching. In fact, I am not sure that I would want to be seen to have any association with John the baptizer's ministry. Depending on the translation, John the baptist called people a generation of vipers(10) or a children of vipers.(11) In fairness to John, he might have been calling the scribes and pharisees the children of vipers. We get that sense from Matthew’s Gospel. The religious leaders might have been present only to witness the baptism,(12) not to gain spiritual blessing from John the baptist. I wonder if they were there to see if John was preaching heresy. I am still left feeling that no matter how you slice it, either being told that your parents are poisonous snakes or that you are a poisonous snake is not a compliment. To John the baptizer, the people he was calling a generation of vipers were the descendants of the snake that deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden.(13)

John's comments indirectly challenge racism and challenge ultra nationalism. And I am not sure if John won any friends among the Jewish nationalists of his day. In verses 7 and 8 of this chapter, he reminds the people that being children of Abraham is nothing to brag about. He essentially says that God can create good Jewish people from stones. I am wondering how well his message would be received by a room full of people wearing Make America Great Again hats. Nationalists might find John’s message that God does not care about your national identity or your skin color a bit unsettling, possibly even a little jarring. In John’s personal theology, being Jewish did not place you in a special position above other people. He saw a need for Jewish and non-Jewish people to repent. John’s message to Jewish people was that being Jewish did not exempt people from judgment and that “racial privilege meant nothing” to God.(14)

John the baptizer seemed to have good ethics. He told tax collectors to only collect the taxes that they were supposed to collect.(15) He informed Roman soldiers that they were to be content with their wages, do not blackmail people and do not be violent.(16) While his ministry impresses me as being harsh and insensitive, he was popular. Crowds appeared to follow John.(17) And for some reason, Jesus came to John to be baptized. Perhaps, Jesus wanted to be baptized by John, because they appear to have been relatives. According to Luke Chapter 1, Mary, Jesus’ mother, was related to John’s mother.(18)

One of my favorite Bible commentators is William Barclay, a Biblical linguist and scholar. He translated the New Testament and wrote the popular Daily Study Bible commentary, which covers the entire New Testament. His commentaries are so good that they can be used as a devotional book. William Barclay comments, “Nowhere does the difference between John and Jesus stand out so clearly because, whatever the message of John was, it was not a gospel. It was not good news; it was news of terror.”(19) At Jesus baptism, a dove descended upon Jesus. The dove symbolized purity and harmlessness.(20) In the presence of a ministry of terror, the dove, a symbol of peace, comes down from the heavenly. A harmless, life-giving, hope-filled ministry that touched hundreds of millions of people in the last two thousand years took flight on the wings of the dove.

There is a reason why I am giving this background. Jesus baptism is in no way diminished by the fact that He was baptized by John. Some people who attend progressive churches and many LGBTQ people have suffered a lot at the hands of blunt ministers, harsh churches, demeaning church doctrine. If you were baptized, confirmed, ordained or served in a church system that hurt you or that hurt others, your call to be a person of faith or your call to ministry is not diminished by that church. You are more than your past. Like Jesus, you can have a powerful ministry and you can be a powerful force of good news, despite the frightening messages of churches.

The Gospel of Luke portrays Jesus as the one who fulfills John’s prophecy that there is a better, a greater, a more significant spiritual leader coming. John indicates that this person who comes after him is so much better than John is that John is not even worthy of untying his sandals. Slaves typically untied sandals.(21) The early followers of Jesus would have understood that John the baptizer was saying that he is not good enough to be Jesus’ slave. A spirituality of terror is not worthy, is not fit to be the slave of a spirituality of hope and peace. The bad news gospel that condemns people based on their identity is not worthy of tying the sandals of the Gospel.

Jesus submitted to being baptized by a person who was a bad news minister, so that we would not have to submit to bad news belief systems, so that we could hear good news, the Gospel.

There is tremendous power in stories, so I am going to share a story, as I conclude. Ken Wilson, author of A Letter to My Congregation, tells the story of his daughter, Grace. His daughter was in a science class, which was taught by a devout Catholic teacher. A student asked the teacher what he thought of homosexuality. The teacher replied that homosexuality is morally disordered. Grace looked over and saw a boy, who identified as gay, starting to cry. To Grace’s credit, she stood up and said, “Well, both of my parents are pastors, and I don’t know what they think about this, but I know that Jesus accepted all people!” Through tears, the teen said, “Grace, you’re my hero!”(22) And I believe that day a gay teen was baptized in God’s love. That day Grace lived up to her name.

My prayer is that many people in the city will be baptized in God’s love through people who are part of this church. And that they will say, “Your church, is my hero!”

God is a lot like Grace and God calls us to be like Grace!

Today, you are declared grace incarnate, grace wrapped in flesh, grace that baptizes many with love. Amen.

Notes

(1) Cited W.H.T. Dau. “Baptism (Lutheran doctrine),” ISBE, I, 395 in “What Is the Primary Meaning of Baptism? Some Translational Difficulties.” Bible.org. 04 March 2006, 20 Dec 2018. <https://bible.org/article/what-primary-meaning-baptism-some-translational-difficulties#P14_2475>.

(2) J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee. (Pasadena, California: Thru the Bible Radio, 1998) ebook.

(3) McGee. (1998) ebook.

(4) 1 Corinthians 10:2-5.

(5) McGee. (1998) ebook.

(6) James W. Dale. Johannic Baptism. (Waucona, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1993, vi), cited in “What Is the Primary Meaning of Baptism? Some Translational Difficulties.” Bible.org. 04 March 2006, 20 Dec 2018. <https://bible.org/article/what-primary-meaning-baptism-some-translational-difficulties#P14_2475>.

(7) William Barclay. “Daily StudyBible.” Study Light. n.d., 18 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/luke-3.html>.

(8) Walter J. Harrelson, et. al, eds. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1858.

(9) See Numbers 4:3. “Adam Clarke Commentary.” Study Light. n.d., 17 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/luke-3.html>. This point is also made in the Barnes Bible Commentary. “Albert Barnes Notes on the Entire Bible.” Study Light. n.d., 17 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/luke-3.html>.

(10) Luke 3:7 King James Version.

(11) Luke 3:7 William Barclay’s New Testament.

(12) Good News Study Bible. (New York: American Bible Society, 1993), 1297.

(13) Lane T. Dennis, et. al., eds. ESV Study Bible. (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011), 1953.

(14) William Barclay. “Daily StudyBible.” Study Light. n.d., 18 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/luke-3.html>.

(15) Luke 3:12-13.

(16) Luke 3:14.

(17) Luke 3:10 indicate crowds were asking John the baptist questions.

(18) Luke 1:36.

(19) William Barclay. “Daily StudyBible.” Study Light. n.d., 18 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/luke-3.html>.

(20) “Albert Barnes Notes on the Entire Bible.” Study Light. n.d., 17 Dec 2018. <https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/luke-3.html>.

(21) Good News Study Bible. (New York: American Bible Society, 1993), 1379.

(22) Ken Wilson. A Letter to My Congregation: An Evangelical Pastor’s Path to Embracing People who are Gay, Lesbian and Transgender in the Company of Jesus. (Canton, Michigan: Read the Spirit Books, 2014), 41.

#gay Christian #lesbian Christian #bisexual Christian #asexual Christian #queer Christian #pansexual Christian #trans Christian #LGBTQ #LGBT #faithfully lgbt #sermon #devotion #baptism

10 notes · View notes

pamphletstoinspire · 5 years

Photo

Mary, Mother of God: The Theotokos

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - Day Celebrated: January 1, Holy Day of Obligation.

What Is the Feast About?

One of the most important dogmatic Marian teachings of our faith is that Mary is the Mother of God. This title of “Theotokos” or “God-Bearer” testifies to the fundamental reality of the Incarnation: the Person of the Son assumed to Himself a human nature; He is fully God and fully Man. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that:

Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus”, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord”. In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).

Mary’s Divine motherhood follows from the fact that her son, Jesus, is truly God and truly Man, as the Gospel writers attest (c.f. Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38, John 1: 1-18).

Nor were the earliest Church Fathers shy to recognize Mary as the Mother of God. St. Irenaeus, who lived during the second century, wrote in his work Against Heresies that the “Virgin Mary, being obedient to His word, received glad tidings that she should bear God” (5:19:1). Later, St. Ambrose invited his readers to consider the life of Mary by asking themselves “What is greater than the Mother of God? What is more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose?” (Concerning Virgins II.ii.7) In his Letter to Cledonius the Priest, St. Gregory Nazianzen explicitly ties the truth of the hypostatic union of Christ’s divinity and humanity to the truth of Mary’s motherhood, writing “If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead.”

The Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. explicitly takes up the question of Mary as the Theotokos. In this Council the Church addressed the Nestorian heresy by proclaiming that Mary’s Divine motherhood directly follows from the truth of the Incarnation. In short, the Nestorian heresy overemphasized the distinction between Christ’s Divine and Human Natures, leading those who held this position to claim that while Mary might be the “Christ-Bearer” in that she bore Christ with regards to his Humanity, she was not the “God-Bearer” or Mother of God. In refuting this claim, it is worth paying attention to three key proclamations the Council Fathers make:

1. We too ought to follow these words and these teachings and consider what is meant by saying that the Word from God took flesh and became man. For we do not say that the nature of the Word was changed and became flesh, nor that he was turned into a whole man made of body and soul. Rather do we claim that the Word in an unspeakable, inconceivable manner united to himself hypostatically flesh enlivened by a rational soul, and so became man and was called son of man, not by God’s will alone or good pleasure, nor by the assumption of a person alone. Rather did two different natures come together to form a unity, and from both arose one Christ, one Son. It was not as though the distinctness of the natures was destroyed by the union, but divinity and humanity together made perfect for us one Lord and one Christ, together marvelously and mysteriously combining to form a unity. So he who existed and was begotten of the Father before all ages is also said to have been begotten according to the flesh of a woman…The Word is said to have been begotten according to the flesh, because for us and for our salvation he united what was human to himself hypostatically and came forth from a woman.

2. Therefore, because the holy virgin bore in the flesh God who was united hypostatically with the flesh, for that reason we call her mother of God, not as though the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh (for “the Word was in the beginning and the Word was God and the Word was with God”, and he made the ages and is coeternal with the Father and craftsman of all things), but because, as we have said, he united to himself hypostatically the human and underwent a birth according to the flesh from her womb.

3. If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh), let him be anathema.

There are some today who deny that Mary is the Mother of God, for example our Protestant brothers and sisters, who do so out of fear that calling her mother of God preempts God the Father’s role as generator of the Son. It is helpful to note as the Council Fathers do, that Mary is not the one who generates the Son insofar as He is the Second Person of the Trinity. Rather, Mary’s Divine motherhood is in fact consequent on the Incarnation of the Son: because the Son, Who assumed to His Person a Human Nature such that He is fully God and fully Man, became flesh, the mother of Him according to the flesh is not some partial mother, but rather mother of the whole, who is God and Man. Thus, Mary is truly called the Mother of God, not as if she generated the Trinity, but because she gave birth to the Son Who is fully God and fully Man. This is why the Council Fathers are so insistent on Mary being understood as the Theotokos: because to deny her Divine motherhood is to deny the full reality of the Incarnation.

Once again we see the beauty of the image of Mary as the moon, for like the moon which reflects the light of the sun, so Mary constantly reflects and points back to her Son. When we honor Mary in feasts and titles, when we meditate on her role in salvation history, she constantly draws us beyond herself to her Son. To honor Mary does not take away from Christ, rather, it opens up a vista from which we can better understand the wondrous love which led Him to come and unite us to Himself.

When Did the Church Begin Celebrating It?

This feast is the oldest Marian feast in the Church, and has traditionally been celebrated within the octave of Christ’s birth. The Eastern Church, around 500 AD, began to celebrate a “Day of the Theotokos” around the time of Christmas. This celebration ultimately became a Marian feast celebrated on December 26th (in the Byzantine Church) and on January 16th (in the Coptic Church).

While the Roman Church had strongly emphasized marking the octave day of Christmas for Mary since ~600 A.D., it wasn’t until much later, in Portugal that an initiative began seeking to proclaim a specific feast of Mary’s Divine Maternity. This led to Pope Benedict XIV decreeing in 1751 that Mary’s Divine Maternity would be celebrated the first Sunday of May.

As the years passed, more countries and congregations sought and were granted approval to celebrate this feast in their own liturgical calendars. In 1914, the celebration of this feast had shifted to October 11, and in 1931 Mary’s Divine Maternity was declared a universal feast. Finally, the feast was moved back to the octave of Christmas thanks to the Second Vatican Council, and has been celebrated on January 1 since 1969. As Pope Paul VI wrote about the shift,

In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God. This celebration, placed on January 1 in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the City of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the “holy Mother…through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of life.”(17) It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk. 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace. It is for this reason that, in the happy concurrence of the Octave of Christmas and the first day of the year, we have instituted the World Day of Peace, an occasion that is gaining increasing support and already bringing forth fruits of peace in the hearts of many.

Prayers for the Feast:

The Akathist Hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary

It is becoming for you, O Mary, to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who bestowed upon you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Come to our aid for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master Who was born of you. For this reason you are called “full of grace.”

Be mindful of us, most holy Virgin, and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces, O Virgin, full of grace. – St. Athanasius

We honor you, O Mary, Mother of God, treasure of the universe, inextinguishable flame, crown of virginity, scepter of the true faith, indestructible temple, tabernacle of the one whom the world cannot contain, and mother and virgin. …

In your virginal womb you enclosed the immense and incomprehensible One.

Through you the Trinity is glorified and the cross is celebrated and adored everywhere on earth.

Through you the heavens exult with joy, the angels and archangels are glad, demons are put to flight, the demon tempter is cast out of heaven, and our fallen nature has again been assumed into heaven. …

It is through you that the only-begotten Son of God, who is the Light, shone amid the nations who were seated in darkness and the shadow of death.

What human voice can ever worthily celebrate the ineffable greatness of Mary?

She is mother and virgin at the same time.

Through her peace has been restored to the world.

What peace?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Mary has brought forth! – St. Cyril of Alexandria

Written by: MARINA S. BRUNGARDT

#mary mother of god

3 notes · View notes

anastpaul · 6 years

Photo

Saint of the Day – 25 June – St Maximus of Turin (? – c 420) Father of the Church, Bishop, Writer, Theologian – known as Massimo – date of birth unknown – his date of death is also not certain. St Maximus is believed to have been a native of Rhaetia (modern day Northern Italy). Patron of Turin, Italy. St Maximus attended the synod of Milan where northern Italian bishops accepted the letter of Pope Leo I which set forth the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation. He also attended the the Synod of Rome in 465. He was a prolific and inspirational Theological writer with 118 homilies, 116 sermons and 6 treatises surviving.

“Between the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth, another Father of the Church after St Ambrose made a great contribution to the spread and consolidation of Christianity in Northern Italy – St Maximus, whom we come across in 398 as Bishop of Turin, a year after St Ambrose’s death. Very little is known about him, in compensation, we have inherited a collection of about 116 of his Sermons. It is possible to perceive in them the Bishop’s profound and vital bond with his city, which attests to an evident point of contact between the episcopal ministry of Ambrose and that of Maximus.

At that time serious tensions were disturbing orderly civil coexistence. In this context, as pastor and teacher, Maximus succeeded in obtaining the Christian people’s support. The city was threatened by various groups of barbarians. They entered by the Eastern passes, which went as far as the Western Alps. Turin was therefore permanently garrisoned by troops and at critical moments became a refuge for the populations fleeing from the countryside and urban centres where there was no protection. Maximus’ interventions in the face of this situation testify to his commitment to respond to the civil degradation and disintegration. Although it is still difficult to determine the social composition of those for whom the Sermons were intended, it would seem that Maximus’ preaching – to avoid the risk of vagueness – was specifically addressed to a chosen nucleus of the Christian community of Turin, consisting of rich landowners who had property in the Turinese countryside and a house in the city. This was a clear-sighted pastoral decision by the Bishop, who saw this type of preaching as the most effective way to preserve and strengthen his own ties with the people.

To illustrate this view of Maximus’ ministry in his city, I would like to point out for example Sermons 17 and 18, dedicated to an ever timely topic: wealth and poverty in Christian communities. In this context too, the city was fraught with serious tensions. Riches were accumulated and hidden. “No one thinks about the needs of others”, the Bishop remarked bitterly in his 17th Sermon. “In fact, not only do many Christians not share their own possessions but they also rob others of theirs. Not only, I say, do they not bring the money they collect to the feet of the apostles but in addition, they drag from priests’ feet, their own brethren who are seeking help”. And he concluded: “In our cities there are many guests or pilgrims. Do what you have promised”, adhering to faith, “so that what was said to Ananias will not be said to you as well: “You have not lied to men but to God'” (Sermon 17, 2-3).

In the next Sermon, the 18th, Maximus condemns the recurring forms of exploitation of others’ misfortunes. “Tell me, Christian”, the Bishop reprimands his faithful, “tell me why you snatched the booty abandoned by the plunderers? Why did you take home “ill-gotten gains’ as you yourself think, torn apart and contaminated?”. “But perhaps”, he continues, “you say you have purchased them and thereby believe you are avoiding the accusation of avarice. However, this is not the way to equate purchasing with selling. “It is a good thing to make purchases but that means what is sold freely in times of peace, not goods looted during the sack of a city… So act as a Christian and a citizen who purchases in order to repay” (Sermon 18: 3). Without being too obvious, Maximus thus managed to preach a profound relationship between a Christian’s and a citizen’s duties. In his eyes, living a Christian life also meant assuming civil commitments. Vice-versa, every Christian who, “despite being able to live by his own work, seizes the booty of others with the ferocity of wild beasts”; who “tricks his neighbour, who tries every day to nibble away at the boundaries of others, to gain possession of their produce, does not compare to a fox biting off the heads of chickens but rather to a wolf savaging pigs.” (Sermon 41, 4).

In comparison with the cautious, defensive attitude that Ambrose adopted to justify his famous project of redeeming prisoners of war, the historical changes that occurred in the relationship between the Bishop and the municipal institutions are clearly evident. By now sustained through legislation that invited Christians to redeem prisoners, Maximus, with the collapse of the civil authority of the Roman Empire, felt fully authorised in this regard to exercise true control over the city. This control was to become increasingly extensive and effective until it replaced the irresponsible evasion of the magistrates and civil institutions. In this context, Maximus not only strove to rekindle in the faithful the traditional love for their hometown but he also proclaimed the precise duty to pay taxes, however burdensome and unpleasant they might appear (cf. Sermon 26, 2). In short, the tone and substance of the Sermons imply an increased awareness of the Bishop’s political responsibility in the specific historical circumstances. He was “the lookout tower” posted in the city. Whoever could these watchmen be, Maximus wonders in Sermon 92, “other than the most blessed Bishops set on a lofty rock of wisdom, so to speak, to defend the peoples and to warn them about the evils approaching in the distance?”. And in Sermon 89 the Bishop of Turin describes his tasks to his faithful, making a unique comparison between the Bishop’s function and the function of bees: “Like the bee”, he said, Bishops “observe bodily chastity, they offer the food of heavenly life using the sting of the law. They are pure in sanctifying, gentle in restoring and severe in punishing”. With these words, St Maximus described the task of the Bishop in his time.

In short, historical and literary analysis show an increasing awareness of the political responsibility of the ecclesiastical authority in a context in which it continued de facto to replace the civil authority. Indeed, the ministry of the Bishop of Northwest Italy, starting with Eusebius who dwelled in his Vercelli “like a monk” to Maximus of Turin, positioned “like a sentinel” on the highest rock in the city, developed along these lines. It is obvious that the contemporary historical, cultural and social context is profoundly different. Today’s context is rather the context outlined by my venerable Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, in which he offers an articulate analysis of the challenges and signs of hope for the Church in Europe today (nn. 6-22). In any case, on the basis of the changed conditions, the believer’s duties to his city and his homeland still remain effective. The combination of the commitments of the “honest citizen” with those of the “good Christian” has not in fact disappeared.

In conclusion, to highlight one of the most important aspects of the unity of Christian life, I would like to recall the words of the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes: consistency between faith and conduct, between Gospel and culture. The Council exhorts the faithful “to perform their duties faithfully in the spirit of the Gospel. It is a mistake to think that because we have here no lasting city, but seek the city which is to come, we are entitled to shirk our earthly responsibilities; this is to forget that by our faith we are bound all the more to fulfil these responsibilities according to the vocation of each one” (n. 43).

In following the Magisterium of St Maximus and of many other Fathers, let us make our own, the Council’s desire, that the faithful may be increasingly anxious to “carry out their earthly activity in such a way as to integrate human, domestic, professional, scientific and technical enterprises with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are ordered to the glory of God” (ibid.) and thus for humanity’s good.”…Pope Benedict XVI,General Audience, Wednesday, 31 October 2007

(via Saint of the Day - 25 June - St Maximus of Turin (? - c 420) Father of the Church)

#stmaximusofturin #june25stmaximusofturin #catholic #catholicism

12 notes · View notes

troybeecham · 5 years

Text

St. Joseph

Today the Church remembers St. Joseph.

Ora pro nobis.

Joseph is a figure in the Gospels who was married to Mary, Jesus' mother, and was Jesus' legal father.

The Pauline epistles make no reference to Jesus' father; nor does the Gospel of Mark. The first appearance of Joseph is in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Each contains a genealogy of Jesus showing ancestry from King David, but through different sons; Matthew follows the major royal line from Solomon, while Luke traces another line back to Nathan, another son of David and Bathsheba. Consequently, all the names between David and Joseph are different. Some scholars, such as Harry A. Ironside reconcile the genealogies by viewing the Solomonic lineage in Matthew as Joseph's major royal line, and the Nathanic lineage in Luke to be Mary's minor line.

The epistles of Paul are generally regarded as the oldest extant Christian writings. These mention Jesus' mother (without naming her), but do not refer to his father. The Book of Mark, believed to be the first gospel to be written and with a date about two decades after Paul, also does not mention Jesus' father. Joseph first appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The issue of reconciling the two accounts has been the subject of debate.

Like the two differing genealogies, the infancy narratives appear only in Matthew and Luke and take different approaches to reconciling the requirement that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem with the tradition that Jesus in fact came from Nazareth. In Matthew, Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry Mary. Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Joseph is told by an angel in a dream to take the family to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children of Bethlehem planned by Herod, the ruler of the Roman province of Judea. Once Herod has died, an angel tells Joseph to return, but to avoid Herod's son he takes his wife and the child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there. Thus in Matthew, the infant Jesus, like Moses, is in peril from a cruel king, like Moses he has a (fore)father named Joseph who goes down to Egypt, like the Old Testament Joseph this Joseph has a father named Jacob, and both Josephs receive important dreams foretelling their future.

In the Gospel book of Luke, Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph and Mary have to travel there to be counted in a census. Subsequently, Jesus was born there. Luke's account makes no mention of him being visited by angels (Mary and various others instead receive similar apparitions), the Massacre of the Innocents, or of a visit to Egypt.

The last time Joseph appears in person in any Gospel book is in the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, found only in Luke. No mention is made of him thereafter. The story emphasizes Jesus' awareness of his coming mission: here Jesus speaks to his parents (both of them) of "my father," meaning God, but they fail to understand.(Luke 2:41–51).

Christian tradition represents Mary as a widow during the adult ministry of her son. Joseph is not mentioned as being present at the Wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus' mission, nor at the Passion at the end. If he had been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by Joseph of Arimathea. Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to the care of John the Apostle if her husband had been alive.

While none of the Gospels mentions Joseph as present at any event during Jesus' adult ministry, the synoptic Gospels share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family. In Mark 6:3, they call Jesus "Mary's son" instead of naming his father. In Matthew, the townspeople call Jesus "the carpenter's son," again without naming his father. (Matthew 13:53–55) In Luke 3:23 "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli."(Luke 4:16–30) In Luke the tone is positive, whereas in Mark and Matthew it is disparaging. This incident does not appear at all in John, but in a parallel story the disbelieving neighbors refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know" (John 6:41–51).

In the Gospels, Joseph's occupation is mentioned only once. The Gospel of Matthew[13:55] asks about Jesus:

Is not this the carpenter's son (ho tou tektōnos huios)?

Joseph's description as a "tekton" (τέκτων) has been traditionally translated into English as "carpenter", but is a rather general word (from the same root that gives us "technical" and "technology"that could cover makers of objects in various materials. The Greek term evokes an artisan with wood in general, or an artisan in iron or stone. But the specific association with woodworking is a constant in Early Christian tradition; Justin Martyr (died c. AD 165) wrote that Jesus made yokes and ploughs, and there are similar early references.

Other scholars have argued that tekton could equally mean a highly skilled craftsman in wood or the more prestigious metal, perhaps running a workshop with several employees, and noted sources recording the shortage of skilled artisans at the time. Geza Vermes has stated that the terms 'carpenter' and 'son of a carpenter' are used in the Jewish Talmud to signify a very learned man, and he suggests that a description of Joseph as 'naggar' (a carpenter) could indicate that he was considered wise and highly literate in the Torah.

At the time of Joseph, Nazareth was an obscure village in Galilee, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Holy City of Jerusalem, and is barely mentioned in surviving non-Christian texts and documents. Archaeology over most of the site is made impossible by subsequent building, but from what has been excavated and tombs in the area around the village, it is estimated that the population was at most about 400. It was, however, only about 6 kilometres from the city of Sepphoris, which was destroyed and depopulated by the Romans in 4 BC, and thereafter was expensively rebuilt. Analysis of the landscape and other evidence suggest that in Joseph's lifetime Nazareth was "oriented towards" the nearby city, which had an overwhelmingly Jewish population although with many signs of Hellenization, and historians have speculated that Joseph, and later Jesus too, might have traveled daily to work on the rebuilding. Specifically the large theatre in the city has been suggested, although this has aroused much controversy over dating and other issues. Other scholars see Joseph and Jesus as the general village craftsmen, working in wood, stone and metal on a wide variety of jobs.

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #troy beecham episcopal #christianity #saints #father troy beecham episcopal

0 notes

live4thelord · 4 years

Text

Crisis At Christmas – A Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

Today’s Gospel gives us some background for the Christmas feast that we need to take to heart. It speaks to us of a crisis at Christmas.

We tend to sentimentalize the Christmas story as we think of the baby Jesus in the manger. It is not absolutely wrong to be sentimental, but we must also be prayerfully sober about how difficult that first Christmas was, and about the heroic virtue required of Mary and Joseph in order to cooperate with God in making it come to pass.

Let’s look at this Gospel in three stages: distress, direction, and decision.

DISTRESS – This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

The marriage is off. When we read that Mary was found to be with child before she and Joseph were together, we need to understand how devastating and dangerous this situation was. Pregnancy prior to marriage brought forth a real crisis for both families involved in Joseph and Mary’s marriage plans. Quite simply, it put all plans for the marriage permanently off.

Why is this? We read that Joseph was a “righteous man.” To our ears this like saying that he was a “good man.” Most of the Fathers of the Church interpreted “righteous” here to refer to Joseph’s gracious character and virtue. And we surely suppose all this of him. More recent biblical scholarship includes the idea that it meant Joseph was also an “observer of the Law.” He would thus do what the Law prescribed. This explains his decision to divorce Mary because of her apparent lack of virginity prior to the marriage. Here is an example of the Mosaic Law in reference to such a matter:

But if the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you (Deut 22:20-21).

While this seems quite extreme to us, we can also recognize how far we have gone in the other direction in modern times, making light of promiscuity. I doubt that anyone would argue that we should stone such a woman today, and rightly so, but this was the landscape in Joseph’s time.

What about stoning? It would seem that Jews of the first century had varying interpretations about whether stoning was required or whether it was simply permitted. As a virtuous and patient man, Joseph looks for and senses some freedom in not “exposing” Mary to the full effects of the Law (stoning). But it does not seem he can find a way that he can take her into his home. Thus, as a “righteous man” (i.e., follower of the Law) he decides that divorce is required even if stoning is not.

This leads us to two important reflections, one about Mary and one about Joseph.

Mary – We can see into what a difficult and dangerous position her yes (her fiat) to the angel placed her. She risked her very life by being found with child outside the normal marital act with her husband. We know that it is by the Holy Spirit she conceives, but her family and Joseph and his family do not yet, or at least cannot verify it. And even if Mary explained exactly how she conceived, do you think you would accept such a story? Mary’s fiat placed her in real danger. It is a great testimony to her faith and trust in God that she said yes to His plans.

Joseph – We can also see the kind of pressure he would be under to do what the Law and custom required. There is no mention of Joseph’s feelings at this point, but we can assume that when Mary was found to be with child prior to their being together in marriage, the social pressure on him to be legally freed from Mary were strong, regardless of his feeling or plans.

DIRECTION – Such was his intention [to divorce] when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Be not afraid. The principal exhortation of the angel was that Joseph “not be afraid” to take Mary as his wife. This exhortation is powerful because fear was a very big factor. Joseph had much to fear in taking Mary. Some of the Fathers of the Church believed that what the angel meant was that Joseph should not fear God’s wrath, since he would not actually be taking an adulterer or fornicator into his home. Others think that the angel meant that Joseph should not fear taking God’s chosen instrument (Mary) as his wife.

One can also imagine some other fears that needed to be allayed by the angel. For example, Joseph could easily be rejected by his family for taking Mary in. The community could likewise shun him, and as a businessman, Joseph needed a good reputation to be able to ply his trade. All of these threats loom if Joseph “brings evil” into his house rather than purging the (apparent) evil from the midst of his house. But the angel directs him not to fear; this will take courageous faith.

The angel’s explanation is unusual to say the least. What does it mean to conceive by the Holy Spirit? It’s not exactly a common occurrence! Would his family buy such an explanation? What about the others in the small town of Nazareth? Yes, people were more spiritual in those days, but it all seems so unusual!

Further, Joseph hears all this in a dream. We all know what dreams can be like. They can seem so real at the time, but when we are fully awake we wonder if what we experienced was real at all. Joseph has to trust that what he was told is real, and that he should not be afraid because God has given him direction. As is often the case with things spiritual, we have to carefully discern and walk by faith, not by fleshly sight and certitude. Joseph has a decision to make.

DECISION – When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

We can see the strong faith of Joseph and the kind of trust he had to put in God. He had been told not to be afraid, to rebuke fear. Manfully, Joseph does this. He makes the decision to obey God whatever the cost. We are given no information about how his family and others in the town reacted. However, the fact that the Holy family later settles back in Nazareth indicates that God did come through on His promise that Joseph need not be afraid.

Heroes of Faith! Recognize the crisis of that first Christmas and the powerful faith of Joseph and Mary. Their reputations were on the line, if not their very lives. They had great sacrifices to make in the wondrous incarnation of our Lord. Quite simply, Mary and Joseph are great heroes of the faith. For neither of them was their “yes” easy. It is often hard to obey God rather than men. Praise God that they made their decision and obeyed.

Mary and Joseph’s difficulties were not yet over. There was a badly timed census, which required a journey to Bethlehem in the ninth month of Mary’s pregnancy. Imagine walking 70 miles through mountainous terrain in such a condition! There may or may not have been a donkey, but I doubt that riding a donkey in the ninth month of pregnancy is all that comfortable either. And then there was no room in the inn; Jesus had to be born in a smelly stable. Shortly thereafter they had to flee through the desert to Egypt because Herod sought to kill Jesus.

Jesus is found in a real Christmas, not a “Hallmark” one. The crisis of the first Christmas prefigures the passion. This where Jesus is found: in the crisis of the first Christmas. You may wish for the perfect Christmas, but there is no perfect Christmas. Jesus will find you where you are, in real life, in the imperfect Christmas, where loved ones have passed away and there is grief, where a job has been lost and there is anxiety, where health is poor and there is stress, where families are experiencing strife. That’s where Jesus will be found, in your real Christmas. A Christmas of joy, yes, but also of imperfections, even crises. He is there waiting for you to find Him, in the real Christmas of your life.

0 notes

vanphongchiasehcm · 5 years

Text

Co-Living, Coworking, Co-Everything: Taking Mixed Use To A New Level

The ‘co’ movement is flourishing with coliving steadily gaining traction.

While coliving has enjoyed a surge in recent years, coliving is very much embedded in the culture and history of the human race.

Just like coworking, coliving appeals to different generations because it offers access to connections, people, events, and networks.

Coworking. Collaboration. Community. Connecting. Coliving. There’s a lot of co-existing happening right now, and there’s plenty more to come.

If ‘co’ seems like a buzzword, tell that to the 2.2 million people coworking in 22,400 shared spaces around the world (estimated end of year figures). According to the new Deskmag 2019 Global Coworking Survey results, the number of coworking spaces worldwide continues to increase significantly.

The ‘co’ movement isn’t just having a moment — it’s positively flourishing. And in true collaborative spirit, coworking is sharing the ‘co’ limelight, too.

Coliving has been steadily gaining traction for the past couple of years, with coliving pioneers such as WeLive, Starcity, Ollie, The Collective, and Common blazing ‘new’ trails.

In January this year CNBC cited coliving as “the next big thing”, noting that “more and more people are turning to coliving spaces instead of traditional accommodation such as hotels, hostels, or even Airbnbs.”

Much like coworking, coliving is prevalent in city centres and startup landscapes, particularly where rental costs are high, and is often associated with tech-savvy young people, remote workers and digital nomads. But it appeals to other generations and demographics, too.

Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Why Now?

While coliving has enjoyed a surge in recent years, the trail has already been blazed. In fact, coliving is very much embedded in the culture and history of the human race.

“The idea of living collectively and forming social connections is something that is hard wired within us and as social animals we are profoundly shaped by these interactions, bonds and shared experiences” said Richard Lustigman, Director of Coliving in JLL’s Living Capital Markets business.

“Coliving (or communal living) as a concept has been around for hundreds of years, perhaps most notably from the boarding houses of New York made infamous during the mass immigration boom of the 1900s”.

“However the modern-day incarnation of Coliving can possibly trace both its social and physical routes to the co-housing projects developed in Denmark through the 60s and 70s” explains Richard. “These projects offered families private homes, yet shared spaces and facilities and were born out of ideals of shared values and a strong sense of community with the social impact value being equal to if not more important that the housing itself”.

Coliving began to take on a new form in the early 2000s. Young urban people, often working within the technology sector or startups, leased rooms within shared houses leading to so-called ‘hacker spaces’, which allowed them to reduce costs by sharing space and facilities.

It also enabled people to form communities through shared interests. In the same way that coworking appeals to people looking for a sense of community and shared values, coliving today is emerging from urban hubs and people who have grown up with, and embraced, the idea of the sharing economy.

“In principle but not exclusively, these assets are appealing to a younger, more mobile generation, who want to live in the heart of our cities,” said Richard. “UN data suggests that 68% of the global population will live in urban centres by 2050, and young professionals are a significant component of this broader demographic migration trend, being led by job opportunities, increased earnings potential and lifestyle opportunities.”

Christopher Bledsoe, co-founder of coliving brand Ollie, took this notion further by explaining how the value proposition of coliving startups is to “make housing more accessible by spreading living expenses among more occupants or by eliminating unnecessary space.”

Linking coliving with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the desire to reach self-transcendence (rather than self-actualization), and the idea that the highest form of actualization isn’t about “me” but rather “we”, Bledsoe notes that coliving is helping us to bridge our increasingly polarized lifestyles; something that neither real estate nor tech has yet been able to solve.

Coliving is Not Just for Millennials

As for who uses coliving spaces, Bledsoe raises an interesting point:

“…to identify communal living as a buzzy millennial fad or a stunting of adulthood would be to meaningfully miss the mark. In fact, an estimated one-third of the interest that coliving receives is from non-millennials.”

Writing for CRE Tech, Michael Beckerman noted, “Yes, the convenience, affordability, and community embedded in modern coliving models appeals to millennials, but retiring baby boomers also see co-housing as a way for “continued personal independence while maintaining community ties.”

Adam Challis, Head of EMEA Living Research & Strategy at JLL, agrees: “We often think about coliving for young adults and Millennials, but there is a social community aspect that makes it appealing and interesting for other age groups, who choose coliving for different reasons depending on their stage of life.”

Adam has spent time in various coliving environments, and notes on more than one occasion that “at 41, I very clearly was not the youngest one there — demonstrating that the concept appeals to a much wider demographic than young remote workers and digital nomads.”

Coliving offers social interaction, support and friendships, which has the potential to appeal to any age group, from students graduating from university halls and shared houses, to baby boomers who are already familiar with the close post-war communities they grew up with.

Coliving and Coworking

Will coliving and coworking eventually integrate? As the line between work and life continues to blur, it seems inevitable — at least for those who seek out this particular lifestyle.

“The core characteristics of coliving surround flexibility, affordability, connectivity and technology. Residents can sign up to flexible contract terms on an ‘all-inclusive’ price basis that can be more affordable than the alternative options.

“What’s more, coliving sits at the interface of where technology meets the physical real estate and are at the forefront of innovative, smart buildings. With so much design and creativity going into both the asset and the hospitality-led management approach, communities are easily formed, not forced.

“The parallels to coworking are striking. It’s not just a desk, it’s access to connections, people, events, networks. That holistic offer is far more powerful and valuable than traditional shared accommodation or flexible workspaces.”

Looking ahead, Richard believes that coliving plays into a much larger proposition for the future of work, and urban living.

“Truly functional mixed-use buildings are critically important for the future of our cities. The best cities and the best buildings within them will be measured by how sustainable they are, how flexible they are and how well they work not just for occupants today, but for future generations.”

Share this article

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Messenger

Văn phòng ảo hcm InnoHouse Văn phòng chia sẻ hcm InnoHouse Coworking space InnoHouse 0981391177 #vanphongao #vanphongchiase #coworkingspace #innohouse https://goo.gl/maps/szgYRTWbF1w 202 Hoàng Văn Thụ, P.9, Q.Phú Nhuận, Hồ Chí Minh

0 notes

pratchettpatricianpages · 4 years

Text

”Ah, a little idea occurs. I shall be having a small dinner on Saturday. Some of the Guild leaders, a few ambassadors…all rather dull, but perhaps you and your very bold young lady…I do beg your pardon, I meant of course the Times…would like to attend?”

“I don’t—” William began, and stopped suddenly. A shoe scraping down your shin can do that.

“The Times would be delighted,” said Sacharissa, beaming.

“Capital. In that case—”

“There is a favor I need to ask, to tell the truth,” said William. Vetinari smiled.

“Of course. If I can do anything for the Ti—”

“Will you be going to Harry King’s daughter’s wedding on Saturday?”

To his secret delight, the look that Vetinari gave him seemed to be blank because the man hadn’t got anything to fill it with. But Drumknott leaned towards him, and there were a few whispered words.

“Ah?” said the Patrician. “Harry King. Ah, yes. A positive incarnation of the spirit that has made our city what it is today. Haven’t I always said that, Drumknott?”

“Yes indeed, sir.”

-The Truth by Terry Pratchett

#vetinari #Patrician #havelock vetinari #The Truth #Discworld #Terry Pratchett #william de worde #sacharissa cripslock #harry king #drumknott #rufus drumknott

56 notes · View notes

focusontheeasternlightning-blog · 5 years

Text

11 Knowing the Nature of Betrayal Is of Utmost Importance

Shiji Xining City, Qinghai Province

Many people among us have made a solemn vow before God: “In the future, no matter how God treats me, or what trial comes upon me, I will never betray God.”

And we firmly believe in our hearts that since we have followed God for such a long time and have eaten and drunk so many words of God, we will never betray God no matter who betrays God.

That we have such a state shows that we do not know our nature of betrayal. God says: “As man’s soul is completely in satan’s hand, there is no doubt that man’s flesh is occupied by satan. How can such a flesh and such a mankind not resist God? And how can he innately be in harmony with God? Satan was cast into the air by me for betraying me. Then how can mankind not be affected? This is why man betrays by nature.” “…betrayal is not just a kind of outward immoral act, but even more a kind of thing that contradicts the truth. Such a thing is the very root of man’s resisting me and disobeying me. So I draw such a conclusion: Betrayal is man’s nature, and this nature is the natural enemy of every man’s being compatible with me.” God’s words clearly tell us that we betray God and are hostile to God by nature, betrayal is our inherent nature, and what comes out of us are all things of contradicting the truth, in which there is no element of being in harmony with God. We all know that satan betrayed God, so after people were corrupted by satan, they had the same nature of betraying God as satan—rejecting God, not worshipping God, not obeying God, and always wanting to live independently without God. And for thousands of years, people have been badly contaminated by the society, have been influenced by feudal ethics, and have been educated in “institutions of higher learning.” Such things as various backward thoughts, mean outlooks on life and values, and various contemptible philosophies of life and debased customs and ways of living are all severely invading and harassing people’s hearts, so that their thoughts and viewpoints have been completely assimilated by satan and their hearts are filled with evil, reactionary, and rebellious things. They do not like positive things nor yearn for light, righteousness, and goodness, but only set their hearts on bustling and rushing about for the flesh and live completely by the logic infused into them by satan. So even today, none of the things that we think, love, yearn for, or seek and preserve in our hearts is what God likes, is a positive thing, or is in conformity with the truth. In other words, every corrupt person has the same nature as satan, and every viewpoint of ours coincides with satan’s. So it is natural that we can betray God, and we can betray God at any time and in any place. As it is said in the fellowship from above: “After mankind have been corrupted by satan, their nature, with satanic poisons increasing in them day by day, has changed into an nature of resisting God and betraying God. Just as satan resists God and betrays God, so also mankind resist God and betray God. Just as satan attempts to be on an equal footing with God, to govern mankind, and to control everything, so also corrupt mankind resist God and betray God and do their utmost to banish the coming of God, chasing after, persecuting, condemning, and rejecting the Christ who has been incarnated twice, and vainly hoping to control their own destiny and to create their own paradise with their own hands. … Man’s nature of betraying God is filled with satanic poisons, and what flow out of man’s bones and blood are all satanic poisons such as arrogance and self-conceit, being devoid of conscience, lawlessness, willfulness and recklessness, superciliousness, scorn for Heaven, worship of satan, blind belief in science, hatred for the truth, love of evil, tiredness of purity, confusion between right and wrong, hankering for sinful lust, escape from restrictions, acting against Heaven, surrender to depravity, advocacy of evil, cursing Heaven, complaining against heaven and earth, being impervious to reason, and so on. So how can such a mankind filled with evil and corruptions not resist God or betray God?” From these we readily see that our nature is the nature of betraying God.

Let us examine and check our various kinds of manifestations in the real life, and then we will become clearer. For example, although we believe in God, we do not love the truth. We are filled with fleshly desires, always pondering how to let our flesh enjoy better and higher things, and we have no desire to pursue while clearly knowing it is the truth. Although we are willing to pursue to live out a meaningful life, we still admire the luxurious material life in the world. With our lips we say that it is a decadent and rotten life, but in our hearts we expect that one day we can also have everything we want and live with an easy grace. Although we call upon God’s name with our mouth, we have no God in our hearts. In doing the work, we never seek God’s intention nor do things according to the principles, but act our own way according to our own notions and imaginations. Although we acknowledge that God’s word is the truth, we treat God’s word with disdain. If the words are to our liking, we practice them; if the words are not to our liking, we give them up. Although we clearly know that God’s high standard and strict requirements are most beneficial to our life, nevertheless, when God’s family makes a little stricter requirement of us, we feel restrained and uneasy and want to pursue our so-called freedom and release. Although we do not want to judge God, nevertheless, once God does something not in conformity with our notions, we will judge and form a fixed view of it. Besides, although we know that what God does today is the work of judging, chastising, refining, and making people perfect, nevertheless, when encountering circumstances not to our liking, we always choose to avoid, and do not want to obey God’s manipulation and arrangement, but want to control ourselves. When encountering trials or disciplines, we become passive and weak and complain that if we did not believe in God, we would not be in such a plight today. When encountering dealing and pruning in our work, we want to leave God and make an achievement in the world with our hands so that we do not need to bear this “grievance” anymore. And so on. These states and manifestations are sufficient to prove that we betray God by nature. It is not a matter of whether we are willing to do it or not or whether we acknowledge it or not, nor is it what we can suppress by ourselves; rather, it is what we were born with and is something in our bones and blood.

In the fellowship from above, it says: “When God judges man and chastises man’s corruption, he, in all aspects, exposes man’s nature of betraying God and exposes the ridiculousness and absurdness of man’s viewpoints on things, so that man can truly know the extent to which mankind have been corrupted by satan and clearly see what exactly the substance of man’s nature is. If mankind do not know their nature of betraying God, it will be very difficult for them to have true repentance. This is one of the main aspects in which the Holy Spirit works. Most people are able to know the substance of their nature and to clearly see their own ugly corrupt image from God’s word. And only at this point do they have a sense of urgency to pursue the truth and pursue to be saved by God. Without the exposing of God’s word, no one would confess that he has been corrupted so deeply. But rather, everyone would feel at ease and justified with the thought that he will surely receive a reward from God because he can expend himself for God, and he would never know that he is an archcriminal resisting God, that what he truly needs is the salvation of God, and that what he needs to gain is the truth and the transformation of his life nature.” “We must understand that man has the nature of betrayal and can betray God at any time. Some betrayed God in the trial of the service-doer; some betrayed God in the trial of the times of chastisement; some betrayed God because of their marriage and family; some betrayed God because they could not bear the suffering of being imprisoned; some stay at God’s family for the time being, for they are not clear about their destination now, and once their outcomes are revealed, they will immediately betray God and leave God. If most people know that they are service-doers, they will at least become passive and utter complaints. Even if they dare not leave, they will think of betraying God in their hearts. It can be seen that everyone’s nature of betrayal is deeply rooted within him and has not been resolved yet. Once the situation changes, it will break out. Man can betray God at any time. This is the true fact.” From these two passages, we see that knowing our nature of betrayal is very crucial. It directly relates to our knowing the substance of our nature and relates to our pursuing the truth and being saved by God. Only when we know our nature of betrayal and see that we are essentially hostile to God, will we feel that we need God’s salvation and God’s purification and will we accept God’s chastisement and judgment honestly and sincerely. Only when we know our nature of betrayal, will we see that we have been corrupted by satan too deeply and too miserably and feel that only pursuing the truth and pursuing to be saved by God is most realistic; then we will drop all our extravagant desires to gain blessings and profits for our flesh and spare no effort to pursue the truth and pursue to be saved by God. Only when we know our nature of betrayal, will we see clearly that every fleshly thing that we like and pursue is from satan, and that we laboriously pursue these dark things completely because of the affliction and fooling from satan; then we will hate satan, hate ourselves, and have the will to forsake the flesh and practice the truth. Only when we know our nature of betrayal, will we see that we are in great danger and can rebel against righteousness and stay away from God at any time; then we can have a fear of God before him and will not be as puffed off or presumptuous as before when doing things. If we do not know our nature of betrayal, we will still boast about ourselves and be contented with ourselves, thinking that since we have followed God for many years and have had much seniority, we will be saved with security, or thinking that since we have expended some, we will receive a reward and will be kept in trials. Thus, we will not pursue the truth or pursue the transformation of our disposition. If we do not know our nature of betrayal, we will feel that it is safe as long as we have the will and have taken an oath; then we will not guard against our fatal corruptions and not even know what we die of. If we do not know our nature of betrayal, we cannot possibly follow God to the end. Maybe at some time we will betray God and disappear in the sea of the world, just as God says, “Every person has an anti-bone at the back of his head. He will change any day.” If we do not know our nature of betrayal, we will not see how deeply and miserably we have been corrupted by satan and how much we need God’s salvation. In this case, we cannot practice the truth according to God’s requirements, cannot gain transformation in our life disposition, and will never attain harmony with God. Thus it can be seen that knowing our nature of betrayal is so important to our pursuing the truth and being saved by God.

Many examples of betraying God which have happened around us are the best illustrations. These people had thought that the time was not far distant when their good dreams would come true because they had followed God for many years and did not leave God, and they had also made a solemn vow before God: “No matter who betrays you, I will not betray you.” But in the trials that came upon them later, they betrayed God in spite of themselves. Some lost their faith to seek the truth when they met frustrations in their marriages; some left God because they could not drop their families and emotions; some, in order for their flesh to enjoy better and higher things, left God and went back to the world to make money. Some people thought that since they did not betray even when they were arrested and imprisoned in the Age of the Grace, they could never become Judas today. But when the facts befell them, because they could not bear the cruel torture by the great red dragon, they acted as Judas and became shameless traitors. Some people thought that since they had been certain about this stage of God’s work, on no account would they betray God. But when they saw that God’s family did something that was contrary to their expectations, they could not reason it out and thus could not continue their belief. Some people thought that since they had followed God for such a long time, they had already had a foundation, so no trial or refining that came upon them would be difficult. But when misfortunes befell their family members, they were full of complaints and left God. And so on. From their failures we can see that it was just because they did not know their nature of betrayal that they fell and failed in spite of themselves.

Then let us look at our own states: Because we do not know our nature of betrayal, we are still living in our imaginations and notions, comforting ourselves and deceiving ourselves and others. For example, the above repeatedly fellowships that pursuing the truth is very crucial, but we only listen to it as an official jargon and do not put it into practice, thinking that it is enough for us to follow in this way and have the guarantee of upholding testimony and not leaving God when encountering trials. As to the eleven requirements that God makes of us in “Betrayal (2),” we do not equip ourselves with the relevant truths to resolve these betrayals, but instead, we think: “God has clearly told us about these things. If they really come upon us in the future, we will in no way betray God because we know they are arranged by God.” Actually, these are all our imaginations. If we do not know or resolve our nature of betrayal, we will do things that resist God and disobey God in spite of ourselves. We can even do so at ordinary times, not to mention when we encounter greater trials in the future. For example, in doing the work, we are also willing to do things according to the work arrangements, but without knowing it, we again regard our own will as better and thus do things according to our own ways. In our experiences, we are also willing to obey God in everything, but when unpleasant things fall upon us, we unconsciously utter complaints. In performing our duties, we do not want to take the path of “Zhenxin,” but we do things perfunctorily and deceivingly and practice deception in spite of ourselves time after time. We do not want to exhibit ourselves, but when in a suitable situation, we will unconsciously display ourselves and testify ourselves. We can always do these things, and even we ourselves feel it is inconceivable. How come we understand the truth but cannot put it into practice and always involuntarily do the things that we are unwilling to do? To put it plainly, aren’t all these caused by our nature of betrayal? From these we see that if we do not know our nature of betrayal, we cannot know ourselves and cannot see how many grams or how many liangs our stature weighs, and we can hardly stand firm in any circumstance and will involuntarily betray God and resist God. If we do not know our nature of betrayal, we will not see that we are pitiful and in danger and may fall any moment. Then, we will not guard against our nature of betrayal nor pursue the truth to redeem these betrayals. In that case, we are bound to take the path of the failures while believing in God and will eventually become ones to be punished.

Now, various disasters have risen all over the world, and the day for God to punish the great red dragon is not far distant. We are going to face the tests of the greater and severer trials. No matter how many years we have followed God and no matter how much seniority we have had, none of these can guarantee our outcomes. Now, only if we know our nature of betrayal, equip ourselves with the relevant truths in advance according to our deficiencies, often examine the states of betraying God that are hidden within us, pay attention to resolving them with the truths, warn ourselves by the lessons of the failures, and walk every step carefully and cautiously, can we be kept by God and stand firm in the future trials.

Then, how can we have the true knowledge of our nature of betrayal? In the man’s fellowship attached to Christ’s Talks with Church Leaders and Workers, it says: “To know man’s true self after he has been corrupted by satan, we must quiet ourselves before God and read the words by which God exposes man’s true self for hundreds of times and according to our actual states. Then we will easily know it thoroughly. If we first quiet ourselves before God to pray to God more and humble ourselves and then read more of God’s word, we will become obedient. In this way, we will soon see our true self clearly, and then we will become more submissive and more convinced.” From this we see that to know our nature of betrayal, we should mainly accept the judgment and exposing of God’s word, from which to know our true self after we have been corrupted by satan and know our corrupt substance of resisting God and betraying God. In eating and drinking the words by which God exposes man, firstly, we must realize that God’s word is the truth expressed to all mankind, and what God exposes are not the corruptions of a certain kind of people, but the real situation that every one of us has and is the truth of the matter. Secondly, we must understand that we are corrupt people. In eating and drinking God’s word, we should pray more and seek more, read it repeatedly, ponder over it carefully, examine ourselves strictly according to it, and see how the states exposed by God’s word are manifested on us. If we always spend effort on God’s word in this way, we will gradually see clearly our true self after we have been corrupted by satan. For example, since God says that we are the embodiment of satan, we ought to know what the manifestations of satan are and why God says that we are the embodiment of satan. Through eating and drinking and pondering over the relevant words of God and fellowships, we know that the main manifestations of satan are denying God, resisting God, betraying God, being arrogant and conceited, always wanting to compete with God to see who is superior, and wishing to occupy others. At this point, we can look for these manifestations on ourselves: Although we believe in God today, we still deny God’s existence and oppose and reject God in adversity. As long as what God does is not to our liking, we will have complaints within us. As long as the circumstances God arranges for us are not in conformity with our notions, we will resist and refuse. When others do not listen to us in working, we will become impatient and angry and will lecture and rebuke them. When we meet some difficulties or encounter some blows, we will complain that if we did not believe in God, we would not endure such sufferings. And so on. From these we see that we have no place for God in our hearts at all. Satan denies God, resists God, and betrays God, and we also deny that God governs and manipulates everything and also disobey God and reject God. Satan always wants to occupy people, and we also want to break away from God’s sovereignty and control ourselves and also want to hold a place in the hearts of other people. After we realize these, we will acknowledge from the bottom of our hearts that the exposing of God’s words is completely correct. We are indeed the embodiment of satan, and the substance of our nature is betraying God and resisting God.

Furthermore, we should often dissect ourselves and examine ourselves, dissecting ourselves from the things that we pursue, yearn for, and like. For example, in our hearts we always pursue good food, fine clothes, and good fleshly enjoyment and pursue to have money, power, and position. What we yearn for is to enjoy the flesh while following God. From these we see that no matter when, what we pursue and yearn for are the things outside the truth and are the things loathed by God, and see that we betray God by nature. What’s more, when we are passive, when encountering dealing and pruning, when in sufferings and trials, and when the surrounding circumstances are not to our liking, let us see what our attitudes will be, what our reactions will be, and what we will express. For example, when we are passive and weak, we do not want to believe in God, feeling that it is meaningless to believe in God and it is not easy to walk the path of belief in God. When encountering the temptations of money, fame and gain, the fleshly enjoyments, and so on, we feel too restrained by our believing in God and feel that we do not live a free and released life like unbelievers. When illnesses come upon us, we want to die to free ourselves from them and destroy our own future to oppose God. From these ideas and thoughts, it can be seen that we are the offspring of satan and can deny God and betray God at any time and in any place.

In addition, we must realize that knowing the nature of betrayal is the deepest lesson in our knowing ourselves, and it needs us to experience more sufferings and refining and receive more working and exposing of the Holy Spirit before we can have the true knowledge of our nature of betrayal. Because we have been corrupted by satan too deeply, we are arrogant by nature and do not easily yield to the facts, and it is even harder for us to accept the truth. Without various kinds of sufferings and refining or without being exposed by the fact, we will never truly know ourselves. Therefore, in knowing our nature of betrayal, we need to endure more sufferings and should pray more to God to inspire and lead us. Only thus can we gain the knowledge of our nature of betrayal.

In conclusion, to truly know our nature of betrayal, we not only need to pay enough attention to it in our ordinary experiences, but also need to sum up the lessons of the failures and warn us by them and see how many states and manifestations similar to theirs exist in us, from which to know our nature of betrayal. After that, we also need to equip ourselves with the relevant truths in light of the states and manifestations of betrayal within us to resolve them one by one and nip the symptoms of betrayal in the bud. Thus, as time goes on, we will gain some true knowledge of our nature of betrayal, and our acts of betraying God will become less and less.

#A Collection of Sermons for Supply #faith #truth

0 notes

love-god-forever · 6 years

Text

Seek and You Shall Find

Su Shun

Journeys through cities and villages open up a world of people-watching opportunities; Travel around mountains and waters gives full view of beautiful scenery. In the vast world, spring goes and comes, and a generation that goes is replaced by the one that comes. Some people seek glory and riches, fame and position, while some others pursue ordinariness and ease, living life peacefully. However, whether rich or poor, everybody has a thirst for the exploration of fate. Exactly what kind of life is valuable and meaningful? It seems a puzzle in our hearts that can never be solved.

In Search of a Real Life

When I came into this colorful world, Heaven bestowed upon me a home as shelter. With my family’s company and my friends’ care, I studied and worked, growing up unconsciously. How time flew! Then, a fortuitous opportunity arose for me to meet the other half of my life. We got married before long, and then had our lovely children, starting our own family. I thought that owning all of these things was happiness. However, when I strolled along country roads, when I saw that the sun rose and set and that grass and trees came and went, and when I experienced the alternation of the four seasons, I would often lament in my heart that life was too short. I quieted my heart and considered: Life is but a span, and in the blink of an eye it will be over. Even if one owns millions in property and supreme influence, he can never avoid death, the final juncture of his life. So, what is the real human life?

Halfway Station

With the doubt, I was led by Heaven to the side of the Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord made me immediately feel peaceful and released in my heart. I learned that mankind came from God’s creation and that the life of all things is supplied by God. I, who had drifted in the world for a long time, finally went back home. My heart depended on and rejoiced in the Savior Jesus. After that, I went to the church actively and heard the pastors preach the stories of the work of the Lord Jesus on the earth. I gave thought to the love of the Lord inside, longing for Him to come soon to take me to the glorious hometown. …

However, with the passage of time, I saw increasing lawlessness in the church. That the pastors loved status and money was already an open secret. During the sermons they cried out “Glorify God and help people,” yet in real life, what they did was not the same. They flattered the rich who donated, while despising and ignoring the poor. They often expounded on the following verses in the high pulpit, “My brothers, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come to your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, and say to him, Sit you here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand you there, or sit here under my footstool: Are you not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4). They also told the believers countless times, “We must engrave the Lord’s words in our hearts, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39). But the sharp contrast in what they said and did made me feel surprised: Is this the likeness of one who truly serves the Lord? Why do they go against the Lord’s teaching while speaking of His word? From their behaviors, I found they were precisely the experts who adorned themselves with biblical theology. How could such behaviors of theirs not be detested by God? With no new light in their preaching, I lost the former joy and peace in my heart, and I could only pour out my heart to the Lord, “O Lord! Why has the previously prosperous church become so desolate today? May You recover our faith and strength earlier!” Later, I heard more and more frequently that many good sheep from all denominations and sects turned to the Eastern Lightning because of its profound preaching, yet the religious leaders repeatedly warned us against it. I fell into puzzlement and confusion, and prayed to the Lord: “O Lord! Why have those good sheep left their churches? Could it be that they have received new nourishment and feeding in other places? O Lord! Where are You now?”

Happy Ending

The winter snow had already melted, and all kinds of flowers and trees were vying with each other in putting out new shoots. I yearned for the Lord’s coming again and expected Him to bestow the manna of life upon me, so that I could be supplied and shepherded in my spirit.

The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The Lord is faithful. As long as we sincerely seek and long for the truth, He will listen to our prayers. Just as He heard my prayers. When I felt most helpless and disappointed, God sent the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God to preach the kingdom gospel to me. After reading Almighty God’s words and hearing their testimonies, I was certain that Almighty God is actually the returned Lord Jesus. At that moment, I was so excited that tears welled up in my eyes, and my thirsty heart was finally nourished by the living water of life. Even now, I still remember the words of Almighty God I read at that time, which carry authority, “God is always doing His work, and is always leading the whole of mankind forward. When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, He ended the Age of Grace and brought the Age of Kingdom. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. … All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“God will accomplish this fact: He will make all people throughout the universe come before Him, and worship the God on earth, and His work in other places will cease, and people will be forced to seek the true way. It will be like Joseph: Everyone came to him for food, and bowed down to him, for he had things to eat. In order to avoid famine people will be forced to seek the true way. The entire religious community is starving, and only the God of today is the wellspring of living water, possessed of the ever-flowing wellspring provided for the enjoyment of man, and people will come and depend on Him” (“The Millennial Kingdom Has Arrived” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I also remember what a sister communicated with me, “Since God opens up an age, He will end the age Himself; since He saves mankind, He will save man from the dark influence of Satan thoroughly. The work of the Holy Spirit has moved from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace, and then to the Age of Kingdom. Now is a new age. God has long been incarnated again on earth. Only those who have followed the Lamb’s footsteps can gain the watering of the living water of life, while those who still live in the old age have already fallen into darkness, without the light of God. Throughout the universe, all those who truly yearn for the Lord’s coming will return to the family of God, which exactly fulfills the words in the Bible, ‘It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely’” (Revelation 21:6).

Now I am no longer at a loss, because Almighty God’s words have brightened and filled my heart. I have followed the Lamb’s footsteps, enjoyed the work of the Holy Spirit again, and received the supply and nourishment of truth and life in my spirit. Furthermore, I have finally understood that the existence of both mankind and all things is under the one true God’s sovereignty and care. Only when we obey and worship God, and become a man who fears God and shuns evil in accordance with God’s word, can we live out the most valuable and meaningful life.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Dear brothers and sisters, have you heard the voice of the Lord? Have you welcomed the second coming of the Lord Jesus? Have you found the real destination of life? We invite you to look for and welcome the Lord’s second coming together and attend the wedding banquet of the Lamb. If you have any question, please click the online chat button to chat with us. We look forward to your message.

#seek and you shall find #jesus christ

0 notes

blackchristiannation · 6 years

Text

Pastor Dwight McKissic On the Southern Baptist Convention's Upcoming 'Party' for Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and destiny will meet, April 3-4, 2018, at the SBC ERLC King Celebration by Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr. If Dr. King were alive, he would be utterly amazed that The Southern Baptist Convention, this year will be hosting a party in his honor in Memphis, Tennessee. When he penned “The Letter from The Birmingham Jail,” King had his “Christian and Jewish brothers” in mind, including Southern Baptists, when he wrote the following words in April 1963:

“While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities ‘unwise and untimely.’”

“I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.’”

The Clergyman in Birmingham also referred to King as an “outside agitator.” In April 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr., was gaining national fame and spoke in Chapel at the flagship theological seminary, among The Southern Baptists’ six seminaries, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. As historian, Taylor Branch, wrote in his biography of King, concerning the response of powerful Southern Baptists who opposed Martin Luther King’s visit and Southern Seminary’s invitation to Martin Luther King:

“Within the church [SBC], this simple invitation was racial and theological heresy, such that churches across the South rescinded their regular donations to the seminary.”

During his lifetime, Dr. King experienced criticism, rejection and at best, “lukewarm acceptance” from the Southern Baptist Convention. Fast forward to today. Over 3500, primarily Southern Baptists have registered in Memphis in 2018 to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King, who was assassinated by an Anglo son of the South on April 4, 1968. What a difference 50 years make! The SBC attitude toward King has gone through a metamorphosis over the past 50 years, as the entire Convention has made substantial and measurable progress on the racial front. In 50 years, the SBC has moved from castigating to celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. In 50 years, the SBC has moved from denying Blacks seats at the table of leadership, to electing Fred Luter as the first African American President of the SBC in 2012 and H.B. Charles as President of the Pastors Conference in 2017. In 50 years, the SBC has moved from viewing Blacks almost exclusively as a mission’s project, to engaging Blacks as mission partners and co-laborers. In 50 years, the SBC has moved from opposing the Civil Rights movement to passing resolutions overwhelmingly in favor of denouncing the Confederate Flag and the Alt-Right. Within 60 years, the SBC has moved from non-admittance of Blacks in Southern Baptist Seminaries, to appointing Walter Strickland as Vice President of Kingdom Diversity and Professor of Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Within 50 years the SBC has shifted from the highest ranking Black in the SBC Executive Building headquarters being the “head custodian” to, Ken Weathersby, serving as a Vice President of the Executive Committee. The SBC passed a resolution acknowledging the historic election of President Barack Obama in 2009. Dr. Russell Moore, Dr. Frank Page, Dr. Danny Akin, Dr. Fred Luter, Dr. Steve Gaines, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Dr. James Merritt and a host of others, have worked diligently to move the ball down the road in advancing God’s Kingdom Agenda for racial inclusion and empowerment in the SBC. Yet, there is a vocal minority in the SBC that has registered opposition to the 50 Years King Celebration, as did their forbearers, 50 years ago, perhaps for different reasons though. The SBC ERLC has spoken out against police brutality and in favor of comprehensive immigration reform under the prophetic and transformative leadership of Dr. Russell Moore. Never would this kind of prophetic advocacy occur during King’s lifetime. The SBC has by word, deed and repentance, earned the right to legitimately celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. The largest racial hurdle the SBC has yet to overcome is the exclusion of Blacks and other minorities serving as an entity head. Entity Heads also constitute the Great Commission Council of the SBC. How can you have a Great Commission Council that reflects only one ethnicity within the Convention? Currently, with two entity head positions vacant, the all-White Great Commission Council should soon change, in the spirit of Martin Luther King’s dream. Doctrinal and moral concerns are the two most common objections raised regarding reasons to suggest that the SBC ERLC not honor and celebrate the 50th year death of Dr. King. Many have called attention to some writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recorded in his dissertation for his PH.D. work at Boston University that reflects liberal theological leanings. Admittedly, Martin Luther King casts dubious questions and doubts on orthodox views of the virgin birth, deity of Christ, and the resurrection, reflected in his graduate school writings. I even recall reading that while in Sunday School as a youth at his father’s church, he raised questions concerning the validity of the gospel accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even John the Baptist, while in prison, sent word to Jesus, “Are you the Christ or shall we look for another?” Doubt and questioning usually take place at some point in the pilgrimage of every believer. Many of us simply have not recorded our thoughts or spoken aloud when battling with doubt. John the Baptist experienced days of doubt, but he died devoted to the belief that Christ was King of God’s Kingdom—so did Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Carl Ellis, reports that Martin Luther King applied to two conservative seminaries, and was rejected by both because of his color. He matriculated in the M.Div. and PH.D. programs at liberal theological schools in the ‘40’s. Conservative schools simply were not enrolling Black students at the time. Dr. Ellis testifies that one of the schools that rejected Martin Luther King as a graduate seminary student also rejected him for the same reason. It’s really arrogant to criticize a man for embracing liberal theology, when you refuse to allow him to enroll in theological conservative institutions. SBC seminaries did not enroll Black students until the ‘50’s, when they announced they would only enroll “highly qualified Negroes.” Not allowing Blacks to enroll in SBC seminaries was a practical denial of the faith, equally as problematic as King’s liberal theological leanings during his graduate work. The good news after completing his PH.D. and while pastoring the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King returned to the faith of his father—Martin Luther King, Sr. Dr. King testified that he was returning to the “God that would make a way, out of no way.” That’s common phraseology in the Black church to refer to The God of the Bible. Furthermore, King announced that he was embracing his father’s God; again, which was also another way of expressing in Black theological circles that he was returning to orthodoxy. He made those statements on the heels of bombs being blasted at his home in Montgomery, potentially endangering the lives of his wife and children. In one of his lesser known sermons, preached at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on Easter Sunday, April 1957, in a message entitled “Questions That Easter Answers,” Dr. King made the following statements that ought to lay to rest his beliefs in orthodoxy:

“Easter is a day above all days. It surpasses the mystery and marvel of Christmas with all of the glory of the incarnation.” (MLK believed in the incarnation, which would include the virgin birth and Christ’s Deity.)

“Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have fit testimony that this earthly life is not the end…” (Martin Luther King’s confession of the resurrection in his own words)

“…men through the generations have learned when they live close to Jesus Christ, that Easter can emerge, and that all of the darkness of Good Friday can pass away.” (You cannot live close to Jesus, unless He is the living Lord.)

“And this means that life is meaningful, that life is not doomed to frustration and futility but life can end up in fulfillment in the life and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

“We thank you, this morning, for your Son, Jesus, who came by to let us know that love is the most durable power in the world, who came by to let us know that death can’t defeat us, to take the sting out of the grave and death and make it possible for all of us to have eternal life. We thank you, oh God. And God grant that we will be grateful recipients of thy eternal blessings. In the name and spirit of Jesus, we pray. Amen.” (I am baffled as to how anyone can read Martin Luther King’s Easter 1957 sermon and prayer and conclude that he did not believe the gospel.)

Martin Luther King, Jr. shed his liberal views on Christology expressed during his graduate school years and preached the powerful Easter message in 1957 (previously referenced) that affirms the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His Lordship. It would certainly be appropriate for those claiming that Dr. King did not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ to now acknowledge this misunderstanding. Many are unaware that Al Mohler and Frank Page embraced liberal views on women in ministry while in graduate school studying under more moderate/liberal professors at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Later, as did Martin Luther King, Jr., they shed their liberal views and embraced a view on women in ministry more akin to the BF&M 2000. The second objection to the King celebration has to do with his “alleged immoral lifestyle.” The reason I say alleged is because I am unfamiliar with any female or male, or their descendants or relatives, who have testified to a personal sexual encounter with Dr. King. That is not to say, one or more did not transpire, it is simply to say, I find it interesting that no one has come forth to claim such a personal encounter. Nevertheless, my response to this objection will be relatively brief. I was recently asked: how can the church reconcile Martin Luther King’s adultery, plagiarism and doctrinal deviancy with a celebration? My answer: Whatever sins Martin Luther King was guilty of were a matter between his God, his wife and children, his congregation and himself. The church does not have to reconcile, King’s sins with any celebration of him. Just as the church does not have to reconcile the racism of W.A. and Betty Criswell, who are both on record unrepentantly claiming Africans were cursed and assigned to servitude. The Criswell’s will have to give an account to God for their racism. My father, knowing Criswell was a racist, loved to hear him preach and had several of his books in our home, during my formative, ministerial years. I would celebrate Criswell today, not because of his sin, but because of his good. And that is why the SBC ought to celebrate Martin Luther King. I hope many others will join the celebration in Memphis as a testimony to the grace, goodness and redemption of God, in all our lives and as another major step in the SBC toward racial healing. May the Spirit of God breathe upon The King Memphis Celebration! May Southern Baptists come from the North, South, East and West! Job well done, SBC ERLC! William Dwight McKissic, Sr., is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, TX, where he has served for 35 years. He is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, and has received honorary doctorates from Morris Booker Baptist College and Arkansas Baptist College. He has served as a guest lecturer at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Criswell College, the University of Minnesota, Emory University, Southern Illinois University, Wheaton College, and Harvard University. He has served on the Board of Trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, AR, an HBCU. He and his wife Vera have four children and twelve grandchildren.

#Dwight McKissic Sr.#ERLC #Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission #martin luther king jr #mlk #MLK50 #racism #SBC #southern baptist convention

0 notes

churchleadergazette · 6 years

Text

Pastor Dwight McKissic On the Southern Baptist Convention's Upcoming 'Party' for Martin Luther King Jr.

“While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities ‘unwise and untimely.’”

“Within the church [SBC], this simple invitation was racial and theological heresy, such that churches across the South rescinded their regular donations to the seminary.”

“Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have fit testimony that this earthly life is not the end…” (Martin Luther King’s confession of the resurrection in his own words)

#Dwight McKissic Sr.#ERLC #Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission #martin luther king jr #mlk #MLK50 #racism #SBC #southern baptist convention

0 notes

michaelloughnane-blog · 7 years

Text

Bishop's testimony reads like an NCR editorial

Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen of Parramatta, Australia (CNS)

Dennis Coday

| Feb. 22, 2017

NCR Today

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/bishops-testimony-reads-ncr-editorial

Yesterday in my Morning Briefing, I pointed readers to a story out of Australia that highlighted testimony by Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen of Parramatta, Australia, before the Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission is sitting for its 50th session and has been focused most of February on the Catholic church.

I wanted to make sure that NCR readers saw what Long said, so I thought I should point you back to that story today.

Long, 55, arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1981 and was ordained an auxiliary bishop in 2011 and made bishop of Parramatta last year. He made headlines Feb. 21 when he revealed that he was sexually abused by a clergyman shortly after being offered sanctuary in Australia.

Long notes that he was not a minor then, being about 18, but as a refugee, he most certainly was a vulnerable adult. Long testified that the experience “had a powerful impact on me and I want to walk in the shoes of other victims and endeavor to attain justice and dignity for them.”

Now, more than ever, we need to inspire action and a belief in the common good. But we need you. Subscribe today!

That revelation was startling enough, but the conclusions he has drawn will be no less startling to many of his confreres.

Long told the commission that ordained ministers have too much power in the church and too little accountability. The hierarchal culture of the institution needs to be dismantled, he said.

“The marginalization of women and the laity is part of this culture of clericalism that contributes not insignificantly to the abuse, sexual abuse crisis,” he said.

“If we are serious about reform, this is one of the areas that we need to look at.”

That reform could include giving lay people more power over their parish priest, he said.

“The laity have no meaningful or direct participation in the appointment, supervision and even removal of the parish priest,” Long said, adding. “I think that needs to change.”

My goodness, I thought to myself. Is this public testimony by a sitting Catholic bishop, or an NCR editorial?

It is a sitting bishop. Wow.

He said titles, privileges and the church’s institutional dynamics “breed clerical superiority and elitism, and that he cringes when parishioners call him “your lordship.” The church needs to review mandatory celibacy, which, he said, he thinks separates the clergy from parishioners.

You can read a bit more of Long's background here: New bishop shows changing face of Australian church.

Last September, Long got into a bit of hot water for a lecture he gave at a Catholic education conference in his diocese. Media picked up on comments he made about the church being more open to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. But the talk really focused on his challenges to the local church to rediscover its core values. This is a link to the full talk. I'll paste below the conclusion of his talk:

I believe we are living in a time of grace and hope precisely because this fallow time allows us to rid ourselves of what is unworthy of Christ and to grow more deeply in our identity and mission as his disciples. Hence, it is the time to reclaim for the Church:

Less a role of power, dominance and privilege but more a position of vulnerability and powerlessness;

Less an enclosure for the virtuous but more an oasis for the weary and downtrodden;

Less an experience of exclusion and elitism but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity;

Less of an attitude of ‘we are right and you are wrong’ and more of an attitude of openness to truth wherever and whoever it is to be found;

Less a leadership of control and clericalism but more a diakonia of a humble servant exemplified by Christ at the Last Supper;

Less a language of condemnation but more a language of affirmation and compassion; and

Less a preoccupation for its own maintenance but more a concern for the Kingdom of God

In the end, though, I firmly believe that we’re on the threshold of renewal and transformation. The Second Vatican Council set in motion a new paradigm that cannot be thwarted by fear and paralysis. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back. That new paradigm is one that is based on mutuality not exclusion, love not fear, service not clericalism, engagement with the world not flight from or hostility against it, incarnate grace not dualism. The Holy Spirit is at work even at a time of great anguish. ...

How much is airfare from Kansas City, Mo., to Parramatta, Australia?

0 notes