#gods forbid an nd character act nd

[ruegarding]

every time i see someone complain abt how percy treated nico after the accidental kidnapping in tlo i'm like. woah. you're surprised that the kid w anger issues was angry?

[ratpacman]

Taking something off my chest as a tlou fan

As a huge The Last of Us fan, I can't get over how much of a narcissistic asshole Neil Druckmann is.

Part II is all about him, he did not care for the characters, especially the ones he built with Bruce Straley (co-creator for Part I). It fills me with rage to see, above all, Joel acting like he never would have just to fit into the narrative Neil had in mind, which focused on making the player feel absolutely terrible for no particular reason.

"we don't use the word fun"

Because God forbid should a videogame be an overall fun experience.

And I'm not an idiot, I know videogames can be sad, what I'm saying is that Part 1 was just as tragic without leaving the player absolutely raging by the end. Because you don't have to break the players heart to make them feel the emotions you want. That is just misery porn and in the end symptom of bad writing, at least for a video game. Unfortunately Part 2 is chock full of examples of incredibly bad writing.

However, I don't think Neil is a terrible writer, but he works best when his ideas are honed by others. He admitted he had a hard time accepting other people's criticism and would hold on tight to his original ideas thinking they were genius. But ultimately, since the making of Part 1 was highly collaborative(2:45) - even between workers that wouldn't normally confront each other's in the process - his ideas were often tossed out or differently elaborated. Having a lot of brains working on a story is what made Part 1 so special! Many impactful ideas came from simple programmers.

And that magic formula is what the making of Part 2 lacked, with Neil being nominated vice president of ND he really had the whole crew just obeying at him. The only other person who had voice in the writing at some point, was Halley Gross, which in my opinion had even worst ideas than him, like the unnecessary sex scenes which are just weird and the overabundance of graphic violence that made her feel zen while writing (?!)

[fairycosmos]

i feel like thats been a trend on the internet the past few years, people using "bigger" language bc they read it online. as in, other people arent just selfish anymore, theyre narcissists. you arent just sad or nervous, youve got depression and anxiety. and god forbid you have a character trait that even slightly matches a symptop of adhd. i feel like people use this language just bc its the language they see used online and so the only way they know how to talk about things like this anymore. does that make sense?

yeah absolutely! u phrased this so well like i've been thinking it for a while but could never articulate it. i've noticed it getting worse nd worse in recent years - gabbie hanna is a prime example. the ppl she disagrees with aren't just people she disagrees with anymore, they're gaslighting narcissists and abusers. people aren't just wrong, they're manipulative god complex story book villians. i feel like there's a bit of a weird online culture where we're all trying to perform and explain our pain in a weirdly competitive landscape with no emotional boundaries. it always gets turned into a 'who has it worse' sort of thing, always, even in a subtle way. so ppl have just took certain words and ran with them in hopes that they'll be seen as the most wronged person in any given situation and its completely watered down the actual meaning of these v important terms lmfao. it's definitely a very internet echo chamber thing where we're just parroting each other without actually thinking about what we're saying and if it needs to be shared in the first place - btw im including myself in all this too, not trying to act like i'm above it in any way. but yeah sometimes it is literally just not that deep or dramatic. everyone remember defintions exist for a reason challenge 😭

[dailycharacteroption]

Base Class Review: Witch part 4

 Unique Patrons

 Witch patrons as a whole can represent any manner of otherworldly, power-granting entity, everything from powerful outsiders, fey, bodiless spirits, and even psychic entities formed by or attracted to the subconscious desires of the would-be witch.

Their morality and goals can also vary a lot. Some are goodly, most are high-minded and desire to spread knowledge, while wicked ones may be petty tyrants that threaten to remove their influence or torment the witch in other ways if they are not obeyed. Regardless of alignment, however, most patrons likely have an agenda of some kind, which likely is related to the theme they are associated with.

Beyond that, however, the witch patrons… don’t really have that much going for them mechanics-wise, just a list of bonus spells. According to former Paizo employee and editor in chief F. Wesley Schneider (In his brief stint of doing youtube videos, I believe), the witch patrons were originally going to be more in depth with greater mechanics tied to the true nature of the patron, but those were scrapped.

Today, however, we’ll take a look at a subsystem from Blood of the Coven which promises to provide a way for witch characters to be influenced by the exact nature of their patron (and also throwing a bone to GMs who wish they had more to work with when trying to tie the patron into the plot or subplot of a campaign.)

 These so-called “unique patrons” are a bit stronger and more influential than the standard patron. Picking one of them means you must pick a certain hex at first level, you have a list of only four themes to pick from, and some of your theme spells are swapped out by those associated with that type of unique patron. What’s more, taking a unique patron means abiding by their rules, which can include a restriction, or a penalty of some kind.

In this way, unique patrons offer access to certain spells that are harder for most witches to get in return for some restrictions or difficulties in terms of build and roleplay. This makes sense from a fluff level as well, as these patrons would naturally not possess themes that run counter to their goals (no celestial patrons of rot and death, naturally)

The unique patron types are as follows:

First is the Celestial Agenda, meaning the patron is some manner of good outsider that seeks to guide the witch to some goodly act or destiny. As such, such witches must be good and find it difficult to deceive others, but they gain the ward hex, are associated with themes of endurance, healing, light, and portents, and grant access to spells that punish the wicked and call upon celestial allies.

Next is the Empath, suggesting your patron is a collective unconscious or other entity associated with emotion and social connection. Such witches are sensitive to strong emotions, making them very vulnerable to magic that imposes them on others. Still, they learn the tongues hex to speak all languages, are associated with ancestors, mind, spirits, and wisdom, and are granted spells that bolster their awareness of events and energies both present and past.

Fey Gifts suggests that your patron is a powerful fey, perhaps even one of the Eldest. Such patrons have few restrictions, but they also view the witch as a source of entertainment, and might remotely jinx them at random for their amusement. Still, the fey does grant the witch the charm hex, access to the agility, enchantment, trickery, or winter themes, and access to magic to deceive and enchant their foes with fairy madness.

Green Whispers is what you want if you want you patron to be a nature spirit of some description, or perhaps a powerful natural being such as a treant. Such beings forbid the touch of iron or steel, which are associated with civilization, and actually cause harm and inhibit the magic of the witch. In exchange, they can speak to animals with the feral speech hex, access animals, endurance, moon, or transformation as patron themes, and access various plant-related spells.

When a hag gets involved, usually with their changeling child, they sometimes act as a patron, providing the Hag’s Calling, perhaps to tempt them, or reward them. Regardless of their relationship, the hag seeks to isolate the witch, preventing them from helping others or accepting the help of others. In return, these witches gain the coven hex, can choose from moon, plague, shadow, and vengeance for themes, and spells to disguise themselves or contact the hag from afar.

The classic witch patron, at least when viewed through the perspective of fearful religious folk, the Infernal Contract suggests a patron that is fiendish in nature, though not necessarily diabolic. Regardless of what fiend is holding the leash, such witches can only rarely be resurrected, their souls bound to their master, and they must provide regular sacrifices of blood to maintain their power. Those that dare this bond are promised the misfortune hex, access to enchantment, strength, trickery, and vengeance as options, and spells to call on fiendish allies for aid.

Calling upon a patron from the plane of shadow, Shadowbound refers to those patrons that dwell in darkness, such as kytons, owbs, shae, nightshades, and more. Such a patron makes the light inimical to the witch, though, making their eyes sensitive to light. In exchange, they gain the disguise hex, the death, deception, ethereal, and shadow patron themes, and spells that bend shadow to the will of the witch for attacking and transport.

The Condition of All is an interesting unique patron, as such witches are guided by the mysterious and contradictory aeons. As servants of the balance, each witch has a role to play, and so their morality cannot waver from the role they are meant to fulfil, lest they lose their powers until their part in the balance is restored. In exchange, they gain the scar hex, access to the elements, time, transformation, and wisdom themes, and magic for compelling actions and banishing unwanted outsiders.

Finally, those who are Touched by the Outer Gods are exactly what you’d expect, witches whose patrons are none other than an Outer God or Great Old One, leaving their minds scarred, making them vulnerable to various mental effects. Those who follow such beings, if that word can even be used, gain the unnerve beasts hex, a theme from the list of insanity, occult, stars, or transformation, and spells that spread fear and madness.

 With such an array of unique patrons, you certainly have plenty of interesting choices for making a witch character where the exact nature of their patron matters. However, you may have noticed that the list of various themes that go with these unique patrons is a bit… limited, with many themes not having any representation at all, so if you really want a particular theme and a unique patron, you may be forced to turn to homebrew or GM fiat in order to make it work.

The Pathfinder 2nd edition version of the witch features much more involved patrons from the get-go, which we’ll cover sometime in the future, but it’s interesting to see how this optional subsystem might have inspired it.

In any case, that does it for today! We’ll wrap up the witch class tomorrow with some final thoughts!

[welcome-to-the-petting-zoo]

(this is directed to anyone who feels up to answering) how do you feel about authors writing characters with DID (provided they do sufficient research)? i do understand that it's harmful to write a plot centered around a disorder you don't have, but is representation through minor characters acceptable? (this question is specifically about DID but you can answer it more generally if you want) 💛

Hi there yellow! Cat here. I’m gonna answer this slightly more generally, since I don’t have DID.

Please keep in mind that this is just the opinion of one person, and in the end you will have to make up your own mind and stand by it.

But I honestly don’t see a problem with writing characters who have experiences we don’t share. I feel like there’s a problem in wanting both representation, and for everyone to stick to their own “lane”. That would mean I could only ever write white, able-bodied people, and if they are ND, they could only either have schizophrenia or ADHD or both, and god forbid I write about anyone afab etc etc... and then 1) my stories would lack diversity and 2) it would be pretty boring an unrealistic.

I mean, from that standpoint, I wouldn’t even be able to write a neurotypical cis character.. 

And in my book decent representation always trumps no representation. That said, I put emphasis on decent, because I do think creators need to do their research. In the case of a mental disorder, it’s important to not just read the diagnostic manual and slap every trait on the person: Seek out communities surrounding the thing, read their experiences, ask them informed questions about specific experiences. Remember you don’t need every symptom for every disorder, and remember the disorder is not the personality; you need to still build a character.

I will defend my right to write characters of different disabilities, ethnicity, gender and sexuality, any day. Because writing is the act of creating a world and a set of characters out of nothing, and I believe that if you’re being respectful, and doing your research, then your representation matters and people will be able to see themselves reflected in media, and most people will love it.

I mean... The representation of psychotic characters and specifically schizophrenic characters is so sparse and so shitty, that I find myself insta-attracted to anyone who even remotely exhibits the traits, no matter how problematic or downright bad the representation is. 

And I feel like people in my or similar situations deserve to start seeing ourselves in media, and since we’re talking disorders with a prevalence of a few percent of the population, it would be unrealistic to expect that all representation is made only by the people in question.

Sure, writing about experiences you don’t know is hard, and if you’re not prepared to do your research (especially for a major character) then maybe don’t. But decent representation is a necessity, and while own-experiences-representation is too, one doesn’t exclude the other.

Cat

[friendship-korea-japan]

3.3.3. Decadence of Buddhism

Question 3: Foundation and fall of Goryeo › 3. Administration system of Goryeo › 3. Decadence of Buddhism

Click here for table of contents

3.3.3. Decadenceof Buddhism

  The following is a passage from Injunction 1, “Section 2. Ten injunctions of Wang Geon” in “Chapter 4. Buddhism-based administration of the Goryeo dynasty”, Confucianism of Korea.

[The important achievements of our state can be realized only with the divine protection of various Buddhas. Therefore, you should build temples of Zen and other sects, dispatch priests and make them learn the ultimate reality of the universe, so that each of them can control the karma. In the future, disloyal retainers may engage in politics, listen to the requests of priests and scramble for control of temples. Such acts should be banned.]

  As seen above, Taejo ordered in Injunction 1 that Buddhism should be practiced. Buddhism in the Goryeo era was focused on the protection of the country. Probably as a result, there is a following description on Buddhism in Goryeo in History of Korea by the Society for the Korean Historical Science.

[In Goryeo, various national Buddhist events were celebrated in a magnificent way. Temples were often built by the state as palaces of national protection, and there were numerous priests. […] Buddhism and temples in Goryeo also had important influence in the secular world. Temples, which were given large lands and many slaves by the state, accumulated their wealth through commerce, stock raising, brewery and usury. They even employed monk soldiers to protect their wealth.]

  At the same time as his enthronement, Seongjong, the sixth king of Goryeo (in office from 982 to 997) asked the officials in the capital with the rank of fifth grade or higher to send him a sealed letter (letter of opinion sealed before submission). Simuso was written by Choe Seungno, a civilian official who assumed the role of senior statesman, to respond to this request. “The 28 articles of Simuso” had a long preamble, in which the author looked back on the foundation of the state by Taejo, commented on the achievements of the succeeding kings (Hyejong, Jeongjong, Gwangjong and Gyeongjong) and showed hope that Seongjong would complete the great work to maintain and stabilize the Goryeo dynasty. The ideal image of a monarch that Choe Seungno anticipated from Seongjong was the following:

[Your Excellence (Seongjong), you are kindly requested to continue doing the good that previous kings have already done, to take care not to repeat their bad behaviors and to avoid futile efforts, so that you continue to feel peaceful and ordinary people feel happy. You should think of how to complete your reign beautifully by trying to start better, reflect on how you have spent every day, never really stop working, avoid being arrogant even after enthronement thanks to your noble origin and have rich intelligence and virtue. If you are respectful, compassionate, and always feel anxious about people, happiness will come to us and disasters will disappear spontaneously even if you do not pray. Why should we think that the holy age will continue for thousands of years and the royal reign will not last for a hundred year?]

  We believe that Choe’s expectation toward Seongjong has a valuable element for people and rulers that will be valid even today. However, the ideal that he requested for the king was betrayed by many of the subsequent kings.

  The basic goal of Simuso as seen from the remaining document was to strengthen the royal authority and to accomplish the centralization of the rule to every corner of the country. The first hurdle that hindered this goal was the temple forces, followed by the local ruling families. In this context, the focus was on criticizing the arrogant behaviors of priests and the waste of national finances through Buddhist events. Examples are described in some parts of Article 10 and Article 16 as follows.

[The minister has heard that Buddhist priests, who stay at palaces and post stations when travelling between different counties and prefectures, unreasonably accuse officials and ordinary people of not receiving and entertaining them well. While these officials and commoners doubt their status and missions, they do not dare say that, so the abuses are immense. We should now forbid priests from staying at palaces and post stations to stop such abuses [Article 10].

In the secular world, priests are building Buddhist temples as they want, under the pretext of implanting good deeds, and there are too many such temples. Moreover, as priests living in the capital and in rural areas compete to build such temples, hoping to secure private living space, they urge officials in the provinces and counties to mobilize people as labor force. Such mobilization is done more urgently than official labor service and people suffer a lot. I hope that such behaviors will be strictly forbidden […] to eliminate the hardship imposed on commoners [Article 16].]

  While the role of priests should be to preach Buddha’s teaching and to save people from hardship, they in fact brought difficulty to people’s lives. They should no longer be considered priests but criminals who pretend to be priests.

  It is believed that Buddhism was introduced to Korea when a priest named Marananta arrived from the Jin dynasty in 384. Buddhist culture prospered during the era of unified Silla. In Bulguksa, a representative temple of this period, there are such objects as the seated statue of Buddha, the statue of Goddess of Mercy with 11 faces, as well as the statue of Brahma, Sakra, Manjushri and Samantabhadra. In addition, there are a total of 147 temple ruins. Many priests headed for Tang to learn about the latest version of Buddhism, and some even learned from the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang. Moreover, Wonhyo preached salvation by prayer and promoted faith in the Pure Land.

  Nevertheless, why did Buddhism in Goryeo become corrupted as shown above? We can find the following description in the article entitled “Buddhism and other religions” in Korean History I.

[Buddhism was generously protected, considered to be the religion for the spiritual protection of the state.

The religious test was conducted as the appointment test for priests, and high priests were appointed as national priests or royal priests.

Various Buddhist events, including Yeondeunghoe (a memorial ceremony for Buddha that entails lighting a lot of lanterns during a Buddhist service) and P'algwanhoe were celebrated over the whole country.

The construction of temples was actively promoted. Many temples, including the ten major temples were built].

  Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd version has the following explanation about P’algwanhoe (hachikanhe in Japanese).

[P’algwanhoe is a national religious festival of Goryeo, Korea and is one of the two major national rites along with Yeondeunghoe. It is also called Hakkan’e in Japanese. Originally, it was a Buddhist ritual to tell the eight precepts to new Buddhists. While the term appeared already in the Silla era, its content is unknown. From the Goryeo era, the religious character faded, and turned into a festival to worship local deities including the heavenly spirit, the gods of the five mountains, the prestigious mountain, the great river and the dragon deity, and to celebrate good crops. The ritual was celebrated every year for two days around November 15. In the small ceremony on the first day, following prayers for the ancestors by the king, the prince and officials in and outside the capital offered greetings, and the participants enjoyed comical performances and a drinking party. During the great ceremony of the second day, in addition to a ritual which was almost identical to that of the small ceremony, foreign visitors, including the merchants from the Song dynasty and participants from East and West Jurchens and Tamna (Jeju Island), offered greetings and treasures.]

  While at first P’algwanhoe was an important Buddhist event, it turned into an event of comical performances and drinking, and an occasion to have foreigners, including merchants from Song, offer treasures. It seems likely that the entire society of Goryeo reduced Buddhism into a mere formality and got depraved by merely seeking pleasure. With this situation, it is no wonder that priests with marginal positions made lower-ranking officials and peasants in rural areas suffer by treating them as if they were slaves.

   In addition, such an attitude of priests might also have been affected by the exploitation of people under the slavery system that existed also in temples. The society of Goryeo did not regard slaves as humans. They were instead seen as practical tools and assets. It was likely that peasants and low-ranking officials, seen as close to slaves, were also regularly maltreated.

[antitouoso]

quick question: how is this a coherent argument, you’ve pulled out four different, unrelated things from all different directions and expect me to make sense of them

koogi being a woman has nothing to do with misogyny, gay men calling out that she’s a homophobe for writing rape porn isn’t “sexism” you fucking moron. she’s an ableist pos because she didn’t even research bpd, she just looked up “twisted” symptoms and saw that it “resembled” people with bpd. i have bpd and guess what? i know what the hell i’m talking about when i say yoonbum is an ableist character written to fetishize rape, specifically a man being raped, tortured, and abused. trying to say koogi is a woman is just a poor excuse; she’s still creating homophobic rape porn.

y’all are so dense, it’s like we say the same damn things over and over again: links are provided that show connections in the mind between fiction and reality, gay men and nd people speak up about how harshly they’re portrayed, and all y’all can do is stuff your ears and start crytyping about how horrible antis are for giving a shit about how minorities are portrayed and abuse is romanticized. you pull out “well what about (horror movie)” as if 1.) they aren’t portrayed as evil and terrifying (which is the opposite of killing stalking) and 2.) people haven’t actually sited episodes/movies of intense horror as inspiration for their twisted actions. you would rather ignore everything people are saying because god FORBID you are faced with the consequences of your shitty actions and forced to admit you were doing something wrong.

y’all are nothing more than a bunch of excuse giving cowards. for the love of god, wake up and face the music, actually read about how we feel this way, actually LEARN about the connections in fiction and reality and how they exist, and stop acting immature. accusing people who just speak up about the horrible atmosphere fandoms and media like this create to be more “evil” is low.

[lochroma]

Good: when grumpy/stoic characters act embarrassed or just a little bit different than usual around their s/o, but are at least happy in their own sort of way (even if they don't want to show it/can't)

REALLY good: when grumpy/stoic characters are finally able to let loose a little and find comfort in their s/o, even if its small things, like talking a little bit more, or smiling every now and then... or god forbid... h*lding h*nds and other heinous acts of slight physical attention

[johnchiarello]

2nd Samuel 19- Rick

WEDNESDAY- 2-15-17

2nd Samuel 19 [Rick]

https://youtu.be/avrNaoXyp6U  2nd Samuel 19

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/2-15-17-2nd-samuel-19.zip

https://youtu.be/M4MD-3HYppY  Rick

Made the first video in the morning- did some teaching. I ran into Rick later in the day- and made the 2nd video. You can see the Guatemalans playing Bocce ball! Rick talks a bit about the history of the area- how he grew up in Brooklyn and his family moved to the New Jersey side of the Hudson and settled in North Bergen. Much like my mom’s side of the family. I spent the rest of this day hanging out with Rick and he wants to share more of his story- I told him he can- that’s what this is all about. That’s it for today- hope you enjoy the videos.

ON VIDEO

.Trump- media- palace intrigue?

.Horace Mann school

.Our Lady of Fatima church

.N.B.H.S

.Kennedy Blvd.

.Dad’s old Fire House

.Ricky Ricardo show canceled?

.Joab- Gen. Flynn?

.Do you love your enemies more than your friends?

.David mediates in the midst of turmoil

.David symbol of Christ

.Leadership dynamics

.Mosul- Yemen

NEW [Verses- past teaching below]

I’m trying- hard- not to ‘go off ‘on the media.

Why?

Because the past 2 weeks- they have taken minor things- and tried to turn them into a national emergency.

As I sit here now [2-15-17] I stopped working on this post- and am watching the news conference with Netanyahu and Trump.

Ok- important- real stuff.

At the bottom of the screen [news scroll] BREAKING NEWS! EMERGENCY!!

What might it be?

The ethics committee warns that Kelly Ann Conway VIOLATED ETHICS RULES and needs to be punished!

Now- for those who are news watchers- you know what it’s about.

To be honest- it’s about nothing.

Or very minor stuff.

But to try and have that overshadow a real important news conference- between world leaders- simply confirms what I have been talking about.

Whatever side of the political aisle you are on- I don’t really care.

But there are very important world issues- that need to be covered.

And the media is simply an absolute disgrace.

 PAST TEACHING [verses below]

https://ccoutreach87.com/samuel-links/

(935)2ND SAMUEL 18- David and his men regroup and mount a counter attack against Absalom. They divide into 3 groups and go for it. David tells his men ‘take it easy on Absalom’. Why? Understand that David is seeing the prophetic judgment upon his family that was a result of his own sin. I wonder how many times David saw the fulfillment of this former word [the sword will never depart from your house] thru the seeming insignificant acts of Absalom along the way. David felt guilt over this whole rebellion mounted by his son. Now the battle rages and David and his men kill around 20 thousand troops of Absalom. Word gets back to Joab that Absalom got his hair caught in some tree and is hanging in the tree. Joab says ‘why didn’t you kill him!’ the messenger says ‘God forbid that I should kill the king’s son! I heard the strict orders from the king for no one to take his life’. My King James Version says Joab responded with ‘I may not tarry thus with thee’ in today’s terms ‘I can’t waste time listening to your reasoning’. Joab goes and kills the king’s son. When I read thru this chapter earlier this morning I saw 2 possible things here. First, Joab and his history with David are one of Joab being a ‘bloody man’. He killed Abner against the king’s wishes, and now Absalom. Why in the world did David not remove Joab from this position earlier? One reason, Joab knew how to war. The boy was capable; he knew how to get the job done. In ministry [or business] loyalty is important; people need to be able to carry out the decisions of leadership. But loyalty in and of itself doesn’t cut it, you need skills and abilities as well. You say ‘that’s not fair’ well if you don’t have the skills go get them for heavens sake! Proverbs says knowledge is in the street corners calling out to the simple and saying ‘come, receive of my learning’. The resources are there, laziness prevents people from accessing them effectively. Now Joab also acted responsibly to some degree. He realized that Absalom would be a permanent threat to David’s rule, he killed him and saved many. Right after his death Joab blows the trumpet and the battle is called off. 2 Messengers run to bring the word to David. Ephesians says ‘blessed are the feet of those who bring the gospel’ Gospel simply means ‘good news’. In the New Testament this good news was the reality of Jesus death, burial and resurrection [1st Corinthians 15] but in the Old Testament it was simply the news from ‘the runner’. You could tell from the way the runner was running whether the news was good or bad. How? Say if your wife took a lotto ticket that said ‘you one a million dollars’ and said ‘I am going to ask the store clerk if it’s real’. As you are waiting in the parking lot you see her coming out of the store. Do you think you would be able to tell if the news was good or bad by watching the way she approaches the car? So this was what the king looked for as the messengers came running. If they bore good news their feet had this special pep to them. News gets back to David and he is broken over the death of his son ‘O Absalom, my son Absalom. Would God I had died in your place’ I always stop and meditate this verse every time I read it thru my yearly reading thru the bible. This contains the heart of the Father in redemption. A few more things; in this chapter it said that Absalom raised up a monument/pillar after ‘his own name’. Because he didn’t have any sons to carry on his legacy, he left ‘a thing’ that would honor his name after he died. Absalom didn’t simply have a rebellion issue against his father, he really wanted to build for himself a legacy. His motivations were self serving. Jesus warns the leaders of his movement not to approach ‘church and ministry’ with the same ‘gentile’ [worldly] concepts of leadership. The world often succeeds thru the motivation of greed and lust and power. It’s very easy to fall into the Absalom mindset and take it out on Gods people when the ‘pillar’ [the thing of ministry] doesn’t ‘go up right’. Many well meaning sincere men have been side tracked into seeking fame and acceptance by seeing ministry thru the lens of ‘I want to leave some institution that will bear witness to my name after I am gone’. Ministry, according to Jesus, does not operate along these lines. In Absalom’s obsession to become famous in the eyes of men, he went down a path that did leave a memorial to his name for generations to come. We just read it.

 (936)2ND SAMUEL 19- David sends word to the elders of Judah ‘why are you guys so late in receiving me back to Jerusalem as your king? I am your own kin for heavens sake!’ After the death of the rogue king Absalom, Israel came to her senses and began saying ‘you know, when David was our king things weren’t all that bad, now that Absalom is dead, what are we waiting for, lets call David back’. So David sends word back that he is reuniting with the people again. He also makes some strategic moves; he tells Amasa ‘when I get back, you get Joab’s job’ Ouch! David finally dealt with the talented, yet self willed commander of his men. On the way back one of the first guys that greets him is the same brother that cursed him and threw stones at him earlier. David lived to see the day of Gods vindication. The brother repents and David forgives him. Also the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, greets David with great joy. The first thing David says is ‘why didn’t you leave with me at the beginning?’ The earlier slander of Ziba stuck in David’s mind. Mephibosheth swares that Ziba tricked him. David forgives him and says ‘enough! You split the inheritance with Ziba’. Mephibosheth replies ‘Let him keep it, I don’t need the material wealth. I am just glad to be with you again’. The church does not see the reality of this test contained in scripture. There are times where ‘David’ does offer opportunities of self advancement that are simply a test to see what our motives are. In this case David rightfully gave material stuff to Mephibosheth, it was the maturity and character of Mephibosheth to say ‘thanks, but no thanks’. The scripture contains many examples of Christ followers forsaking things for his cause. Just because the bible ‘offers opportunities for wealth’ does not mean Gods best is for you to ‘go for the wealth’. Now that David’s back in Jerusalem, the divided tribes [Israel-10 tribes, and Judah] have a squabble. Israel says ‘Judah, who do you think you are in being the first ones to escort the king back, he is our king too’! And Judah replies ‘yeah, but he is our blood kin, David is from our tribe. We hold a ‘special’ relationship with him because of natural heritage’. It’s funny, these guys were on Absalom’s side a few days ago, now they are fighting over him! I kinda see Jesus and natural Israel in this story. The nation of Israel became offended over the fact that they were ‘blood heirs’ of the Jewish Messiah. They held to this ethnic pride that would be destroyed thru the Cross. It offended the natural mind to see this ethnic figure [in the historic mind of Judaism] to be accepted by ‘all the tribes’. They wanted him solely for their own purposes. So here we see Judah and Israel fighting over David, he will unite them both under his rule [Ephesians ‘the 2 are made one, Jew and Gentile, and God hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us] and Jerusalem will once again be called ‘the city of the great king’ [we are the ‘city that comes down from God out of heaven’ the bride, the Lambs wife!]

 (937)2ND SAMUEL 20- Now David comes up against another short rebellion. Sheba, a Benjamite, blows the trumpet and says ‘what part have we in David, every man for himself’. Sheba draws Israel away from her king and Judah remains loyal. David quickly tells his new commander, Amasa, ‘go and gather Judah together and meet me in 3 days’. He takes longer than 3 days and David says ‘surely this Sheba is going to be trouble’ and he sends Joab out too. What’s going on here? First, David removed Joab from the commander position and replaced him with Amasa. For whatever reason Amasa is taking longer to gather Judah, David is reading into it thru the paranoia of Sheba’s rebellion. Was Amasa turning against him too? David then turns to his former commander Joab and seems to be using him as the back up ‘go to man’. Leaders, if you changed the staff for a reason, don’t keep going to the former guy for advice. It only creates tension with the new team. If you think the new guy isn’t working well, then give him a little time and if you have to then go and make the change. But don’t simply give him a title and then undercut his job. Now Joab goes out after Sheba and finds Amasa and kills him. He then chases down Sheba into a city of Israel. Joab comes against the city and a wise woman says ‘why are you trying to destroy us, we are a special town in Israel’? Joab says ‘we just want Sheba’. Sure enough the woman says ‘wait a little bit’ and next thing you know Sheba’s head comes over the wall. You don’t want to mess with these Israeli women! So Joab gets his job back, thru violent means. David puts down this short rebellion. And he has to regroup big time. Leadership means being able to function in the midst of turmoil and inner strife and infighting. That’s part of the cost. There is a verse that says ‘rule thou in the midst of your enemies’. God doesn't tell us ‘I will remove all the problems so you can rule’. He tells us ‘lead right thru all the stuff’!

VERSES-

2Samuel 19:1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.

2Samuel 19:2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.

2Samuel 19:3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

2Samuel 19:4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

2Samuel 19:5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

2Samuel 19:6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

2Samuel 19:7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.

2Samuel 19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

2Samuel 19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

2Samuel 19:10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

2Samuel 19:11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.

2Samuel 19:12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

2Samuel 19:13 And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

2Samuel 19:14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

2Samuel 19:15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.

2Samuel 19:16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

2Samuel 19:17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.

2Samuel 19:18 And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;

2Samuel 19:19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

2Samuel 19:20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

2Samuel muel 19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?

2Samuel 19:22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

2Samuel 19:23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.

2Samuel 19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

2Samuel 19:25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

2Samuel 19:26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

2Samuel 19:27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

2Samuel 19:28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

2Samuel 19:29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

2Samuel 19:30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

2Samuel 19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.

2Samuel 19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

2Samuel 19:33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

2Samuel 19:34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?

2Samuel 19:35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

2Samuel 19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

2Samuel 19:37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.

2Samuel 19:38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.

2Samuel 19:39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.

2Samuel 19:40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.

2Samuel 19:41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?

2Samuel 19:42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift?

2Samuel 19:43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

Isaiah 16:5

And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

1 Chronicles 16:22

Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

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