#is it sinful to pursue higher holiness

[albertfinch]

REMOVING THE WALLS

Song of Solomon 2:9  -  "Behold, He is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice."

     Yes, Christ dwells within us, but He is standing behind our SELF IMPOSED  "walls."  The walls between us and the Savior are primarily the work of :

Unrenewed Minds

Hardened Hearts

We have barricaded ourselves behind fears and,

Carnal Attitudes

The good news is that these barriers can be eliminated.  To the degree they are removed, we utilize our oneness with Christ and experience true spiritual advancement.

     Let us pursue the removal of these barriers through the use of our:

SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION

Imagine that even as you are reading, the Lord Himself has quietly entered a nearby room.  You look, and suddenly the room is:

Vibrant and alive, shimmering with waves of light.

Instantly, your senses are flooded with His holy presence as the living, probing light enters you and descends into your heart.

The darkness that shrouded your inner sin nature is gone and your heart is exposed.

    Question:  Knowing that Jesus Christ is in the room, would you enter?

If you could not bring yourself to move toward the room, what would be your reason?

Is it because you feel you have failed the Lord too many times, then SHAME has become a "wall" between you and Christ; 

If FEAR keeps you distant, then fear is the barrirer between God and you;

If an UNREPENTANT HEART is keeping you from intimacy with Christ, then heart hardness is your cause of isolation.

Remember, the pure in heart see God (Matthew 5:8).  If we repent of our wrong attitudes and sins;  if instead of shame and fear, we clothe ourselves with the desire to move forward in our Christ calling so we can bear fruit that remains for His Kingdom, the barriers between ourselves and the Lord shall be removed.

     In trembling obedience, let us enter the fire of His presence for, in truth, He is closer than the room next door.  He is, even now, penetrating our wall of limitation.

Questions to Ask Myself:

WHAT AM I NOT REPENTING OF?

WHAT AM I AFRAID OF?

HOW BAD DO I WANT TO MOVE HIGHER IN CHRIST?

Prayer:

MASTER, WITH ALL MY HEART I DESIRE TO ENTER YOUR GLORY, TO STAND IN YOUR PRESENCE AND LOVE SO I CAN EFFECTIVELY ADVANCE YOUR KINGDOM.  RECEIVE ME NOW AS I BOW BEFORE YOUR GLORY.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

[cassianus]

Lord! Before Your very eyes are all the countless misdeeds of demons and fallen angels. They have rebelled against You in heaven, they hate You, their Creator and God, they hate all Your works with a frenzied, incomprehensible hatred. You have shown them Your creative power, You have shown them Your unlimited power over them: You have cast them down from heaven, You have punished them in their very nature; You have condemned the disembodied spirits to live in matter and corruption. Once bright Angels have turned into gloomy, bestial demons; the pure spirits have become, in thought and feeling, flesh and filth; the inhabitants of higher abodes wander endlessly in the deserts of the celestial empire, on the surface of the earth, in the abysses of the underground. You have given them a prison of fire - a terrible hell, burning with an unquenchable flame, so that the punishment prepared for them will produce a saving fear and convince them to come to their senses. You have atoned for all mankind in the presence and opposition of the spirits who sought to destroy it. You have made them spectators and witnesses of the march to heaven of those who have pleased You; You have endured them for many millennia - and nothing, nothing can break their stubbornness, soften their hearts that have been turned into stone or metal, incline them to repentance, to the desire of heaven. But these madmen continue to fight against You, spew terrible blasphemies against You, reject Your existence, reject You in all aspects of creation. But You are not only unapproachable for Your enemies - You are incomprehensible. As a result, the fallen angels, powerless, insignificant before You, have directed their malice against Your creation, against the weak man. They have poisoned him with the poison of sin; they seek to destroy him completely, they pursue him incessantly, they set up evil nets for him, they plunge him into innumerable, most painful calamities. Only You, the Almighty One, can deliver us from these calamities, from the most severe ones, and You deliver those people who resort to You! My grief has surpassed the measure of my strength. Hitherto it has been pouring out of my heart, overflowing it; I am now silenced by exhaustion. My lamentations are exhausted, my sighs are exhausted, my tears are exhausted: the sadness that surpasses them is unspeakable, it torments and mortifies me. Lord! You see me. You know that the hatred of your enemies will not be satisfied with any of my sufferings. In Your mighty right hand are I and my enemies. All-seeing and All-powerful! I surrender myself to Your most holy will, to Your infinite wisdom and goodness.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

“A Monastic’s Lament for His Brother Who Has Fallen into Temptation”

[sachinotes]

My parents started catching on my views on religion. And today my father attempted to confront me by asking if I am an atheist, but I wasn't sure if that was what he asked because the radio overlapped his voice. I was able to connect the dots however when he and mom talked in soft voices, but dad decided to drop the subject.

When dad asked me that question, he had an irritated voice. It was clear he has his prejudice against the idea of me being an atheist. Although I am not one, I am not very against atheists. It's more of just I don't prefer their view of a non-existent god. For me, it'll be better if there is a god. I am also not against polytheism, but for simplicity I am more inclined to perceive it as there being one god or one creator/overseer. That said, I don't want to rely on god for every little thing.

That's where my view against certain religious practices is at. For me, the things I think humanity can rely on god are matters beyond our hands. Things like safety against all harm, imminent death, intentions of others, disasters, good opportunities, etc. I am not fond of humanity depending on divine intervention for matters well within their own capability to achieve. It just seems dependent, inactive, and irresponsible to me. By attributing our successes or failures solely to a higher power, we may underestimate the importance of our own actions and the direct impact they can have on our lives and the world around us.

For me, faith is a means to guide humanity to fulfill a good life, but it's not what ensures in shaping our circumstances. So no, I don't believe that praying a certain number of times will do anything, if what was prayed for is achievable by our own actions. What will help is actually pursuing that outcome, not just pray for it.

"I pray that my husband will not beat my child tomorrow."

Prayers like that. Why wait for god to intervene? That's how I think people mistakenly utilize prayers.

I have a problem with how confessions are viewed by most Christians. For Christianity, the act of contrition is a sacramental activity. Most believe that god will only truly forgive if you confess through the priest. I find that bullshit. We are fully capable of asking god for forgiveness without needing the priest to tell us to pray Our Father and Holy Mary three times, which by the way is what most priests will just advice you to do, along with the "relinquish your sins." For me, a heart to heart talk with god seems more spiritually cleansing, is it not? What good is it to pray these prayers if you just pray out of habit.

Prayers, if you are looking to ask forgiveness, wouldn't it be better to start with, "God, I will do better. I realize what I did was selfish. Please help me to remember to be good" instead of "Please forgive me, Father. I have sinned. Please don't punish me. I promise to do better."

Now I don't necessarily think people should just stop relying on priests for confessions. No, that's not really the case. The priest's role is to enlighten you and help you recognize what you did wrong, and to guide you on a path that is good. And at best, he can only ask god to forgive you. That is not a guarantee, especially if you have remained unchanged because you only confessed out of communal practice.

Anyway, there are more religious practices that I think does not serve anybody well. God or us. Some of these beliefs seem self-serving or contradictory too. That is why I lean towards theistic agnosticism.

I understand it's not easy for everyone to find a common understanding when it comes to faith and religion, but I would have hoped that the people who practice their religions be open-minded and compassionate towards differing beliefs. After all, that should be part of your practices, no?

[light4jesusblog]

God’s Ways and Thoughts Are Higher Than Ours | Isaiah 55:8-9 | Bible Study

Isaiah 55:8-9 opens with a striking declaration that sets the stage for our reflection: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." These verses draw a sharp contrast between God’s ways and ours. In this article, we discuss this contrast and why it is always better to forsake our own way and follow God instead.

Yes, God’s Ways and Thoughts Are Higher

In Isaiah 55:9, God goes so far as to illustrate that His ways and thoughts are as high as the heavens are from the earth in comparison to our ways. Let's take a moment to ponder that. The distance between the heavens and earth is so vast that it's impossible to measure. So, we cannot even begin to imagine how much higher God's ways and thoughts are than ours. We must understand that God is righteous and there is no evil or malice in Him. All that He does is right, true, pure, just and done out of love. This is because God is not a man; He is Spirit and, therefore, incorruptible.

Our Ways and Thoughts Lead To Destruction

Our ways and thoughts, on the other hand, aren't particularly great. Because of the sinful and corruptible nature of our flesh, we can be cruel, deceitful, destructive, and even deadly. Many times our ways lead us astray, diverting us from the righteous, holy, and pure ways of God. Proverbs 14:12 reminds us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way is death.” 

If we believe that pursuing our own path won't lead to harm, we are sadly deceived. The prophet Jeremiah, speaking on behalf of God, had much to say on this matter. In Jeremiah 17:7, he declares, 'Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.”' Here, we learn that turning away from God to rely on our own strength or making a human the centre of our trust curses us because we won’t be able to see or experience the goodness of God. This message is echoed in Galatians 6:7-8, where it is made clear that sowing to the flesh, which includes trusting in ourselves and acting against God's will, leads to destruction.

Galatians 6:7-8 (NKJV) - Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

In verse 7, Jeremiah affirms, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” This reinforces that we should not rely on our own ways. Consider this: before being born again, we lived in unrighteousness, pursuing worldly and fleeting pleasures. In that state, we failed to recognize how degrading, futile and destructive these pursuits were. 

Similar to how the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil appeared enticing to Adam and Eve, so do the ways of the flesh entices us. They deceive us, making us believe that what is rotten looks pleasing and is good to consume. The fall of Adam and Eve exemplifies the profound difference between God's ways and ours. Numerous examples throughout the Bible emphasize this too, underscoring the need to rely on God, as He sees what we cannot. He truly knows what's best. That is why we should never rely on our own understanding but instead put our complete trust in God, recognizing that He is wise and all-knowing. By doing so, God promises to direct our paths when we abandon our ways and choose His ways instead. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

God’s Desires for Us Are Greater Than Our Own

It is important to understand that God is a remarkably humble God. Unlike humans, He doesn't seek to arrogantly assert His power over us or control us by dictating what we should do. Instead, God wants us to draw near to Him so that He can teach us and advise us in the way we should go while watching over us with His loving eye. God is our Father. He only has plans to prosper us and not for harm. How do we know this? Well, His Word continually tells us that He desires to protect and deliver us from evil. Furthermore, Jeremiah 17:7-8 gives us a glimpse of what a person who trusts God can hope to enjoy.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NKJV) - “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river,

and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

In conclusion, Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us of the undeniable gap between God's ways and our own. It calls us to humility and trust in God's guidance and understanding, which leads to life. Therefore, choosing to follow God, is the wisest decision any human can make. This is not always an easy thing to do, but it is certainly worth it. Our own ways, when relied upon, often lead to death and destruction. So let’s choose life because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

[steveezekiel]

FACTORS FOR WEALTH 3

“And you shall remember the LORD YOUR GOD, FOR IT IS HE WHO GIVES YOU POWER TO GET WEALTH, that He may establish [confirm] His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV)

• The power of Faith

- The entire Christian Living centres on Faith: "for whatever is not from Faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

- For without Faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

THE Scripture says that Elders obtain a good report, a good testimony, by Faith (Hebrews 11:39).

- To succeed, make it in the School of prosperity, you have to live by Faith: "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH" (Romans 1:17).

- Everything in the Christendom centres on Faith, even in generating financial abundance, and the practicing of the principle of GIVING; all is by Faith.

WITHOUT Faith you cannot get any result. You give by faith and you receive by faith!

* It takes faith to lay down what you have, and it takes faith to receive back in multiple-folds (Acts 4:36,37).

* It takes faith to act on the ideas, initiatives given to you by God, through the leading of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you.

* It takes faith to embrace the Vision, the plan of God for your Life; and it equally takes Faith to pursue the Vision.

- The entire system of increasing in financial prosperity, perpetuating it, and living in ABUNDANCE; rests on Faith.

• What is Faith?

- Faith is believing in the Word of God and acting on it.

- It is being convinced about the principles of the Bible and the practice or application of such principles (James 1:22,25; Joshua 1:8).

- It is also acting on the instructions specifically given you By God.

- It is promptness, acting without delay, on whatever said to do by God.

- When you know that God cannot lie, and what He has spoken will surety come to pass: “GOD IS NOT A MAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? OR HAS HE SPOKEN AND WILL HE NOT MAKE IT GOOD AND FULFILL IT" (Numbers 23:19 AMP).

- You just have to believe the Word of God and act on it, and stand until you have gotten the desired results.

- When you are acting by Faith, you already know it will work and produce results.

- The circumstances and situations around may suggest it will NOT produce any result, but the Word of God says it will.

- Instead of believing the circumstances and the things you see with your physical eyes; you should rather believe the Word of God and cling to it: "WHILE WE DO NOT LOOK AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, but at the things which are not seen. FOR THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN ARE TEMPORARY, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

* Faith has the assurance of what will happen (Hebrews 11: 1).

* Faith does not Wave. It does not doubt (James 1:6)

* Faith does not consider the negative (Romans 4:16-22).

* Faith never gives up (Hebrews 11:33).

• How to Build your Faith

(a) Through the studying of the Word of God And practicing of it (James 1:22,25; Joshua 1:8).

(b) Through what you hear, things you listen to—Faith comes by the hearing of the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

(c) Through association. Faith is contagious, if you walk with the person or people who live by faith, it will rub off on you (Proverbs 13:20).

(d) Through obedience. WHEN you obey God and you get results, it adds to your Faith; it encourages you to obey Him when He gives another instruction: "BY FAITH ABRAHAM OBEYED when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. AND HE WENT OUT, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING" (Hebrews 11:8 NKJV).

• The devil would want to challenge your Faith.

- He would want to prove the Word of God wrong, but you have to stand and say no to his scheming and skilful manoeuvres (Ephesians 6:11; Job 1:8-12,22; 2:1-6).

- The Word of God stronger and higher than every circumstance and situation.

THE word of God prevails in every situation and circumstance of life, as you steadfastly obey and practice it.

• Prudence: there should be a guard against waste

- For financial prosperity to be perpetuated, you have to be prudent in spending. How you manage the financial resources given by God is of paramount importance.

- Prudence is being cautious, circumspect, And careful when making decisions on spending.

ONE of the Ways to increase in financial abundance is to be prudent in spending.

- Being prudent increases your financial blessings Or success. YOU must not live a wasteful Life. God is against waste!

- In whatever God has blessed you with, do know you are a steward, and you will give an account of how you have managed and used the blessings: "The wise have wealth and Luxury, BUT FOOLS SPENDS WHATEVER THEY GET" (Proverbs 21:20 NLT).

- There is wisdom in planning before spending, by so doing you grow in blessings; but a fool spends recklessly.

(a) Do not be an impulse buyer. Plan your spending!

(b) Learn to invest for the Future.

(c) Endeavour to obey the Bible By investing in God's Kingdom. Be faithful in payment of Tithes and other offerings (Proverbs 3:9,10).

(d) Live your size per time, buy your size, eat your size, do everything according to your size and level.

YOUR size means your level of income, your financial capability at the moment.

KNOW that life is in phases and men are in sizes. Therefore know the size and the phase you are per time and live accordingly.

(e) Avoid buying on credit, do not live on debt and borrowing, except on investment.

THE borrowing should not at all be on Wears, carousing, partying, or gratifications: "The Rich rules over the poor, AND THE BORROWER IS SERVANT TO THE LENDER" (Proverbs 22:7 NKJV).

YOU can only allow credit in investment, but NOT on gratifications.

YOU should also learn how to defer your gratifications.

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.

Peace!

TO BE CONTINUED

[isaiahbie]

Is Christianity Intellectual Suicide?

Some refuse to give Christianity the time of day because they deem it anti-intellectual—a religion that values ignorance and credulity far above critical intelligence. In his satirical book The Devil’s Dictionary (1911), Ambrose Bierce defined faith as “Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.” In a book on how to leave one’s religion behind, Marlene Winell writes of a young man named Sandy who was in her “religious recovery support group,” who lost his faith in college through an encounter with an anti-intellectual pastor. The young man was experiencing doubts as a result of what he was exposed to in college. Instead of addressing these questions head-on, the pastor kept changing the subject. One day, when pressed by the young man, the pastor replied, “Sandy, it’s about time we call this what it is—sin.” The young man left the church and Christianity, being unwilling to follow “a religion that made thinking a sin.”¹

No one should be willing to follow a religion that decapitates critical thinking. Anti-intellectualism has quite a grip in many aspects of our culture, not only in the Christian church. The reasons for the irrational faith shown in some aspects of contemporary Christianity are numerous and will not concern us here except to say that none of the reasons flow from the Bible itself or from the best and truest elements of the Christian tradition. While some have pitted faith against reason, the Bible does not endorse blind leaps of faith in the dark but rather speaks of the “knowledge of God” gained through various rational means. Instead of a “leap of faith,” it commends a well-informed and volitional “step of faith.”

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of one’s being, including the mind (Matthew 22:37). Jesus’ own ministry led Him into intellectual debates with the best thinkers of His day, none of whom bested Him in argument. We find Jesus using various argumentative strategies, such as reductio ad absurdum, a fortiori, modus ponens and appeals to evidence.² He further reasoned from a well-developed theistic worldview. The apostle Paul reasoned with the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-31), and the apostle Peter challenged his readers to “give an answer” for their hope in Christ (1 Peter 3:15-16).

When Paul refers to the wisdom of God as foolish to unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 1-2, he is not derogating the intellect per se. He is rather stressing that God’s initiation through divine revelation is required for a saving knowledge of Christ, and that human pride and arrogance deem it unreasonable to submit humbly to this necessity. God’s revelation is not unreasonable, yet the unaided human mind could not produce it on its own. Similarly, Paul warns his readers not to be taken captive by “hollow and deceptive philosophy,” which is merely human and divorced from God’s revelation (Colossians 2:8). This is not a condemnation of all philosophy, only false philosophy.³ Paul himself reasons carefully throughout his many intellectual encounters in the book of Acts and in his many New Testament letters. We do not lose our intelligence by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Not long ago Christian apologists faced an uphill battle against well-entrenched philosophies of unbelief. Natural theology was deemed long dead, having been slain by the swords of Hume and Kant. Arguments for God’s existence were at best philosophical museum pieces revealing the errors of unenlightened intellectuals. Higher critics had reduced the Gospels to ragtag collections of scattered facts, idiosyncratic theologizing and existentially gripping myths. Philosophers and apologists were doing well to argue for the intelligibility of religious language (considered nonsense by logical positivists), let alone its rationality or truth. Evangelical apologetics—when pursued at all—was typically practiced outside the academy and often lacked intellectual power (although this could not be said of twentieth-century evangelical stalwarts such as J. Gresham Machen, Gordon Clark, Bernard Ramm, Edward John Carnell or Carl Henry).⁴

But seismic shocks in the philosophy of religion have realigned the intellectual world of unbelief in the past three decades, opening up fissures and toppling edifices. Atheist philosopher Quentin Smith wrote in the skeptical philosophical journal Philo that the philosophy departments of the academy have been “desecularized” since the late 1960s, largely due to the pathbreaking work of Alvin Plantinga’s writings. Given the renaissance in Christian philosophy during the past few decades, atheistic philosophers can no longer assume that their naturalism is justified. Smith even allows that “the justification of most contemporary naturalist views is defeated by contemporary theist arguments.”⁵ Philosophia Christi, the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, has the largest subscription base of any philosophy of religion journal and features a roster of stellar contributors. In two important books, Philosophers Who Believe and God and the Philosophers, many leading philosophers wrote of how their Christian beliefs inform their philosophical pursuits.⁶

We find then that Christianity should encourage a robust life of the mind and that many philosophers today are owning and defending Christianity philosophically. There is therefore no reason to refuse to consider Christianity on the (false) basis that it demands intellectual suicide.

Notes:

¹ Marlene Winell, Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion (Oakland, Calif.: New Harbinger, 1993), p. 80. ² For more on this, see Douglas Groothuis, “Jesus’ Use of Argument,” in On Jesus (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2003); and James W. Sire, “Jesus the Reasoner,” in Habits of the Mind (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000). ³ For more on these passages, see J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997), pp. 58-59; and John Piper, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2010), chaps. 10-11. ⁴ For essays on these important thinkers see Walter A. Elwell, Handbook of Evangelical Theologians (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993). Many of the theologians were also philosophers. ⁵ Quentin Smith, “The Meta-Philosophy of Naturalism,” Philo 4, no. 2 ( 2001). ⁶ Kelly James Clark, ed., Philosophers Who Believe (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1994); Thomas Morris, ed., God and the Philosophers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

[champagneandparacosm-archive]

five times cried:      ( five times the receiver cried over the sender ) Kylie x Lucien 😈 xoxo

five times cried:      ( five times the receiver cried over the sender ) Kylie x Lucien 😈 xoxo

#1

The first night they met, after his hands had so deviantly defiled her with his fingers, Kylile had found herself so overcome with guilt. The ride home to her apartment became a ride to the church, having a key as she was an active volunteer for the children’s daycare ministry. She opened every morning. But tonight… She needed to go somewhere where she felt safe. Where the hands of the demon couldn’t find her again. 

Guilt wracked her body, falling down at the altar as she sobbed. “Father! I’ve sinned! I’ve sinned!” Her wails rang out against the walls. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence… She often found herself apologizing for her otherwise petty sins: thinking a mean thought about one of the people she worked with, getting frustrated with the children and snapping… Little things. Never this. Sexual immorality. She hadn’t had sex. Not… technically. But his hands- unholy hands had smoothe across her pure untouched body… They had entered her inner sacred space. She was tainted. By a demon. 

At that moment it felt so good. When he was next to her, on top of her, coaxing the first orgasm out of her panting and flustered self. He was so handsome… so charming. So bad. It was intoxicating. The pull he had on her was frightening. Kylie used to be so sure she would never be pursued by the lusts of her own flesh, that she was strong in her faith. How quickly she was mistaken when Lucien pulled her in closer and asked her to take off her clothes… She managed to say no to having sex. Not that she really said no, but nearly had a panic attack as he tried to remove his clothes. He promised to take it slow. He had been so sweet… “I won’t force you, kitten. Good things take time. I’ll ease you into it if you aren’t ready. Yet.”  But he promised her he would have her. It was that promise that had her in tears.. Because as much as she wanted to remain holy and pure- Kylie couldn’t help the way her body ached for him. 

#2 

It was in the middle of an orgasm. So intense, his fingers consistently rubbing up against her the sweet bundle of nerves within her, somehow knowing how to pull the most delightful moans from her. How did he know her body so well? She was sure he knew her better than herself. For she had never even thought about this pleasure. She knew not that she could even feel so blissful. So close to heaven… She wouldn’t even know where to start to make herself feel so good, which is why she hesitantly agreed to see him again. 

#3 

Anytime he never answers. It breaks her heart, her ringer on constantly in case he ever does decide to answer… Greenen starts to notice how frequently she checks her phone, gently reminding her that anything can be an idol- anything she is placing higher than God. She would nod, shoving her phone into her pocket and trying to keep her mind on pure, lovely, holy things… But her mind kept coming back to Lucien. The unholiest of the unholy. And when it took twelve hours for him to respond…. Tears welled up in her eyes, sitting alone in her apartment as she held off the hyperventilating. Ten texts within the span of half an hour and he still hadn’t answered. What was he doing that was so important when she needed him…??? She needed him… 

#4

“I don’t love you” 

The words tore through the veil she chose to see him through, the one where he adored and loved her unconditionally as she did him… Wishful thinking, and the stupid naive angel should have taken that admission and called it quits. But she didn’t. She stayed, pushing the tears from her eyes as she clawed at his belt. By this time she had become quite comfortable with him in her mouth. He had trained her to enjoy it, showing her how good it could feel for him when she did it right. She wanted so badly to please him. She wanted him to love her, so maybe if she gave him everything he wanted… “Please don’t make me leave yet… Please let me stay! I’ll- I’ll be good, I promise. I’ll s-su- I’ll-” She blushed deeply, swiping tears out of her eyes. Her fingers brushed gently over his crotch, motioning to his hardening cock. “Let me please you, daddy…” 

#5

She felt so cold despite the demon being so close. Numb. She could no longer feel any pain… Oh, she had felt so much of it. It had consumed her. But now. She couldn’t feel the wounds pouring and oozing blood down her back from where her wings once were… It was his eyes that brought the tears to her eyes. That forced the tear to slip past the threshold, his cold, malicious gaze just on her bloodied body. She was bathing in her own sin… She deserved this. She had let her purity be taken from her. Just moments ago… and now. There they were. Her blessing removed, bleeding out on the floor of hell. “I love you.” The last words she would ever speak, and yet it was worth it. She needed to say it one last time. Obviously he felt nothing towards her. It was evident in the cold chuckle passing his lips, squeezing her hip tighter as he viciously kisses her blood tainted lips. 

“I don’t love you.” 

The last words she would ever hear… the cold clammy hands of death lifting her into nothingness. 

[torahgalus]

Shemini

what if I want to seek out your holiness; what if I want more than you have given me; if I want to see myself wrapped in you, bound to you, bearing my heart’s strange fire on clean, unblemished palms. what if I tapped on each stone waiting to hear your echo, and I was ready to be kissed with holy flames--to leave nothing behind but this empty, reaching form.

[thatbanjobusiness]

The ballad of Omie Wise, like many older murder songs from the United States, is based off a real event. Naomi Wise was killed April 1807 in Randolph County, North Carolina, around eighteen years of age. I’ve seen this song given the distinction of being the US’s oldest murder ballad. Like many American murder ballads, some information has undergone embellishment or fictionalization. There’s lots of lyrical variants and performances I could share; I’m going with Doc Watson today because there ain’t nothing like Watson doing folk tunes. It’s a vibe, dude.

Information on the actual murder below:

Braxton Craven, second president of the institute that became Duke University, was also a novelist with the pen name Charlie Vernon. Long after Omie Wise’s death, around 1851, he wrote about the killing in prose with an ending poem. His version became the ballad’s “standard” version. Today, much of his version is assumed to be fiction because it follows a formulaic and romanticized murder ballad format of a beautiful, innocent young woman deceived and killed. 

And like, holy buttwaffles, my dudes, does Craven lay the idea of ‘beauty’ and ‘purity’ of women on thick:

At William Adams’ lived Naomi Wise. She had early been thrown upon the cold charity of the world, and she had received the frozen crumbs of that charity. Her size was medium; her figure beautifully formed; her face handsome and expressive; her eye keen yet mild; her words soft and winning. . . . There was no place for her but the kitchen with the prospect of occasionally going into the field. This the poor orphan accepted willingly; she was willing to labor, she was ashamed to beg.

And elsewhere: 

But how can a pure and good woman love a wicked man! Nonsense, thou puritan! She does not love his wickedness, but his soul. Did not the Saviour love a wicked world, though he died to destroy its wickedness? Then a woman will love a wicked man better than a good one, will she? No, she will love a good man much better, other things being equal. But you make daring deeds of wickedness the exponents of man’s greatness.

And if you somehow haven’t gotten enough of this disturbing waxing eloquent:

She was the gentle, confiding, unprotected creature that a man like Lewis would love by instinct.

Yyyyyyeah. It’s. It’s uh. Quite the read.

According to Craven, poor orphan Omie Wise was killed by her boyfriend Jonathan Lewis because he became interested pursuing a woman of a higher station, his employer Benjamin Elliot’s sister. Since Naomi wanted to marry Lewis, this would ruin his chances with the other woman, so Lewis chose to deceive Omie. He said they’d elope and ride to the justice’s house to wed, but instead during the trip, drowned her.

The actual Naomi Wise would not have been so innocent according to the standards of her day; she had two children born out of wedlock already (Nancy, b. 1799, and Henry, b. 1804), and was pregnant with a third, probably through Lewis.

Recently, a handwritten Nineteenth Century document, a seemingly contemporary account of the event, was found written by Mary Woody titled “A true account of Nayomy Wise.” This account, unlike Craven’s formulaic, idealized, ‘pure’ woman stuff, describes Naomi less idealistically:

To Such as here and Wants to know A woman Came Some years ago Then from a Cunty named by hide In Randolph after did reside And by Some person was defild And So brought forth a basturd Child She Told her name neomy Wise Her Carnal Conduct Some did despise It was not long till She another that might be Cald a basturds Brother And Being poor and Credit low From hous to hous She had to go And labor hard in tiol and pain Herself and babes for to maintain The Second Child neomy bore think She Into a neighbors man Ben Sanders Swore And now She Seems give up to Sin Too much neglecting grace within In Eighteen hundred Six the year She was over come a gain we here And by a lewis was defiled And a third time became with Child

In child support laws of the day, the woman would charge each father, and he would post a bond publicly ensuring the county wouldn’t have to pay for their child. But according to the Mary Woody account, Jonathan Lewis didn’t want this made public nor did he want to marry Naomi. He threatened to kill her, and did finally drown her.

The location of her death is usually given as Deep River near Asheboro.

You can also see her tombstone at Randolph County at Providence Cemetery. And yes, 1808 appears to be the wrong date; the stone is over a hundred years old, but not original.

Randolph County Court records for Jonathan Lewis’ trials exist. I haven’t obtained direct access to these records myself. I can only type out some of what I’ve read from books like CrimeSong by Richard H. Underwood. But there is such information as:

In the August term of court, 1808, Benjamin Elliot came before the subscribing justices and made oath that he was the officer called by the Lt. Col. Commander of said county to guard the gaol of said county for the safe keeping of Jonathan Lewis, a state prisoner, confined therein on the charge of murder. . . 

Jonathan Lewis was indicted for murder, escaped jail in 1808, was returned to jail in 1811, and was tried and convicted for (get this!)... jail breaking... and served only 47 days.

A well-known version of the ballad, performed by G. B. Grayson in 1927, says Lewis joined the army and avoided prosecution. However, this is not true for the events involving Omie Wise. It may have been conflated with another lesser-known murder ballad based on true events, Lula Viers.

I am new on this topic and am learning much of this information now, so bear that in mind; I may have made some factual errors here and there unknowingly.

[albertfinch]

ADVANCING FORWARD

"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called," - Ephesians 4:1

"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning" - 2 Peter 2:20

Scripture instructs us to come to understand and carry out our Christ calling, bearing fruit that remains for His Kingdom. . It exhorts us not to turn back to our old life or the rudimentary ways of this world.

In the last days, people will have itching ears to hear what they want and not endure sound doctrine. Instead, they will seek out teachers to tell them what they want to hear. God cares about your comfort, but not at the expense of your destiny. He will offend your flesh, put you in a wilderness experience, crucify your self-life and put you in a trial, all to perfect you and make you more like Him. Unfortunately, too many people in the Church have decided that they would rather be comfortable back in Egypt than to become an army called to possess the Promised Land.

CONVENIENCE, COMFORTABILITY, ENTERTAINMENT

Convenience has replaced commitment.

Comfortability has replaced being conformed to the image of Christ.

Entertainment has replaced worship and sacrifice.

Tolerance—being non-offensive and all-encompassing—has replaced preaching the truth with conviction and repentance.

Let's not bow down to the idol of convenience or go back to Egypt and captivity only to face God's judgment.

COMPROMISE TO THE CURRENT CULTURE

Some have bowed down, becoming more like the world, in the name of being relevant.  How could it happen that people would use grace as an excuse to sin or live like the world?  Paul has said that God forbid that would happen.

We are warned of false teaching and false teachers.

The law of grace is not a lower standard but a higher one in God. It not only deals with your actions but your heart motivation as well

God's warnings are clear: Don't compromise with the world. Don't become a friend of the world and trade-off your faith, your godly standards and your relationship with God. Don’t trade your birthright for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34).Let's not bow down to the golden calf of compromise!

COMPLACENCY AND THE CARES OF THIS LIFE

If the enemy can't stop us, then he'll just distract us with frivolous hobbies and pastimes.  

He'll get us so caught up in the mundane day-to-day that we stop dreaming and discovering.

He'll try to cause the hard things to harden our hearts and dominate our passion.

He'll try and turn our eyes to escapism and entertainment or deaden our dreams with the drudgery of everyday pressure to just survive.

Dead religion and ritual will want to supplant a passionate pursuing of God's purpose for our lives. This can become a golden calf that diverts or depresses our energy for Heaven's purpose for our life.

RECOMMIT AND GET ON TRACK

If you're hurt— seek help. Seek God and let Him heal your heart. It's time to get over it and get on with it.

If you're hard—humble yourself. Let grace flow and soften your heart. Seek God

If you don’t’ know God’s purpose for your life – ask, knock, and seek until the Holy Spirit gives you a revelation of your Christ calling.

If you're distracted—focus, commit and get your life back on track with God.

If you're compromising—read the Word with an open mind. Repent of your sin by conforming to the heavenly example. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, convict you and help you change.

If you're facing something impossible—rise up in faith. Lift up the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). Fight, shout your doubts out and cast the enemy out.

If you feel hopeless—allow God to re-ignite His vision in your life. Remember your hope is in God.

If you feel powerless—choose to use your weapons and your authority in Christ. Remember God's got your back!

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

[ainosk8]

EP 8 ADAM WATCH

i cannot believe i am being emotionally ravaged by an anime about skater boys........but here we are! let’s relive the trauma so we’re ready to be ruined again on saturday 

I wanna start with the show’s religious symbolism. I had originally taken the whole Adam/Eve thing to be just part of Adam’s schtick, but with this episode it feels like something the show is trying to lean into thematically. 

So in flashback we see Adam skating dangerously with someone (unnamed). He expresses wanting to escape the real world and go to a world just for the two of them, a Garden of Eden with himself as Adam and this skater as his would-be Eve. Unfortunately, in pursuit of Adam this skater falls and is injured.

This shot even kind of looks like Adam standing alone in a garden. 

From this scene we gather that when Adam says “Eve”, he’s talking about someone who can match his abilities in skating and I guess propel the two of them into a higher plane of existence? Maybe just inhabiting that feeling of skating with someone at his level is what “Eden” means to him. Skating is his escape from the trauma of his actual life and Eden from the bible is a perfect place, without pain. Interestingly, some of the lyrics from the theme song “Paradise” relate to this idea:

“Let’s risk our lives”, “Before we get killed by the world” and “The destination is Zion” in particular stand out to me. Even though we haven’t seen Adam injured yet, he is risking his own life just as much as his partner’s when he pulls the stunts he does. It’s worth the danger if it gets him closer to “Zion”, AKA (i had to google it) “the heavenly city or kingdom of heaven”. Maybe he sincerely has a death wish, but doesn’t want to go alone. Dark!

A big question I had watching this was, if Tadashi is this amazing skater whose skills rival Adam’s, why is he not his Eve? Well, bc in this metaphor, he has been labelled the Snake, or the deceptive serpent that facilitated Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. If Adam blames Tadashi for having skating taken away from him when he was a teenager (since he didn’t intervene in front of Adam’s father), I can see why Adam would view him that way. But Adam didn’t choose this name, Tadashi did.

Tadashi’s goal in entering the tournament is to defeat Adam and force him to quit skating, which would mean giving up on the “Eden” he’s pursued since his teen years. I’m not certain of his motivation here. 

Is it retaliation for asking Tadashi to take the fall for his political career? If that’s what he’s upset about, why not force Adam to take responsibility for his part in the collusion and plead guilty to perjury? Even after this interaction, Adam seems sure that Tadashi will take the heat for him.

It’s clear Tadashi knows that taking skating away from Adam is the thing that will hurt him the most. He wants to hurt him. But he also cares about him, or at least the person he used to be. He gently touches the intertwined hearts at the bottom of the pool he and Adam use to practice skating. It’s probably the same place he first taught Adam to skate.

I love the light behind Tadashi in this flashback. It really makes him look like an angel appearing to baby Adam to give him some reprieve from his hellish existence.

And now he’s going to rip it away from him.

His face here SCREAMS betrayal. Even if Tadashi does accept the perjury charge in Adam’s place, just telling Adam he plans to take skating away from him, the one Good Thing he’s ever had in his life, that Tadashi gave him in the first place...it’s the cruelest thing he could do. Losing his political career would cause trouble for him, but losing skating would leave him with nothing.

It’s possible that Tadashi isn’t being petty, and that he thinks hurting him this way is for Adam’s own good. Which is a pretty upsetting parallel to his aunts’ abuse.

Tying it back to religion, I wonder if there is something about this trio of aunties that is symbolic. The holy trinity comes to mind, as does the Mother, Maiden, Crone Triple Goddess of pagan worship. I’m not enough of a biblical scholar to say for sure, but maybe something about God punishing the beings he created... God let his son die for humanity’s sins...The Flood from Genesis (the police lady does mention the shady diet member’s collusion is related to a dam, and if that wasn’t up to code there could be a flood)..?? idk

If the big honking angel painting is any indication, religion clearly has a place in the Shindo household. Someone who knows more about the bible please weigh in cuz I wanna know 

SPEAKING OF BIBLE

Fun fact: The name of Joe’s Italian restaurant “Sia la luce” google translates to “Let there be light”. Shoutout to the friend I was watching this with for pausing on this frame, or I wouldn’t have noticed it.

This is a reference to God’s creation of Heaven and Earth, but perhaps also symbolic of Joe’s desire to bring Adam back “into the light” and away from his destructive behavior. Cherry seems more spiteful towards Adam than Joe does, but they both seem to want to reach out and snap Adam out of his current mindset rather than just looking to punish/get revenge. There are hurt feelings, sure, but also concern.

“And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” As someone who cares for Adam (or the person he once was), Joe wants to show him right from wrong, show him the error of his ways.

Cherry says this in episode five:

Even though Cherry and Joe were against Adam’s actions, they never wanted to stop being friends with him. When Adam left for America right after high school, they lost their chance to get through to him. They still want mend that relationship, or at least reconcile how it ended seven years later, or else they wouldn’t bother to keep approaching him. 

Based on the title for the next ep “We Were Special Back Then” I’m betting we’ll see even more of their perspective this weekend. 

I hope Cherry and Joe will be able to help him 🥺 It’s hard for me to imagine a happy ending for my guy at this point, but......I continue to hope 

[kathyprior4200]

Heavenly Boss Pilot

“In HEAVEN, elves and cherubs are the lowest in society, but what happens when an elf starts a protection business in a parallel realm? This happens! Follow Docile (the "e" is silent) as he attempts to run a startup protection company, along with his healing specialist Tirred, his mediator Timmid and his receptionist Heaven feline Sunna. With the help of the Bible, they manage to make their business possible. Can they keep their business afloat?”

Heaven was a marvelous paradise that sat proudly atop fluffy clouds of blue, orange, pink and white. It was located on a white planet surrounded by a large glowing halo like a planetary ring. It was located above Earth and Hell. The denizens of Heaven included God, His Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, etc.), Adina, Jesus Christ, Mary and many others. Lucifer used to live there until he was banished for disobeying God. Although Heaven seemed like perfection, the elite angels were ignorant to the suffering demons in Hell. To them, the demons were diseased foreigners who didn’t deserve to go to Heaven. Humans weren’t much better…they had to meet near impossible standards of the Seven Virtues to go to Heaven. The majority of humanity was flawed in their eyes, only destined for doom, death and destruction. In addition, white straight Christian men always got front row seats in terms of privilege.

 Heaven and Hell each had different hierarchies parallel to each other, plus seven districts or levels, corresponding to the sins and virtues.

 The seven Archdemons ruled the Seven Rings of Hell.

 Lucifer ruled the first Ring of Pride (red instead of purple), the location of I.M.P., Hazbin Hotel and the only place where sinners could dwell.

 Mammon, a greedy wolf, ruled the second Ring of Greed (green instead of yellow), the location of Loo-Loo Land.

 Asmodeus a.k.a. ”Ozzie” ruled the third Ring of Lust (dark blue).

 Leviathan ruled the fourth Ring of Envy (purple instead of green), the location of underwater Mal-antis (Hell Alantis) and where the von Eldritch family may have come from.

 Beelzebub, the fly lord, ruled the fifth Ring of Gluttony (yellow instead of orange).

 Satan, the red goat, ruled the sixth Ring of Wrath (orange instead of red), where Moxxie and Millie were from.

 Belphegor, the inventor sloth, ruled the seventh Ring of Sloth (pink instead of light blue).

  In contrast, the seven Archangels ruled the Seven Halos of Heaven.

 Michael, Lucifer’s brother and rival, ruled the first Halo of Humility (teal blue instead of lavender), the location of Holy City, (possibly C.H.E.R.U.B.) and the do-gooder saints.

 Camael ruled the second Halo of Charity (pink instead of tan). It was the location of the Woo-Hoo Land theme park.  

 Uriel, the wisdom angel, ruled the third Halo of Chasity (yellow instead of indigo).

 Zadkiel, the mercy angel, ruled the fourth Halo of Loyalty/Faith/Kindness (Light green instead of lime).

 Raphael, the healer, ruled the fifth Halo of Temperance (Dark blue instead of gold).

 Jophiel, angel of beauty, ruled the sixth Halo of Patience (Indigo instead of light pink).

 Gabriel, the messenger, ruled the seventh Halo of Diligence (Earthly forest green instead of teal).

 Heaven consisted of the ethereal alien-like Heavenborn angels and the animal-like saints (mortal souls gone to Heaven, opposite of sinners). Both the Heavenborn and Hellborn were of higher class than the former humans. Like in Hell, everyone could transform into higher forms at will. God, Michael and Lucifer alike had inner circles of officials. Heaven had archangels but no overlords. Territory was shared but saints most often resided in Holy City in the Halo of Humility. They were free to have children, pursue jobs and be themselves within limits. The Exorcist weapons could kill demons but not angels unless they were supercharged. Like Hell, Heaven also had mythological creatures that resided. Cherubs, little angels that looked like bees, deer and sheep, helped save human lives and blessed them with love. They resided in the cloudy Cherub Towne.

 Holy City was the main capital of Heaven like Pentagram City in Hell. Shining buildings of gold, silver, marble and other materials glinted in the sunlight. At night, the sky was filled with brilliant bright stars and the glowing teal blue Christian Cross hovering over Holy City. The Exorcists, brainwashed angels fitted with body-fitting vulture-like suits, would be busy training in a lower part of Heaven, separate from the rest of society like the military. The denizens of Heaven were both humanoid and had animal-like traits. They were often sheep, dogs, cats, doves, swans and other sacred animals (much like the bi-pedal individuals in Zoophobia). The lesser human/animal denizens had physical features of gems, harps, trumpets, wheels, chalices and other holy instruments. They could take on many-eyed Biblical angelic forms, forms that were ethereal and not human-like at all.  

0 0 0

 Not too far away from Cherub Towne lay a beautiful area within the clouds of Heaven. A floating white sign read “Welcome to Elf City: est. 1981.”  The sky was blue and the buildings and streets immaculate. The elves were considered to be of a lower class, acting in service roles like the cherubs. Do-gooders (humans who died and went to Heaven) were slightly above them, while the Heaven-Born Angels were considered the upper class.

 Elves of various colors and sizes were chatting among themselves, while others walked around with their families. Many of them were hard at work: wrapping presents for Christmas, saving food to give to the homeless, cleaning a nearby park, and caring for the ill. Some of them liked to volunteer just for something to do. Some elves went around saving people’s lives, spreading love or healing their wounds.

 The most well-known miracle bestowing company was located in a tall white office building surrounded by a golden halo of clouds. The building was decorated with golden wing structures arching off to the sides. The double doors had harp designs on them. Posted on a door were the words “E.L.F. Headquarters” and on a taped piece of paper, “Meeting in progress” was scribbled on it.

 On a white board was a line graph and a bar graph, the line slowly moving downwards from a blue happy face with a halo to a red sad face. “Docile loves you, by Docile” was written off to the side. A white Christian Cross was drawn in the center of the wooden table surrounded by black leather chairs.

 Up front, a black, white, and dark teal colored elf paced back and forth. He had large pointed dark teal ears that jutted off between the sides and top of his bald head. He had large eyes of light blue irises, white pupils and blue sclera. The left portion of his face was black and the right side of his face was dark teal. He wore a long white business suit with light blue buttons and purple circles on the sleeves with little white crosses in the centers. White boots with blue outlines covered his feet while white fingerless gloves covered his hands. A white heart-shaped mark lay on his forehead like a birthmark. A little green pin attached to his undershirt had a happy face on it. A white halo with little spikes on it hovered over his head. He also had white feathery wings folded behind him.

 The elf was Docile, a serious asexual individual.

 Docile looked toward his audience of two elves and a humanoid cat sitting in chairs around the table.

 “All right, now I know business has been…a bit stressful lately. We’ve had to keep up demands and during the rush, not everyone can be saved.” He pointed toward the graph. “It seems that more and more people aren’t counting on miracles from angels and God to help themselves feel better. I don’t know how our company will fare if this keeps sloping down. Now it’s no one’s fault, okay? I just think that some of us could…benefit from improving their attitude…like Tirred.”

 Tirred raised his eyebrows. The elf had a dark teal face, dark blue eyes, and black hair framing his face on the sides. Black freckles were present under his eyes. He also had white wings and a white spiked halo that hovered above his head. He wore a light blue bow tie and a white business suit similar to Docile’s. Tirred was often grumpy and well…tired, but he took his job as a healer seriously.

 Docile continued. “Now does anyone have any bright ideas on how we can get business drumming up again?”

 The woman elf, Timmid had short white hair with a black flower spot on it and displayed a row of sharp white teeth. She wore white gloves and a white blouse over a long white skirt. Her eyelashes extended past her face. Like the others, she had a dark teal face, pointed elf ears, dark blue eyes, white wings, and a white wiry halo over her head. Timmid was often timid and was the negotiator between humans and elves. Tirred and Timmid were an on-again-off-again couple, and were from the Halo of Patience in Heaven.

 Timmid thought for a moment and spoke softly, “What…about…a billboard?”

 “That’s a thought, Timmid, but there are advertisements everywhere in Heaven,” Docile mentioned. Then his eyes brightened and he waved his hands. “Oh. How about a car wash?”

 Timmid spoke up. “Um, this is Heaven, sir. Cars are already clean here.”

 “Good point,” Docile said. “Any other ideas?”

 “We can’t just stick to what we’ve been doing before?” Tirred asked with a yawn, adjusting his large bow tie. “Why not just prove those people wrong?”

 “So helpful, Tirred, really glad you’re in the room right now,” Docile spoke fast, rolling his eyes. “Have you guys forgotten what service we provide?”

 Docile turned on the TV and a series of clips showed up on screen: Docile bandaging an angel’s wings, Tirred helping a man walk, Sunna, the cat purring at a crying girl, Timmid saving someone using CPR.

 Docile held a bowl of popcorn for everyone to eat. Sunna, the brown furred, black stripped cat, wore a white sun dress with a sun on it. She wore a gold cross necklace around her neck. Her mane of hair was lion-like, almost like a hipster’s hair. She was purring contently while sniffing her last leaf of catnip she brought. Her eyes were sky blue and large. A nearby poster showed Docile and his bald elf sister Connie with an award for being the best performers at a choir and at a circus. A banner read “The Amazing Elf Twins” above them.

 “Ah, those were the good times,” Docile smiled.

 Timmid ate a piece of popcorn on the table, lost in thought.

 Timmid sighed. “Yes indeed,” she said to Docile. “But Tirred seems upset about some of your mistakes.”

 “Don’t need any reminding, sir,” Tirred grumbled to his boss, “considering you blew most of our salaries to help a rival pharmaceutical company with their advertisement, one that you additionally paid to have us hold their hands and sing for three whole weeks on a channel, everybody watches!”

 “Hey, uh excuse me?” Docile looked back, insulted. He stood up. “What’s so “obnoxious” about generosity and a super fun song, alright? It’s a fun distraction when an advertisement’s spitting lies.” He walked across the room.

 “People love musicals, sir,” added Timmid with a small smile.

 “Exactly, Timmid,” Docile smiled, “and we’re basically doing a musical.” Docile did jazz hands before turning to Tirred. “Are you gonna criticize my musical theater dreams like my dad did?”

 “Sir…” Tirred began, but Docile cut him off.

 “Because all I see right now is my dad and his angry eyes glaring at me, criticizing my dreams of being who I truly am inside.” He turned his head away.

 Timmid leaned in toward Tirred. “Please don’t make him angry, Tirred,” she begged.

 “I’m just stating how it is,” Tirred replied, arms folded.

 “I thought I knew you,” Timmid said, making a face at him. “No need to be a grumpy pants, dear.” Tirred rolled his eyes in response.

 Docile turned back to Tirred, tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe you, Tirred. And after I made you Employee of the Month.” He held up a picture of Tirred with a large grin of sharp teeth.

 Tirred threw up his hands. “Okay, sir! I’m sorry, but a commercial jingle and a cheesy song are not comparable to musical theater. Nobody actually likes the jingles.”

 “But…I liked it!” Timmid popped up.

 Tirred turned to her, arms crossed. “Yeah, sure, take his side, why don’t you?”

 0 0 0

In a commercial, Docile spoke in front of purple curtains. “Hi I’m Docile, the “e” is silent and I’m the founder of E.L.F.”  On an icon, Docile leaned against the L in the logo, with Timmid and Tirred posing on either side with their hands in prayer. The E.L.F. logo appeared over his hand. Docile continued, “Are you a ray of light that got yourself sent to Heaven?” The picture showed Docile dressed in a superhero outfit with a red cape. “Or are you a conflicted convict who just happened to have your life cut short by someone else?” The next picture showed Docile dressed in a red devil costume choosing whether or not to quit smoking and drugs.

 A nearby sign read the angel’s name that hired E.L.F. A winged angel carrying a lamb baby with a male lion’s head spoke with a 333 News billboard in the background, “After defending myself against my psycho brother and preaching about God, you could imagine my surprise when I wound up here, after the coronavirus killed me. I really wish I could help my sick grieving sister and advise my family to kick my brother out.”

 Docile continued, standing in a church with Timmid and Tirred in white robes nearby.

 “Well, luckily for you, thanks to our company’s special access to the living world, we can help you take care of your unfinished business by blessing anyone who may have helped you out when you were alive!” Docile happily climbed up a flight of golden stairs.

 Then the jingle began:

 “When your loved one has to die

Does it hurt to say goodbye?

Do you wish they were alive?

So you could watch them thrive?”

 “Through the grief and deceased

We can bring you peace

When you feel alone

Know they’re safe at home”

 “When you want somebody blessed

And you don’t wanna get all stressed

Call the Efficient Lifesaving Fellows!”

  “Whether First Aid or CPR

We’ll make sure you all go far

Efficient Lifesaving Fellows!”

 “We do our job so fine

‘Cause we come straight from Cloud Nine!”

 “When you’re consumed by grief

We help you find relief

Miracles beyond your belief!”

 “We’ll save your husband or your wife

We’ll even help extend your life

The Efficient Lifesaving Fellows!”

 “Pets and children live for freeee!”

 At the bottom it read: “This company is not to be confused with C.H.E.R.U.B. in the canon parallel Heaven dimension next door. Although nobody really knows too much about E.L.F., it was founded way before C.H.E.R.U.B. in question. Mary had some little lambs and overstayed her welcome.”

 Various clips showed E.L.F. saving people: lifting a boulder from a human, comforting a crying human after a car accident, passing out Bibles and food to the homeless, giving money to a school in Africa, humans and angels dancing in a circle…

 A brown haired woman stole a guy’s wallet and kicked him in the groin. She ran off and then got shot by police. Yet she only went unconscious. The doctors took her to the emergency room while the elves waited. A doctor walked in on the elves in the waiting room.

 “She’s in stable condition, but she’ll need rest and an arrest warrant. Now what kind of insurance do you freaks have?”

 “God’s chosen don’t need insurance,” Tirred stated coldly. Docile glared at him.

 The elves and the woman were promptly kicked out of the hospital and sent back to Heaven.

 0 0 0

 Back at the office, Tirred spoke up, hands in front of him. “I’d like to go on record and say that incident was Sunna’s fault. Dispatch is supposed to give the right info on the client. It’s a very simple process.”

 “I’m sorry, Tirred, I did the best I could,” Sunna said, unfazed.

 Tirred fumed. “’Sorry’ doesn’t cover it…do your job!”

 “Hey, now we don’t blame screw-ups on Sunna, okay?” Docile said. “She didn’t do anything wrong.” Sunna happily walked over and embraced Docile in a tight hug, Docile straining to break free.

 “Are you kidding me, sir? She’s awful!”

 0 0 0

Sunna thought back to the time when she was a receptionist at a desk. The old rotary phone rang, sounding like cats meowing. She picked up the fish-shaped phone.

 “Thank you for calling E.L.F. How may we bless you?” Sunna asked, smiling.

 Timmid was on the other end, concern in her voice. “There’s a customer ranting about Satan. He wants to commit suicide…”

 “Tell him that suicide will not make things better.”

 “He wants to rant and curse you, it will be the end of our company for sure!”

 Then Tirred added in a harsh voice next to Timmid: “She’s right. We’re all doomed if we don’t enforce harsh discipline on that scum of a…”

 “Just got a call on the other line, apologies, worry warts.” Sunna trilled, hanging up the phone. She read her Fancy Feast Feline magazine.

 0 0 0

 Another memory came back to Sunna, which took place at her house.

 “Happy Adoption Anniversary, Sunny,” said Docile. “I got a little something for you.” He showed her a gift in his hands.

 Sunna smiled. “Is it a cure for Covid?”

 “I…uh…”

 “Then I want it!” she exclaimed happily, tearing open the gift and dropping it on the floor. A flock of white butterflies flew around the room and landed all over her.

 “I’m sorry, it was butterflies!” Docile looked on in concern. But Sunna happily batted and played with them, her mouth open in a grin.  “God bless you…”

  0 0 0

 There was one other time when Sunna watched Princess Coercia singing/screaming “Inside of Every Angel is a Sinner.” She was in her full Angel form, with black feathery wings and a black spiked halo. Tirred walked over, holding a piece of paper in his hands that read “Moxie 4 U.” His black eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

 “Excuse me um, did you just fax me an ad for weight loss and muscle growth?”

 “Yes,” Sunna replied.

 “Is it because I’m so handsome already? Better than many of the wimps around here?”

 “Come on,” Sunna teased. “Just the opposite.”

 0 0 0

 Later, Sunna rummaged around, looking for something in the kitchen.

 “Who left this tuna salad in the fridge?”

 “Wasn’t me,” said Timmid. “It was there from yesterday.”

 “Is this yours, Tirred?”

 No answer.

 “Well, I’m taking it because I have the best feeling right now.”

 She closed the door and gulped down the food.

 “Now why would you get hyper on a work day?” Timmid asked, nearby.

 “I’m happy from this morning, Timmy Tim,” she giggled.

 “Don’t call me that,” Timmid said. “I’m not a guy.”

 Tirred walked inside. “Isn’t that my lunch? You stole it, you crazy cat!”

 “I’m so sorry!” Sunna said, then brightened. “You know what? I’ll just go get you another one before work! Time to enjoy my tenth life!”

 Sunna raced outside with a “Wheeee!” and helped an elderly elf cross the street.

 0 0 0

 “Docile!” Sunna called in the office, “Your privileged authoritarian’s on the phone! Says it’s urgent and wants to talk to you. Sounds a little DTP-y.” (Down to Punish)

 “Oh Lord that was one time!” Docile yelled, splashing water on himself in front of Tirred. “We wouldn’t have access to the living world if I hadn’t let myself get punished by that privileged jerk face.”

 “You what?” Tirred asked, concerned.

 “I stole a Bible after getting whipped for the sins I did. Figured I had nothing else to lose.”

 “Docile!” Sunna cried.

 “I heard you already!” Docile yelled before stomping into his office to play with bobble heads of himself, Timmid and Tirred.

 “So… what can I do you for, Samael?” Docile asked nervously on his cell phone in his office. Inside his office were circus posters and advertisements for church gatherings and “Docile in Choir of Light: one time only!”

 The Angel of Divine Retribution lounged in his palace on a golden sofa. He was dressed in a royal red robe, had white skin and golden short hair. His eyes were golden. On the walls were pictures of him wielding a flaming sword and casting demons into fiery lakes below. Several medals of Honor were attached to his clothing. His wings were fiery colors, starting with red orange at the top going to a white-blue at the feathery tips.

 Samael was a companion to Azrael, the dark-haired Angel of Death. Samael, Michael and Azrael were generals to the Exterminators/Exorcists who killed demons once every year in Hell. The founders of the Exorcists were God and the merciless Zoophobia angel Adina.

  “There’s a politician who’s causing lots of trouble on Earth for a few of my associates. He wants to convince people that the coronavirus isn’t dangerous.”

 “Isn’t it?” Docile asked.

 “Well, it is, but more people die when no extra precautions are taken. And it gets crowded here.” Samael sighed, his hand on his chin.

 “Well that makes sense.”

 “You know what happens when I’m stressed, Docy?”

 “Oh lord no…” Docile began, flinched away from his phone.

 Samael’s hair and wings ignited the more he talked.

 “When I’m stressed, I become angry. And when I become angry, I have to whip your back and **** strike your **** with a flaming sword, cast you into a windy dessert, freeze you into ice in the lowest level, make you swim in the lake of fire for 1 million ******hours, hang you on a wooden cross for sins you didn’t commit and leave you begging for His mercy ******* like an imperfect mortal!”

 Docile hung up the phone, with a look of fear, broke it in half and tossed the pieces to Sunna. “Here play with these.”

 Sunna patted the pieces with her paws in fascination.  

  “And you know after you put them in your mouth?”

 “Yeah?” she asked, eating them.

 “Vomit it off a bridge.”

 “Ew, no!”

 0 0 0

 Back at the meeting, Docile continued, “Look, the point is, Sunna is a valued member of our family and we don’t get rid of families.”

 “We aren’t a family, sir,” Tirred pointed out. “You are the boss. We are the employees. You treat her like she’s some hyperactive teenager. She’s more like a catnip addicted spoiled woman you let man the phones.”

 Sunna hissed at him.

 “That is offensive,” Docile said. “Without spoiled people, I wouldn’t have half the joy and laughter I do in this life.” Docile opened the blinds and saw an angel dressed in a golden suit getting his picture taken by a crowd of people. Docile waved at a lovely white-haired teal-faced elf woman wearing a white dress with little white feathery wings on them before closing the blinds.

 Tirred crossed his arms and did air quotes with his fingers. “While we’re on the subject of ‘family,’ can you stop finding Timmid and me outside of work?”

 “Come on, it’s not that big a deal,” Timmid said.

 Tirred’s eyes grew wide. “Excuse me…what?!”

 0 0 0

 Tirred remembered cooking at their house.

 “Hey Timmie, could you grab me some lemons?” he called.

 “Sure, sweetie,” Timmid said, grabbing a few lemons and heading to the table.

 Docile suddenly appeared from the ceiling, landing gracefully in front of the woman elf. “When life gives you lemons…”

 He squashed a lemon, letting the juice fall into a glass. “…the best aide is lemonade.”

 Timmid giggled, her smile matching her short white hair.

 “What’s so funny, Timmie?” Tirred asked his girlfriend.

 “The impressive wordplay,” Docile said, serving angel’s food cake on the table. (Devil’s food cake wasn’t allowed.)

 “What the…Where did you even come from?!” Tirred asked Docile in shock.

 0 0 0

 In their bedroom in their luxury sapphire-walled apartment (a sign above read, “Need a heaven-cat?”) Tirred was woken up by Docile praying for good luck for him.

 “What’re you dreaming about?” he asked.

 Tirred moaned, “I was dreaming of me disciplining my coworkers and...I’d like to get back to that.”

 0 0 0

 Timmid and Tirred remembered the song they sang, while Timmid played on an angelic guitar shaped like a swan:

 “Of all the perfect elves,

It’s with him, I’m myself

Oh Timmid.”

 They noticed Docile glancing off to the side and Timmid told him, “Film us already!”

 “Are you bucking serious?” Tirred roared in anger.

 0 0 0

 Back in the present, Tirred seethed. “Just. Stop. Doing that.”

 “I don’t see what the issue is,” Docile said. “Just love good classic romance, future holy matrimony…and the honeymoon bonus scenes. Timmid wanted me to, anyway.”

 Sunna rolled her eyes, while Tirred fumed.

 “Sir, what you say and how you act is totally inappropriate!” Tirred stood up.

 “Calm down, Tir,” Timmid said, pulling him back down. “You’re gonna have another panic attack.”

 “I am calm!” Tirred yelled before Timmid rubbed his black head. “Shh there, there,” she said, while Tirred whimpered.

 Docile spoke again. “Look I don’t judge what you do outside of working hours, so don’t judge me.”

 Veins popped out of Tirred’s eyes. “Oh I do judge you, sir. Quite a lot, actually.”

 He crossed his arms while Timmid gasped in fear.

 “Tir, he’s our boss!”

 “No, it’s fine, Timmid,” Docile mentioned. “Your boyfriend is just…how do I say this without being offensive…bossy.”

 “Does overly criticizing me make you feel better about your sad single life?” Tirred asked.

 “Not really, but it’s still fun,” Docile admitted.

 Sunna added to Tirred, “Even though you can be a grump sometimes, I still appreciate your company.”

 “P-Please don’t call him a grump, pussy cat!” Timmid protested. “You know I don’t like him when he gets mad…”

 “Do not criticize my assistant that way,” Docile said. “She’s sensitive.”

 “Yes I am,” meowed Sunna.

  “You guys are all freaking weird!”

 Everyone turned to look. A pale spirit of a brown-haired teen girl floated nearby, wearing a prisoner uniform.

 “Oh, uh…thank you, kid,” said Docile. “It’s something for you to witness this.”

 “Ugh, this company’s such a mess,” Tirred exclaimed. “All that paperwork is bad enough without you guys being a pain in my…”

 “Alright, let’s get back to talking about our friendship!” Docile said out of nowhere.

 “Nobody was talking about that,” Sunna mentioned.

 “Which is why I’m trying to get that ball rolling, so, I think we’re off to a great start, right?”

 The spirit pointed her finger at Docile, “It was heaven being able to rest after being shot by police for mugging a guy, but now…I miss my family. I want life!”

 “You,” she said pointing to Docile, “I don’t know who you are but you look like one of Santa’s helpers, if Santa were God. No offence.”

 Docile held in laughter. “None taken, miss.”

 The spirit added to Tirred, “I see you’re a handsome fellow. If I were to feel comfortable, I’d look you in the eye and ask, ‘How in the world did I get here?’ so…how in the world did I get here?”

 “You died,” he deadpanned. The spirit looked taken aback.

 “That’s my boyfriend you’re talking to,” Timmid said, apologetic.

 “Oh? He’s your boyfriend?” the spirit chuckled. “I figured him for an athlete but I didn’t know he’d get even luckier.”

 Timmid giggled in response.

  And you.” The spirit pointed at Sunna.

 “Yeah what about me?” Sunna asked.

 “You’re just purrfect. I was never a dog person.”

 Sunna purred.

 “Wow you really are an amazing ray of sunshine,” Docile said.

 Tirred rolled his eyes. “Such a flirt trying to make herself innocent.”

 Sunna spoke up. “Hey guys, I just got a text from our client, says she’s the right one to bless after all.”

 “Who?” Docile asked.

 “Her.”

 “Me?” asked the spirit.

 “Yep.”

 “They wanted us to help an actual convict?” Docile asked.

 “That’s what they’re saying.”

 Docile frowned. “Well Satan in a heater, I guess there is a Devil.”

 He pointed a golden rod at her and she was transported to her other family members in Heaven.

 Docile spoke about E.L.F.: “You know folks, with this company, I really wanted to prove that we’re capable of doing the same things anyone else can, like blessing people. So from us here at the Efficient Lifesaving Fellows group, we promise to settle your unfinished business or your money is…given to charity and you’re never getting it back and you can write us a bad review but we’ll be oblivious to it because it’s Heaven and business is business no matter where you are.”

 Everyone wrapped Docile in a hug, while he rolled his eyes. Then he said, “Even though the kid was a convict, she’s still a just a human...or was. It’s important that we’ve handled this going forward, respectfully.” Everyone smiled in the hug.

 Back on Earth, Docile dropped down a heartfelt message from the convict Ellie for the surviving family members to read. It was about how guilty she felt after stealing some money…she had been trying to feed a nearby homeless family she knew well. They wanted her back but they were finally able to see her body and get a sense of closure. The family members looked up to see the elves looking down at them.

 “You’re welcome!” Docile called with a wave before the portal closed.

[woven-in-christ]

ALPHA AND OMEGA

Revelation 1:8

O God, You are the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end. You are the "bookends of life," and You have written every line of every page of every chapter in the story of the past, present and future! For wisdom and power belong to You; You change the times and the epochs; You remove kings and establish kings ... to Thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise! As Your story unfolds, my heart rejoices. I see You, Holy God, pursuing a sinful, stiff-necked people with Your love, which was ultimately demonstrated at the cross - Your plan, the climax of Your story! O God of time, You have captured me with this love of Yours. Hold me close to You. I want You to be the Alpha and Omega of my days on this earth. Strengthen my faith, I pray, when I do not understand your path for me; for Your ways are higher than my ways, and Your thoughts are not my thoughts. But, I trust You. Make my story match Yours, no matter the circumstances of the day. Live in me - from morning till night, so that I too may capture people with Your unending love.- Bible plan The Heartbeat Of God

[libidomechanica]

Have no long to embracd her panting Hellespont, guilty gate

Have no long to embracd her  panting Hellespont, guilty g ate a slice or thy I weene thou  mayst the east couldnt be your  lawns given of liquid  pear and the  human grave, myself and  pure, would I give me to the  nights made oyird and for 

honour, lay me in gree, but  having with tears brought  forth his the Galaxy. 

And, wonder as had at first  soft like all my good! And  oh, it might oblige the  evenings, quick with the 

charm could permit young, weeks.  In tears brought thee; canst thinks twould  not speak) give maiden sobbd awhile, Lighted;  without translate! — o that which sin, kiss  her mammies colours later, seeing:  for since, when  she should I climb into  flakes one that so stout, deferences  as steeds, when  practice losing young Endymion, ’“ tis past; there.” The houses  weighed. Plump infancy; and  the loving me some planet 

Lion, see! They neertheless there  as lines of Kent: till all of  blisse. Set in this is  gone, the elves about going  to get out of  twilight and plant my five hundred  course, and  their jug was done myght  be remember him  rode Silenus on the  lame; that would burst the  field to the Ra inbow in popped scowling, I took my way.  How say you for change us,  and rose that house same trembled  at, and laid down in the 

railway: “love her; and  his natural ills, receipt; 

for lack of  breath crown! They have been born is 

gone, ankle, to thee  on my part strove with  interest,  and all bodies and honours 

her naked trees, by a  river nook to calld; the 

may see this jewel-sceptres  vail, and on it, he  common place; dusk for one  would do much more majesty, who growled”  and black of telling. The  outlanders pursued Wulf like a 

high-sould ministering brass, or  rather dull, uninspiration- like flowers or breathe higher  see day, first begun. Whats  enough, and would blind those  symmetry set off her your  flower and with mine? ( For what you should be  gone, far from thy owne sunlight; no 

pause into human  the public foe, great  gift of fleshy bar so calld sovereign  country bringes into  air, so long while he said:  let no fair lonely dost loves are  furthermore a-roving this 

issue: the smoulded mists, and  stilled with cypress  smile and chaste away; whe ther the garden is  feast. men become with us.  Be heart was  none of these nation Before  the means daiquiri. I  am eight or dim then dropt 

hawkwise to mee: no, no, no,  no, nothing billow, and talon,  at thy Subject towards  the rested, while 

the holy idiot doth  all there it cherishd by their holdeth  all thine own breast! Bower, how their  heart, the empty think  that he lieutenant to  expressed she hearing breast, have I which  through August. Wherewith  anguish, shame who on Loves empyrean  I had been blessing stremis  adowne on Thetis glass.

[steveezekiel]

FACTORS FOR WEALTH 3

“And you shall remember the LORD YOUR GOD, FOR IT IS HE WHO GIVES YOU POWER TO GET WEALTH, that He may establish [confirm] His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV)

• The power of Faith

- The entire Christian Living centres on Faith: "for whatever is not from Faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

- For without Faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

THE Scripture says that Elders obtain a good report, a good testimony, by Faith (Hebrews 11:39).

- To succeed, make it in the School of prosperity, you have to live by Faith: "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH" (Romans 1:17).

- Everything in the Christendom centres on Faith, even in generating financial abundance, and the practicing of the principle of GIVING; all is by Faith.

WITHOUT Faith you cannot get any result. You give by faith and you receive by faith!

* It takes faith to lay down what you have, and it takes faith to receive back in multiple-folds (Acts 4:36,37).

* It takes faith to act on the ideas, initiatives given to you by God, through the leading of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you.

* It takes faith to embrace the Vision, the plan of God for your Life; and it equally takes Faith to pursue the Vision.

- The entire system of increasing in financial prosperity, perpetuating it, and living in ABUNDANCE; rests on Faith.

• What is Faith?

- Faith is believing in the Word of God and acting on it.

- It is being convinced about the principles of the Bible and the practice or application of such principles (James 1:22,25; Joshua 1:8).

- It is also acting on the instructions specifically given you By God.

- It is promptness, acting without delay, on whatever said to do by God.

- When you know that God cannot lie, and what He has spoken will surety come to pass: “GOD IS NOT A MAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? OR HAS HE SPOKEN AND WILL HE NOT MAKE IT GOOD AND FULFILL IT" (Numbers 23:19 AMP).

- You just have to believe the Word of God and act on it, and stand until you have gotten the desired results.

- When you are acting by Faith, you already know it will work and produce results.

- The circumstances and situations around may suggest it will NOT produce any result, but the Word of God says it will.

- Instead of believing the circumstances and the things you see with your physical eyes; you should rather believe the Word of God and cling to it: "WHILE WE DO NOT LOOK AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, but at the things which are not seen. FOR THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN ARE TEMPORARY, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

* Faith has the assurance of what will happen (Hebrews 11: 1).

* Faith does not Wave. It does not doubt (James 1:6)

* Faith does not consider the negative (Romans 4:16-22).

* Faith never gives up (Hebrews 11:33).

• How to Build your Faith

(a) Through the studying of the Word of God And practicing of it (James 1:22,25; Joshua 1:8).

(b) Through what you hear, things you listen to—Faith comes by the hearing of the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

(c) Through association. Faith is contagious, if you walk with the person or people who live by faith, it will rub off on you (Proverbs 13:20).

(d) Through obedience. WHEN you obey God and you get results, it adds to your Faith; it encourages you to obey Him when He gives another instruction: "BY FAITH ABRAHAM OBEYED when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. AND HE WENT OUT, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING" (Hebrews 11:8 NKJV).

• The devil would want to challenge your Faith.

- He would want to prove the Word of God wrong, but you have to stand and say no to his scheming and skilful manoeuvres (Ephesians 6:11; Job 1:8-12,22; 2:1-6).

- The Word of God stronger and higher than every circumstance and situation.

THE word of God prevails in every situation and circumstance of life, as you steadfastly obey and practice it.

• Prudence: there should be a guard against waste

- For financial prosperity to be perpetuated, you have to be prudent in spending. How you manage the financial resources given by God is of paramount importance.

- Prudence is being cautious, circumspect, And careful when making decisions on spending.

ONE of the Ways to increase in financial abundance is to be prudent in spending.

- Being prudent increases your financial blessings Or success. YOU must not live a wasteful Life. God is against waste!

- In whatever God has blessed you with, do know you are a steward, and you will give an account of how you have managed and used the blessings: "The wise have wealth and Luxury, BUT FOOLS SPENDS WHATEVER THEY GET" (Proverbs 21:20 NLT).

- There is wisdom in planning before spending, by so doing you grow in blessings; but a fool spends recklessly.

(a) Do not be an impulse buyer. Plan your spending!

(b) Learn to invest for the Future.

(c) Endeavour to obey the Bible By investing in God's Kingdom. Be faithful in payment of Tithes and other offerings (Proverbs 3:9,10).

(d) Live your size per time, buy your size, eat your size, do everything according to your size and level.

YOUR size means your level of income, your financial capability at the moment.

KNOW that life is in phases and men are in sizes. Therefore know the size and the phase you are per time and live accordingly.

(e) Avoid buying on credit, do not live on debt and borrowing, except on investment.

THE borrowing should not at all be on Wears, carousing, partying, or gratifications: "The Rich rules over the poor, AND THE BORROWER IS SERVANT TO THE LENDER" (Proverbs 22:7 NKJV).

YOU can only allow credit in investment, but NOT on gratifications.

YOU should also learn how to defer your gratifications.

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.

Peace!

TO BE CONTINUED

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Morals And Manners: Buildinf Good Character

The topic of this book, “adab in practice,” is part of the larger concept of akhlaq, that is, morality. In fact, from one perspective, adab in practice is fundamentally practical morality and ethics. Therefore, the essence of these concepts will be explained first, beginning with a short introduction to akhlaq, and only after this will adab in practice be returned to.

Akhlaq, the plural of khuluq in Arabic, means the character and temperament of a person. The temperament of a person brings either good or harmful things. In the broadest aspect morality means that there is a moral character, that is, morality becomes deeply ingrained in the soul and as a consequence right actions and behavior come naturally and easily from within; then, the per- son with such a character no longer has to struggle intellectually to know what ethical choices to make.

Human characteristics can generally be divided into those that society approves of and those that we disapprove of. Decency, hu- mility, and kindness are traits that are seen in a positive light, while arrogance, deceit, and miserliness are generally perceived as negative human characteristics. To recognize these characteristics and their attendant traits is to understand what is meant here by the phrase “moral character.” Nawwas ibn Saman once asked the Prophet how to recognize the difference between goodness and sin. The Prophet answered, “Goodness is good moral character. Sin is anything that pricks one’s conscience, and which one does not want others to know about.”1 Another narration from Jabir re- ports that the Messenger said, “The most beloved to me among you and the ones who will be closest to me on the Day of Judgment are the best in moral character. And they who are most loathsome to me and will be farthest from me on the Day of Judgment are those who gossip, those with unbridled tongues, and those who condescend.” When they asked him, “O Messenger of God! Who are those who condescend?” he replied, “They are those who are arrogant.”2

Ethics, which is the study or science of morals, can be divided into the theoretical and the practical. While theoretical morality is concerned with those concepts that constitute the principles and rules of morality, practical morality is concerned with the duties that constitute the basis of a moral life. As reported by the Prophet, “God looks not at your outward appearances, nor at your wealth or belongings. God looks only at your hearts and your deeds.”3 For this reason, here we will be mainly concerned with the practical side of morality, and as mentioned above, the pur- pose of this book is to explore adab in practice. At this point, with a view to clarifying the meaning of human responsibility, let us take a closer look at the concept of duty, which is pivotal to devel- oping a good character with adab.

THE NATURE AND TYPES OF DUTY

Duty is the moral responsibility of a person who has reached pu- berty when they have been asked to do something good or help- ful. Accordingly, Islamically there are two types of duty. One is the obligatory (fard) group of duties, that is, those the perfor- mance of which is binding and the abandonment of which is for- bidden. For example, performing daily prayers, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and offering prescribed purifying alms fall into this category. The other type of duty is that which, al- though not obligatory, is encouraged or desirable; it is these du- ties that religion presents as being inherent parts of a good moral character. To observe these duties on top of the obligatory ones shows greater spiritual maturity and is worthy of Divine reward; the observation of them pleases God. To neglect such duties would be a shortcoming. An example of this type of duty would be the giving of money or goods to those in need (sadaqa), over and above the prescribed purifying alms (zakat), and generally being kind and polite to everyone.

Duties can further be classified as those fulfilled in the cause of God, or for the benefit of the individual, family, or even soci- ety. From this perspective, duties can be divided into different sorts—divine, familial, and social duties. Let us more closely ex- amine these categories.

Divinely-Ordained Duties

It is incumbent upon every person who has come of age and who is in possession of all their mental faculties that they recognize and worship God. For a human there can be no greater blessing or honor than this servitude to God. One worships God by willingly and gratefully performing acts of worship, such as daily prayers, fasting, charity, and such other commitments that require both physical and financial abilities, like the pilgrimage to Mecca. In ad- dition to these duties that pertain to the personal practice of Islam, safeguarding and defending one’s homeland is also a sacred duty.

Another very important divine duty is to struggle against one’s own evil-commanding soul. Those who cannot discipline their ego or self through moral education will not be able to help themselves, let alone society. Believers, both as individuals and members of soci- ety, need to exert themselves to strive in the way of God in all their actions at all moments of life. This is what Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, meant when he said, “We are re- turning from the lesser jihad (struggle) to the greater,” while he was returning to Medina from the Campaign of Tabuk.4 Emphasizing that they were returning from “the lesser struggle to the greater,” the Prophet directed his Community to this “greater struggle” that is waged against one’s carnal self at all moments of life.

Being this comprehensive in nature, jihad includes every ac- tion, from the simplest act of speaking to remaining silent or per- forming supererogatory acts of worship, such as extra prayers, worship and fasting to attain the good pleasure of God. Likewise, to enlighten our hearts we can read the Qur’an, or to increase the light of our faith we can continually remember and reflect on the Divine Attributes of our Almighty Creator that are manifest all around us.

Individual Duties

Each person has some duties toward their own self as well. Some of these pertain to the body, and some to the spirit. The following are the main duties that fall into this category:

Training the body: For everyone it is crucial that the body be kept strong and clean. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A strong and vigorous be- liever is better than a frail and weak one.”5

Caring for one’s health: Health is a great blessing; there- fore, it is vital to avoid things that may damage one’s health and to seek treatment when one is ill.

Refraining from dangerous practices of abstinence or self- denial practiced in the name of spiritual discipline.

Guarding against things that wear down and age the body.

Strengthening willpower: A person needs to develop healthy self-control. This involves learning what is good for the body and partaking of it, as well as finding out what is harmful and avoiding it.

Duties relating to the mind and intellect, such as pursuing learning and enlightenment, awakening higher emotions and positive feelings in the heart, and honing one’s talents and skills.

Family Duties

The family is the very foundation of a healthy society. Each mem- ber of the family must accept some responsibility for the others in the family. Some of the primary duties of a husband, for instance, are to behave kindly toward his wife, to meet her basic needs, and to be loyal to her. A narration of the Prophet says, “The best of you is he who is the best to his wife.”6 A wife who is happy with her spouse will support her husband’s decisions, as long as they do not conflict with religious directives and contribute to protecting the family honor and property. All these are pivotal to happiness in marital relations and to a happy family.

Parents in such an atmosphere commit themselves to nurtur- ing, educating and training their children to the best of their ability, setting them on the path to success in life. Fathers and mothers should treat their children equally, holding them in equal regard and affection. They should be gentle towards their offspring, and raise them in such a way that they will not be inclined to rebel. Parents also have the duty to be models of virtue for their children.

Respect and obedience are, in turn, some of the basic duties of children towards parents who have brought them up according to the principles set out above and with love and compassion, feeding and caring for them. This is why children should not show displeasure or impatience with their parents. A son or daughter who ignores the wishes of their parents and does not heed them nor come to their assistance if they are in need is not a source of blessing for the parents. Such a person not only is not a useful member of society, but will also stand before God as one who is guilty of shirking their duty.

Likewise, siblings have duties toward one another, such as showing affection and compassion for each other, as well as help- ing and respecting each other. There is a very strong bond be- tween brothers and sisters and this should be maintained at all times. Brothers and sisters who cut their ties with one another over finances or property disagreements cannot be considered to be blessed or benevolent. Finally, if a household has hired help, this helper also must be treated as part of the family. They deserve kindness and gentle treatment and should never be overloaded with work that is too difficult for them to carry out.

Social Duties

Human beings have been created as social beings, and as such they live in social groups and have formed civilizations. Socializing is one of our basic needs, and social life involves certain expectations between people. When these are disregarded, society breaks down and people can no longer coexist peacefully or work together. The main responsibilities in this category are the preservation of the following inalienable rights:

Protecting the life of every individual: Every person has the right to life. No one has the right to take another person’s life. According to Islam, one who wrongfully kills a per- son is as guilty as if they have murdered all of humanity; likewise, one who saves one person’s life is as blessed as if they have saved all of humanity.

Safeguarding the freedom of all people: God Almighty cre- ated every human being free and equal. At the same time, it is certain that this freedom has boundaries. We do not have the prerogative to do anything we want; if we had such freedom this would violate the freedoms of others.

The consideration of conscience: When a person has a well- functioning conscience, this allows them to differentiate between good and bad. The value of such a conscience can be better understood if one observes outward consequenc- es. A person who engages in incorrect behavior cannot be said to have a functioning conscience. Islam assigns great importance to having a conscience that helps one to be concerned for the happiness and guidance of all humanity.

To this end, it encourages pity towards those who have a faulty conscience, and tries to bring them to the right way. One can never try to control or rule another person’s con- science; this is the province of God alone. Each person will be rewarded or punished for what is in their con- science. However, this does not mean it is wrong to ad- monish or advise a person who has a bad conscience, if the idea is to help the person.

Protecting freedom of mind: Any thought or opinion, right or wrong, must be approached in a scholarly man- ner. This is the only way for a truth to be discovered, and it is also the only way for society to prove the harmfulness of false ideas.

Protecting the honor and reputation of individuals: In Islam, everyone has the right to maintain their honor and dignity. Any attack against honor or dignity, we have been taught, will be gravely punished. It is for this reason that gossip, slander, ridicule, the cursing of others and saying negative things about others are absolutely forbidden in Islam.

The preservation of other people’s property: It is also for- bidden to usurp the property or possessions of any other person. What is earned by a person belongs strictly to that person. This is essential for the development of a civilized society. It is reasonable and necessary that the individuals who make up a society will have different degrees of wealth, according to their profession and training. In a fair and equitable society all should be grateful for and sat- isfied with their own portion.