#self righteous preacher

[lnhwebcomic]

And the LNH is 31 years old today!

Here’s a pict of Self-Righteous Preacher...

[rippingoffkingarthur]

Pict of Self-(Rippyteous) Preacher from ROKA #337...

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

y'all need to get a grip. you blab all day about how much you hate bigots and hateful people and how evil it is to dehumanize anyone and then you turn around and say "kys" and "i think [x] should all just kill themselves" and other disgusting, violent and childish trash

so many people on here are just full of hatred and vitriol and turn into frenzied sharks anytime the target 'deserves it' and they think they can get away with it and not be called bad people. then they whine about how sad it is that we can't all just get along and if only all the evil people in the world would stop doing evil things wouldn't that be nicer

you're just as vicious, hypocritical and fanatically puritanical as the caricature you have made in your minds of the people you think you have nothing in common with. if you've ever told someone, ANYONE to kill themselves you're not advocates of justice, you're not artisans of peace, and you certainly don't have any moral high ground that would allow you to pass judgment on others

[dailyadventureprompts]

Deity: Heironeous, The Vindicator

Let our hands never falter, sparing evil the sword Let our hearts never waiver, letting weakness take root Let our march never end, lest the task be left undone

Champions, zealots, fools. All these words describe the followers of Heironeous; patron god of those blinded by duty and self righteousness. From the guards who rough up vagrants for the sake of social order, to the patriotic songs sung by soldiers on the way to invade a land they've never seen, to the teacher who’s convinced they can instruct through pain, because sparing the rod really does spoil the child.

It is a terrifying thing after all to be in the wrong, to have no easy answers, to be filled with doubt, and so the Archpaladin and his clergy intercede to provide the fearful populace with direction, with easy answers, and with scapegoats when necessary.

Adventure Hooks:

The party are asked by some troubled parents to look in on the local chapterhouse of the Invincible Vanguard, who took over for the town's royal garrison some years ago. A number of youths, bored of life in their sleepy little town decided to sign up with the Vanguard a few months past and have not been seen since. The Heironeian are cagey to say the least, but through their investigation the party might stumble across the same awful secret the kids did during their initiation, as well as their ultimate fate.

A beast rampages through the countryside, sowing fear, destruction, and rumour wherever it goes. Defeating it is no easy task, but one of the local lords is willing to pay a high price should the party bring him its head as proof. Imagine their surprise when a few days later a group of Heironeian paladins are paraded through the street carrying THEIR trophy aloft, claiming all the credit and with that same lord backing their claims. It seems the party has been part of a cruel PR stunt, however will they make this right?

A series of inexplicable mishaps and borderline disasters that plague a frontier village have come to a head with one of the Vindicator's itinerant preachers convinces the locals that devilry is the source of their woes, pointing the blacksmith's tiefling apprentice. It's up to the party to prevent the kid from getting strung up, and make the villagers see reason before there's an out and out witchhunt on their hands.

Setup: From the outside, with the perspective of history, it’s easy enough to see that there’s something wrong with faith of Heironeous, how their temples and icons venerate violence, whether it be martial glory or the suffering of martyrs that needed to be avenged. How their liturgy teaches the faithful that sympathy to outsiders, questions to authority, even the smallest of doubts are weaknesses to be overcome.

But the Heironeans are the ones fighting off the monsters encroaching on your village when the baron won’t pay for garrisons or adventurers, and it’s their priests who come to hand out food to the hungry and say there’s work the town over building their new fortress, and it’s their inquisitors who stand in the market square telling the crowd that all the awful things that happened these past few years is the fault of sinful, faithless rulers, and if only they could be led by righteous men (and it is always men) and expel the social parasites then truly this realm could be one beloved by the gods. 

That’s the grift, the Heironeans seize on a crisis or a fear and offer to put your life on a better track, nevermind that it’s a permanent war footing where you and your family and neighbours are conscripted to roles based on how you’d be most useful, and disagreement amounts to insubordination.

Heironeans say they’re justified of course because evil is always out there, the one true evil, Hextor, the grotesque, six armed lord of bloodshed and suffering who wishes to make slaves or corpses of all the world and the heavens besides. He is jealous of Heironeous you see, his twin brother, who is propheciesed to be the only one who can defeat him. Hextor never rests, always spawning more evil in the world, and anyone could be his follower without even knowing it... all they’d need to do is work to subvert the will of the archpaladin and they’d be abetting the scourge.  You don’t want to be an agent of evil do you? Then tithe to the church, enlist in the vanguard, obey your betters, marry early and within your kind and have more children to carry on the fight when you are too week, raise them up right, kneel when you are told, submit. Do all these things and the Vindicator will know you are good, and worth fighting for, and will forgive your mortal failings. 

There is a deeper lore, behind even what the faithful or even most of their leaders know:  that Heironeous and Hextor are the same being. Sometimes it is the monster wearing the golden hero like a mask, sometimes it is the bright and radiant warrior casting a most wicked shadow, sometimes it is simply that the god of war and slaughter has two faces, fair and foul, both righteous, both tyrannical, both hungering for blood.

The cult of Hextor is a secret order within the faith, membership offered only to those chosen by their god or those that see the worship of the archpaladin for what it really is: Violence for the sake of power, power for the sake of violence. They are secretive, deflecting rumours of their existence onto puppets and figureheads that they manipulate, going so far as to create false-cults to the Scourge to draw the faithful’s attention and ire. Any fault in the church can be blamed on Hextorian infiltration, any opponent that challenges them is but an agent of the Scourge.

  Titles:  The invincible, the vindicator, the archpaladin / the scourge, the herald of hells

Signs:  Oddly serene visions of violence and pain, wounds or blood on the image or relics of martyrs or weapons of champions, prophetic nightmares about the victory of Hextor.

Symbols:  A white hand or clapsed around a silver lightning bolt/ a black gauntlet clutched around six red arrows

Inspiration: Cruelty cloaked in the guise of righteousness is not an original concept but after writing  about how d&d has weird habit of using a frankly childlike view of morality in order to justify its violence  the same way that IRL hategroups do, I wanted to play around with the concept. 

Likewise, I felt my campaigns needed a solid “badguy with the aesthetic of goodguy” villain and I was tired of using overzealous followers of the dawnfather or bahamut to fill out the roster.  Specifically, rather than bad people in service to an ostensibly good god (who are objectively real in the setting and thus would try to oust the bad apples), I wanted to create an evil god that used the trappings of goodness to dupe average people into doing bad, the same way that has happened over and over again historically in our own world.

 I ended up choosing Heironeous for this villain makeover because like a lot of other default d&d deities I find the base form of him painfully one note, he’s the paladin god of paladins and he has hero IN HIS NAME. That said, he has a twin brother Hextor, god of war and tyrants that serves as his dark mirror and there’s thematic meat in that... Merging the two into one god gives us this delicious setup where the theology of Heironeous creates the problem and sells the solution, benefiting no matter who wins in the supposed cosmic power struggle.

Art

[myemuisemo]

It's week 3 of Letters from Watson, and there is an elephant in the room.

We're going to feel the elephant's trunk, but first I want to crawl into the mindset of a contemporary 1887 reader. It's been a long time since I watched the Jeremy Brett versions of Sherlock Holmes, so if my impressions are shaped by that experience, it's in an indirect subconscious way.

Holmes' explanation of how he spotted the courier as a retired sergeant of Marines indicates that he's storing a good deal of trivia about military services in the lumber room of his mind.

Gregson and Lestrade, the best of Scotland Yard, are blessed with the Victorian compliments of being "quick and energetic." Watson, in his rush to order a cab, is also implied to value quickness and energy over whatever thought processes Holmes is about to introduce. When not humored in his rush to be useful, he falls into a sulk.

Gregson is the whitest of whitely white guys, from pale face to flaxen hair. The fact that he's not the slightest bit red-faced suggests both that he rarely sees the sun (well, London fog) and that he doesn't drink. There's very likely a teeny bit of a joke here in calling him Gregson, since Watson would certainly have been aware of the work of Joseph Gelson Gregson, the Baptist preacher and Army chaplain whose mission in the 1860s-70s was to convert British Indian Army soldiers to total abstinence from alcohol. Will our Gregson turn out to be zealous and self-righteous?

If Gregson did not arrive in a cab, and Lestrade did not arrive in a cab, then likely there are some specific sort of tire marks in the mud.

Now, the house at 3 Lauriston Gardens came close to baffling me. Obviously, when I first read the Sherlock Holmes stories as a mid-sized child, I knew only sprawling ranch tract homes, so the description of the 3-story vacant house was just "ooh, creepy!"

That numbering really suggests its an attached rowhouse, though. That would be consistent with development down Brixton Road in the mid-19th century. There are so, so many terraces of identical attached houses in yellowish brick. Here's Google Maps demonstrating 3-story terraced rowhouses on Handforth Road, just off Brixton Road. These are a little too new, dating from the 1890s, so we've got to imagine a Brixton Road area that's still far less developed -- things that look "old" to us weren't there yet.

These remind us that as London built outward, the rowhouses usually did not have two features that Lauriston Gardens has: a front garden and a center hall. The front garden suggests that the intent of the four dwellings composing Lauriston Gardens was to be a little more suburban and bucolic than the typical urban terrace. Its general aura of mud indicates that it has failed at this promise.

But move on down Brixton Road to the 300 block, and here we are with that garden! These are 3 stories, have a yard, have pillars suggested Greek Revival (1850s-60s), and are depressing af.

Maybe it's my years in the Albany-Troy (NY) area speaking, but these are exuding "we are holding onto middle class by our slipping fingernails." I think that is actually the impression Doyle intends to give: Lauriston Gardens was never quite perfectly respectable, even in its heyday, but it was trying.

That center hall still troubles me. A middle-class rowhouse typically has a side hall, which holds the staircase volume. The parlor is then either narrow (one window) or wide (two). Lauriston Gardens is built with a center hall (pointing to a more lavish lifestyle) but only one "reception" room deep. It has "offices" (butler's pantry or whatever) and a kitchen on the main floor, not in the basement.

Something like this, a titch further out Brixton Road, might be a fit if it weren't for the extra wing on the side. I think the dormer floor is a modern addition. These super-plain houses with only the pillared doorways look so grim, especially compared to the more ornamented Victorian styles.

If the reader is meant to feel uneasy at the mismatch between 3 Lauriston Gardens' pretensions and its actuality, we're there! In any case, the carpet has been pulled up (as was common, you took it with you when you moved), the florid older wallpaper is peeling, the fireplace mantle is a faux finish (yep, aspirations above our proper class), and there is a body on the floor.

Our body is wearing a frock coat, which was the formal daytime wear of a gentleman but on its way out of fashion by the 1880s. Broadcloth of the era had a felt-like feel and was known for durability. So our corpse is respectable, practical, probably conservative in habits, and possibly punching a bit above his social class.

And he has a "simious and ape-like appearance," which worries the heck out of me in a modern 2023 sense. Watson, as the late Victorian everyman, refers to common notions of facial bone structure indicating character. Simian is never good; it's an indicator of primitive, uncouth nature. I'm going to hope hard that we are solely being set up to see the dead man as representative of the worst sort of grasping, self-centered, profit-minded, uncouth American. We're definitely supposed to "get" that, as the house is failing at its pretentions, so too is the dead body trying to be something above its class.

I am nervous for next week, and I'm determined not to look ahead. I'm going to sit with my discomfort like a proper serial-reader, so don't spoiler it for me!

[brightcalamity]

Miguel interests me because he's so so so invested in being "good" and a servant of the light, but he's just so human, regardless. Vanity is a sin, but he gets his hair done regularly. It bugs him that he resembles a nature hating cartoon villain. no one less devout could wear his uniform so well! (it does look good on him, doesn't it?)

The mind should be stronger than the body (but his back fucking hurts ok). He's constantly pissed at everything. he has very particular taste in his furniture. He's ready to explode, except he's a man of PEACE okay. He ABHORS violence. OKAY?? Why isn't anyone going after Logan???

Also, there's probably some reason he shouldn't date this much younger man or woman who just hit on him, but...uh...probably the light sent them to him? Right! (he just wants to date them)

and in late game

in late game, him being who he is despite his best efforts, is probably what saves him.

you find all these off the wall sermons, but he never told them to burgess. you try to find out if he's been turning the kids towards duvos, but he was too busy teaching them about like literature and evolution. he's supposed to be a preacher who leads his flock towards duvos, but he's too much of a teacher, instead.

it's like, it's his flaws that damn him (his unexamined rage, his grief, his pride, his vanity, all telling him he's the one who has to save everyone) but they're also what save him, because he's human. he's just...a guy. a prissy, angry, self righteous dude with PTSD who thinks everyone else wants to forget how easy it would be for humanity to be wiped out and he has to be the one to save them. (so smart about some things, so stupid about others. so easy to manipulate)

he's just a person. he's never going to be an automaton working tirelessly towards the light. he kinda wants to be, in the abstract, but in reality he wants to get pissed about a dent in his furniture and complain to anyone who will listen. who also has almost endless patience with kids. kids need STRICT GUIDANCE (they need to have a regular schedule, healthy food, and to be taught about the world they live in)

Anyway, that's why he's interesting to me. That desire to be Completely Good conflicting with the tragedy of being just a guy.

[quarterlifecrisis-activated]

People are questioning why Sandra Lynn would sleep with Bobby Dawn given how he acts now but I completely understand. I don’t think Sandra Lynn would be attracted to him in present day if she met him as he is now but from personal experience some of the most conservative self righteous preachers have the wildest past. I can see a younger Bobby Dawn being down to do drugs and have affairs and shit. Honestly those hypocrites view it as a badge of honor when they speak of it. Not because of how cool they thought they were but because it’s a great testimony. The amount of times I’ve heard “I used to be of the WORLD I did things that most people couldn’t even imagine but now look at how devoted I am to (Sol)!” I would put money on it that at some point in a sermon Bobby Dawn talked about his affair with a member of his adventuring party and how it was through the grace of Sol and his wife being a devote and faithful follower that he turned his life around. A reformed preacher is often more effective than a preacher who has always walked the straight and narrow. Also I feel like it fits his character to have a sense of self righteousness. His past is of no consequence cause he changed but Sol forbid another young person do what he did at their age.

[a-queer-seminarian]

"Pulse Christ" by James Day

Today, June 12 2023, marks seven years since the shooting at the Pulse gay bar on Latin Night in Orlando, Florida. The deadliest single act of violence against LGBTQ people in US history, this shooting took 49 beautiful, vibrant lives, and left countless more wounded and traumatized.

In the above painting, James Day depicts Jesus Christ as one of the victims of the Pulse shooting.

Image description: Jesus with light brown skin and dark hair and a close-shaved beard lies with his eyes closed on a dark background, a gold and white halo around his head. A purple cloth drapes his body, stained with blood from a bullet hole near his left shoulder. / end ID.

____

Day wrote a poem to go with his painting based on Romans 8 and Psalm 139, which reads as follows:

Who is it that condemns us, and who would see our destruction? Shall narrow -minded preachers, or self-righteous religious zealots, Or conservative lawmakers, or unjust judges, or brutal police officers Convince us that we are unworthy?

What charges do they lay on us, and wherein do they find us guilty? Is it the color of our skin, or our economic status? Is it the religion we practice, or the religion we don’t practice? Is it that our bodies don’t conform to their ideals, Or that our love makes them uncomfortable, Or that we don’t blithely submit to their authority? Are these the crimes for which they persecute us daily and assign us to Hell? Can these separate us from the love of God or make us unworthy of love?

We are persuaded that neither rejection by our families, nor two-faced friends, Nor thoughtless neighbors, nor hate-filled co-workers, Nor being single, nor being divorced, nor being lonely Can define us as unlovable.

We are persuaded that neither unjust laws, nor biased public policy, Nor hateful tirades from pulpits, nor bullies with bullhorns, Nor ignorance, nor silence, nor invisibility Can separate us from our connection to the divine.

For we are fearfully and wonderfully made, Whether by the hand of God, or countless generations of ancestors. We are fully human and imbued with the divine spark of life, Curiously wrought in the depths, and encompassed even in our incompleteness. We are the image of God, and in us the love of God can be seen clearly.

And even though they lock us away, or commit us to institutions, Or drive us from our homes, or fire us from our jobs, Or shower us with bullets at night clubs, Or allow us to die from deadly diseases, Or find any number of ways to grind us into the dust, We will find color and light in the darkness, We will sing together, We will march together, We will protest, and preach, and live lives filled with joy and love, And, even in the face of fear and despite the hypocritical calls for false humility, We will be proud of who we are.

Find more artistic, spiritual responses to the Pulse shooting here.

[theremina]

Extending heartfelt apologies to anyone who happened to see my reposts of Clementine Morrigan's writings over the past few days.

As a messy, traumatized Harpy committed to honoring all peoples' baseline humanity regardless of what they've done --as well as someone whose lifelong CPTSD is sssllloooowwwllllyyy healing as I embrace personal accountability, avoid B&W thinking, and extend grace and compassion to myself and others-- I was taken in by a lot of what Morrigan says about encouraging non-punitive modalities. I reposted her words without learning how she herself is actively complicit in perpetuating ongoing harm to others in leftist and liberal spheres, especially as the popularity of her podcast FUCKING CANCELLED grows.

In retrospect, I see that I was moved by Morrigan's writings primarily because they're a clever, zinger-filled repackaging of more genuine and nuanced essays penned by others. Namely, by queer Black folks and other more sophisticated and culturally rooted voices.

When I posted Morrigan's stuff, I had no idea about her partner Jay Manicom's forceful silencing of several BIPOC peers and partners they'd allegedly abused and made no amends to. I didn't realize that Morrigan was publicly weaponizing abolitionist and twelve-step language in order to defend Manicom's alleged ongoing violence and harm. Said harm includes sending legal threats to several survivors, femme PoC, after they'd repeatedly asked him to join them in a circle to hash things out. When these folks spoke out about their experiences, both Manicom and Morrigan were quick to frighten, shame, and silence them. (Even while simultaneously decrying similar acts perpetrated against credibly alleged serial perpetrators! Try to make it make sense!)

Comparing "cancel culture" to the carceral state by using appropriated language and concepts that Black and Indigenous activists have been cultivating and nurturing for centuries is not an approach I want to lend any credibility to. It's DARVO. White femme DARVO. That's messed up.

When a popular, charismatic young white woman, a self-described "powerhouse" and "controversial public figure", goes so far as to compare survivors' requests for basic accountability and community-wide responsibility to "acting like a cop", there's some straight-up pastel Q-Anon dog whistle "Guru Jagat" horseshit goin' down.

Recently, I observed Morrigan on a panel with several other speakers, all healers from various lineages whom I admire and trust. I enjoyed their talks a lot. But in spite of my initial enthusiasm for Morrigan's breezy social media writings, as soon as she launched into her very polished, practiced lip service to radical compassion and acceptance, red flags started popping up for me. BIG Russell Brand energy. (And most of you already know how I feel about THAT righteous broheim. I've been roasting him years.)

Observing Morrigan's onscreen presentation, my curiosity died almost instantly. I won't say I was shocked by her performativity. I did experience rolling waves of nausea. Whether it's a fair assessment or not, I parsed her almost instantly as yet another cult-of-personality cultivator who is using hierarchical tactics to center the comfort and safety of active, unapologetic abusers ahead of everyone else. Not okay. She may have the best intentions in the world, but NO THANK YOU.

Morrigan's particular approach to justice is not what I'm about. If it were, I'd still be hanging out with a whole lot of sketchy af people I met in various green rooms over the years and making a whole lot more money while we all dance together around similar cognitive dissonance in our professional lives as celebrities, pundits, and "righteous" preachers. Again, no thank you.

I wanted to fast-forward through Morrigan's portion of the presentation, but gritted my teeth through it out of respect for the panel's curator. The wild thing is, on paper, I agree with *so much of what she says*! Still, something felt very, very off. So I went and read up further, and finally understood why my heart was sinking, my stomach, churning.

I wholeheartedly respect that the healers who invited Morrigan onto this panel have a different, more generous perception of her. I'm not making this post to demonize or dehumanize Morrigan, her partner, her friends, her listenership, or anyone else who leans into ye olde "hurt people hurt people" tenets in order to make sense of various horrors committed by them or to them.

However, the FUCKING CANCELLED fan club is most assuredly not something I want to give my time, energy, or trust to any more than I would Amanda Palmer's, or Rosie O'Donnell's, or Rose McGowan's, or Lena Dunham's, or Asia Argento's, etc.

My casual shares of Morrigan's work were a mistake. Consider this post a personal retraction. If there are further reparations I should consider, please let me know. Especially if you're a transformative justice buddy who has been quietly observing my promotions of her and feelin' barfy because of it!

Please, please know that I wouldn't have boosted her bandwidth so blithely, had I dug a bit deeper. I hope no one was too hurt or freaked out by my ignorant shares.

My apologies and my love. In solidarity. May all beings be free from suffering. Ashe.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

“When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only, what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out? Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects, if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts? That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say.” -- Bertrand Russell

“Progress isn’t achieved by preachers or guardians of morality, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels and sceptics.” -- Stephen Fry

‘Wokeness’, the new catch all term thrown in the faces of “the liberals” to malign and undermine who they are.

In many ways it has become the same as ‘the patriarchy’, another ghoul in the closet, intangible and meaningless, used to simply fling mud at ‘the other’.

But what is it to be ‘woke’?

How has a term that was embraced by so many, worn as a badge of honour to signify social awareness, slowly become a term of ridicule, and a finger with which to point and laugh at others?

I must admit, I once considered myself ‘woke’, but have slowly grown to see how those like me, and around me, have become enamoured with a set of political ideas, that, well, really make little sense.

To be woke today, in my view, is the political prioritisation of looking good, over doing good.

It is to wear political opinions like fashion accessories; caring little about utility or objective truth, and more about seeming virtuous in front of your peers.

And so arrives a plethora of mugs, t shirts, and tote bags, that ram our self righteous political beliefs into the faces of others, with little care for what’s right.

Because, and I hate to say this – what’s right, is rarely what is popular.

And to be progressive, is not to blindly pick up the most en-vogue political ideas in front of you, and wave them above your head.

To be progressive is often to rock the boat and throw stones at popular convention, to lift up and advocate for evidence based truth, regardless of the personal cost.

To be a progressive is to lie down on a bed of nails, and endure what comes next, in support your beliefs.

To do what is hard, not what is easy, or popular, or what your friends do.

I no longer consider myself as ‘woke’, and have since joined the cynical crowd that stands opposite them.

Instead, I have done the work to understand the nuanced and often contradictory nature of social issues, to swallow my pride, and change my mind when I need to, and confront those around me when I must.

So what is woke to you?

--

Sources:

DV Murray Straus: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233717660_Thirty_Years_of_Denying_the_Evidence_on_Gender_Symmetry_in_Partner_Violence_Implications_for_Prevention_and_Treatment

UNESCO Education: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/what-you-need-know-about-unescos-global-report-boys-disengagement-education

Stranger Violence: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/thenatureofviolentcrimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020

==

I still like Wilfred Reilly's definition:

the belief that (1) all of society is currently and intentionally structured to oppress, (2) all gaps in performance between large groups illustrate this, and (3) the solution is 'equity' - proportional representation w/o regard to performance.

But I would add to it that:

(4) these beliefs must be publicly and repeatedly declared as a primary personality trait.

You can't simply be "born again," you have to announce to the world that you were saved by Jesus Christ.

A simpler explanation would be: left-wing social illiberalism in denial of material reality. In a manner shockingly similar to right-wing religious illiberalism in denial of material reality.

“Luxury beliefs are ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class, while often inflicting costs on the lower classes.” -- Rob Henderson

[feedingtheflockministry]

Christians that Slander Other Christians

Slanderous speech in the Christian faith has become increasingly popular due to social media platforms. Prior to social media we had select church pastors that participated in slandering other pastors or churches, but this was not the standard for most pastors or churches out there.

Many Christians prior to social media read their bibles, and were raised to show respect to those around them, especially in the faith. However, today we have a generation of preachers, as well as other believers, that choose the path of slandering others in order to either produce new content for those that follow them or attend their church week after week, or to simply look like they are righteous themselves by exposing what they deem heresy or false teachings.

None of this should be taking place among the disciples of Christ. None of it! Christianity is perhaps the most divided religion in our world today. It’s divided into various denominations, theologies, and practices. When the world takes one look at Christianity they do not see a religion of peace, love, mercy, grace, understanding, compassion, and kindness but rather a group of people that not only attack their way of life, but also attack one another as well. People calling Jesus their Lord and their God, but acting worse than those in the world in terms of treatment towards others in the faith.

Christian’s publicly attacking other Christians openly before the world is absolutely not biblical behavior nor a righteous standard.

Stop and consider this for a moment. If any owner of a business hired several people to work at it, and the owner left for a little while only to come back and see several of their employees standing around criticizing the ones that are working, what would happen to those that were standing around criticizing? They would be fired immediately and replaced with other workers. The Church / Body of Christ is The Lord’s business. For He uses it to bring about more increase for the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is not anyones place to criticize or insult His workers in His business.

Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23. He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

What is the will of the Heavenly Father? It is for us to look to Jesus and believe in Him. To learn from Him, and to listen and obey Him. For the Heavenly Father spoke to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration this, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” What did Jesus say for us to do? He said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” There is no slander in love. Slander is not a fruit of The Spirit, but rather the fruit of the flesh.

James, the younger brother of Jesus, wrote this himself, “Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?”

Paul the apostle also wrote this, “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious (relating or inclined to dissension) man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

Slander leads to arguments, arguments lead to divisions. These divisions lead to more slander and arguments, and even more divisions. It is a vicious cycle that we as believers must stop participating in. It is not profitable for the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather causes a deficit in it because people leave the faith or never come to Christ because of it.

Lastly consider the warning that Jesus gave to us through His apostles, “If anyone causes one of these little ones (those who believe in me) to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” Do not be the reason someone stumbles in their faith. Do not put yourself in the way of His judgement.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable (if anything is excellent or praiseworthy) think about such things.

[rippingoffkingarthur]

A Pict of (Well, it can’t be Self-Righteous Preacher for copyright reasons of course -- so let’s call this guy... ummm... Self-Rippyteous Preacher?) from ROKA #337...

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Deliverance from False Prophets

Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord.

These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness.

They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” — 2 Peter 2 | The Reader’s Bible (BRB) The Reader’s Bible © 2020 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. All rights Reserved. Cross References: Genesis 6:8-9; Genesis 13:13; Genesis 19:5; Genesis 19:24-25; Exodus 15:16; Exodus 22:28; Numbers 22:5; Numbers 22:21; Deuteronomy 32:35; Job 21:30; Psalm 73:8; Psalm 85:8; Proverbs 5:6; Proverbs 26:11; Jeremiah 12:3; Ezekiel 33:13; Mark 7:22; John 8:34; Romans 13:13; Hebrews 11:4; Jude 1:6; Jude 1:9; Jude 1:12-13

[maybanksbabe]

Y'know I imagine little lambs father being this important person in all of obx, like no matter what side of the island you're on you will always try to impress the preacher both out of fear and respect (I imagine him to be like this really good business man but also like a secret mobster or someone like father Hughes from the peaky blinders but like he's a preacher or like Beverly "Bev" Keane from midnight mass y'know he's kinda like ward but with more Savior complex and like more super self righteous than ward and has more of an influence over both figure 8 and the cut)

But I also think that little lamb just visits tannyhill even when rafe isn't there just trying to get ward to like remember the teachings of the lord or something like that because she sees how much of a dick ward is but she's like "hey you're kinda fucked up but the lord can fix that if you just read this verse from this book in the bible this might work" and if that doesn't work she'll send her father after him because she knows that her dad has a savior complex or whatever and will absolutely annoy the shit out of him (while also lowkey talking shit about ward to her dad and his not so legal ways of gaining his money so y'know that the preacher can and will blackmail him)

But little lamb isn't doing this to like save his soul or whatever she just does it because it's a good excuse to talk shit about ward while also like keeping her image up about being the preacher's daughter, cause you know damn well that everyone sees her as some innocent girl that is like this such good influence on rafe the kook prince, and keep reminding the people around her (most likely kooks) that they aren't any better than anyone else because of their money

So basically she's kinda just bitchy to ward and his friends at their little events that they hold for like business deals or whatever and then out of no where little lamb comes up to then asking where rafe is and ward puts this fake smile and says that he's busy and she just cuts him off with 'oh Mr Cameron I'm just asking where rafe is, gosh it took my parents forever to get ready! and I was going to meet rafe here, I'm sure you know where rafe is, don't you? Of course you do! What am I talking about! You're ward Cameron you know how you family is doing and where they are, I mean why wouldn't you?' And he just has to sigh and look around for rafe as he tries not to look embarrassed as his business partners are reminded of the fact that ward is incapable of dealing with his kids or more specifically his son and is reminded of his own sins and she just has that kind of energy to just be a better person so whenever she's like even the tiniest itsy bitsy jab from her is like a straight up bullet wound when it comes to trying to look good for others during important events when you're trying to better yourself and your company because y'know she's like an angel on earth or whatever her father says

'Oh and speaking of great parenting my parents are amazing people both in the church and our home, of course, and they even asked when you're going to come back to church' she leans in and whispers to him 'they are worried about you and apparently your blood money... Whatever that means' but she whispered it to him a little too loud and ward has to cut her off with a fake smile and fake laugh and try to not to make a scene in front of his friends and tries to do damage control, but it's not like he's mad at her because she's just a girl, sure her father is powerful but her dad never would tell her about what really happens at these events because her father wouldn't tell her anything about this kind of business... Right? it's not like she actually knows about what he does in the dark and then she giggles as she sees rafe, she excitedly waves at rafe and then turns back to ward 'oh I found him! Anyways have a nice night with your friends, Mr Cameron!' she gives him a quick hug and she does it so casually because it's almost second nature to her (because it is she always does that as she's leaving a conversation at any event she goes to and she does it because her father used to make her hug the church goers as they left the building because it's just a nice thing to do) 'have the night you guys deserve!' she says it to ward and his friends and it's kind of a funny site to see her look at her father with a knowing look as she makes that remark that her father knows all to well because she never says that to anyone besides the people she doesn't trust or like and her father really does value her opinion of others (he thinks she's like his gift from god and that she knows who to really trust and who not to, so if she doesn't like you he won't do business with you and would almost keep a grudge against you, he may be like a terrible person but his faith in his daughter will never waver even if his faith in god does from time to time, his daughter will always come first so if she doesn't like you expect to be ignored by the preacher or best pray to god because he ain't gonna let you share the world with his precious daughter because that's his guiding light he looks for when he gets too deep into his after hours activities with some questionable business partners)

I feel like little lamb is the kind of girl that everyone one loves or just genuinely sees her as trustworthy but she does have her moments when she's not afraid to throw you to the wolves her father And she'll do it with a mischievous smirk and a giggle as she goes back to her loving boyfriend

LITTLE LAMB IS A DADDY'S GIRL THROUGH AND THROUGH 🗣️🗣️🗣️ (whether or not he's a good man isn't important lol)

I LOVE this idea? She's so sweet and unassuming no one would even consider that sweet =/= stupid and she's so surprisingly smart, especially to Ward who now finds himself in a rather hot seat 😬😂 but she's still asleep sweet as ever to everyone else (especially Rafe)

[hiswordsarekisses]

FOLLOWING JESUS IS NOT EASY By Lynette Hughes:

Distortions of the gospel are rampant throughout churches in America. There is the incomplete gospel of easy believism that says you only need to believe in Jesus to be saved, apart from obedience. It’s the lie you are counted righteous from the moment you are saved, yet can live in egregious, unrepentant sin and remain saved. It's a perverted doctrine of grace that relieves the burden of guilt, but rarely, if ever, mentions the wrath of God.

Preachers shamefully abuse and deceive millions by teaching that believers can be catapulted out of poverty into a state of guaranteed financial prosperity and health if they generously tithe. They preach a humanistic Jesus who wants to pour out a torrential rain of continual blessings and promises them an easy, carefree life. Most of those sitting in brick and mortar churches today need to be rescued out of her. Far too many are led by hirings mired in deception, leading God's people into their own destruction because they are unable to differentiate between the voice of the Holy Spirit and the voice of evil spirits.

These false gospels that the majority of Christians are fixated on are not what Jesus or the Apostles preached. In Matt 16:24 Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” How many of you know life is hard? How many of you thought life with Jesus would be easier? Well, let me assure you that following Jesus is not easy! If you don’t believe me, open up your Bible and read what Jesus taught his disciple about the difficulties they would encounter for following him.

I am sure we have all heard "to take up our cross" refers to bearing some troubling burden or suffering some hardship in our lives, but the original meaning has a darker more humbling meaning. When Jesus took up his cross he was consenting to rejection, humiliation, suffering, and ultimately his own death. To take up our cross and follow Jesus means we are willing to lose our safety, security, and comfort to gain Christ. It means we must have unflinching loyalty to Jesus no matter the cost - even if it requires our physical death. Jesus makes it very clear we can’t be His disciples if we aren’t willing to pay the ultimate cost. Luke 14:27: “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” I wonder how large the mega churches of today would be if it required that kind of commitment to become a member?

Jesus and his disciples didn’t take the path of least resistance and neither can we. When the original twelve disciples followed Jesus they left everything, their jobs, their family and their homes. It was the signing of their death warrant. Peter and Andrew left their fishing business when they heard the call of the Master, and Matthew, a tax collector, gave up financial security for eternal revenue. Saul of Tarsus, who had studied with the finest teachers of the law, considered the followers of Jesus ignorant, self-styled preachers without proper credentials. As a devout Hebrew and religious leader feared and respected by the Pharisees, he devoted his life to fight heresy and eradicate Christian heretics. He had even been present when Stephen, who had been falsely accused, was stoned to death. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became known as Paul and his life was forever changed. When he chose to follow Jesus, he understood the steep cost of suffering he would pay for the sake of Christ. This man who had once enjoyed great prominence among the Jewish elite was violently persecuted, assaulted, threatened, beaten, attacked, stoned, ridiculed, bound with chains, shipwrecked, imprisoned and finally beheaded. All of this because He became a follower of Jesus Christ.

With the exception of John, the other 11 disciples were brutally executed by beheading, crucifixion, stoning and other bizarre killings. The entire world system is gearing up to eliminate all traces of the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible. Someday soon there will be no place for you to hide from Christian persecution. When that day arrives, what will you do? It is naïve to think you can follow Jesus without considering the very real possibility that being a witness for Him could cost you to forfeit your life, and denying Him would be your only alternative to martyrdom.

The majority of today's churches are led by soft on sin pulpit predators and filled with half-hearted, semi-committed, convenience and comfort seeking spectators. However, our culture is rapidly changing, and we are discovering as pandemic restrictions ease and churches reopen, fewer people are returning to the building, preferring to watch services online or on television or connect on social media. Neither, however, can satisfy our need for intimate, godly, grace-infused relationships. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we are in spiritual reformation. The church is still engaged, but many believers have shifted from the building to participating in small house-church families where the focus is on equipping believers to live out their faith in a hostile world opposed to God's word. A place where online church and social media might supplement the journey, but not become the journey. Following Jesus is challenging to say the least and making disciples has become ever more difficult.

Ask yourself for a moment, why does the world out there think that Jesus is worthless? They do, you know. The world thinks that Jesus is worthless because they don't see us paying any price for Him. They see our faith as a little life-enhancing optional extra that brings us comfort but costs us nothing. It barely affects the way we live. Our unsaved family and friends judge the worth of Jesus by how much we seem to value Him. If we want those we love to treasure Jesus, then we need to treasure Him ourselves. We need to show that we are prepared to make costly choices, because He's worth it.

The requirements to be a disciple of Jesus, to be a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, haven’t changed. They are no less today than they were in the time of Jesus, though here in America we don’t face the same dangers they did, at least not yet. It's no coincidence that the places in the world where the gospel is making the most progress tends to be the places where Christians are persecuted, where following Jesus is the most costly. Literally hundreds of thousands of people today are being discriminated against and arrested and imprisoned, sold as slaves, brutalized, tortured and murdered solely because they refuse to renounce or hide their faith in Jesus Christ.

Isn't it time we get back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Isn't it time to dust off our Bibles and immerse ourselves in God's word; to discard every false teaching we hold so dear to our heart? Who gave us the authority to cheapen the grace of God into a license to sin, to make the gospel more appealing by adding to it or subtracting from it? A gospel of half truths that dishonor Christ; a overflowing health and wealth gospel that is more true in America than any other country. Our Americanized Christianity leaves no room for suffering, instead, we have been taught Jesus promises to solve every problem and life is going to get smoother if we follow him. We have stubbornly rejected the many warnings Jesus gave us of the harsh reality of living as his disciples in this God hating, hostile world and have foolishly come to believe that suffering, pain, and loss is solely a spiritual attack of Satan and never the sovereign will of God.

Have you seriously considered the cost of following Jesus and the possibility of martyrdom? Are you willing to suffer for the sake of Christ? Are you certain you could be faithful even unto death? Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Christ without compromise? Either we are all in or we are not in at all.

No, following Jesus isn’t easy. It can be downright difficult. And not everyone will be called to be a martyr, but every believer "who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12)

Jesus does not want us to be under the delusion that our life will be full of ease and comfort. He clearly says we will have trials in this life “But take heart...I have overcome the world.” He says we have nothing to fear for we are not called to overcome the world by ourselves because He will always be with us: He will never leave or forsake us.

The difficulties we face in this faith will never invalidate the joy of being set free from the slavery of sin. When we put our trust and faith in Christ Jesus, we will have a peace that passes all understand and find a strength we never knew possible. And we know that our “present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed” (Romans 8:18). All our earthly trials and tribulations, our heartaches and disappointments, our afflictions and sufferings will pale into insignificance when we inherit our eternal heavenly future.

[apostate-in-an-alcove]

Gotta love the self-righteous ex-Christians who get up on their soapbox and start wagging their finger at other ex-Christians because the rest of us are too stupid apparently to do things correctly and need someone oh so enlightened to guide the way. Most of you end up sounding like the preachers you claim to hate.