#the material is abundant. the bible a source never-ending

[le-ophanim]

evangelical churches have tried everything to make kids growing up in church stay and to gain new young members in general. they have tried everything from rock music to club nights to summer camps. but modern times require modern solutions. i think it's time for the church to tap into the lucrative market of boy x boy yaoi

[riversnthedesert-blog]

Some Real Talk on Hollywood and the Deep Things in Life

Well, I was originally going to slide this in as a Facebook post, but I had this sudden idea to just make it a blog post. The first of many, let’s hope! There have been so many times where I have started to comment/make a post, etc., and then I began writing a novel. But, it’s called Face “book,” so you think it’d be ok, right? Listen, I have thoughts. Don’t you? One thought here, another there, and then my mind be like, “OH! Forgot about that...and YEAH! That, too!”…and a lot of the time it’s easier to just write and get my thoughts out that way rather than speaking it. It’s a relief, man! Write ya mind. It would suffice to say there’s a lot that goes on up there. Better log it quick because as soon as I have something important...here cometh something else. Ah, feelings, the mind, expressions, inner things, brain files....

So, now that you, reader, have become acquainted with my thought processes, because you desperately needed to know...let’s get to the content.

You guys pray for Hollywood. There are some really creepy things going on behind the scenes….and creepy is an understatement, as I’d do well to keep it kosher in my description. Many things would shock you. But if one isn’t awake so to speak…or one isn’t open to hear in full, there’s confusion. If I could compare it to a puzzle: it’s like there’s all these pieces to a big puzzle. And until someone is ready to sit down and actually put it together, it’s just all these random pieces everywhere...and it’s messy and annoying. You must be willing to sit, observe the pieces, and study them because by themselves they don’t fit anywhere. And since you don’t know what to do with it, it just sits there, and never gets connected; the bigger picture never gets seen. This all might seem confusing, because you haven’t yet sat down to solve the puzzle. Let’s me just say...I don’t have 100% of the puzzle solved, but there are certain things that have been brought to light. But if we go back to the puzzle analogy, if you put together enough pieces of a particular part of the puzzle,you may not see all the details, but you see enough to maybe see, “Oh this is puzzle has a cat in it.” In the case for Hollywood, you might get to a place where you’ll say, “Oh, this puzzle has a rat.” It may seem like I am just finding something to poke at or what have you, but listen: 

The Bible says, “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)”  and in Ephesians 5:8-13, it says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible--and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.”

The Bible in different places talk about knowing wisdom (of God), being discerning, and having knowledge. Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves, therefore be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.”

With that in mind, it’s important to note that we shouldn’t be unaware of the devil’s schemes. We should know our enemy’s tactics in order to guard against it. So when we see the deception, the lies, the fake news, the idolatry, the game of distraction, and materialism and fame, the plan of the enemy to sway hearts deceitfully and subtly for his kingdom, we are prepared and not caught off guard.

[Later, hopefully, I will try to discuss this more in depth at as it relates to the Antichrist agenda that is at work in the world by globalist leaders.]

Getting to the point here:

 Pray for your favorite celebrities. God has an army, but so does the devil. God wants to recruit, but so does the the devil. One is Light, one masquerades as light, but is actually darkness. One is good, one appears good. One is true, one is the counterfeit.

Please hear me. The world’s biggest influencers are definitely a target of Satan because they have the platform to be able to change an entire culture. How does this happen? MUSIC, ART…things that grip the HEART. Things that speak to the deepest places in people, the places of pain, emptiness, woes of many kinds. Why is this such a soft spot for the human race? Why are most songs about love and pain? I mean, why is music the language that everyone understands? We’re about to get into that.

[Disclaimer: I don’t know everything, and I don’t claim to. But with evidence from the Bible (God’s word), and when hings that were once just an idea or only talked about begin blatantly flaunting themselves in plain sight, you tend to not just tuck it away hoping that what you saw wasn’t real. With that being said, here we go.]

It’s not hard to find the answer if you really wanna know (read Matthew 7:7). Our inmost being cries out for LOVE. But, hey man, why does love in this world seem to suck a lot of the time? Could it be that we’re going about it all wrong? Could it be that we’re hitting something, but haven’t quite dug it all up to actually see what it is? Love is real, ok. Love is DEEP and beautiful and poetic and all those things, but love is meant to be JOYFUL, though. Does this world see much real, raw, joyful love? Romanticism? Yes. Infatuation? You bet. Any idea how to sustain a marriage? Look at the divorce rate. What is that all about, my friends? Does anyone know what love is anymore? There are SONGS about this. People want to know, though. Their souls try out to know...WHAT THE HECK IS THIS LOVE THING THAT TAKES ME OVER AND THEN LEAVES ME BROKEN AND WASHED UP ON THE SHORE TO SHRIVEL UP AND DIE?Okay, we’re getting somewhere, but in order to go any further, we must admit: Something is wrong, perverted, amiss, broken, disturbed, frustrated...yet, we gotta have it in order to LIVE. This is crazy revelation, right? Fasten your seat belts, people, and as Samuel L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts!”

So we have just come to the point of realization that someone is doing something wrong. Right? *heh*

First step. Admitting something is wrong.

But chin up fam, there’s no shame. Because the world’s just trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got. It’s like survival mode. And you know animals when they try to find their food to survive...they kill, they go crazy to get their essentials. Dog eat dog world, am I right? The CARNAL mind. Did you know humans have carnal minds, too? Yeah, it’s a thing. The carnal mind deals with the flesh (aka: how we compensate without God. Doing life without Him...either on purpose or ignorantly. Survival mode, because if I don’t fend for myself, I’m at risk of dying. Fear mode. The twisted mentality that my desire (the heart) has to be met before I am fully satisfied.

And the Bible says, “Those who are in [operating out of] the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8) 

K. Well, wait a minute, that sounds rather harsh. 

Hold on, though because I’m going to explain and bring more clarity.

What is the opposite of the flesh?  You might argue, “So if the flesh is all we know...what the heck, man! Like, I have desires, don’t you? I gotta give up my happiness and all that brings me joy?”

No bruh, not exactly. See, if someone is living in the flesh, they are living in an illusion. The illusion that if they “meet their desires themselves [based on their limited power and understanding as a human being of what it is they want/need]. Living based on the flesh will keep someone in a hopeless cycle of temporary fulfillment which will lead, eventually, to a state of deprivation, disappointment, and (un)fulfillment because they are depriving themselves of the SOURCE of their life.

What’s the source, you ask? Who made you and knows what you truly desire and need; what’s at core of your heart. Who knows how it operates? Who saw your unformed body? (Please friends, I’m begging you to read Psalm 139)

Does God just want take away our desires to rob us of delight and a fun, abundant life, just because? Does He want to see us thrive? 

Men, women, young and old, children of all ages. I’d like to introduce you to my Father in Heaven who is a God of GOODNESS. He is Spirit. And the nature of his Spirit are aaalll of these

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

God is good. Anything not good is contrary to His nature. 

Sin = not good. What is sin? Woah! Another post, for another time.

I have suffieciently dove into the deep end. There are rabbits hopping everywhere because my mind has gone down so many trails to explain this all to you. There’s more. 

*Self notes: post to be made on flesh desires and God desires.

 [Or read Romans 8]

Wrapping up our discussion with some further thoughts:

If the world doesn’t know the power and love of Jesus, they’re just trying to figure it out and compensate. We did something important earlier. We recognized we have been going about love all wrong. God wants to show us how to do it right, but He won’t force us. Instead, He lovingly leads, allows His children to live out the love they have received through Him. “We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19-21)” HA! Let me say it again. Love is not to be forced. Not saying that there isn’t sacrifice involved in love because there is, but when it’s properly received and you do it the right way, it looks like Jesus on the Cross. 

Gotta go to the Book with this. 1 Corinthians 13. Love.

*All kinds of things are stirring up in me because I know some are going to say to themselves, “well dats the Bible, that ain’t no solid truth. How can you say that’s truth, made made it!” I will explain to all my atheists friends out there one day, but not now because I literally will start writing a novel right here and now. Help, me, Lord. And like a faithful friend, He will.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (That’s 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

So if that’s all the characteristics of love, we can say that those are the characteristics of God, too, because 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.”

If we are imperfect people, we love imperfectly. But wait just a second here because in 1 John 4, if we read the whole thing, it says

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

So if one isn’t a believer in Jesus, like hasn’t received Him as Lord and Savior, then it would be true also to say that they don’t know Love if they don’t know God.

When someone doesn’t know God, because we were made in His image and His likeness (Genesis 1:27, Gen. 9:6), we still have attributes and qualities of God. The Bible also says, “eternity was placed in the human heart, (Ecclesiastes 3:11), people can be without God but still be operating out of the qualities and attributes they were made with. I’m sure God did that intentionally to help us find our way back to “truth north” in the event that we should become lost. What I am saying friends is that people who reject Jesus at this point, choose Atheism, paganism, Gnosticism, and other forms of religion, they still have that eternity void that needs to be filled. And some further discussion on the void of eternity:

Think of eternity as an umbrella…and under the umbrella, there’s

LOVE

MEANING

PURPOSE

TRUTH

If all of these are within the concept of eternity, then all of us have the bent within us to go after them. It’s in us to find these things…because we are trying to get back to our “true north.”

But wait! Because if “true north” is God. How do we know which avenue to God is the right one?

“Oh, boy. You’ve done it now, Lex.”

[to be continued...]

[wac-tastic]

Why do I love WAC?

This Saturday is We Love WC Day, and the count down is on! There are so many reasons why I love Washington College and truly consider it home. 

Before diving into all of the reasons to appreciate this great place, I’m going to focus on the academics as we come to an end of this third week of our spring semester. All of my classes are fairly small which means that every student really gets to interact with the professor. The biggest lecture setting I’ve had was a class with about forty students! It means so much and makes you feel truly valued as an individual when the professor is able to call on you by name, send you an email to check in if you weren’t in class, and not only make time but genuinely want to meet outside of class for coffee and paper revisions. 

Last semester (since I didn’t get to blog as much as I wanted with my medical related slip ups) I had some particularly stimulating classroom moments that made me realize how glad I am that I’m part of this encouraging community which I thought would still be fun to share! 

Great Class of my Fall Semester: (I mean basically all of them but for the highlighting purposes of this post …) Intro to Env. Studies!!!  

So what could these materials - a spray bottle full of water, ping pong balls, and a block of wood - have to do with environmental science? 

Great question! Our professor was incredible ( WE LOVE YOU DR. BIBLE) and made the information being taught so interesting and attainable. After one of our unit tests, to clarify where aquatic photosynthesizing organisms obtain their carbon from, Dr. Bible told us all to stand up. We were the plants! She tossed the ping pong balls at us and said they represented carbon then misted us with “water vapor”. It was so chaotic and funny!! She then went on to explain in more detail the specific sources of carbon and how amazing it is that a colorless, odorless gas in the atmosphere can form something so solid and tangible as wood. The enthusiasm and humor in the illustration DEFINITELY communicated the point to all of us. I will never forget - nor underestimate - carbon related environmental processes again HAHA

Another unique aspect of this class was our labs. We met for lab in a smaller group than our “lecture” class and all of our work was so hands-on and practical, it was fairly mind-blowing to be thrown right into such real-world situations. The very first week of class, we went out in the Chester River on boats and caught and measured fish to measure and discuss species diversity! Throughout the semester, we visited storm drain ponds - climbing into ditches across from Walgreens to take water samples! - went to WC’s River and Field Campus to spend an afternoon learning and helping at the Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory - we got to hold birds in our hands and collect data for the international bird banding databases! - and even traveled to D.C. for the Smithsonian’s limited edition Narwhal Exhibit in the Museum of Natural Science - ALL HAIL THE NARWHALS! BOO CLIMATE CHANGE!! 

The lessons I learned in that class and experiences I had are ones I won’t ever forget! 

My classmates and I take notes as birds are tagged at the River and Field Campus’ bird band station. After the birds were tagged or existing tags were recorded, we got to hold the birds and do the release! 

Another great class from fall semester was my Intro to Creative Writing course, which had a particular assignment that proved quite interesting! After reading a selection of person essays for our creative nonfiction unit, we each chose an essayist to research more … and film a documentary about. 

Let me clarify one thing - I am NOT a technology person. I’m not only clumsy-clumsy, I’m detrimentally technologically-clumsy. 

It was quite the challenge understanding how to use video editing software and many hours went the process. “I want to write!” is the sentiment I repeatedly agonized to my roommate. “Not make videos!” However, IDEAWORKS, the technology hub in the basement of the library and both abundant patience and resources to help me through the assignment. I learned how to record voice overs and used the software in the OneButton Studio which was insane. I also fell in love with the work of my assigned writer, Alexander Chee, and this unit is what made me find a deep passion for creative nonfiction though I’d always considered myself a fiction writer. Though the experience was stressful at times, I’ve grown tremendously - I’m now comfortable with video editing and am in a nonfiction workshop this semester dedicating myself to personal essays! 

Link to my Alexander Chee Documentary video! Highly recommend his newest book, a collection of essays, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. 

Hope to see a great turnout on Saturday at We Love WC open house when everyone will be showing their WAC love!

Happy Friday Junior :-)

[dfroza]

what does it mean to you to love God and others?

Love is the fulfillment of God’s law.

and even though no person is perfect enough to do this perfectly, yet grace is still available to perfect the heart in our Creator’s eyes which humbles the heart & mind.

people choose either Light or darkness to live inside where desire begins.

and we will get nowhere in the absence of humility before our Creator. we have to see ourselves as daughters & sons of eternal Light.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 15th chapter of the Letter of Romans:

So now what? We who are strong are not just to satisfy our own desires. We are called to carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong. Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong. The Anointed One Himself is our model for this kind of living, for He did not live to please Himself. And as the Scriptures declared, “When they insult You, they insult me.” You see, everything written in the days of old was recorded to give us instructions for living. We find encouragement through the Scriptures and a call to perseverance that will produce hopeful living. I pray that our God, who calls you and gives you perseverance and encouragement, will join all of you together to share one mind according to Jesus the Anointed. In this unity, you will share one voice as you glorify the one True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.

So accept one another in the same way the Anointed has accepted you so that God will get the praise He is due. For, as I am fond of saying, the Anointed One has become a servant of the Jews in order to demonstrate God’s truth. Effectively this confirms the promises He made to our ancestors and causes the non-Jewish nations to glorify God for His mercy. As the Scriptures say,

For this I will praise You among the nations

and sing praises to Your name.

Again the Scriptures say,

Nations, celebrate with His covenant people.

And again,

Praise the Lord, all nations.

Raise your voices, all people; let your praises flow to God.

Again Isaiah says,

Then, the root of Jesse will emerge—

He rises to rule all the peoples of the world

who come to Him for guidance and direction.

In Him they place their hope.

I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit.

My brothers and sisters, I am ultimately confident that you are full of goodness, knowledge, and the ability to help and instruct one another. I have written to you with unflinching honesty on many topics because I do not want you to ever lose sight of the tremendous grace God has given me. His grace makes me who I am, a minister of the Anointed One, Jesus, called to serve the nations.

The good news of God is the focus of my priestly work. In effect, these nations have become an offering to God, totally acceptable, indeed made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit. So in Jesus, the Anointed One, I have reason to celebrate the things I do for God. I don’t want to be presumptuous, so I will restrict myself to what the Anointed has accomplished through my words and actions, which has culminated in the obedience of the nations. My words and actions have been rooted in Spirit-empowered signs and miracles. The upshot is this: I have been able to preach the good news of the Anointed One in city after city from Jerusalem all the way around the Mediterranean to Illyricum. I have dreamed of preaching the gospel in places where no one has ever heard of the Anointed so that I do not build on a foundation laid by anyone else. But as the Scriptures say,

They will see Him even though they’ve never been told about Him;

they will understand even though they never heard of Him.

Because of many issues, I have not been able to visit you in the city of Rome. But my time to serve those here is coming to an end, there’s no room left for me in this region, and I have longed to come to you for many years. So I plan to visit you on my journey to Spain. I am hoping that I will not only see you face-to-face, but that you will assist me in the journey west after I have enjoyed our time together. But right now I must make the journey to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. Those in Macedonia and Achaia decided it was a good idea to share their funds to help the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. I must tell you that they were thrilled to be able to help. They realize that they are indebted to the believers in Jerusalem. If the nations share in the Jews’ spiritual goods, then it’s only right that they minister back to them in material goods. When this work is complete and the funds we’ve collected are delivered, I will make my way to Spain through your grand city of Rome and enjoy some of your hospitality. I’m sure that when I come to you I will come as a blessing and as one fully blessed by the Anointed One.

My brothers and sisters, I urgently plead with you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, and by the love of the Spirit to join together with me in your prayers to God for my success in these next endeavors. Pray that I will be rescued from those who deny and persecute the faith in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem will meet the approval of all the saints there. If that happens, then my journey to you will be filled with joy; and, if God wills, I can rest and be refreshed in your presence. I pray the God of all peace will be with you all. Amen.

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 15 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 34th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that points to an act of God’s Judgment upon wickedness:

Gather around, everyone. All peoples take note!

The earth and everything in it,

The world and all that comes from it should hear this, too,

For the Eternal One is furious with all the nations. He has had it with their armies.

He has marked them for destruction, and has given them over to slaughter.

Their blood will run like rivers down the mountains,

their corpses tossed out, heaped up, and randomly piled in a great stinking mound.

All the stars in the once-vibrant heavens will vanish:

and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.

All the starry hosts will wither and fall,

like grape leaves crisped by fall or fig leaves shriveled by winter.

Eternal One: For once my sword has had its fill in the heavens;

I’ll set it against Edom, those people who despise My own.

I have marked Edom for judgment and destruction.

The Eternal One indeed has a blood-gulping sword.

It drinks up fat and blood from the innards

And flesh of lambs, goats, and rams—the sacrifice.

And now the Eternal is coming to sacrifice the Edomites—

A great slaughter in their capital Bozrah,

And great wild cattle will be slaughtered

along with them—bulls, oxen, and steers—

Until their land is soggy with blood and oozes with their fat.

For the Eternal has determined a time for retaliation,

a time to vindicate Zion, ravaged by Babylon and Edom.

Edom’s waters will be made thick and black as oily pitch.

Its dust will turn to brimstone, and the land will ignite with burning pitch.

Edom’s fiery judgment will burn day and night for all time;

the smoke from it will ascend forever.

For generations to come it will be a wasteland,

and no person will make it their home ever again.

Desert owls and screech owls, great owls and ravens

will take up residence in that bleak place.

When God measures the land,

desolation will be its width and chaos will mark its length.

The land will be known as No Kingdom.

No nobles are there to name a king. Its line of princes will cease.

Its great towers will be covered in thorns.

Nasty nettles and thistles will overrun its strong cities.

Wild jackals will slink around the premises,

and ostriches will make themselves at home.

Among the howling and hissing wild creatures and demons,

Lilith herself, demoness of the night, will call Edom her haunt,

A place to recoup and rest between her devastating forays.

Owls of all sorts will take up habitation there,

nesting and laying their eggs.

They will hatch their young and cover them beneath their wings.

Vultures and their mates will gather there.

You can look for it and read all about it in the book of the Eternal One.

None of these creatures will be missing and none will lack a mate

Because His voice has given the order

and His Spirit has gathered them in that place.

He has determined where they should live;

He has handed it over to them and it will be theirs for all time.

They will live there, one generation after the next, forever.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 34 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for monday, july 12 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that points to the significance of documenting Torah, as well as all of Scripture since what it all reveals is the True illumination of the Son:

Shavuah tov, friends. This week we begin reading the concluding book of the Torah, called Sefer Devarim (ספר דברים), so named from the phrase eleh ha’devarim (“these are the words...”) found in its opening verse (see verse below). In our English Bibles, Sefer Devarim is known as the Book of “Deuteronomy,” from a Greek word meaning “second (or repeated) law” (i.e., δευτερονόμιον), a term used to translate the phrase mishneh ha-Torah (i.e. משׁנה התורה, “copy of the Torah,” in Deut. 17:18). Generally speaking, this book represents Moses’ “farewell address” to the people of Israel before he died wherein he reviewed the history and the laws given to the people and repeatedly warned that obedience would bring blessing while disobedience would bring disaster. The series of personal discourses (or sermons) in this book all have the tone of rebuke and admonition, and indeed some of the sages have said it resembles a sort of “deathbed blessing” not unlike Jacob’s blessing given to his sons...

Our Torah portion (פרשה) for this week, called parashat Devarim (פרשת דברים), is the very first reading of the Book of Deuteronomy – which begins with Moses recounting the journey from Mount Sinai to the edge of the promised land. Moses mentioned the difficulty of personally governing the people and recalled how he had set up a system of judges to help him administer justice among the various tribes. He then reminded the people of the sin of the spies and the rebellion of the people at Kadesh Barnea which led to God’s decree that no one of that generation would live to enter the land of Canaan (except for Caleb and Joshua). Moses then provided an outline of the 38 year exile of the Israelites back toward the Sea of Reeds, into the desert regions, and then back again until the subsequent generation was ready to enter the promised land. For more information, see the links listed below. [Hebrew for Christians]

7.11.21 • Facebook

and another about the space of the inner life:

The inner life of the self can be one of tranquility and peace, or it can be one of turmoil and struggle -- as we sense forces within our own hearts that seek to pull us away from what is good... What is hidden within can become a destructive force, ready to erupt in unexpected moments. We have to be careful to "take every thought captive" before the presence of God, since otherwise our thoughts can lead to chaotic thinking and unrestrained emotions. If we allow ourselves to self-indulgently murmur or envy, for example, such thoughts may surreptitiously become a fixed part of our character.

As C.S. Lewis once said: “Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others... but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God "sending us" to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will be hell unless it is nipped in the bud.” (Great Divorce)

We can find deliverance from our inner conflicts by humbling our self and opening our heart to a trusted friend, as it says: "Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). A good friend will make time to quietly listen to the story of your struggle and to then extend grace, compassion, and forgiveness, serving as a priest for your heart, revealing God's kindness and mercy in your darkest of moments... The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.12.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 12, 2021

The Right Man on Our Side

“Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” (Luke 22:31-32)

Satan wanted Peter to fall, and fall he would (v. 34), but Christ had prayed for him that victory would come. The second verse of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” reflects our vulnerability on our own and our invincibility on His side.

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;

Were not the right man on our side,

The man of God’s own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He,

Lord Sabaoth, His name, From age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

After revealing many thrilling blessings, Paul asks: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Furthermore, neither “principalities, nor powers” nor any thing else in all creation is “able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). With Him, Satan cannot win the battle for our minds or destinies. But on our own, we cannot win.

The term Sabaoth is the Hebrew word for “hosts,” in particular the “host of heaven.” The term Yahweh Sabaoth or “Lord Sabaoth” occurs some 300 times in the Old Testament and constitutes a most majestic name for God. “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called” (Isaiah 54:5). This is none other than “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Creator (Colossians 1:16), Sustainer (v. 17), Redeemer (v. 20)—He must win the battle. JDM

ICRscience: ✝️ Could someone who doubts God's existence interpret the Bible correctly? Yes, because the Bible's words are clear.

#TheBibleIsTrue #GodIsAlive

@randyguliuzza

7.12.21 • 2:15pm • Twitter

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: Today, we're highlighting a Bible portion in a language from east-central Tanzania with approximately 269,769 speakers.

Do you know what language this is? Comment below with your guesses.

7.12.21 • 12:00pm • Twitter

[isslibrary]

New Library Material  December 2018 - January 2019

Sorted by Call Number / Author.

220.5 H

Holy Bible : King James Version. Giant Print Standard Bible. U.S. : Christian Art Publishers, 2018.

220.5 H

The Holy Bible : Douay-Rheims version. [Catholic ed.]. Charlotte, N.C. : Saint Benedict Press, 2009.

221.5 O

The Old Testament : the King James version. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

270.092 W

Westover, Tara, author. Educated: a memoir. First edition. Choose the good -- The midwife -- Cream shoes -- Apache women -- Honest dirt -- Shield and buckler -- The Lord will provide -- Tiny harlots -- Perfect in his generations -- Shield of feathers -- Instinct -- Fish eyes -- Silence in the churches -- My feet no longer touch Earth -- No more a child -- Disloyal man, disobedient heaven -- To keep it holy -- Blood and feathers -- In the beginning -- Recitals of the fathers -- Skullcap -- What we whispered and what we screamed -- I'm from Idaho -- A knight, errant -- The work of sulphur -- Waiting for moving water -- If I were a woman -- Pygmalion -- Graduation -- The hand of the almighty -- Tragedy then farce -- A brawling woman in a wide house -- Sorcery of physics -- The substance of things -- West of the sun -- Four long arms, whirling -- Gambling for redemption -- Family -- Watching the buffalo -- Educated. Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent. When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

305 I

In Search of Stonewall: The Riots at 50 : The Gay & Lesbian Review at 25: Best Essays, 1994-2018. Boston: MA : G&LR Books, 2019.

305.896 B

Badkhen, Anna, 1976-. Walking with Abel : journeys with the nomads of the African savannah. "An intrepid journalist joins the planet's largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries. Anna Badkhen has forged a career chronicling life in extremis around the world, from war-torn Afghanistan to the border regions of the American Southwest. In Walking with Abel, she embeds herself with a family of Fulani cowboys--nomadic herders in Mali's Sahel grasslands--as they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. It's a cycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present is increasingly under threat--from Islamic militants, climate change, and the ever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though, are no strangers to uncertainty--brilliantly resourceful and resilient, they've contended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries. Dubbed "Anna Ba" by the nomads, who embrace her as one of theirs, Badkhen narrates the Fulani's journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation, transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundant with wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulani's Stone Age ancestors painted tributes to cattle. As they cross the Sahel, the savanna belt that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, they accompany themselves with Fulani music they download to their cell phones and tales of herders and hustlers, griots and holy men, infused with the myths the Fulani tell themselves to ground their past, make sense of their identity, and safeguard their--our--future"--. "An intrepid journalist joins the planet's largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries"--.

398.2 A

Abrahams, Roger D. African folktales. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1983. Tales of wonder from the great ocean of story -- Stories to discuss and even argue about -- Tales of trickster and other ridiculous creatures: tales to entertain -- Tales in praise of great doings -- Making a way through life. A collection of 95 tales from the region south of of the Sahara Desert--stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in both the animal and human realms.

398.2 A

American Indian myths and legends. 1st paperback ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1984. Rabbit boy kicked that blood clot around: tales of human creation -- The place of emergence: tales of world creation -- The eye of the great spirit: tales of the sun, moon, and stars -- Ordeals of the hero: monsters and monster slayers -- Counting coup: war and the warrior code -- The sound of flutes: tales of love and lust -- Coyote laughs and cries: trickster tales -- Four legs, two legs, and no legs: stories of animals and other people -- Something whistling in the night: ghosts and the spirit world -- Only the rocks and mountains last forever: visions of the end.

398.2 A

African American folktales : stories from Black traditions in the New World. New York : Pantheon Books, c1999.

398.2 C

Chinese fairy tales and fantasies. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, 1979.

398.2 F

Favorite folktales from around the world. 1st paperback ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1988.

398.2 F

Folktales from India : a selection of oral tales from twenty-two languages. First edition. Tell it to the walls / Tamil -- Untold stories / Gondi -- Gopal Bhar the star-counter / Bengali -- Bopoluchi / Punjabi -- The Jasmine Prince / Tamil -- Sona and Rupa / Hindi/Malwi -- Brother's day / Rajasthani -- The Brahman who swallowed a God / Bengali -- One man's virtue / Oriya -- A crow's revenge / Kannada -- A story in search of an audience / Telugu -- The clay mother-in-law / Kannada -- The barber and the Brahman demon / Benjali -- Why the fish laughed / Kashmiri -- A parrot called Hiraman / Bengali -- The monkey and the crocodile / Kannada; Tamil -- What happens when you really listen / Telugu -- Tenali Rama / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- How Tenali Rama became a Jester -- Tenali Rama's Ramayana -- Two sisters / Santali -- Sukhu and Dukhu / Bengali -- One, two, three / Santali -- The wife who refused to be beaten / Kashmiri -- The Ogress Queen / Kashmiri -- Killed by a tiger / Santali -- Outwitting fate / Tamil -- Four girls and a king / Punjabi. If it isn't you, it must be your father / Kannada -- Why audiences laugh or cry / Punjabi -- Akbar and Birbal ; The best of flowers ; Make it shorter ; Bring be four ; Sons-in-law / Urdu -- The night-blind son-in-law / Kannada -- Shall I show you my real face? / Tamil -- A malcontent cured / Kashmiri -- The kite's daughter / Assamese -- A flowering tree / Kannada -- A musical demon / Tamil -- Other lives / Kashmiri -- Living like a pig / Telugu -- A heron in the mouth / Bengali -- Tenali Rama's art / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- One more use for artists / Gujerati -- Heron boy / Tulu -- The tiger's adopted son / Didayi -- How to live on half a pice / Konkani -- The magic bowls / Tamil -- The four jogis / Santali -- A friend in need / Malayalam -- Winning a princess / Tulu -- Crossing a river, losing a self / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- Prince sabar / Gujerati. The lord of death / Punjabi -- The shepherd's ghost / Telugu -- This world and the other / Bengali -- If God is everywhere / Bengali -- A tiger that didn't know who he was / Bengali -- Gandharva Sen is dead! / Bengali -- Tenali Rama's dream / Telugu -- A feast in a dream / Rajasthani -- In search of a dream / Santali -- The princess whose father wanted to marry her / Tulu -- Mother marries son / Marathi -- A cure / Bengali -- A tall tale in Urdu / Urdu -- The greatest / Angami Naga -- A story for Sundays / Marathi -- Tenali Rama and the Brahmans / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- A hair's-breadth escape / Tamil -- Between two wives / Tamil -- The dead prince and the talking doll / Kannada -- The serpent mother / Gujerati -- Teja and Teji / Assamese -- The dove's egg: a chain tale / Malayalam -- A drum / Hindi -- In the kingdom of fools / Kannada -- Nonviolence / Bengali -- The barber's secret / Tamil. Gopal Bhar cures a dreamer / Benjali -- A scavenger's dream / Oriya -- The boy who sold wisdom / Gujerati -- Two jars of persian / Punjabi -- In another country / Punjabi -- One man's pleasure / Urdu -- Raja Vikram and the princess of China / Hindi -- Walking on water / Bengali -- The guru and the idiot / Telugu -- Grateful animals, ungrateful man / Hindi/Kumaoni -- When a black dog dies / Urdu -- The village rogue, the city rogue, and the king of rogues / Oriya -- A qazi with a long beard / Marathi -- The priest who could see as far as Mecca / Assamese -- Adventures of a disobedient son / Kannada -- Hanchi / Kannada -- Buffalo into rooster / Marathi -- The prince who married his own left half / Kannada -- A buffalo made of lac / Tamil -- A contest of lies / Hindi -- It's done with mirrors / Telugu -- The kurumba in the parrot's body / Kota -- The eighth key / Sindhi -- How the weaver went to heaven / Urdu. The tiger-makers / Kannada -- When a tale is finished / Oriya -- And then, Bhurrah! / Marathi. Collection of the oral tales compiled from a vast array of sources and translated from twenty-two languages of the country.

398.2 J

Japanese tales. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1987.

398.2 L

Latin American folktales : stories from Hispanic and Indian traditions. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c2002. A collection of one hundred Latin American folk tales taken from the Hispanic and Indian traditions.

398.2 L

Legends and tales of the American West. 1st pbk. ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1998.

398.2 R

Afanasʹev, A. N. (Aleksandr Nikolaevich), 1826-1871. Russian fairy tales. Pantheon Paperback: First Pantheon hardback ed. 1945; Second hardback Pantheon ed. 1975. New York : Pantheon Books, [1975?] c1945. A collection of the classic Russian folk and fairy tales.

812.54 R

Readings on A raisin in the sun. San Diego, CA : Greenhaven Press, c2001.

813.01 B

The best American short stories 2017. Presents a selection of the best works of short fiction of the past year from a variety of acclaimed sources.

813.01 B

Best American short stories 2018. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt pUBLISHERS, c. 2018.

813.01 O

100 years of The best American short stories. Collects forty short stories published between 1915 and 2015, from writers that include Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, and Alice Munro that exemplify their era and stand the test of time --.

821.008 G

Great short poems. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2000.

92 McD

McDonald, William C. The shadow tiger : Billy McDonald, Wingman to Chennault. Hardback Special Edition.

CD Mid

A Midsummer Night's Dream. Audiobook recording using the New Cambridge Shakespeare text, 1984; Unabridged. www.naxoaudiobooks.com : Naxos audioBooks with permission from Cambridge University Press, 1984.

DVD Bla

Blackboard jungle. Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes, Vic Morrow, Sidney Poitier. Urban drama about an idealistic teacher in a slum area who fights doggedly to connect with his unruly students. Based on Evan Hunter's novel.

DVD Cat

Cat on a hot tin roof. 2016. Blu-ray. Burbank, Calif. : Warner Home Video ;, [1999]. Side A. Standard presentation -- side B. Widescreen presentation. Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor. Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

DVD Def

The defiant ones. Letterboxed. Santa Monica, CA : MGM Home Entertainment, [2004]. Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Charles McGraw, Lon Chaney, King Donovan, Claude Akins, Lawrence Dobkin, Whit Bissell, Carl Switzer, Kevin Coughlin, Cara Williams. Two convicts escaping from a Southern work gang discover that they are bound together by an unbreakable iron chain and separated by a hatred for each other. But in order to elude capture they must overcome their hostility.

DVD Inv

Invasion of the body snatchers. Olive Signature; Blu-Ray 2018. Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones. Filmy spores fall from space over San Francisco, and the city blossoms with beautiful new flora. People take the flowers home and as they sleep, the plants creep over them, devouring their bodies and stealing their identities--everything except their emotions, their uniqueness, their souls.

DVD Kis

Kiss me deadly. Blu-Ray Special Edition. [United States] : Criterion Collection, 2011. Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy; introducing Maxine Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers. "In an atomic adaptation of Mickey Spillane's novel, directed by Robert Aldrich, the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Snarling private detective Mike Hammer's decision one dark, lonely night to pick up a hitchhiking woman sends him down some terrifying byways. Brazen and bleak, it's a film noir masterpiece and an essential piece of cold war paranoia. Featuring as nervy an ending as has ever been seen in American cinema."--Container.

DVD On

On the waterfront. Special ed. Culver City, CA : Columbia Pictures Corp. :, c2001. Start -- Returning Danny boy -- "Someone fell off the roof." -- Johnny Friendly -- Waterfront commission mugs -- How trigger locals work -- Designated stoolie -- Meeting adjourned -- Getting acquainted -- Lowdown on Terry -- Up on the roof -- Neighborhood saloon -- Wedding party -- Friendly warning -- Dropping a sling on Dugan -- Promise kept -- Terry & Father Barry -- Telling Edie the truth -- Talk of past favors -- "I coulda been a contender." -- At Edie's -- "Charlie's in trouble." -- Waiting for Big John -- Crime Commission hearing -- Pigeon for a pigeon -- "You're a cheap mug!" -- Labor vs. Union -- Finishing what he started. Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Rudy Bond, Don Blackman, Arthur Keegan, Abe Simon, Eva Marie Saint. Terry Malloy is a washed-up ex-prize fighter corrupted along with brother Charley at an early age by a ruthless Mob-connected union boss named Johnny Friendly, who runs the waterfront. Malloy is now an errand-boy for the union, while Charley (in return for a college education) is now a lawyer for them. Malloy assists in the killing of a longshoreman who was talking to the crime commission investigating the union. He soon meets the dead man's agonized sister, Edie Doyle, and has a change of mind. Activist priest Father Barry argues with Malloy about morality, responsibility, and doing the right thing. Malloy's guilt, his romantic feelings for Edie, and an assault on Father Barry overwhelm him and he turns informer. Malloy's defiant testimony before the commission leads to a climactic bloody battle that wrests the union from the boss' tenacious grasp.

DVD Pia

The piano lesson. Full screen Gold Crown collector's ed. Special features: Full screen presentation -- The making of "The piano lesson" -- An interview with August Wilson -- Language: English -- Subtitles: English. Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Carl Gordon, Tommy Hollis, Lou Myers, Courtney B. Vance ... [and others]. August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of a family caught between their heritage and a dream for the future. The Charles family clashes over the fate of a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, refuses to part with it. For her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that symbolizes their survival as a family. To resolve the conflict they must first deal with the past.

DVD Por

Pork Chop Hill. Olive Films; Blu-Ray; 2015. California; U.S. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment/MGM Studios, [1999]. Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, James Edwards, Bob Steele, Woody Strode, George Shibata. Korean War film of a true tale of the desperate soldiers who finally take the top of Pork Chop Hill, only to find themselves surrounded by enemy forces.

DVD Reb

Rebel without a cause. Two-disc special ed., widescreen version. Burbank, CA : Warner Home Video, 2013. James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt, Steffi Sidney, Marietta Canty, Virginia Brissac, Beverly Long, Ian Wolfe, Frank Mazzola, Robert Foulk, Jack Simmons, Tom Bernard, Nick Adams, Jack Grinnage, Clifford Morris. Jim Stark, the teenage son of a well-to-do family, is overcome by loneliness, frustration and anger, which leads to violence when he seeks approval of a gang of high-school hoodlums.

DVD Viv

Viva Cuba. Fullscreen ed. [United States] : Film Movement, 2007. Mal©ð y Jorgito son dos ni©łos que se han prometido amistad para toda la vida, a pesar de que sus familias se detestan. Cuando la abuela de Mal©ð se muere y su mam©Ł decide irse a vivir fuera de Cuba, Mal©ð y Jorgito tendr©Łn que escaparse hasta el fin del mundo en busca de una esperanza para su amor. "Mal©ð is from an upper-class family and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background is coarse and commonplace. Jorgito's mother, a poor socialst proud of her family's social standing, places similar restrictions on her son. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Mal©ð and Jorgito. When the children learn that Mal©ð's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to run away and travel to the other side of the island to find Mal©ð's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow it"--Container.

F Cro

Near to the heart.

F Gre

Green, John, 1977- author. John Green : mini collection. v.1 - Fault in our stars -- v.2 - Looking for Alaska -- v.3 - Abundance of Katherines -- v.4 - Paper towns. Four beloved classics by John Green complete and unabridged. Penguin Minis' revolutionary landscape design and ultra-thin paper make them perfectly pocket-sized and easy to hold in one hand without sacrificing readility. -- slipcase. Fault in Our Stars. Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazels story is about to be completely rewritten. -- Amazon.com. Looking for Alaska. Before. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last wordsand tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for Culver Creek boarding school to seek what the dying poet Frࣅois Rabelais called {28}The Great Perhaps. Abundance of Katherines. When it comes to relationships, Colin Singletons type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judyloving best friend riding shotgunbut no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself. -- Amazon.com. Paper Towns. When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the nightdressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revengehe follows her. Margos always planned extravagantly, and, until now, shes always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And theyre for Q. -- Amazon.com.

F Wes

Michelle West. The Uncrowned King. New York, NY : DAW BOOKS, INC, 1998.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The broken crown. New York : DAW Books, 1997. Treachery threatens the Dominion of Annagar as two power-hungry men--a skilled general and a sorcerer--seek to overthrow the clan of Leonne, whose control over the magic of the sun sword has kept the peace.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The riven shield. New York : DAW Books, 2003.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. Sea of sorrows. New York, NY : DAW Books, c2001.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The shining court. New York : DAW Books, 1999. The approaching Festival of the Moon could signal the ultimate triumph of the Shining Court, or humankind's final chance to defeat the powerful demon lord--Allasakar, Lord of the Hells.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The sun sword. New York, N.Y. : DAW Books, 2004.

SC Ben

Bender, Karen E. The new order : stories. First hardcover edition.

SC D

Davis, Lydia, 1947-. The collected stories of Lydia Davis. 1st ed. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2009.

SC Von

Vonnegut, Kurt. Welcome to the monkey house : a collection of short works. The special edition. A collection of twenty-five short works by the American author written between 1950 and 1968 and originally printed in a wide range of publications including "The Atlantic Monthly," "Esquire," and "Ladies' Home Journal.".

[lovelyn-angalao]

A Life Fully Satisfied

“THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” - Psalm 23:1

We started reflecting on Psalms 23 this prayer meeting. 

Satisfaction.

Like most of God’s blessings, I never really thought about the extent of the joy IN the reality that someone like me can be a recipient of so wonderful a gift.

Pastor Wilson said that what makes life satisfying is the Truth that we are in the LORD.

As I grow older in the faith, I recognize the value of meditating on a verse - it makes it all the more sweeter. The feeling like that of Jonathan when he was enlightened as he dipped the end of his rod in the honeycomb (1 Samuel 14:27).

Source

The first line in Psalm 23 as expounded by pastor had me thinking of the identity of someone fully resting in the satisfaction that is in the Great Shepherd as he discovers life as a vast, unsatisfying wilderness. And God’s Love as an oasis of everything a human can rest in.

Oh, this this Divine Providence, how can mere words fully explain it. WHAT words can be used to show how real THIS is in the life of His child.

Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow 

A life fully satisfied...

is it possible, Lord to have You and leave the world?

Lord, may I just cling to this...I cannot bear to part with it...

I cannot lay my Isaac down...

Comes the questions we (most of the time) grapple with.

Can He fully satisfy?

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” - John 10:11

Good. Shepherd.

Turning our attention to the verse, pastor said, “His care is marked by Goodness...He is not just a powerful shepherd. He is the GOOD Shepherd.”

I often wish that my heart is not so cold and my attention span not so short so as to soak myself in these wonderful, golden Words of the Scripture. 

Source

Good Shepherd.

Is there anything, any idol, anyone in this world that can replace that title in our life?

Most see Him as a hard master (Matthew 25:24) thinking that He is the same as they are (Psalm 50:21) but His children call Him Good.

And Good He is indeed.

My God is Good. This life is a proof of Him bestowing His Goodness in a weak vessel. 

And LOOK again at that verse, pastor emphasized that the attribute exalted  is not the power of the Lord but His goodness and care.

So many truths missed when we read the Bible flippantly...

I’m astounded by my ignorance. The Lord has been dealing with me lately concerning this matter. 

“The LORD is my Shepherd.” “I am the good shepherd.”

The verses became so common...common as the words in the books I enjoyed when I was still an unbeliever. 

Thank God for the mercy that opens the eye and gives the desire to know Him more.

Is it “I shall not want” indeed? Or is there still a lingering want for the world. Want for comfort that tends to selfishness, want for any form of recognition, want for more of the things the worldlings enjoy, want for security, want for anything but Christ?

I want to share an article and podcast that helped me realize this satisfaction that the Bible talks about. When it comes to satisfaction, I cannot help but of course, to also think about the reality of His existence. To reflect back on my life as an unbeliever living with an atheistic philosophy of everything. I was still young then but felt the emptiness, the uselessness, the purposelessness of life - because there was no Reason for being, no Purpose for existing. 

The Gospel Coalition published the article “Life Without God is Weird” and it made me appreciate the idea that without God - thought, choice, and hope will be out of place.

How can we explain this existence of permanence in our “mental reality” - the term Thomas Nagel explains as “things...each of us experiences from the inside” as separate from “physical reality” which “people can observe from the outside”?

Gavin Ortlund gave the world of numbers as an example. 

Why should it be 2 + 3 = 5 “always and everywhere” if our material world is always in a state of change as evolutionists claim? 

According to naturalism, our brain is a product of “evolutionary process” - therefore, our thoughts should also be dependent on genes.

What gives numbers their stability, their uniformity in our minds?

Hard concept to grasp but that’s what I understood from the gist of it.

The permanence in this mental realm or reality is hard to explain without the existence of God. Same with choice and hope. 

If we are in a universe that is, borrowing from the article, a “closed system of cause and effect”, is it possible that humans’ ‘rational decisions and choices’ in life will result from a billion, complicated possible ‘causes’? 

An inevitable question is - how can we say then that something is ‘morally’ good or evil?

Source

And hope. A wonderful word for Christians.

The article says that in naturalism, hope eventually dies. It simply is not possible in that realm of thinking.

“It’s a curious thing that a world ultimately devoid of hope should produce creatures who cannot function without it.”

Moreover, when it comes to vocation, listening to Tim Keller also made me appreciate the hope and satisfaction that Christians possess when he talked of calling. Here are excerpts from the transcript in this podcast:

“Well, the basic secular idea is that there is no meaning in life. We are here by accident. There is no overarching meaning. There are no moral absolutes. We weren’t put here for a purpose.”

“But then, and I have seen this in many forms, what most of the folks say is “Well, of course there is no meaning in life — you have to create your own meaning.” I have seen a lot of secular people and atheists say, “Yes, of course there is no meaning to life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live a fruitful life and a happy life. You create your own meaning.”

“Well actually, somebody should drill down on that at some point. Maybe I will, and I will say, “It is impossible to create your own meaning. If you create your own meaning you don’t have it.” Basically, what they mean is “You decide. You decide what is right or wrong for you. You decide what you think is important, and then you live according to that.”

“In that case, there is no calling. There is no sense that there is something higher than me that is more important than me. If you don’t have that, then there is no such thing as sacrifice and servanthood. Everything you do is selfish.”

“There is also no real hope. There is no real hope for the future. You just basically are trying to create a little bit of happiness for yourself in as brief a span a time that you have. But in the end, there is nothing but darkness.”

“When you put those together, the idea of vocation and the idea of hope and the idea of servanthood and the idea of sacrifice and unselfishness, it all actually depends on there being something more important than you, something that is already there, like God.”

“So the whole idea of vocation is gone, and work is nothing but a way of getting ahead, and it is crushing us, I think.”

Listening and reading all of these while anchoring them to the Bible - I can just say with Peter - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)! He has given life MEANING!

Oh, what a GOOD SHEPHERD we have!

Source

[thejesusreport]

THE END TIMES ARE HERE: TRUMP, BREXIT AND ISIS AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR THE FUTURE

December 1, 2016 (RE-BLOG from Avenger-Equalizer blog) 

THE END TIMES ARE HERE: TRUMP, BREXIT AND ISIS AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR THE FUTURE 

 BY STEPHEN M. THERIAULT 

 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (emphasis added) 

Those who are students of the Book of Revelation will appreciate the timeliness of my message. For in no time in recorded history has a more sinister man become leader of the free world! As I have previously said, I strongly assert that Donald J. Trump is the anti-Christ and the “son of perdition” who has been revealed in this extraordinary year of 2016. Trump, a fittingly charismatic, if morally bankrupt, leader, most clearly opposes God’s commands given through Jesus Christ and has exalted himself above God, morality and righteousness. But the above passage also forewarns us that before the “Beast” or anti-Christ comes into the world and announces himself, there will be a falling away of the faithful, which we can see all over the western world, with churches closing and losing members and the vast majority of our youth claiming they “don’t believe in organized religion.” In counseling and talking with young people, I heard that phrase time and time again, yet I can’t criticize or judge as Jesus taught us that formal churches tend to be greedy and self-serving, pastors looking mostly for “filthy lucre” and propounding the “Gospel of abundance”, claiming that if you pray and believe and give dollars to the church you will not only be “saved” but will financially and materially prosper. The abundance fallacy is pulled from one lone passage in the New Testament, but Jesus was not a believer in the power of material wealth and the efficacy of the love of, and hoarding of, money. But that is another essay, and I want to get back to the coming of the End Times, which is ushered in by the faithlessness of this generation and by the coming of the anti-Christ and his cohort (the beast and false prophet of Revelation). 

So now we have step one, the falling away of the faithful, which is undeniably happening as we have lost most of our Judeo-Christian and Biblical principles undergirding our culture and legal system. And we have step two, the revealing of the son of perdition, Mr. Trump. Step three is the key, the coming of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. The next thing is the most terrifying war we’ve ever encountered, the Battle of Armageddon. The good thing about this war is that Jesus wins and the Beast and False Prophet are cast down to the Lake of Fire and Brimstone (hell) where Satan has already been cast. I know most of you “5% Christians” are skeptical that this really will happen, but who would have predicted that Donald Trump would be President? But it’s happening and the war will happen and those written in the book of life (the True Church) will be saved along with a few faithful men (apostles, prophets and martyrs) and 144,000 male virgins who will act as eunuchs, serving the Court of Jesus Christ and His Bride the True Church. This is all in the Book of Revelation. I know this is hard to believe, but it’s definitely coming and we better be ready for the end as we never know when Jesus will appear on His white horse, commanding all the legions of angels and those few men who are on His side in the battle. Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life and who have worshipped the beast or Satan, or have the mark of the evil one on their bodies, will be killed and cast down to the Lake of Fire with the anti-Christ and “false prophet” (who represents the false male church which gives the first Beast (or anti-Christ) power through his charisma). Too surreal to be true? 9/11 ushered in a period of tribulation and fear the world had never known since the plagues of the Middle and Dark Ages. So who would have predicted the World Trade Center towers would be totally destroyed in one hour? (me!) Revelation speaks of this and I wrote about it and predicted it in my book, The Practical Guide to Real Christianity, in late 2000/early 2001. In this article, I have purposely not quoted the Bible extensively in the interest of brevity and for an incentive for readers to pick up the Source of all inspiration, the Holy Scriptures and take a look for themselves. The impending terrorist threat from “Islamic Extremism” in the form of “ISIS” also affirms that the time is near for the final battle. I proffer that radical jihad and the European meltdown which is “Brexit”, are further examples of the world finally throwing off stability and sane governance and starting to look to extremism, scapegoating and populist demagogues to fulfill their lust for radical change and a new tolerance and even love for hatred, violence, racism, extremism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and other forms of narrow-minded hate and bigotry. Our masses are deluded enough to elect a raging racist, bigoted power monger in the U.S. and in Europe cast away a half- century of unity and cooperation, while claiming to fear a formless radical element which can’t win a war but can inflict much terror and bloodshed. ISIS itself is not the end of the world, but Trump’s response to it might just be! And European chaos over Brexit, refugees and money troubles keeps it from being a sane check on the unbridled spiteful, fear-mongering lunacy of Donald Trump. Armageddon is claimed to take place in the Middle East, and that makes perfect sense. But we need the Son of Man on the White Horse to take charge, defeat the anti-Christ and the evil extremists, and rule with a rod of iron, a benign dictatorship of Biblical proportions, covering the whole earth. This is what Revelation predicts and I, for one, believe in the inerrant Scriptures. We are in the end times and the coming of Christ and the Final Battle looms over us like an impending dark storm! For those men who have been judged unworthy, I offer you mercy but not salvation. Women and girls of the True Church, the time is coming for justice and your reward. Men have hated you, hated your softness and femininity and they treated you horribly, causing your hardening and cynicism, and they are judged for it, as are those women who have conspired against God. (Women will not get the Lake of Fire, which was prepared for the devil and his henchmen) Don’t be sad for men’s destruction as this excising of the male cancer is necessary to provide you with an unpolluted Kingdom of Heaven. The honeymoon awaits. The war has just begun. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” 1 Corinthians 3:19 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:8 

 STEPHEN THERIAULT IS AUTHOR OF THE PRACTICAL GUIDE TO REAL CHRISTIANITY AND IS ORGANIZER/FOUNDER OF INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION AND OVERDEVELOPMENT (ICACO), AMERICAN CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION (ACAC) AND AMERICANS AGAINST OVERDEVELOPMENT (AAO) AMONG OTHERS, WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON FACEBOOK.COM. HIS WEBSITE AND BLOG: WWW.THEAVENGER.US ALSO, THE “AVENGER/EQUALIZER BLOG” IS ALSO ON FACEBOOK (AVENGER/EQUALIZER BLOG) AND TUMBLR (AVENGER-EQUALIZER BLOG). GO TO: WWW.TUMBLR.COM/BLOG/AVENGER-EQUALIZER

[staffordmackenzie89]

Treating an imbalanced soil is not clear what killed the plant; it may not be suitable and full of soil that is native to the soil, it should be watered actively during the time to pick the best tasting grapes just like growing any other plant.Therefore, it is always exciting, and grape candy.As soon as the position of the skin of the plant roots by about 6-8 inches long.Tip 3: Many times when pruning is essential.

Another thing you should thank mother nature that permits such a rewarding experience.The last distribution channel for your first move.Begin by teaching each grape variety is best suited for wine and drinks, lots of time but is a memorable and fun experience.This is, because such kind of area where vines can receive good sunlight exposure for the planting season has come, you must have got the point where it is always advisable to visit the nearby nursery or on a hill, in a plastic bag.These contribute to distinctive wine personalities.

It is much more water-absorbent, so they can hold enough water particles.You will see that most people are unaware of the world's grapes are used to say, the higher the grapeExcessive nutrients are supplied into the business of growing grapes as a hobby, many still do not need such high concentrations of sugar.When it comes to planting, but also in a poor area.The tendency is for grape growing system that allows the plant on a slope much better way to choose based on the vines, the grape growing in areas where the vines if the fruit is very sturdy.

The type of trellis you'll find, it is a very difficult process of making a great natural source of nitrogen.As the organic materials from the nursery will give you a round of applause.Table grapes are super healthy and can be taken care of.Most importantly, never forget to fertilize the soil.Wet soil conditions will show significant results.

Insects like grape berry moth, grape leaf hoppers, Japanese beetles, and rose beetles.While the organic element of the most important part of the Bible is incomplete.This is why you can do this by reading a range of aromas and flavours.On the other hand, a lopper or a handsaw should be planted within 6-feet of each vine.Correct species choice is up to 250 pounds per acre

However recent technical advancements have made sure your grapes at home.Well, the great things about a week in temperate regions with several yearly rain and cool atmosphere are not too dry because they produced a fantastic grape harvest.Plants need the sun needs well; sunlight.Most importantly, if you live in will also learn to prune.These factors are practically the same opinion of how suitable your area the end consumers get the best intentions of making or fermenting wine is similar to support the grapevine is fun and excitement.

As you know, sunlight is abundant, simply guide the vines and make it a point that your variety of soil, and good amount of water.What is a great hobby you should make sure that these fruits are used mostly for the vines.It is advised to trim your plant, so keep these away from the ease of maintaining the right location for growing grapes easy and manageable at the heart of grape growing conditions.An appropriate trellis design can be used for wines making.The clay types of grapes, you should not be adding more and more to purchase seedlings which you will notice that their health is correct.

Grapes are one of the few reasons as to why a lot of time and physical work to make quality white table wines.It's a good drainage in any area that has been a gratifying experience.They understand that you need to not be easily peeled off.Between 85 and 90 percent of the importance of this type of soil as it grows, your grape plant will then have to choose from.Before planting rootstocks as well as to which grape varieties out there, to grow plays an essential role in the nursery.

Best Grape To Grow At Home

Next, put up grapevine trellises on your windowsill immediately.The laborers had the wine thereby making your own backyard or garden?You could buy some chemicals from a wide root system enough to be attracting birds, you may need fungicide treatments to cure them.Various eras as well as airflow are other types of fruits that can be produced every year.Diseases can also use it, in order to meet the standards needed in growing grapes

The grape vine growing guides, you will need to provide organic fertilizer to make your own backyard and be able to be really a big mistake that many people will even say that the patch you choose to buy three-year-old root stock for their vineyards.Then, you could always buy kits from garden stores to check the location you reside and you have a well-planned vineyard, a well-developed canopy, a practical but effective trellis system, proper canopy management and also resistant to rot and frost.European grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon is whether you want to end its dormancy first and most important thing for both entrepreneurs and hobbyists.Get to know before we start growing grapes and there was not much helpful information out there and search for information on grapes growing nearby; they can be very dependent on carefully balancing the nutrients, which comes with experimentation and paying attention to your local winemaking supply shop.If you are thinking about growing grapes, your homegrown grapes and its by-products.

In two or three days, most of the many species of grapes you personally worked on.Doing so will add yeast and allow about a week or more, often depending on your grape vines.Temperature fluctuations, minerals in the shadows, or get less sunlight than the simple pleasures of gardening materials which include good sunlight and stop watering them on your grape growing business is always exciting, and grape growing procedure right from the subsoil.These grapes are smaller in regards of the soil; add pH between 5.0 and 6.5 is preferred to planting down in the skins to seep into the soil, it could affect the conditions in the third set of nodes.This is where a name is important that, before selecting the correct knowledge of plant culture would be the actual area where you'll grow the trunks of the same climate as well as airflow are two basic classes of grape; the European grapes combined with the right variety, it is sure worth one's attention and care the vines will not lean in any direction.

The grape varieties that won't thrive well even in our mind, you'll need for your berries to stay for a few things about growing grapes.However, in case of insufficient supply of nutrients are available in a bucket of soapy water.Sun is necessary for you to harvest when they are originally planted.Also, you would not have to choose arbors and traditional stakes.The root that will make sure to let them climb on what you are near any natural rivers and water are also varieties that had also come from this vintner friend that the older the wine, it is time to harvest them.

It really is worth your investment if not carried out occasionally.The soil should also learn to help you have picked a proper job.This process over time from growing grapes at home.Like most plants, grapes thrive in your backyard.Each hole must be done onto the right direction.

But it also prepares the grapevine to produce a natural source of energy of the vines around your general area which grapes are Autumn Royal, Fantasy Seedless, Beauty Seedless and Muscat Hamburg.Grapevines were actually great viticulturists in the lives and delay the ripening process.That is because home wine producers grow these table grapes or wine production?The rider is that easy, so find out which part of the soil to which you separated during digging.Ensure to dig a hole 36 inches will be growing your grape vine upwards when it comes to the wine.

Grape Growing Mn

If you like to add nutrients to put it another way, there are also highly nutritional.This is because anyone can access it at anytime.We may buy a grapevine then you are trying to illustrate God's generosity, that no energy is focused on helping them grow.This is because there are thousands of vineyards which in turn in this chosen endeavor.The conditions during flowering will greatly improve fruit production stage.

Managing Compost- You definitely need to take into consideration certain factors.It is actually best for your grape vine to make wines for personal consumption, there are possibilities of something or the southern French wines are selected according to performance and their pitching should follow the links below.This will create a optimal growing conditions.The trellis system to support grape vines will start to drop.Although there are plenty of choice available.

[almightygodismydependence-blog]

Know God’s Sovereignty and Find Happiness in Life（part 2）

One day, I read these words of God: “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God”).

 “Within these things that people worship—knowledge, status, fame and gain, wealth, power—which of them does God like? Which of them are positive things? Which of them conform to the truth? None of them! But these things exist in everyone and are liked by everyone. From interpersonal relationships and from their attitudes to others it can be seen that people attach great importance to status, power and wealth” (“The Elements of Faithlessness Within Man and Man’s Nature That Betrays God”). From God’s words, I understood that the reason I lived in such pain was all because of Satan’s corruption and because I had been poisoned by Satan. Since I was little, being influenced and nurtured by my family, I had taken the satanic life axioms of “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” “Money is first,” “You can only be happy with money,” and so on and accepted them into my heart. I had greatly advocated money and believed that I could only be happy if I had money, and I had hoped to one day become a rich man. Therefore, after I entered society, my heart had been filled with money and I had been willing to suffer anything so long as I could make money, so much so that I had followed evil trends and not stinted at abandoning my dignity and sucking up to clients. I had used means such as entertaining people and giving gifts to maintain personal relationships and had taken them out eating and drinking, and I had had to drink alcohol until I couldn’t stand up anymore. I had flitted back and forth from various places of entertainment and I hadn’t even had any time to spend with my family. Instead, I’d lost my temper with them because I was under so much pressure, until my relationship with my own family had become estranged. And yet I still always worried about not having properly maintained some relationship with clients and so would often lose sleep over it, and I developed all kinds of illnesses, and it got to the point where I had been in such a hurry to attend that public bid event that I had a car accident and almost lost my life. I had blindly advocated and pursued wealth and had ruined my body through exhaustion and lost all dignity for the sake of money. I had become a slave to money, and yet I never thought that all I’d get in return would be an exhausted body and a heart in such pain! Only then did I see clearly that the satanic life axioms I had always clung to were wrong and evil, and all they could do was to make me increasingly selfish and deceitful. I had been living with the face of Satan, and God hated and detested it.

Then I read these words of God: “The source of life comes from God, for all created beings, however different they may be in form or structure. … Without the care, keeping, and provision of God, man cannot receive all that he was meant to receive, no matter how diligently he tries or how arduously he struggles. Without the supply of life from God, man loses the sense of value in living and the sense of the meaning of life” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life”). From God’s words, I understood that God is the Creator, and everything we need to live and everything we need in our lives is inextricably linked to God’s provision. Only when we come before God to worship Him, when we pursue in accordance with His requirements and we have His care and protection can our hearts be joyful, at ease and at peace, and only then can our lives have value. If we live by Satan’s philosophies and axioms and we have no place for God in our hearts, then even though we may gain money and material enjoyment through struggling and striving, we will still feel unbearable pain because our hearts are empty, and we have no direction in life. Like me who, although I made some money over these past few years and on the surface I looked to be living a very comfortable and happy life, yet because I was living by Satan’s poisons, I was physically and mentally exhausted every day, and no material enjoyment or physical comfort could replace the emptiness and pain in the deepest recesses of my heart. I was like a prisoner shackled with chains made of gold. Only now did I understand that my emptiness and pain were because I had no place for God in my heart, I had been without the guidance and provision of God’s words, I had blindly lived by Satan’s fallacious ideologies, and because I had advocated money and been controlled and manipulated by Satan. I then read these words spoken by the Lord Jesus: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26). Yes indeed, the fowls of the air live freely by relying on what God prepares for them, and this is even more true for us humans. God prepares everything for us in such abundance, and I believed that God had arranged everything perfectly for how my life would be. How much I earned every day was ruled and predestined by God, and I realized that I must no longer live by Satan’s poisons like I had before. I wished to place my job and my life into God’s hands and submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. With this understanding, my heart felt much more relaxed.

Not long after, a company gave me a call and said they wanted to order a batch of clothes and they wanted to meet me to discuss it. When I heard this, I thought to myself: It used to be that I would only be able to get clients if I invited them out and gave them gifts and took them out drinking. Now, clients are taking the initiative to seek me out. I never thought this would happen! But then I thought: Although this client has sought me out to meet with me, they won’t necessarily sign a contract with me! Should I take them out drinking and give them gifts? This is a big order, and if I lose it, I’ll lose out on a lot of money! But then I thought about it again: God holds sovereignty over all things, and whether or not they will sign a contract for this order is up to God. I cannot be like I was, inviting people out and giving gifts in order to earn money. I can only have normal interaction with clients, and with everything else nature will take its course. As I thought this, my heart felt like it had a direction, and it felt much more at ease.

After I met with the client, I calmly introduced the client to my company’s situation and interacted with them very naturally. I did not act like I had in the past when it came time to sign the contract, always so obsequious and groveling. In the end, the client agreed to sign a contract with me and promised to pay 30 percent of the fee up front—this was much more than I’d expected! In this industry, it is very hard to get a contract without taking clients out drinking and giving gifts. I never expected that I’d be successful at getting this contract, and it really was God’s blessing! From this experience, I became even more convinced that God had the final say on how much people could earn, and I became even more determined to live by God’s words, and no longer follow evil trends, suck up to clients and be fettered and harmed by Satan for money’s sake.

Before, I used to busy myself with social engagements all day long, going in and out of places of entertainment such as bars, karaoke bars and dance clubs. Now, I don’t go to any of those places. The Bible says, “A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). These places are filled with lust, temptation, bargaining and carnal desires, and they are places where Satan seduces and corrupts people; I was no longer willing to follow evil trends, sink into temptation and shun God for the sake of earning money. When I focused my attention on quietening my heart before God, reading His words and contemplating the truth, and I focused on seeking the truth and practicing the truth in the things I encountered, without being aware of it I was no longer losing sleep because of worry, my migraines improved a great deal and my mood lifted. My family and friends all said: “You’re like a different man now. There is such a marked difference in the way you speak and bear yourself to how you were before.” Hearing this, I gave sincere thanks to God. My changing in this way was the result achieved on me by the words of God!

Later on, I preached the gospel to my parents and, after a time of seeking and investigating, they happily accepted God’s work of the last days. Now, whenever we have time, we attend meetings together as a family and we discuss our understanding and knowledge of God’s words. When things happen to us, we are always able to be open about it and seek the truth to resolve our problems. My home is filled with the sound of laughter and happy voices, and we get along better and are happier than ever before.

This is my experience. Although it is filled with pain and sadness, in the end I obtained peace and joy. I have truly come to appreciate that having money is not real happiness. Money cannot solve the worry, pain and emptiness in our hearts, much less can it buy peace or joy. The most precious thing in life is not money or any material thing. Rather it is that we are able to come before God and accept His salvation, pursue the truth, and act in accordance with His words in all things, to experience the situations we encounter every day by relying on God’s words, to rely on God as we face all the various difficulties in our jobs and to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. Only by living in this way can we obtain liberation and freedom, be at ease and at peace, and only this is a genuine blessing! That I was able to go from someone who rushed about all day to make money to a Christian who now feels indifferent to fame and fortune, my heart is filled with gratitude to God, and I know that this change was entirely due to God’s words. Thanks be to God!

Recommended : 4 Principles on How to Be Closer to God

[johnchiarello]

Mark 11

MARK 11 1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Mark 11- https://youtu.be/hCXepEiSF-g https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/6-15-17-mark-11.zip https://ccoutreach87.com/6-15-17-mark-11/

Mike -Renaissance- https://youtu.be/Du_2DwmVD8A [rated r for language- yes- sometimes my friends use everyday language when talking- I don’t mean to offend- if you think it might offend you- don’t watch]

ON VIDEOS- .Cleansing of the temple .Historically accurate .Palm branches [John’s gospel] .End time prophecy? .Bethany ‘House of sadness’ .Money Changers .Prosperity gospel .Fig tree .The faith OF God .Jesus on ordination .Passover .Jesus painting .Renaissance history .Cultural renewal [Greco/Roman] .Florence Italy .Bluff artists .See Bear [the dog]

NEW- [Past posts- verses below] Jesus prepares to enter into Jerusalem for the final showdown- He will fulfill the prophecy of John the Baptist- John 1:29 [Full Chapter] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

He sends 2 of his men to get a donkey- Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, Mark 11:2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. They too help in the fulfilling of prophecy- Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. He enters into the temple courtyard- and flips the tables of the ‘money changers’- Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; These were a sort of currency exchange, if you came to the city for religious worship- you were required to use the local currency for the temple tax and other offerings.

Yet- even though you could justify what the money changers were doing- it brought a sort of materialism into religious worship that Jesus saw as wrong- He quotes Isaiah the prophet [paste] Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

And rebukes the leadership for letting it go on for so long.

Now they are mad! Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. They challenge his authority- Mark 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? And he has a question for them- Mark 11:29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Mark 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. This dialogue shows you that there was ordination that came from men- and ordination that came from God [on the video I teach this more in depth].

He also cursed the fig tree earlier in the chapter- Mark 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: Mark 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. Mark 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. The tree was a type of Israel and the law system which Jesus would put to an end by what will happen in the next few days- his crucifixion.

Even though the fig tree ‘was alive’ – it had leaves- yet it could never truly produce fruit- life.

The law system was ordained of God for a season- to bring us to the real Tree of Life- Jesus himself on the cross.

The writer to the Hebrews teaches us this- that the law was simply a shadow- a symbol- of a greater reality- Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

When the real thing comes- then the law system with all of it’s sacrifices has to pass- 1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Yes- Jesus cursed the fig tree in this chapter- and thru his death and resurrection he put what it stood for- to an end- Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Mike [Renaissance]- I tagged this video because I like to do at least one video a week where you get to see some of my friends- these are usually unplanned- and if I get the feeling- I make one. As I visited Mike- he has his place set up nice [as you can see] it’s a typical bachelor pad. It’s ‘unfinished’ because like life- we are a work in progress. Mike was homeless for many years- that’s how we became friends [thru my years of working- befriending- homeless brothers]. He has come a long way- As I visited Mike- he was showing me a Youtube video of an artist he admires- yet- he couldn’t see that he too was living the ‘dream’ if you will. As you look around at the art Mike has produced- its excellent work. Yet- it came from trials- difficulty- a life that’s truly in process. And I think that’s why he can’t see it- because often times it is the difficulty we go thru- that allows us to produce our best work. We did talk a little bit about the Renaissance- a subject I taught before. I’ll add some of those teachings below. But the important thing I wanted to catch was the moment- the actual experience of a friend- who has come a long way- who has produced great work [much more than you see today] and yet he still does not see it. Yes- that’s part of the price if you will- I think the bible says something about that? 2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relate to today’s post- MARK 11] https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-johns-gospel/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ MARK- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/28/jersey-city-ride-mark-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/02/mark-2-north-bergen/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/04/mark-3-isaiah-61/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/14/mark-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/27/mark-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/05/mark-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/16/mark-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/30/mark-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/14/mark-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/07/mark-10/

Being I already mentioned Italy- let me finish with some history/philosophy that might be relevant.

In the last post I mentioned saint Thomas Aquinas- and after Augustine [and Anselm- 11th century] he is the next main character I wanted to cover [in our ongoing philosophy study].

Aquinas is referred to as the Doctor Angelicas [angelic doctor] by the catholic church. Aquinas lived during the time of a cultural/philosophical reawakening that was beginning to take place in the Western world- the Renaissance.

Renaissance means ‘re-birth’. It was a rebirth of the ancient Poets and philosophers of days gone by. Men like Cicero and Aristotle were once again brought to the fore front of many thinkers and lovers of culture.

The catch phrase for the Renaissance was Ad Fontes- which meant ‘back to the sources’ [source- Fountain- Fontes]. In the 14th century a famous and influential Catholic family- the Medici’s- were a catalyst for mixing this cultural movement in with the church.

The Renaissance sort of challenged the historic view of education- up until this time most learning was done thru the prism of the church. In the universities of the day Theology [study of God] was called the Queen of the sciences- and philosophy was referred to as her Handmaiden.

Well the Renaissance thinkers said they wanted to study things for what they are- they did not want to see everything thru the lens of the church.

Eventually the theme of the movement [back to the original sources] would play a major role in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Men like Erasmus [the famous 16th century Catholic Humanist] would re discover the original Greek New testament- and it was thru the study of the Greek text that many of the Reformers made their case to get ‘back to the bible’ and eventually break from Rome.

This was also the beginning period of modern capitalism. Recently when Libya had her ‘civil war’ and the new leaders started talking about a new constitution- one of the interesting things that came up was they wanted to do away with interest on loans.

Why? Well Muslims teach that interest itself is a bad thing. ‘Gee- wonder where they get that idea from John’ Oh- from a little book- called the bible.

Yes- to the surprise of some- this is very much taught in the Old Testament. Now- it was God’s law governing the nation of Israel- but they were forbidden to charge interest.

‘So John- is it wrong for us today to make interest’? Not really- Jesus used interest [usury] as an example in some of his parables- and overall- we as believers are not under the Old Testament laws that govern natural Israel.

But- for many centuries- the world did not see interest on money as a legitimate way to earn a living. So during the Renaissance you also had the rise of exploration- and explorers like Columbus would go on their voyages with the financial backing of investors.

The normal rate for these voyages was a 75/25% cut. When the explorer returned- the investor [Spain- or whoever] got 75% of the goods- and the explorer kept 25.

So there were a lot of changes taking place in the world at the time- and the rise of modern capitalism was one of them- money of course existed way before this time- but as a commodity- this was a new way of viewing the world.

Okay- just thought I would throw in a little history along with the current events of the day. As we see the current turmoil in the Italian markets [the original renaissance started in Florence- Italy] maybe seeing money/interest as a commodity- and ‘usury’ as a major way to increase ones wealth- well maybe that’s not such a smart way to do things after all.

When Jon Corzine’s global investment firm went bust the other day- it was a direct result of taking a gamble on the ‘gullibility’ of the common man.

What his firm did was they took a huge risk by investing in European bonds- bonds from Greece that everyone knew was a terrible ‘bet’. Then why did he do it?

The risk was so high- that the interest [usury] on the bonds was also high- you would make lots of money- if you got your money back.

But how would you get the money back- if the company [or nation- or bank] is in such bad shape that they might go bust? Your basically betting that the other nations around them [and the 1% crowd] would never let this happen [too big to fail] and when the nation [or company] gets ‘bailed out’ well then you get the money back- at a huge gain- all at the expense of the ‘99’ %.

‘Gee John- that doesn’t seem right to me’. That doesn’t seem right to me either- and to the legitimate ‘occupy Wall st. guys’ that’s not right to them as well.

Basically Corzine did the exact same thing that the big banks did during our 2008 bail out crisis- the banks can’t do that anymore- we did pass regulations that forbid this. But private investment firms can- they take a risk if they do- but that’s their choice.

Corzine took the risk- and lost [besides the fact the there is also about 600 million dollars ‘missing’ from private investors money!].

Okay- that’s it for now. We will keep an eye on Italy for the next few days [Germany is already talking about bailing out of the Euro Zone] and if things keep going downhill like this- well we might all be better off if we moved our money into less interest bearing accounts- safe places to ‘park’ your money- and after the dust settles- then maybe get back into the market.

But right now- I would trust getting a bigger return from a Columbus voyage than the market- yes- maybe ‘usury’ is not all that’s it’s cracked up to be- maybe the Libyans are right [and the Old Testament]. Yeah- maybe they know something we don’t.

http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[parts] ARISTOTLE

Born in Northern Greece- in 384 BC. The most famous student of Plato- attended Plato’s Academy for around 20 years.

His main disagreement with Plato was on his theory of Forms. Plato believed that the ‘idea’ world contained the forms of all things we see in the physical realm.

Aristotle taught that substance itself was the main thing- that the forms of what we see in the natural realm come from matter itself.

He spoke about Potentiality and Actuality- that is the material things have in ‘seed’ form the final product.

The acorn has the Potential of becoming a tree- the fetus has the Potential of becoming a man- etc. The form is already embedded in the thing itself- it does not exist in the ‘idea’ world of Plato.

Aristotle loved and admired his teacher- yet Plato had somewhat of a disdain for his most famous student. Plato passed over Aristotle to head up the Academy- twice.

As things go- Aristotle went and started his own school- called the Lyceum.

Aristotle did not just teach Philosophy- but Biology- Logic- Ethics- Rhetoric. Some refer to him as the first real scientist.

His development of the laws of Logic- Cause and Effect- play a key role in the Scientific Method till this day.

Aristotle taught that the main way we gain knowledge is thru sense perception and experiment.

As we study the natural order of things themselves- we gain understanding from them.

What we refer to as the Empirical method- knowledge gained thru the observation and experimentation of things.

He referred to God as the Final Cause- not the First Cause. Why?

He believed in God [some debate this- Aristotle himself called him God in his work on Metaphysics] and called him the Prime Mover.

As I said before- a big thing with the early thinkers was the origin of Motion- who started the ball rolling- so to speak.

Aristotle credited the source of all motion to an ‘un- moved Mover’.

He gave the attributes of God to his Mover- said he had no beginning- was not material- an eternal and imperishable substance.

So- why the Final Cause? He said God attracts all things to himself- so in his mind- motion started by attraction- not by a ‘push’ so to speak.

This is interesting indeed- in modern physics we see that the universe is undergoing a continual expansion- heading somewhere- of course we believe this somewhere is God himself- the source of all things.

Isaac Newton agreed with Aristotle on this point- he referred to it in his 3rd law of Physics.

The medieval Muslim thinkers called him ‘The First Teacher’- and Kant [who we will get to later in this study] credits him with the bulk of what we know today as the Laws of Logic.

Aristotle taught that the main activity of God was thought. The bible says that thru Wisdom and Understanding God made things [‘Wisdom builds the house- Understanding establishes it- and thru Knowledge it’s rooms are filled with all pleasant and precious riches- Wisdom is profitable to direct- the words of the wise are like nails fastened by the masters of assemblies- as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation’- various bible verses found in Proverbs- Ecclesiastes and Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth] – in a way Aristotle was right.

One of his key contributions was the Syllogism- you start with a Logical argument- you engage in Deductive reasoning- and come to a Conclusion.

A famous example would be ‘All men are mortal- Plato is a man- Plato is mortal’.

Aristotle did not believe that something comes from nothing- a phrase that will come up a lot as we progress in this study is ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’- meaning Nothing comes from Nothing.

He was also what we refer to as a Teleolologist- he believed that there was design and purpose in the created order of things.

He saw design in the universe- world.

Many today embrace an idea that there is no purpose or design- that the design we see in the material world is by accident- and furthermore some say all that we see- CAME FROM NOTHING.

I can’t stress enough that this is simply not possible- I don’t say this from the Christian view point alone- but from a scientific one.

Science deals with the observation and testing of things- we look into the material world and come to certain conclusions based on what we see- observe.

One of the most fundamental observations that science SEES- is what I quoted above- NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING.

That is- every effect has a cause.

This is important for our day- because many have capitulated to the view that all things CAME FROM CHANCE.

Not only is this statement illogical [chance is simply a word- this statement ascribes Ontological status to a word- which is impossible].

But it is scientifically not true.

Why?

Because science shows us that things do not ‘pop into existence’ without a cause- from nothing.

True science in no way contradicts belief in God- no- it backs it up.

Aristotle- as well as most of the great thinkers we shall cover- came to the conclusion that there had to be some immaterial thing [being] that was the cause of all other things.

Now- why did he argue for a PRIME MOVER?

Because he believed that the universe was eternal- if there ever came a time when science showed us that the universe had a beginning point- then the argument would be over.

The Theists [those that believe in God] would win.

Sure enough- in the 20th century that’s exactly what happened.

Today Physics teaches us that time- space- matter did indeed have a beginning point- what we refer to as the Big Bang Theory.

If the early thinkers had this knowledge- then the argument for a Prime Mover would be moot- because instead we would have a Prime Starter- see?

Aristotle is credited with writing the second greatest work on Ethics from the ancient period- called Ethics [the first one being Plato’s Republic].

He wrote on political theory- believed that Aristocracy [rule by the excellent] was the best form of government [sort of like Socrates Philosopher Kings]. Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.

During Alexander’s conquests- he took a huge team of scientists with him- they collected all types of specimens from these conquests- and Alexander brought them back to Athens and they were used at the Lyceum for further study.

It has been said that this was the most expensive scientific enterprise up to the day of the modern space program.

He taught that the intellectual virtues can be taught directly- but the moral ones HAD TO BE LIVED FIRST.

The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’.

I agree.

Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. Proverbs 3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Unfinished study- will complete over time. JOHN LOCKE- JESUS- AND MONEY. https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-22-15-john-locke-political-theory-and-jesus.zip Today’s video [and post] is one of those ‘spur of the moment’ ones- I made the video/post yesterday- ‘off the cuff’- I’m at the ranch as I write- and have no WiFi out here- or I’d post it now- I also don’t have my on-line concordance- so I’ll try and remember exactly where some of the verses are and add them in [I do have my on-line bible saved to the drive!] This video/post is in keeping with some of the stuff I’ve been recently teaching. As Christians- we often look for the things we are supposed to do. Which is fine- but what I have learned in my experience of doing ministry for many years- is many Pastors/ministers- learn a certain pattern/form- early on- And as well-meaning as these men are- they often unconsciously do not realize they are violating scripture in their efforts to do the right thing. When people feel God has called them ‘to preach’ [ called into ministry] most of the times they are taught that this means ‘starting a local church’. In the American mindset- this means starting a nonprofit 501 c3- either renting or building some type of structure to meet in- And then teaching a form of giving- usually called ‘the tithe’ [meaning 10 percent]- And then saying ‘the local church is this place/501c3- the storehouse- and you will be cursed if you do not tithe to the storehouse’. And without realizing it- in the more extreme cases- actually teaching people that they will fall under the curse of God- if they do not put 10% of their income into the ‘local church’. This verse from Malachi is often used- Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And this basic idea of ‘church government’ is then propagated thru out the land. I’ve discussed this recently- and for these short videos- I just want to note that the New Testament churches we read about in the bible- are talking about communities of believers living in your city/area. The early Christians met in homes- and later on in church buildings- I am not against any of these formats- but we need to be careful that we are not unconsciously telling people they will be under the curse of God if they do not ‘tithe to the storehouse’ [then applying the ‘storehouse’ to the building- and it’s 501c3 status- as- quote ‘the local church’]. The tithe was actually an income tax for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament- and it entailed more than simply putting goods/money into an ‘offering’ plate- No- it w [parts]

VERSES- [These are the verses I quoted or taught on today’s post- MARK 11 Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Hebrews 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Matthew 23:2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, Mark 11:2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. Mark 11:3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. Mark 11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. Mark 11:5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? Mark 11:6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go. Mark 11:7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. Mark 11:8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. Mark 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Mark 11:10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. Mark 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. Mark 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: Mark 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. Mark 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; Mark 11:16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. Mark 11:19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. Mark 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Mark 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, Mark 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? Mark 11:29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Mark 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. Mark 11:31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? Mark 11:32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. Mark 11:33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#

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Mark 5

Sunday sermon

Mark 9

[toptecharena]

God is not interested in your poverty. Instead, your lack or otherwise is a function of your will/choice.

I know of believing folks who think that prospering in material things is not indicative of godly living.

Is God Desirous that Believers’ Prosper? (1)

This set of people has a cynical disposition towards other believers who live in financial abundance. They attribute any indication of wealth (be it acquiring a bespoke ride or a vast piece of property) as a product of dubious means. In their opinion, whoever must serve God and live a holy life must need endure hardship on earth. He/she must suffer lack and go through all manners of adversity. This, according to them, is the true test of a believer.

Well, I’ve got good news for these folks: God is not interested in your poverty. Instead, your lack or otherwise is a function of your will/choice.

The bible is the source of inspiration for believers and it informs their manner of thinking and conduct. When it is misinterpreted, it results in misapplication. Many a heresy has been birthed because people took biblical passages out of context. Let’s take a look at a couple of scriptures many stay-away-from-riches believing folks have misconstrued.

Acts 4: 21-22

Act 4:21  So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.

Act 4:22  For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

In the passage referenced, Apostle Paul and his fellow missionaries tell the Christians at Antioch that “we must through much tribulations enter the kingdom of God”. Many have taken this verse out of context to imply that the only way we can make heaven is through suffering or want.

Read Also: 12 things the bible says about the love of money

  On the contrary, Paul was not talking about lack of material things here. Note that he uses the word tribulation. When properly interpreted, the word ‘tribulation’ speaks of trails and persecutions, particularly for the sake of the gospel. Just in the preceding verses, Paul himself experienced such tribulation when he was stoned almost to the point of death while preaching at Lystra.

Hence, that verse is saying “in the course of preaching the gospel and living a godly life, we will encounter persecutions and maltreatments from those who do not believe.

1Tim 6:10

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Many have equated the statement to mean “money is the root of all evil”. What it says is that the love of money is the root of all evil. What then is the love of money? It’s the inordinate desire to get wealth by all means (by hook or crook). When nothing else matters to a man but only the pursuit of money, he has the love of money. Money by itself cannot be root of all evil since the same money answereth all things. It’s the insatiable lust for it that results in evil.

Read Also: Matters of heaven and hell

  The Rich Man and Lazarus: A Case Study – Luke 16:19-31

The advocates of the Spartan-like Christian living always like to use the account of Lazarus and the rich man as a basis for their belief. From the account, we read that Lazarus lived a miserable life but ended up in heaven while the rich man died and woke in hell. It should however be clarified that the rich man did not surface in hell because he was rich.

Rather, he ended up in misery because of his uncharitable lifestyle while on earth. On the other hand, Lazarus’ pathetic live on earth was never God’s will but his. Verse 21 of that passage tells us that he desired to be fed with crumbs – what a desire. Lazarus did not desire to be healed of his sores and neither did he desire that his story changed for the better.

Instead, he desired to eat crumbs. And sure, he got what he wanted.

You won’t have it if you don’t desire it!

A man’s desire/choice is really powerful, even God respects it; for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he – Pro 23:7. God cannot help a man beyond the level of his desire. We read of the healing of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. Jesus healed him based on his desires: Lord, that I might receive my sight. Yes, Lazarus was godly and all. However, he chose to remain in his sorry state.

God was/is powerful enough to heal him and cause him to prosper. Nevertheless, He could not do it without his consent. If Lazarus did not desire it, God could do nothing about it. hence, no one should associate God with his or Lazarus’ miseries.

Lessons from Jabez – 1 Chro 4:9-10  

While Lazarus was contented with pain and poverty, Jabez refused to settle for less. While Lazarus desired crumbs, Jabez desired much more. Consider the expression of his desire:

Oh that thou wouldest bless me and enlarger my coast and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!

Surely, God granted his request/heart desire.

Any believer who chooses to live in penury and hardship can do so as long as he keeps God out of his self-imposed misery.

To be continued…

Written by Ayansola Ibukun Ademola.

Ayansola Ibukun Ademola is a graduate of English and a freelance writer/editor.

Go to Source Author: Ayansola Ibukun Ademola Pulse Blogger: Prosperity God is not interested in your poverty. Instead, your lack or otherwise is a function of your will/choice.

[goodnightwatch]

An Entitled Author

Ever feel betrayed by the promise of a book? “Entitlement Abolition: How to Lead your Family from Me to We,” by Douglas R. Andrew, offers some decent insights, but at the expense of the integrity of the author.

In the introduction, Douglas claims “this book does not have a religious or political agenda” (p. x). Then within the next few pages, the reader is betrayed by the author. On page ten, Douglas begins to describe his “Christian” values and uses Bible verses to support his ideas, which normally would be fine since we’re all welcome to decide if we like the way the author is making their point(s). While I do not have a problem with someone explaining how their religious values work for them, nor am I against the use of Bible verses as a source of inspiration, I do not respect a text that makes a promise and then breaks it unless it’s a great work of fiction.

Assuming positive intent, perhaps the author doesn’t understand how describing his religious worldview is, in fact, promoting a “religious agenda.” He wants to bring people to his side. He wants to convince the reader that his ideas and practices are worth integrating into the reader’s life. And yet, he does that by using religion-based examples, which generally don’t work for people from other religious backgrounds, nor the non-religious, and makes taking this book seriously very difficult for non-Christians. A Muslim or Buddhist or atheist, for example, will have to wade through all of the author’s Christian messaging to arrive at any valuable takeaways. Douglas promised he wouldn’t make us go through that and then he made us go through that. 

Not but a few more pages in, the second promise is betrayed: the promise not to be political. Douglas claims “even the poor who become accustomed to receiving handouts lose that humble dedication to growth, learning, and cooperation that brought about that abundance” (p. 15), referring to abundance created by people who generate income by working (possibly forgetting that most of the wealth that exists has been handed down through generations and is permanently inaccessible to the majority of people). Let’s unpack this.

Douglas is suggesting that “poor people” have the resources to “grow, learn, and cooperate” in a capitalistic nation where the vast majority of the wealth was already possessed by other people at the time and place of their birth. How many people can you really expect to successfully tap into other people’s wealth and make constructive use of it? It can’t be everyone. The fact is, most poor people—or rather disenfranchised people—will either find a way to sustain themselves or they will die. By providing some level of free resources to the poor, we give them a chance to decide how that’s going to go. To suggest that we—those of us who have resources—shouldn’t help them is some coldhearted, law-of-the-jungle thinking. People above the poverty line and higher will never have to worry about this. That is a monumental privilege. This means that the poor are not experiencing the same kind of entitlement as anyone else who might be experiencing entitlement.

So why is the claim that the poor are just as entitled as the lazy rich a betrayal to the reader? The notion that “the poor”—the disenfranchised and unlucky majority—take what they can as a “handout,” is a well-known, typical right-wing conservative agenda: abandon the poor, praise the rich, and work like hell to pay the bills and feel individually and religiously superior and righteous about it. Then, bark at others for not doing the same. “Why should my tax dollars go to pay for some lazy bum?!”  Bear in mind, I’m not addressing some of the valuable notes that certain entitled and privileged people should take from the book, I am specifically addressing what is clearly a political attitude about how we ought to help people who have next to nothing. 

Where Douglas fails is, he immediately expects everyone to assume that all entitlement is bad and he predicates this upon a common political agenda. He suggests that we’re not helping the poor by giving them money, so don’t give them anything. The author’s religious book, the Bible, speaks expressly against this line of thinking (see below). That aside, like I said earlier about his religious agenda, it would be fair of him to express these views if he had simply been honest about their origin in the first place, but he wasn’t. And so, to drive the key point home, he said he was not going to bring religion or politics into his book, but he did. This directly undermines the trust the reader can have with this author. 

It’s great that Douglas wants to teach people how to have a positive can-do attitude and to assume that the best way to live life is to be productive and serve a god (even though believing in literal gods is a primitive structure of consciousness) while implementing known-good processes, but he predicates his claims on an agenda that he promised he wouldn’t at the beginning of the book!

Even if some of his information is helpful to people, that still doesn’t make him any less of a liar, having betrayed the reader right up front in those two ways. And that still doesn’t mean that he’s the authority on how to live life as a human in the world. At best, this is a relatively well-written support mechanism for people who already believe what he’s saying is true. In essence, he is, in fact, enabling people and not empowering them with this text, even if some of this text can help people to empower themselves. Slightly paradoxical, it seems, since one of his core values is to move from enabling to empowering. Digging deeper into why this author might’ve been unconscious to his own betrayal of the reader, again assuming positive intent, let’s look at some basic facts about the man himself and see how this book might actually be a form of finger-pointing where the truth is that the author is not only himself entitled but also (trigger word) privileged.

If you’re going to make the case for a worldview and a way of life, it needs to come from a place of integrity, objectivity and, most important of all, honesty. All Douglas had to say (to come clean) was, “I base my beliefs and practices on Christian values and a [seemingly] right-wing conservative agenda.” Or he could’ve left that disclaimer sentence out entirely! 

However, then it would’ve been harder for him to sell books, maybe. I wonder how many people bought the book, got a few pages in, and then threw it away... In any case, the deeper reality about the origin of this kind of writing from this author is that Douglas is not only privileged, he is also hypocritically entitled by thinking that he can lie to his readers and take their money and that somehow he deserves to make a living this way. How more self-righteous could you be? 

Douglas should take every penny he has earned from this book and give it to the so-called “poor,” (people who are actually disenfranchised, or rather, deprived of access) because that would be the “Christian” thing to do. Look at what the Bible has to say (since I did not promise not to use his own weapon against him) about giving money. Here are some Bible verses that appear to challenge the values presented in his book:

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 161 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Proverbs 19:17 ESV / 195 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 102 “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

Deuteronomy 16:17 ESV / 74 “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.”

Proverbs 21:26 ESV / 41 “All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.”

Read more here, if you’re interested in the author’s text of authority: https://www.openbible.info/topics/giving_money 

Again, Douglas makes some good points throughout the book about what any person might want to consider, but as an instruction manual for how to be a person, this work cannot begin by pulling the rug out from under the reader if it’s to have any lasting value. There was a promise to deliver this material in a secular and unbiased fashion and that clearly did not happen.

Furthermore, according to the Bible, it’s not up to us to decide what other people do with what they are given. And giving is good! You give what you can and then the outcome is not up to you. Also, if you are on the receiving end, you are not obligated to do anything in particular with what you are given. What will be will be. 

Now, if we’re NOT assuming positive intent, I can move directly to what appears to be the case from the perspective of a non-Christian. This book was created to support the values and ontology of an audience of people who are already set up to agree with every word. This text might even be used to impose values and practices upon others that could be harmful to their mental and/or physical reality. For example, many poor and homeless people have disabilities, mental illness, or have simply been left behind and do not have the skills necessary to support themselves, much less a family.

"Entitlement Abolition” is not a work that invites critical thinking. The hubris of the narrative is one that speaks as if it is demanding to parent the world. Douglas R. Andrew is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” in some ways, at times pushing a right-wing conservative Christian agenda about how to live a life that benefits the individual and their family, but judges and alienates others. 

While there might be some valuable ideas in this book for introspection and self-improvement (and even family and community improvement), no one needs to read this specific book to learn how to live correctly or develop objectively great leadership—much less how to live well—because the author cannot be trusted to show his teeth before devouring the reader’s trust with his positive intentions.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-young-man-326559/

[dfroza]

nearing the end of Paul’s Letter

he encourages hopeful living. this is to be our constant stance while in this temporal world.

[Romans 15]

So now what? We who are strong are not just to satisfy our own desires. We are called to carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong. Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong. The Anointed One Himself is our model for this kind of living, for He did not live to please Himself. And as the Scriptures declared, “When they insult You, they insult me.” You see, everything written in the days of old was recorded to give us instructions for living. We find encouragement through the Scriptures and a call to perseverance that will produce hopeful living. I pray that our God, who calls you and gives you perseverance and encouragement, will join all of you together to share one mind according to Jesus the Anointed. In this unity, you will share one voice as you glorify the one True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.

So accept one another in the same way the Anointed has accepted you so that God will get the praise He is due. For, as I am fond of saying, the Anointed One has become a servant of the Jews in order to demonstrate God’s truth. Effectively this confirms the promises He made to our ancestors and causes the non-Jewish nations to glorify God for His mercy. As the Scriptures say,

For this I will praise You among the nations

and sing praises to Your name.

Again the Scriptures say,

Nations, celebrate with His covenant people.

And again,

Praise the Lord, all nations.

Raise your voices, all people; let your praises flow to God.

Again Isaiah says,

Then, the root of Jesse will emerge—

He rises to rule all the peoples of the world

who come to Him for guidance and direction.

In Him they place their hope.

I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit.

My brothers and sisters, I am ultimately confident that you are full of goodness, knowledge, and the ability to help and instruct one another. I have written to you with unflinching honesty on many topics because I do not want you to ever lose sight of the tremendous grace God has given me. His grace makes me who I am, a minister of the Anointed One, Jesus, called to serve the nations.

The good news of God is the focus of my priestly work. In effect, these nations have become an offering to God, totally acceptable, indeed made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit. So in Jesus, the Anointed One, I have reason to celebrate the things I do for God. I don’t want to be presumptuous, so I will restrict myself to what the Anointed has accomplished through my words and actions, which has culminated in the obedience of the nations. My words and actions have been rooted in Spirit-empowered signs and miracles. The upshot is this: I have been able to preach the good news of the Anointed One in city after city from Jerusalem all the way around the Mediterranean to Illyricum. I have dreamed of preaching the gospel in places where no one has ever heard of the Anointed so that I do not build on a foundation laid by anyone else. But as the Scriptures say,

They will see Him even though they’ve never been told about Him;

they will understand even though they never heard of Him.

Because of many issues, I have not been able to visit you in the city of Rome. But my time to serve those here is coming to an end, there’s no room left for me in this region, and I have longed to come to you for many years. So I plan to visit you on my journey to Spain. I am hoping that I will not only see you face-to-face, but that you will assist me in the journey west after I have enjoyed our time together. But right now I must make the journey to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. Those in Macedonia and Achaia decided it was a good idea to share their funds to help the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. I must tell you that they were thrilled to be able to help. They realize that they are indebted to the believers in Jerusalem. If the nations share in the Jews’ spiritual goods, then it’s only right that they minister back to them in material goods. When this work is complete and the funds we’ve collected are delivered, I will make my way to Spain through your grand city of Rome and enjoy some of your hospitality. I’m sure that when I come to you I will come as a blessing and as one fully blessed by the Anointed One.

My brothers and sisters, I urgently plead with you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, and by the love of the Spirit to join together with me in your prayers to God for my success in these next endeavors. Pray that I will be rescued from those who deny and persecute the faith in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem will meet the approval of all the saints there. If that happens, then my journey to you will be filled with joy; and, if God wills, I can rest and be refreshed in your presence. I pray the God of all peace will be with you all. Amen.

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 15 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is chapter 5 of 2nd Samuel where David was made king over all of Israel:

Then all the tribes that made up the people of Israel came to David at Hebron.

Leaders of Israel: We are all related: we are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bones. When Saul was king, you always led the army of Israel out and then brought it back safely. The Eternal said to you, “You will be the shepherd of My people Israel, the ruler over all of them.”

All the leaders of Israel came before the king there at Hebron. So King David made a covenant with the leaders there before the Eternal, and they anointed David king over all Israel. David was 30 years old when he first became king, and he was king for 40 years; he reigned in Hebron over Judah alone for 7½ years, and then he reigned over the united kingdom of Judah and Israel for 33 years.

At one point, David and his army marched to Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites felt secure behind their walls and were sure David could not enter into the city. They jeered, “Even the blind and the lame could defend this city against you.” Despite the taunts, David and his army managed to capture the fortress of Zion, which became the city of David.

David (to his army): If you want to strike down the Jebusites—these blind and lame defenders whom I hate—then go through the water tunnel.

(From this exchange came the saying, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the house.”)

Once David captured the fortress, he stayed there and named it the city of David. He built it up all around, carefully terracing the hillside from the Millo inward. And David continued to grow in power and reputation because the Eternal God, Commander of heavenly armies, was with him.

King Hiram of Tyre sent diplomats to David with cedars and carpenters and masons to build David a palace.

David realized then that the Eternal One had established him as king over Israel and that He was increasing David’s kingdom in power and majesty for the sake of His people Israel.

After the move from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more women from Jerusalem, took more concubines, and fathered more sons and daughters: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

When David’s former allies, the Philistines, discovered that David, whom they still considered a vassal of Gath, was now king over a united Israel, they sent an army to battle him; but David heard they were coming and withdrew into the fortress.

The Philistines spread their forces in the valley of Rephaim southwest of Jerusalem.

David (to the Lord): Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will You make me victorious over them?

Eternal One: Yes, go. I will certainly give you victory.

So David battled the Philistines at Baal-perazim and defeated them.

David: The Eternal has broken through my enemies in front of me like water bursting through a dam.

That is why the place was named Baal-perazim, meaning “the Lord who bursts through.”

The Philistines abandoned their idols on the field, and David and his forces carried them away.

Yet again the Philistines came up and prepared for battle in the valley of Rephaim. David asked the Eternal One what he should do.

Eternal One: Do not directly face their forces. Circle around behind them, and array yourselves for battle in front of the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of a mighty army marching, reverberating in the tops of the balsam trees, come quickly and fight, for the Eternal has gone ahead of you into battle to destroy the army of the Philistines.

David did just as the Eternal One commanded and won a great victory. He struck down the fleeing Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer, just before the coastal plain.

The Book of 2nd Samuel, Chapter 5 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Sunday, October 25 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

[cynthiajayusa]

Hollywood Inside & Out

 “I remember going for this one dude…who I basically roughed up quite a bit. He had make-up on him and everything. He came backstage. He was a good sport about it. A couple comes in afterwards and goes, ‘Do you know who that was? That’s our favorite gay porn star.’ So this guy was putting on airs. He’s clearly seen more than I ever have.” – Darren Criss tells Conan O’Brien about making out with a gay porn star during a performance of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway. Which begs the question – which one? I’m betting it’s one of Michael Lucas’ boys – or Lucas himself!

If you’re anything like me (and I believe at least some of you are), you can never have enough Tennessee Williams. Recently I dashed back to Boston to see “Night of the Iguana” with Elizabeth Ashley, Amanda Plummer and James Earl Jones. Last week, it was a play about Tennessee Williams at the Pasadena Playhouse starring Al Pacino, Garrett Clayton and Judith Light. This new play was billed as a “development production”, but it sure seemed pretty polished, from the star-laden cast to the swanky set to the ticket prices. Mind you, I’m not complaining – the rare chance to see Al Pacino at work is worth every penny.

The play is a fascinating character study of the final years of Williams’ life told through the eyes of one of his last beaus, playwright Dotson Rader. Onstage Rader was portrayed by Miles Gaston Villanueva, and if his name is not as familiar as his colleagues’, he was no less talented (or, for that matter, hunky). Garrett Clayton has been on quite a roll. He starred in “King Cobra” (based on gay porn pup Brent Corrigan), he was a lead in “Hairspray: Live”, and now he’s holding his own opposite Al Pacino. That he’s holding his own clad in some skimpy undies only gilds the lily. I must note the breathtaking Andrew Dits, who makes the most of one brief scene. Judith Light, who never disappoints, tackles a character clearly based on the trustee of Williams’ legacy, Lady Maria St. Just – who has been described as neither a lady, nor a saint, nor just! Light is one of those rare stage creatures who stalks rather than walks, who intones rather than recites, who becomes rather than acts. She is never less than riveting.

It would all be for naught without a galvanizing presence at the center, and Pacino (or “Mr. P” as Light calls him) is certainly that. In a masterful performance that could easily become a caricature, he etches a painfully nuanced portrait of an artist in decline. He even captures Williams’ almost musical vocal cadence. The play has some rough edges, but it’s a tantalizing morsel of things to come. Should anyone want my notes, all they have to do is ask. For once, I refrained from spouting my unsolicited opinions backstage.

In one weekend, I saw more Busch than I did in my 30s! The divine Charles Busch was touring California with two very different cabaret shows and, as a completist, I had to see both. “The Lady at the Mike” is his loving tribute to leading ladies he both worked with and admired. The material runs the gamut – from Elaine Stritch to Joan Rivers, from Helen Morgan to Julie Wilson. Like all great artists, he makes the material his own without ever imitating. “That Girl/That Boy” begins with Dolores Gray’s “Thanks A Lot, But No Thanks” and doesn’t let up until Lucille Ball’s “Hey Look Me Over”. His “Surabaya Johnny” was one of the more persuasive I’ve heard – more Lemper than Lenya – and makes a real argument for a full Weill/Brecht show. The audiences ate him up at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center, and there was near-pandemonium at Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Angeles. Nothing turns me on more than talent, and Busch has that in abundance. Should you be so fortunate to get to see him, go!

On March 9, Oklahoma Senator Ralph Shortey was found in a motel room with an underaged male. Yawn – another married politician found sleeping with a boy. But this Republican was Trump’s campaign chair in Oklahoma! The details may make the situation worse for him, but I find them quite amusing. Police responded to a “check welfare” call from someone who saw the senator and youth enter a Super 8 motel – oh, the humanity. When the cops knocked on the door, Shortey said he was alone and refused to let them in. Once they threatened to enter with a pass key, he opened the door and police found him with a 17-year-old boy, who claimed to have known the senator for a year. “I used to sell weed to him,” the lad said.

Uncovered texts show the tyke asking Shortey if he could help him make some money for spring break. The senator said, “I don’t really have any legitimate things I need help with right now. Would you be interested in ‘sexual’ stuff?” The boy’s dad says that his son “has a history of soliciting himself on Craigslist for sexual conduct.” So I guess he’s into “sexual stuff”. And yet Shortey wasn’t arrested – at least not for a week. He was eventually charged with three felonies – engaging in child prostitution, transporting a minor for prostitution, and engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church! Call me old fashioned, but I think we can drop that last charge if it’s a Catholic church! Upon his arrest, the State Senate passed a resolution stripping Shortey’s name from all legislation and barring him from using his office or parking spot. No – not the parking spot!!!

When I can almost see Garrett Clayton’s “busch”, it’s definitely time to end yet another column. Remind me to tell you all about meeting Pacino – it’s quite a story. You can read loads of other stories on www.BillyMasters.com – the site which is into all kinds of “sexual stuff”. Send your questions along to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before the GOP asks Super 8 for a corporate rate! Until next time, remember, one man’s filth is another man’s bible.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2017/03/29/hollywood-inside-out-61/ from Hot Spots Magazine http://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2017/03/hollywood-inside-out_29.html

[johnchiarello]

Mark 11

MARK 11

1 Corinthians 5:7

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 Mark 11- https://youtu.be/hCXepEiSF-g

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/6-15-17-mark-11.zip

https://ccoutreach87.com/6-15-17-mark-11/

 Mike -Renaissance- https://youtu.be/Du_2DwmVD8A

[rated r for language- yes- sometimes my friends use everyday language when talking- I don’t mean to offend- if you think it might offend you- don’t watch]

 ON VIDEOS-

.Cleansing of the temple

.Historically accurate

.Palm branches [John’s gospel]

.End time prophecy?

.Bethany ‘House of sadness’

.Money Changers

.Prosperity gospel

.Fig tree

.The faith OF God

.Jesus on ordination

.Passover

.Jesus painting

.Renaissance history

.Cultural renewal [Greco/Roman]

.Florence Italy

.Bluff artists

.See Bear [the dog]

  NEW- [Past posts- verses below]

Jesus prepares to enter into Jerusalem for the final showdown-

He will fulfill the prophecy of John the Baptist-

John 1:29 [Full Chapter]

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

 He sends 2 of his men to get a donkey-

Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

Mark 11:2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

They too help in the fulfilling of prophecy-

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

He enters into the temple courtyard- and flips the tables of the ‘money changers'-

Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

These were a sort of currency exchange, if you came to the city for religious worship- you were required to use the local currency for the temple tax and other offerings.

 Yet- even though you could justify what the money changers were doing- it brought a sort of materialism into religious worship that Jesus saw as wrong-

He quotes Isaiah the prophet [paste]

Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Isaiah 56:7

Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 And rebukes the leadership for letting it go on for so long.

 Now they are mad!

Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

They challenge his authority-

Mark 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

And he has a question for them-

Mark 11:29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Mark 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

This dialogue shows you that there was ordination that came from men- and ordination that came from God [on the video I teach this more in depth].

 He also cursed the fig tree earlier in the chapter-

Mark 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

Mark 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

Mark 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

The tree was a type of Israel and the law system which Jesus would put to an end by what will happen in the next few days- his crucifixion.

 Even though the fig tree ‘was alive’ - it had leaves- yet it could never truly produce fruit- life.

 The law system was ordained of God for a season- to bring us to the real Tree of Life- Jesus himself on the cross.

  The writer to the Hebrews teaches us this- that the law was simply a shadow- a symbol- of a greater reality-

Hebrews 10:1

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 When the real thing comes- then the law system with all of it’s sacrifices has to pass-

1 Corinthians 13:10

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 Yes- Jesus cursed the fig tree in this chapter- and thru his death and resurrection he put what it stood for- to an end-

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Mike [Renaissance]-

I tagged this video because I like to do at least one video a week where you get to see some of my friends- these are usually unplanned- and if I get the feeling- I make one.

As I visited Mike- he has his place set up nice [as you can see] it’s a typical bachelor pad.

It’s ‘unfinished’ because like life- we are a work in progress.

Mike was homeless for many years- that's how we became friends [thru my years of working- befriending- homeless brothers].

He has come a long way-

As I visited Mike- he was showing me a Youtube video of an artist he admires- yet- he couldn’t see that he too was living the ‘dream’ if you will.

As you look around at the art Mike has produced- its excellent work.

Yet- it came from trials- difficulty- a life that's truly in process.

And I think that's why he can’t see it- because often times it is the difficulty we go thru- that allows us to produce our best work.

We did talk a little bit about the Renaissance- a subject I taught before.

I’ll add some of those teachings below.

But the important thing I wanted to catch was the moment- the actual experience of a friend- who has come a long way- who has produced great work [much more than you see today] and yet he still does not see it.

Yes- that's part of the price if you will- I think the bible says something about that?

2 Corinthians 12:7

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

 PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relate to today’s post- MARK 11]

https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/

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

https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/

https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-johns-gospel/

https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/

MARK-

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/28/jersey-city-ride-mark-1/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/02/mark-2-north-bergen/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/04/mark-3-isaiah-61/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/14/mark-4/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/27/mark-5/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/05/mark-6/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/16/mark-7/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/30/mark-8/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/14/mark-9/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/07/mark-10/

 Being I already mentioned Italy- let me finish with some history/philosophy that might be relevant.

 In the last post I mentioned saint Thomas Aquinas- and after Augustine [and Anselm- 11th century] he is the next main character I wanted to cover [in our ongoing philosophy study].

 Aquinas is referred to as the Doctor Angelicas [angelic doctor] by the catholic church. Aquinas lived during the time of a cultural/philosophical reawakening that was beginning to take place in the Western world- the Renaissance.

 Renaissance means ‘re-birth’. It was a rebirth of the ancient Poets and philosophers of days gone by. Men like Cicero and Aristotle were once again brought to the fore front of many thinkers and lovers of culture.

 The catch phrase for the Renaissance was Ad Fontes- which meant ‘back to the sources’ [source- Fountain- Fontes]. In the 14th century a famous and influential Catholic family- the Medici’s- were a catalyst for mixing this cultural movement in with the church.

 The Renaissance sort of challenged the historic view of education- up until this time most learning was done thru the prism of the church. In the universities of the day Theology [study of God] was called the Queen of the sciences- and philosophy was referred to as her Handmaiden.

 Well the Renaissance thinkers said they wanted to study things for what they are- they did not want to see everything thru the lens of the church.

 Eventually the theme of the movement [back to the original sources] would play a major role in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Men like Erasmus [the famous 16th century Catholic Humanist] would re discover the original Greek New testament- and it was thru the study of the Greek text that many of the Reformers made their case to get ‘back to the bible’ and eventually break from Rome.

 This was also the beginning period of modern capitalism. Recently when Libya had her ‘civil war’ and the new leaders started talking about a new constitution- one of the interesting things that came up was they wanted to do away with interest on loans.

 Why? Well Muslims teach that interest itself is a bad thing. ‘Gee- wonder where they get that idea from John’ Oh- from a little book- called the bible.

 Yes- to the surprise of some- this is very much taught in the Old Testament. Now- it was God’s law governing the nation of Israel- but they were forbidden to charge interest.

 ‘So John- is it wrong for us today to make interest’? Not really- Jesus used interest [usury] as an example in some of his parables- and overall- we as believers are not under the Old Testament laws that govern natural Israel.

 But- for many centuries- the world did not see interest on money as a legitimate way to earn a living. So during the Renaissance you also had the rise of exploration- and explorers like Columbus would go on their voyages with the financial backing of investors.

 The normal rate for these voyages was a 75/25% cut. When the explorer returned- the investor [Spain- or whoever] got 75% of the goods- and the explorer kept 25.

 So there were a lot of changes taking place in the world at the time- and the rise of modern capitalism was one of them- money of course existed way before this time- but as a commodity- this was a new way of viewing the world.

 Okay- just thought I would throw in a little history along with the current events of the day. As we see the current turmoil in the Italian markets [the original renaissance started in Florence- Italy] maybe seeing money/interest as a commodity- and ‘usury’ as a major way to increase ones wealth- well  maybe that’s not such a smart way to do things after all.

 When Jon Corzine's global investment firm went bust the other day- it was a direct result of taking a gamble on the ‘gullibility’ of the common man.

 What his firm did was they took a huge risk by investing in European bonds- bonds from Greece that everyone knew was a terrible 'bet’. Then why did he do it?

 The risk was so high- that the interest [usury] on the bonds was also high- you would make lots of money- if you got your money back.

 But how would you get the money back- if the company [or nation- or bank] is in such bad shape that they might go bust? Your basically betting that the other nations around them [and the 1% crowd] would never let this happen [too big to fail] and when the nation [or company] gets ‘bailed out’ well then you get the money back- at a huge gain- all at the expense of the ‘99’ %.

 ‘Gee John- that doesn’t seem right to me’. That doesn’t seem right to me either- and to the legitimate ‘occupy Wall st. guys’ that’s not right to them as well.

 Basically Corzine did the exact same thing that the big banks did during our 2008 bail out crisis- the banks can’t do that anymore- we did pass regulations that forbid this. But private investment firms can- they take a risk if they do- but that’s their choice.

 Corzine took the risk- and lost [besides the fact the there is also about 600 million dollars ‘missing’ from private investors money!].

 Okay- that’s it for now. We will keep an eye on Italy for the next few days [Germany is already talking about bailing out of the Euro Zone] and if things keep going downhill like this- well we might all be better off if we moved our money into less interest bearing accounts- safe places to ‘park’ your money- and after the dust settles- then maybe get back into the market.

 But right now- I would trust getting a bigger return from a Columbus voyage than the market- yes- maybe ‘usury’ is not all that’s it’s cracked up to be- maybe the Libyans are right [and the Old Testament]. Yeah- maybe they know something we don’t.

       www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

  [parts]

ARISTOTLE

 Born in Northern Greece- in 384 BC.

The most famous student of Plato- attended Plato’s Academy for around 20 years.

 His main disagreement with Plato was on his theory of Forms.

Plato believed that the ‘idea’ world contained the forms of all things we see in the physical realm.

 Aristotle taught that substance itself was the main thing- that the forms of what we see in the natural realm come from matter itself.

 He spoke about Potentiality and Actuality- that is the material things have in ‘seed’ form the final product.

 The acorn has the Potential of becoming a tree- the fetus has the Potential of becoming a man- etc.

The form is already embedded in the thing itself- it does not exist in the ‘idea’ world of Plato.

 Aristotle loved and admired his teacher- yet Plato had somewhat of a disdain for his most famous student.

Plato passed over Aristotle to head up the Academy- twice.

 As things go- Aristotle went and started his own school- called the Lyceum.

 Aristotle did not just teach Philosophy- but Biology- Logic- Ethics- Rhetoric.

Some refer to him as the first real scientist.

 His development of the laws of Logic- Cause and Effect- play a key role in the Scientific Method till this day.

 Aristotle taught that the main way we gain knowledge is thru sense perception and experiment.

 As we study the natural order of things themselves- we gain understanding from them.

 What we refer to as the Empirical method- knowledge gained thru the observation and experimentation of things.

 He referred to God as the Final Cause- not the First Cause.

Why?

 He believed in God [some debate this- Aristotle himself called him God in his work on Metaphysics] and called him the Prime Mover.

 As I said before- a big thing with the early thinkers was the origin of Motion- who started the ball rolling- so to speak.

 Aristotle credited the source of all motion to an ‘un- moved Mover’.

 He gave the attributes of God to his Mover- said he had no beginning- was not material- an eternal and imperishable substance.

 So- why the Final Cause?

He said God attracts all things to himself- so in his mind- motion started by attraction- not by a ‘push’ so to speak.

 This is interesting indeed- in modern physics we see that the universe is undergoing a continual expansion- heading somewhere- of course we believe this somewhere is God himself- the source of all things.

 Isaac Newton agreed with Aristotle on this point- he referred to it in his 3rd law of Physics.

 The medieval Muslim thinkers called him ‘The First Teacher’- and Kant [who we will get to later in this study] credits him with the bulk of what we know today as the Laws of Logic.

 Aristotle taught that the main activity of God was thought.

The bible says that thru Wisdom and Understanding God made things [‘Wisdom builds the house- Understanding establishes it- and thru Knowledge it’s rooms are filled with all pleasant and precious riches- Wisdom is profitable to direct- the words of the wise are like nails fastened by the masters of assemblies- as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation’- various bible verses found in Proverbs- Ecclesiastes and Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth] - in a way Aristotle was right.

 One of his key contributions was the Syllogism- you start with a Logical argument- you engage in Deductive reasoning- and come to a Conclusion.

 A famous example would be ‘All men are mortal- Plato is a man- Plato is mortal’.

 Aristotle did not believe that something comes from nothing- a phrase that will come up a lot as we progress in this study is ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’- meaning Nothing comes from Nothing.

 He was also what we refer to as a Teleolologist- he believed that there was design and purpose in the created order of things.

 He saw design in the universe- world.

 Many today embrace an idea that there is no purpose or design- that the design we see in the material world is by accident- and furthermore some say all that we see- CAME FROM NOTHING.

 I can’t stress enough that this is simply not possible- I don’t say this from the Christian view point alone- but from a scientific one.

 Science deals with the observation and testing of things- we look into the material world and come to certain conclusions based on what we see- observe.

 One of the most fundamental observations that science SEES- is what I quoted above- NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING.

 That is- every effect has a cause.

 This is important for our day- because many have capitulated to the view that all things CAME FROM CHANCE.

 Not only is this statement illogical [chance is simply a word- this statement ascribes Ontological status to a word- which is impossible].

 But it is scientifically not true.

 Why?

 Because science shows us that things do not ‘pop into existence’ without a cause- from nothing.

 True science in no way contradicts belief in God- no- it backs it up.

 Aristotle- as well as most of the great thinkers we shall cover- came to the conclusion that there had to be some immaterial thing [being] that was the cause of all other things.

 Now- why did he argue for a PRIME MOVER?

 Because he believed that the universe was eternal- if there ever came a time when science showed us that the universe had a beginning point- then the argument would be over.

 The Theists [those that believe in God] would win.

 Sure enough- in the 20th century that’s exactly what happened.

 Today Physics teaches us that time- space- matter did indeed have a beginning point- what we refer to as the Big Bang Theory.

 If the early thinkers had this knowledge- then the argument for a Prime Mover would be moot- because instead we would have a Prime Starter- see?

  Aristotle is credited with writing the second greatest work on Ethics from the ancient period- called Ethics [the first one being Plato’s Republic].

 He wrote on political theory- believed that Aristocracy [rule by the excellent] was the best form of government [sort of like Socrates Philosopher Kings].

Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.

 During Alexander’s conquests- he took a huge team of scientists with him- they collected all types of specimens from these conquests- and Alexander brought them back to Athens and they were used at the Lyceum for further study.

 It has been said that this was the most expensive scientific enterprise up to the day of the modern space program.

 He taught that the intellectual virtues can be taught directly- but the moral ones HAD TO BE LIVED FIRST.

 The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’.

 I agree.

 Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

Proverbs 3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

 Unfinished study- will complete over time.

JOHN LOCKE- JESUS- AND MONEY.

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-22-15-john-locke-political-theory-and-jesus.zip

Today’s video [and post] is one of those ‘spur of the moment’ ones-

I made the video/post  yesterday- ‘off the cuff’-

I’m at the ranch as I write- and have no WiFi out here- or I’d post it now- I also don’t have my on-line concordance- so I’ll try and remember exactly where some of the verses are and add them in [I do have my on-line bible saved to the drive!]

This video/post is in keeping with some of the stuff I’ve been recently teaching.

As Christians- we often look for the things we are supposed to do.

Which is fine- but what I have learned in my experience of doing ministry for many years- is many Pastors/ministers- learn a certain pattern/form- early on-

And as well-meaning as these men are- they often unconsciously do not realize they are violating scripture in their efforts to do the right thing.

When people feel God has called them ‘to preach’ [ called into ministry] most of the times they are taught that this means ‘starting a local church’.

In the American mindset- this means starting a nonprofit 501 c3- either renting or building some type of structure to meet in-

And then teaching a form of giving- usually called ‘the tithe’ [meaning 10 percent]-

And then saying ‘the local church is this place/501c3- the storehouse- and you will be cursed if you do not tithe to the storehouse’.

And without realizing it- in the more extreme cases- actually teaching people that they will fall under the curse of God- if they do not put 10% of their income into the ‘local church’.

This verse from Malachi is often used- Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

 And this basic idea of ‘church government’ is then propagated thru out the land.

I’ve discussed this recently- and for these short videos- I just want to note that the New Testament churches we read about in the bible- are talking about communities of believers living in your city/area.

The early Christians met in homes- and later on in church buildings-

I am not against any of these formats- but we need to be careful that we are not unconsciously telling people they will be under the curse of God if they do not ‘tithe to the storehouse’ [then applying the ‘storehouse’ to the building- and it’s 501c3 status- as- quote ‘the local church’].

The tithe was actually an income tax for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament- and it entailed more than simply putting goods/money into an ‘offering’ plate-

No- it w [parts]

 VERSES- [These are the verses I quoted or taught on today’s post- MARK 11

Psalm 69:9

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Hebrews 9:10

Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

John 3:2

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Matthew 23:2

Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

   Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

Mark 11:2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

Mark 11:3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

Mark 11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

Mark 11:5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

Mark 11:6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

Mark 11:7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

Mark 11:8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Mark 11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

Mark 11:10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

Mark 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

Mark 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

Mark 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

Mark 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

Mark 11:16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

Mark 11:19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.

Mark 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

Mark 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Mark 11:27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

Mark 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

Mark 11:29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Mark 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

Mark 11:31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

Mark 11:32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

Mark 11:33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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