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Chapter Three. Conversion

Thus there is such a thing as human absorption. It appears in all the forms of conversion wherever the superior power of one person is consciously or unconsciously misused to influence profoundly and draw into his spell another individual or a whole community. Here one soul operates directly upon another soul. The weak have been overcome by the strong, the resistance of the weak has broken down under the influence of another person. He has been overpowered…. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together[57]

Dr. D. James Kennedy, tanned and dapper in a dark brown suit with a white handkerchief in his breast pocket and meticulously combed silver hair, stands to the side of the podium and shares with us the most important tool in winning converts to Christ: becoming a friend. The seminar I am attending is being held in a hall of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church complex at Coral Ridge, Florida. Three spindly, white spires, all topped with crosses, tower above the cut-rate shopping centers and convenience stores stretched along North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The five-day seminar is designed to train us to teach Evangelism Explosion. The program was begun by Kennedy in 1967 and is designed to train evangelists in the tactics and methods used to save souls for Christ.

“I would always go in first, introduce myself, Jim Kennedy,” he begins. “I’m checking the lay of the land, and I will look around the living room and see if there’s something there that I can comment about. Frequently, there will be a large picture somewhere and where did they put it, this picture? Why would they put it over the fireplace? Significant.”

“In Fort Lauderdale you don’t find too many fireplaces,” he adds, smiling, “but there’s some kind of central focus. Maybe…golf trophies…I’m over here looking at these golf trophies…painting…I say, ‘Beautiful painting. Did you paint that?’ The first rule about looking at trophies: don’t touch them…‘Did you win all those trophies?’ So we have a little conversation about golf, but I know enough about golf to have this conversation. Now what have I done? I’m making a friend.

“Compliment them on whatever you can,” Kennedy says. “Discuss what they do. You’re going to find out what are their hobbies, maybe right there in the living room. Then you’re going to ask them about what they do, where they’re from, how long they’ve been there…something to discuss with them…In doing this, you have made a friend.”

We sit with our green marbled Evangelism Explosion workbooks open to the chapter titled “Making Friends.” We are being taught how to get prospective converts to open up and feel at ease. The manual suggests asking questions such as: “Tell me something about yourself.”[58] We are instructed to listen attentively, since “people usually are most interested in what they themselves have to say.”[59] Evangelists should “look the prospect in the eye, move your head up and down, echo what he says by repeating his words and voice inflection. Be sensitive to his felt needs and respond appropriately. Remember and use his name often in the conversation.” And, it adds, “Pay a sincere compliment.”[60]

Kennedy warns us not to carry a large Bible, but to keep a small one hidden in our pockets: “Don’t show your gun until you’re ready to shoot it.”

Metaphors of war and sex saturate the lectures and the readings. Kennedy says that the primary task of Christians is to recruit “soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ who are absent without official leave (AWOL).”[61] He speaks of himself and other pastors as generals or admirals and of evangelists as soldiers. And he warns that it is Satan who convinces believers not to take part in the battle.

What is [Satan’s] idea? It is this: that wars are very dangerous, complicated operations, and ordinary persons could get hurt needlessly; therefore, they should go home and let the generals and admirals fight wars…in the church this, in essence, is exactly what Satan has done![62]

Sexual metaphors are also sprinkled into the bellicosity of the conversion message. A “functionally mature, responsible, reproducing Christian”[63] should be producing others like himself. Christians who receive the gospel for themselves but do not convert others “are like immoral seducers.” “The seducer,”[64] Kennedy writes, “is satisfied merely to exploit and then tell of his exploits rather than entering into a meaningful marriage commitment.” Kennedy recalls the difficulties he had one night during which he was unable to “consummate the witness”[65] with a new disciple’s wife.

Conversion is a form of sexual warfare, a form of seduction and finally a form of physical conquest.

You must “seek to identify with your prospect. If that person would talk about the fact that they were lonely and you had a lonely experience, man, you want to tie into that, you jump onto that…get all over that with your testimony…because they’re going to identify with you,” Kennedy says.

The tactics of conversion come with layers of deception, including, we soon learn, false friendships and cooked testimonies, the promise that the evangelists are giving the “free gift” of eternal life and that what they preach is the inerrant word of God and cannot be questioned. Conversion is supposed to banish the deepest dreads, fears and anxieties of human existence, including the fear of death. This is the central message we are told to impart to potential believers. But along with this message comes a disorienting mixture of love and fear, of promises of a warm embrace by a kind and gentle God that yearns to direct and guide the life of the convert toward success, wealth and happiness, and also of an angry, wrathful God who must punish nonbelievers, those who are not saved, tossing them into outer darkness and eternal suffering. The message swings the faces of this Janus-like God back and forth, one terrifying and one loving, in dizzying confusion. The emotions of love and fear pulsate through the message. God will love and protect those who come to Him. God will torment and reject those who do not come to Him. It becomes a bewildering mantra.

Conversion, at first blush, is euphoric. It is about new friends, loving and accepting friends; about the final conquering of human anxieties, fears and addictions; about attainment of wealth, power, success and happiness through God. For those who have known despair, it feels like a new life, a new beginning. The new church friends call them, invite them to dinner, have time to listen to their troubles and answer their questions. Kennedy tells us that we must keep in touch in the days after conversion. He encourages us to keep detailed files on those we proselytize. We must be sure new converts are never left standing alone at church. We must care when no one else seems to care. The new converts are assigned a “discipler” or prayer partner, a new friend who is wiser than they are in the ways of the Lord and able to instruct them in their new life.

The intense interest by a group of three or four evangelists in a potential convert, the flattery and feigned affection, the rapt attention to those being recruited and the flurry of “sincere” compliments are forms of “love-bombing,” the same technique employed by cults, such as the Unification Church or Moonies, to attract prospects. It was a well-developed tactic of the Russian and Chinese communist parties, which share many of the communal and repressive characteristics of the Christian Right. This intense showering of affection on an individual, as psychiatrist Margaret Thaler Singer described in her 1996 book Cults in Our Midst, is often very effective:

As soon as any interest is shown by the recruits, they may be love-bombed by the recruiter or other cult members. This process of feigning friendship and interest in the recruit was initially associated with one of the early youth cults, but soon it was taken up by a number of groups as part of their program for luring people in. Love-bombing is a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of leadership, that involves long-term members flooding recruits and newer members with flattery, verbal seduction, affectionate but usually nonsexual touching, and lots of attention to their every remark. Love-bombing—or the offer of instant companionship—is a deceptive ploy accounting for many successful recruitment drives.[66]

The new convert is drawn gradually into a host of church activities by his or her new friends, leaving little time for outside socializing. But the warmth and embrace soon brings new rules. When you violate the rules you sin, you flirt with rebellion, with becoming a “backslider,” someone who was converted but has fallen and is once again on the wrong side of God. And as the new converts are increasingly invested in the church community, as they cut ties with their old community, it is harder to dismiss the demands of the “discipler” and church leaders. “Backsliding” is a sin. Doubt is a sin. Questioning is a sin. The only proper relationship is submission to those above you, the abandonment of critical thought and the mouthing of religious jargon that is morally charged and instantly identifies believers as part of the same, hermetic community. The psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton describes this heavily loaded language, the words and phrases that allow believers to speak in code, as “thought-terminating clichés.”[67] “Jesus is my personal Lord and Savior” or “The wages of sin are death” are used, in this instance, to end all discussion.

Rules are incorporated slowly and deliberately into the convert’s belief system. These include obedience to church leaders; the teaching of an exclusive, spiritual elitism that demonizes all other ways of being and believing; and a persecution complex that keeps followers mobilized and distrustful of outsiders. The rules create a system of total submission to church doctrine. They discourage independent thought and action. And the result is the destruction of old communities and old friendships. Believers are soon enclosed in the church community. They are taught to value personal experience over reason, and to reject reason. For those who defy the system, who walk away, there is a collective banishment. The exit process is humiliating, and those who leave are condemned as “backsliders” no longer favored by God.

There is a gradual establishment of new standards for every aspect of life. Those who choose spouses must choose Christian spouses. Families and friends are divided into groups of “saved” and “unsaved.” The movement, while it purports to be about families, is the great divider of families, friends and communities. It competes with the family for loyalty. It seeks to place itself above the family, either drawing all family members into its embrace or pushing aside those who resist conversion. There are frequent prayers during the seminar for relatives who are unsaved, who remain beyond the control of the movement. Many of these prayers, including one by a grandmother in my prayer group for her unsaved grandchildren, are emotional, and it is not unusual to see saved Christians weeping over the possible damnation of those they love.

This control, while destructive to personal initiative and independence, does keep believers from wandering back into the messy situations they fled. The new ideology gives the believers a cause, a sense of purpose, meaning, feelings of superiority, and a way to justify and sanctify their hatreds. For many, the rewards of cleaning up their lives, repairing their damaged self-esteem, and joining an elite and blessed group are worth the cost of submission. They know how to define and identify themselves. They do not have to make moral choices. They are made for them. They submerge their individual personas into the single persona of the Christian crowd. Their hope lies not in the real world, but in this new world of miracles. For many, the conformity, the flight away from themselves, the dismissal of facts and logic for magic, the destruction (even with its latent totalitarianism) of personal autonomy amount to a welcome and joyous relief. The flight into the arms of the Christian Right, into blind acceptance of a holy cause, compensates for converts’ despair and lack of faith in themselves. And the more corrupted and soiled they feel, the more profound the despair, the more militant they become, shouting, organizing and agitating to create a pure and sanctified Christian nation, believing that this purity will offset their own shame and guilt. Many yearn to be deceived and directed. It makes life easier to bear.

The most susceptible people, we are told in the seminar, are those in crisis: people in the midst of a divorce; those who have lost a job or are grieving for the death of a close friend or relative; those suffering addictions they cannot control, illness, or the trauma of emotional or physical abuse. We are encouraged to target the vulnerable. In The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James wrote that those who experienced dramatic conversions might have been born with a “melancholy disposition,” a chronically “divided” mind—or else, he suspected, they had drunk “too deep of the cup of bitterness.”[68] It is easier to bring about a conversion when the person being proselytized is in crisis. Indeed, the goal of the conversion is to generate a sense of crisis by stressing that all who are unsaved are lost and in desperate need of help.

When he speaks, Kennedy exudes the oily charm of a traveling salesman. He is meticulous about his appearance: never a hair out of place, his face tanned to a leathery brown and his suits finely cut. He talks in a low, sonorous voice, one he uses every Sunday when, decked out in his robe and academic hood, he stands behind his massive mahogany pulpit at the start of the service and announces, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” at which point the thunderous organ erupts in pulsations that rock the church. He is a rigid fundamentalist, determined to defend and prove the truths of the Bible through what he sees as intellectual, rational and scientific argument. His sermons can often be pedantic, filled with windy discussions about what he says are historical or scientific facts that illustrate the inerrant truth of the Bible. He is one of America’s most public and vocal dominionists.

Kennedy was born in 1930 in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago by a glassware-salesman father, rarely at home, and an abusive, alcoholic mother. It was not a happy childhood. Kennedy moved with his parents to Jacksonville, Florida, while he was in high school and by his own admission spent most of his time surfing and water-skiing. In his early 20s, he taught the fox-trot at an Arthur Murray Dance School in Tampa. He met his wife, Anne, there in 1952. But the official literature reads, “It all began on a Sunday morning in 1953, when he [Kennedy] was startled awake by a preacher’s stern question on his clock radio: ‘Suppose you were to die today and stand before God, and He were to ask you, “What right do you have to enter into My heaven?”—What would you say?’”[69]

Kennedy explains he was unsure of his answer. He says he went to a bookstore and bought The Greatest Story Ever Told, the 1949 novel by Fulton Oursler that chronicles the life of Christ. Kennedy had little experience with religion. He did not attend church regularly. The book, he says, opened his eyes to God, and he enrolled in seminary. He, unlike some of his charismatic or evangelical counterparts, did real academic work. He studied at Columbia Theological Seminary and the Chicago Graduate School of Theology, and received a PhD from New York University.

He began modestly with a small church, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, which split with the mainline Presbyterian Church over what the schismatic sect branded its liberal theology. It had fewer than 100 members. But Fort Lauderdale proved to be fertile ground for the young preacher, with families moving in droves into sprawling new developments. The population influx helped swell his congregation, although the church literature portrays its growth as the result of successful proselytizing. He slowly built a massive multimedia empire. Kennedy’s weekly broadcasts of The Coral Ridge Hour can be seen on more than 600 television stations and four cable networks and heard on the Armed Forces Network. It is the third most widely syndicated Christian program in the nation, reaching more than 3.5 million people. His radio show, Truths That Transform, is on more than 744 stations, six days a week.[70] He runs a lobbying group in Washington called the Center for Reclaiming America, as well as the Center for Christian Statesmanship, which evangelizes those who work in Congress. He hosts monthly luncheons, for members of Congress and their staffs, which feature conservative speakers. Kennedy believes that “the Christian view of morality and life is the one that should prevail in America.”[71] He is fond of quoting John Jay, the Chief Justice of the first U.S. Supreme Court, who said that “God in His providence has given to us a Christian nation, and it behooves us as Christians to prefer and select Christians to rule over us.” Kennedy argues that this “was the Christian perspective of most of the founders in the beginning of this country.”[72]

“Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost,” Kennedy has said. “As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors—in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.”[73]

Kennedy is opposed to abortion, homosexuality and the study of evolution. He rails against the values of the Enlightenment. He says that theories of evolution were the basis for Nazism, communism and fascism and that “these are the views of men that have resulted in millions and millions of people dying.”[74]

He once told a reporter he’d never had a gay friend, adding, “I believe one was working at the dance studio [where he worked in his 20s], but I couldn’t tell for sure. They are very good at blending in.”[75] Still, despite having no personal interaction with gay people (he says only ex-gays are members at his church), Kennedy formed Worthy Creations Ministry, a branch of Exodus International, in 1998. Worthy Creations preaches that homosexuality is a sickness that can be healed.[76]

The cultural decline in America is the result, he says, of straying from Christian values. In The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail: The Attack on Christianity and What You Need to Know to Combat It, a book Kennedy wrote in 1996, he writes that although the United States was once a “Christian nation,” that is no longer the case because today “the hostile barrage from atheists, agnostics and other secular humanists has begun to take a serious toll on that heritage. In recent years, they have built up their forces and even increased their assault upon all our Christian institutions, and they have been enormously successful in taking over the ‘public square.’ Public education, the media, the government, the courts, and even the church in many places, now belong to them.”[77]

The goal is not simply conversion but also eventual recruitment into a political movement to create a Christian nation. But this process is riddled with lies and deception. In the seminar, evangelists are told to pretend at first that they are taking a survey of religious belief to get people to talk and that proselytizers should hide their Bibles so their targets do not know they are being proselytized, and should ignore “No Soliciting” signs, since what they are giving people is “a free gift.”

Kennedy begins to talk about the godless character of liberal churches. He dismisses the members of these churches as “nominal Christians.” Referring to a potential convert whom he calls Scott, Kennedy tells us that since Scott had previously attended Grace Baptist Church, the word “grace” being a popular term within the Christian Right, he was probably a real Christian.

“Suppose we’ve got a lot of liberal churches in this area, and if you just named a church in this area that you go to, probably 90 to 10, I could tell whether or not you’re a Christian,” he says. “And how could I do that? Simply because these liberal churches don’t preach the Gospel. I can tell you a big liberal church in this area where you can stand outside the church, Sunday morning after service, and say, ‘Excuse me, sir, I’m lost, I wonder if you can tell me how to get to heaven.’ And I would venture to say that 98 percent could not tell you, and that’s because the pastor is a liberal and he doesn’t believe in heaven. He doesn’t believe in salvation; he probably doesn’t believe in sin. Certainly doesn’t believe in hell.

“There are millions of people in this country who attend church regularly,” Kennedy tells us, “trying to live a good life and follow God’s teachings, and yet somehow—now underline this next phrase—the church has failed to communicate to them how they can know for sure that they have eternal life and they’re going to heaven.”

At the Evangelism Explosion workshop we must write and rewrite our personal testimonies and practice delivering them in front of our assigned prayer partners, who critique them according to the manual. The testimony is an illustration to the nonbeliever that the converted are absolutely certain of eternal life and have been freed from all human anxieties. The testimony, we are told by the instructor, must state explicitly that the fear of death has been banished forever. We must describe moments in our lives when death appeared certain and we felt at peace and certain of eternal life. The testimony has to stress and repeat this total certitude of our belief in eternal life and freedom from fear. We turn our testimonies in for correction by the instructors to make sure our essays have not deviated from the two approved outlines of conversion, and we rewrite them when they come back with “errors” marked in red.

Freedom from fear, especially the fear of death, is what is being sold. It is a lie, as everyone who works to write and rewrite their testimonies has to know on some level. But few people would have the firmness of mind to admit this in front of other believers. Such an admission would be interpreted as a lack of faith. Yet creation of this internal conflict is also part of the process, for it fosters a dread of being found out, a morbid guilt that we are not as good or as Christian as those around us. The process, from its inception, is not only dishonest but cruel. The dissonance between individual sensibility and the group does not go away with conversion or blind obedience or submission. Belief systems that preach a utopian and unachievable ideal drive this angst underground, forcing the convert to measure him- or herself against an impossible ideal. This system ensures continuous feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, guilt and self-loathing. That many converts feel deep remorse for past actions, for mistakes and cruelties, for the despair that has gripped their lives, only makes them more insecure.

The proper form for a conversion testimony is detailed for us in the Evangelism Explosion workbook:

Stage 1: What I was before. “Select one life concept such as loneliness, strife, guilt, fear of death, emptiness, rejection, insecurity, depression. Then include it (only one life concept per testimony) in an opening statement, saying, ‘Before I received eternal life, my life was filled with a paralyzing fear of death.’ Next, move from the general statement to a specific illustration out of your own life experiences. Give concrete details to make your illustration come alive.”[78]

Stage 2: How I received eternal life. “At this point, you may want to say something like, ‘Not many months later, a friend shared with me the most wonderful news I’d ever heard—that God had provided eternal life for me and what the conditions were to receive that life. As a result, many things changed in my life.’”[79]

Stage 3: What eternal life has meant to me. “At this point, you may want to share the life concept in reverse. If you selected fear of death as your life concept, you will now want to speak of courage in the face of death. If you chose the concept of guilt, you may now want to speak of forgiveness. The reverse of depression is hope; of emptiness, purpose; of rebellion, obedience, etc. Then you will want to illustrate the reverse life concept with another illustration from your experience. For instance, you may want to say, ‘The fear of death is now gone, and in its place is courage when facing death situations or thoughts about death.’”[80]

“As you prepare your testimony,” Kennedy says, “realize that you are fashioning an evangelical tool, so that you will be a more proficient witness.”

There are two possible types of conversion experiences, the class is told: a childhood conversion and an adult conversion. Those who have experienced childhood conversions are told by the instructors not to state in the testimony that they were converted as a child. It will hurt their credibility with adults.

A childhood conversion testimony starts with the sentence “I’m glad I have eternal life because it’s given me the certainty of knowing where I’m going when I die. And because of this, I have no fear of death.”

The instructor gives us an example of an effective childhood conversion testimony:

“‘Not long ago we were driving north on Interstate 57 during an ice storm that put a sheet of glazed ice on the highway…. We were easily easing along at 25 miles per hour, looking for a place to get off the highway to find shelter for the night, and as we were driving we came alongside a semitrailer truck.’ They’re painting a picture here. ‘The wind was blowing very hard, and the trailer truck became like a sailboat, catching the wind.’ Got this picture? ‘Whoa. The truck was gradually being pushed across the center line, and steadily toward the car. There was nowhere to go. We couldn’t go to the right because we’d run into the truck; we couldn’t go to the left because we would eventually end up in a ditch with the truck on top of us. And as we waited to see the outcome, our tragic injury seemed certain. My whole life came before me, and yet God gave me complete peace in my heart, knowing that even in light of this almost certain tragedy, I knew for certain that if I were to die, I’d go to heaven. What a joy and a difference that made as I faced that danger. And it’s the same today. I know that if I were to die right now, I’d go to be with God in heaven.’

“See?” the instructor goes on. “He captured your attention with a story, and that’s what we’re wanting you to build into your story, because all of you have that. I teach my trainers that they should be able to write a testimony like that. As they’re listening in the introduction, the Lord will capture them with something in their own story with which they can build a testimony.”

The adult conversion testimony, however, is different, although it too focuses on overcoming the fear of death. A stocky instructor recounts it for us:

“‘Before I received eternal life, I had a fear of death and dying.’ Same concept: the thought of death terrified me. ‘I had no idea what lay beyond death’s door for me. When I was in college I was living in a small home alone. One night, a terrible storm arose with wind gusts over 50 miles per hour. Kind of like Wilma down here; she was packing some heavy winds. The wind was so strong that the rain was pouring horizontally across the ground, our little mobile home was rocking on its concrete block foundation, and a bolt of lightning struck a tall oak tree right next to me. I was frightened, and I set up near to the sofa, fearful that I was going to die. Not many months later, a friend shared with me something very wonderful, and I received eternal life. Many things changed in my life. And now that I have eternal life, the fear of death and dying is gone. Not long after I received eternal life, we were driving north on Interstate 57 during an ice storm that put a sheet of glazed ice on the highway.’…Same illustration, only in the life of a person who’s accepted Christ, you know? And what happened before and then what happened after. ‘As we waited to see the outcome, death or tragic injury seemed certain, and my whole life came before me.’”

The class has their workbooks open to the chapter “Sharing Your Testimony.”

“Now here’s not how to give a testimony,” an instructor says. “‘I received blessing when I became a Christian! I received deliverance through the Sinners’ Prayer! I was unsaved and needed to be saved! My conversion happened when I put my faith in Jesus Christ, my savior, who died for the sins of those who trust Him. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen! I received salvation when I believed the Gospel and was washed in the blood of the Lamb, and I was born again when the Holy Spirit spoke to me at the altar of God. I lost all my friends and I lost my job, but God has looked after me ever since, and praise His name! The trials and tests are unbearable, and I just hope I can hold out until the end, and then maybe I’ll be able to go to heaven!’

“You know,” he says, “really, all of those things are true. All of those things are true of what happens in our lives. ‘The blood of the Lamb,’ that’s a great, great phrase. ‘The Gospel,’ ‘washed in the blood of the Lamb,’ ‘born again when the Holy Spirit spoke to me at the altar of God.’ What’s wrong with those statements? Way too churchy. Now you think how lost people think, and they don’t think that way. They don’t understand that. That is a jargon, and they just don’t have any clue…. We use phrases like that and toss them back and forth, and a lost person thinks we’ve dropped off another planet. So what we want you to do, we want you to go into your prayer groups and we want you to talk them through your story.”

The class of 60 evangelism students, many of them pastors, breaks up into preassigned prayer groups to practice their personal testimonies again.

We are told to always emphasize the positive and to find common interests, experiences, or viewpoints that will allow “your prospect,” as the potential converts are called in our manual, to identify with us. We are told to pepper our talk with uplifting thoughts, such as the comfort we have of going to bed every night and knowing that if we do not wake in the morning we will be in paradise with God. We are instructed to paint detailed pictures of terrible personal tragedies that have been solved by God. As an example, the manual quotes a parent saying that they had “a Christian son killed in Vietnam” but they are at peace with the loss because the parent knows that, since the son was a Christian, he has eternal life, and the parent will be reunited with him in heaven. Our testimonies and conversions must be sprinkled with words like “love,” “peace,” “faithfulness,” “hope,” “purpose,” and “obedience.” But the core of the message, the point we must impart to the potential convert, is that conversion has obliterated our fear of death, not only for ourselves, but the fear we have of losing those we love. This is what is being sold. And we, as the salespeople, are meant to stand as proof that humankind’s deepest fear, the fear of nonbeing, the fear of death, can be banished from life.

Two women from the church walk up in front of the group to role-play the conversion process. One sits in one of two green leather chairs on a raised platform. The other stands and pretends to knock on an imaginary door. The woman in the chair gets up to greet her visitor and welcomes her inside. They sit. The evangelist exchanges a few banalities about how nice the house looks and compliments her hostess on her taste in home furnishings. She “makes a friend.” She then gives her personal testimony. After the testimony, in quick succession, she asks the two questions that have to be asked early of every potential convert. The class has been cautioned that “when two people are present, begin by asking the person who seems least likely to have the correct answer.” The goal is to elicit incorrect answers, answers that allow the evangelist to push home the message that time is running out, sin is accumulating. The gift of eternal life waits to be taken, but without salvation everyone is damned to eternal punishment.

“‘Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven, or is that something you would say you’re still working on?’” the evangelist says, repeating verbatim the first question.

“I would say I am still working on it,” the other woman answers.

The evangelist launches into the second question.

“Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ What would you say?”

Her mock recruit fumbles, talks about having lived a good life.

The evangelist repeats the answer, because, as the instructor has told the group, “this will help preclude the prospect saying at the end of the Gospel presentation, ‘I’ve always believed in Jesus Christ and trusted Him alone for salvation.’”

This is an important moment, we are told, because the conversion process depends on potential converts saying they are not sure they will be granted eternal life and they have not placed their total trust and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

“When you answered that first question, I thought I had some good news for you,” the evangelist says, lifting the sentence verbatim from the manual. “But after hearing your answer to this second question, I know that I have the greatest news you have ever heard.”

The workbook, lying open in front of the onlookers, instructs the evangelist to say this sentence with “great enthusiasm,” since, the workbook adds, this “precludes a hostile reaction.”[81]

Heaven, the potential convert is told after the questions are asked, is “unearned, undeserved, and unmerited. It’s free.” But it can come only through a commitment to Jesus Christ.

And then the discussion in the conversion process turns to sin. The evangelists are told to disabuse converts of the notion that sin is limited to robbery, murder, adultery or other specific acts. We are informed that sin “is anything that doesn’t please God or is a transgression of His law.”[82] Sin, the convert is to be told, is “the fatal malignancy which infects the soul of the entire human race.”[83] The convert is to be told that there is no escape from sin and that even the most righteous commit innumerable sinful acts.

This definition of sin is a subtle and pernicious twist to the traditional Christian concept of sin. As defined by Paul in his letters, sin is a state of being, a split between our conscious will and our real will, between us and something strange and alien within us. Sin is not, as Kennedy claims, a scorecard of rights and wrongs. For Paul, as well as many theologians such as Paul Tillich, there is no action, no matter how moral and good, which is totally pure or moral, totally free from sin. Sin is, rather, a way of describing our estrangement from others and ourselves, from what Tillich calls “the ground of our being.”[84] It is estrangement from the origin and aim of life. When we carry out acts that further this estrangement, when we violate our relationships with others and with ourselves, we sin. But Kennedy paints sin as something quantifiable, as if there were a digital counter that recorded one sin after another and stored the information in some heavenly bank account.

An instructor turns to a church member and illustrates how to speak about sin to a potential convert:

“Suppose I could get to the point where only ten times a day or five times, or let’s say three times a day, maybe one attitude [of] sin—jealousy or anger or bigotry—maybe one thing…slips from my mouth that’s hateful,” he says. “And maybe I miss doing something that I know I should do, like help my neighbor when they’re having a special need. What do you suppose would happen if I got that good? Man, I’d practically be a walking angel! But do you realize that at the end of the year I [would] have a thousand violations against God’s law? And if I live to be, well I’m 59 right now, so I’d have 59,000 violations against God’s law. What would happen if I died right now, or not died right now but stood before a judge right now with 59,000 traffic violations? Think what would happen. He’d say, ‘This is a habitual offender; let’s get him off the road.’ And he’d basically take my license and I wouldn’t be able to drive. Well, imagine standing before the judge of the universe with 60 or 70 thousand violations against God’s law. And that’s at the very best, that’s at the very best! But what we’re really trying to say with this is, you know, not only does a little add up to a lot, but our sin problem is serious. And then you can move right in.”

At that point the pairs form again to practice delivering the message about sin.

After the practice session, the instructor asks: “Why do we put the three-sins-a-day illustration in there?” Several people call out answers.

“A little bit of sin turns into a lot of sin,” he says. “All right. It’s that multiplication again.”

The point the evangelists are instructed to make is that eternal life cannot be achieved through good deeds or even a good life. It is impossible to earn your way into heaven. We must accept that we have sinned, will always commit sins, and ask to be born again so Jesus will take our sins upon Him. Once this is done we can learn to live a new way, a way that, while not totally free of sin, allows us to live a life approved by God, a life in which, with the help of the church, we learn to reject sinful acts. The believer can learn to condemn and avoid sinful acts—acts defined for him or her by church leaders as anything that doesn’t please God or is a transgression of His law. The leaders determine these acts, rousing the believer against what they label as sins, such as abortion or homosexuality. The emphasis, once the conversion is made, is on acts, acts that please or displease God. The believer can delineate these acts only with the aid of church leaders. There is a calculated destruction of individual conscience. All must submit to the will of those godly men who define the communal good. Sin, in short, is anything the leaders do not like.

“Because He is a just judge, He must punish our sins; His law declares that our sins must be punished and that He ‘will by no means clear the guilty.’ There is no doubt about this!” the instructor tells us.

The potential convert is to be told, finally, that Jesus came to earth and died “to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in heaven for us” and that “to receive eternal life you must transfer your trust from yourself to Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.”[85] The convert is asked whether he or she is willing “to turn from what you have been doing that is not pleasing to Him and follow Him as He reveals His will to you in His Word.”

The evangelist and convert bow their heads and pray, with the convert repeating each line after the evangelist.

“Lord Jesus, I want You to come in and take over my life right now. I am a sinner. I have been trusting in myself and my own good works. But now I place my trust in You. I accept You as my own personal Savior. I believe You died for me. I receive You as Lord and Master of my life. Help me to turn from my sins and to follow You. I accept the free gift of eternal life. I am not worthy of it, but I thank You for it. Amen.”

When this prayer is over the believers are told, “Welcome to the family of God.” They are told to read a chapter a day in the Gospel of John and that they will be visited again in a week to talk about the Bible. They are encouraged to pray because God “promised to hear and answer our prayers.” They are told to find “a good Bible-believing church and become a part of it.” They are told to join a Christian fellowship group. And they are told to witness to their families. With this, the process of deconstructing an individual and building a submissive follower is begun.

The goal is more than building the church; it is building a Christian America. Kennedy talks often about the recruitment of legions of new believers to the political as well as the religious arena. He claims to have brought in millions through Evangelism Explosion.

Kennedy insists that America was founded as a “Christian nation.” The denial of the Christian roots of the nation, he says, is a “great deception [that] has been used to destroy much of the religious freedom and liberty this country has enjoyed since its inception.”[86] And Kennedy’s crusade is well funded and well organized. He is backed with grants, often for millions of dollars, from conservative trusts such as the Orville D. and Ruth A. Merillat Foundation and the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, which has over the years given nearly $6 million to his church organizations.[87] The drive to bring in new souls is also an open drive to broaden the political base of the movement and impose a theocracy.

The prayer partners are told to separate into clusters. Those in the room take turns practicing their testimonies in front of their group of three or four, with the other members critiquing the performance. The final version of each participant’s written testimony is to be turned in the next day. My prayer group has three other people, including one of the few African Americans, a thoughtful man who grew up in the church and was converted as a child; a middle-aged man who overcame drug and alcohol abuse as an adult through his conversion; and a grandmother, who said that as a child she had a morbid fear of death that was overcome only when she was saved and assured of eternal life. I pair off with the grandmother, who is chatty and friendly. We read our testimonies, trying to get them exactly right.

A woman from the church tells us how to share the Gospel with a person who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. She heads teams that go into 24-hour nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

“These precious people are basically confined to these types of facilities,” she says. “Now they say by the year 2025, there will be two seniors for every teenager on the face of this earth. And with multiplication and with people living longer, in the United States they say pretty soon there will be about 50 million people that are alive [who] will end up spending their final years in some type of facility. So this is an untapped resource.

“They’re always there,” she tells the group. “And so we get to go back and we get to see Miss Mary, week after week after week, and share with her.

“The other thing that we’re dealing with is different forms of dementia,” she adds. “The most common form is Alzheimer’s. So for most of us—and I mean, I forget things easily—we have to go back and repeat ourselves. But that’s OK. Maybe the first week we’ll just get through an introduction and maybe share our testimony, maybe the two questions. The next week we’ll go back, we’ll pick up with Miss Mary, maybe we’ll have to refresh her memory.

“One thing that we get a lot with the elderly,” she says, “they are so works-oriented because of the culture in which they were raised and having gone through the Depression. So we really have to talk about eternal life as a free gift. That has to be emphasized over and over and over.”

Disruptions, reluctance to accept the message, open hostility and interruptions during the evangelization process are always blamed on Satan, part of what is described to us as “spiritual warfare.”

“The devil is so obvious,” an instructor says. “I mean, he’s so easy to figure out.”

The instructor recounts the story of a house visit. The evangelists were sitting in the living room of a woman who asked the team to convert her unsaved husband. At the moment the evangelists were about to get him to accept Christ, the phone rang.

“It was an old-fashioned message machine where you could hear the person,” the instructor says. Through the loudspeaker on the machine, the group heard a child call out, “Daddy, Daddy, I know you’re in there.”

The group sat and listened to the plea of the child. Finally the father said, “‘Excuse me,’ and he walked over and just clicked it back off,” the instructor tells us. “He came back over, and my trainees at the time were just praying so hard, great drops of blood…that that guy could receive Christ. We got ahead of the distractions.”

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merv606 · 1 year ago

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Puritianverse!

On their honeymoon in Italy, pious little Daniel is horrified when he misses Church one Sunday…all because Terry fucked him so good until early Sunday morning, that he slept until afternoon, and missed all the Services!!! Terry was much amused at his adorable, sad dismay—even when his little Omega started to sob that all he wanted to be was a good Omega, but now he was a sinner, and was afraid that he wasn’t going to go to heaven when he died.

“And I w-wanted us t-to be together f-forever,” Daniel cried pitifully in Terry’s arms while his Alpha tried not to laugh, and instead dropped soothing kisses on his soft hair. He looked up at Terry with tear filled brown eyes and red cheeks. As lovely as always. Terry felt his dick twitch. His arms tightened around Daniel’s tiny body.

“J-j…just wanted to be…be with you f-forever n’ e-ever even when we d-die. And now I’ve ruined it!” And then Daniel cried even harder.

Terry sighed, rubbing circles on his narrow back. His darling Omega had brought him much joy (and cuteness) in the short time they had been married, and was everything he’d ever wanted, especially in terms of love and well, sex…but Daniel’s adoration of religious life and Church sometimes tried his patience. Dreadfully. Why, his sweet boy had even devoted time on their honeymoon, every damn day,for prayers, and reading his worn, leather-bound Bible, and other nonsense. Time that could be better spent in Terry’s company, in his waiting arms, or on his cock. (And sightseeing this beautiful country too, so he could show off what a little beauty of an Omega he had.) Heh.

Terry had known full well that Daniel would be too fucked out for any Mass on Sunday—he’d made sure of it, giving his sweet boy quite the fucking over and over (and over)—until he’d quite literally been fucked unconscious…but he hadn’t been expecting this reaction!

“Tell you what, little one,” Terry said, brushing some tears away and tilting Danny’s chin up. He looked just like a sad, gorgeous little doll. “I’ll allow you to go to Confession tomorrow, so you can get this off your chest, and feel better. Would you like that, my baby?”

“R-really?” Daniel said, face brightening already.

Terry smiled. “Would your Alpha ever lie to you?” He did, all the time, but only for Danny’s benefit!

Daniel let out a happy squeak, and cuddled in tightly against Terry, dropping the sweetest little kisses on his nose and lips and cheeks. God, what an angel. “O-oh, no Sir, no! Of course not! You really are the best Alpha ever!” Daniel smiled happily. “Thank you, Sir! God will be so pleased now!”

Terry really didn’t give a shit about whether the Lord was pleased or not, but he thought, as he carried his beautiful, innocent Omega off to be not so innocently ravished, Terry was sure to be.

…

…But when Daniel came out of Confession the next day, Terry was concerned when he saw how desperately sad his little Omega looked.

“Sweetheart—“ Terry began, gathering Daniel into his arms. Daniel’s mouth wobbled.

“I-I’m sorry l, Sir,”’he began, sounding frightened. “B-but the Priest s-said…”

“What did he say?” Terry would kill the man for making his angel feel like this! Eternal damnation be…well, damned!

Daniel swallowed tilting his head far back so he could look him in the eye. “…He, he said, Terry, that m-my penance was no…” his voice trembled. “…N-no r-relations with my Alpha f-for a week. F-for missing Mass, Sir.” His eyes filled with tears. “T-this is all my fault, Sir, p-please don’t be angry with me!”

Terry forces a smile - not wanting to upset the little omega further.

It’s not Daniel’s fault - he’s the one who fucked him all morning so that he would miss mass, and he’s the one who suggested coming to confession, forgetting that he and Father O’Brien have reached an agreement when dealing with Daniel.

Already, in their short marriage, the priest has been most helpful to Terry - further educating Daniel in things he should pay attention to and those that he doesn’t need to pay much kind to, in terms of the church and his role in his new marriage.

But - there is NO WAY in heaven or hell that Terry is going an entire week without access to his little omega- not since he’s gotten a taste - and especially not while on their honeymoon.

Only mildly NSFW but a bit lengthy.

Sniffling, Terry reassures his omega that he isn’t cross with him, and he smiles at the alpha, waiting for Terry to take his hand and lead him out thorough the crowded church.

Although the alpha swiftly places his hand on the omega’s back - he normally likes to be touching Daniel when they’re out in public - he’s looking to the confession booth.

“I think I should confess.”

“Really?!” Daniel exclaims excitedly, eyes lighting up. He has his suspicions that his husband is only humouring him when he accompanies him to church events and services. This though, is good news. He wants to spend a lifetime with Terry - and beyond.

Terry leads his mate to a deserted pew, telling him to stay there.

Daniel sits, ready to wait however long it takes - he’s not expecting this to be a short confession. His husband never attends confession so he must have a lot on chest, especially if he’s choosing now of all times to suddenly partake.

But, to his surprise, his husband isn’t in there very long.

Daniel stands, his Alpha’s hand on the small of his back turning them, as if to leave when he hears the priest call out.

“My child.” The man steps out of the confessional booth. “May I speak to you a moment.”

“Father, of course .. I mean …” he glances to his alpha, horrified he made the assumption that was okay as Terry seems to be ready to leave.

“Of course,” he smiles down. “I’ll just be right here - come right back to me when he’s done.”

Daniel approaches, slightly hesitant. He hopes the priest hasn’t decided the penance given isn’t enough. A week without his alpha is going to be a strain on both of them.

To his surprise though, it’s the exact opposite.

“I believe my penance from earlier may have been too harsh. Given the situation you are in.”

“Situation?” He questions. He had left out the part where he missed mass because he was too busy spreading his legs for his alpha - begging for his seed - desperate for that seed to take - for his husband to bless new life into him.

“I had a communication from …” he glances to Terry “….. the Holy Spirit.”

Daniel cliches his Rosary, eyes wide.

“I was not aware you are recently married and this is your honeymoon, or that, as such, you and your alpha are trying for a blessing.”

“The holy spirit told you that?”

The father nods.

“You are trying for a blessing, correct?”

“Oh yes - of course father - to honour our union as god intended,” he agrees, parroting what Terry and Father O’Brien have been telling him, before he pauses, thinking.

If God knows this that means he’s watching when …..

“What does he says about …… what we do?” He clutches his rosary beads even tighter - feeling their impression in his skin.

“All he cares is that you are performing your marital duties as you have promised.”

Relief washes over him. That’s exactly what Terry told him too - when Daniel expressed some reservations about whether what he was allowing Terry to do was considered proper omega behaviour in the marital bed. Like when his husband had put his cock into Daniel’s mouth for the first time. Although technically, they hadn’t actually been in the marital bed for that ….

It was the morning following their wedding night and consummation of their sacred union. Daniel had been eager for his husband to fill him again in a similar manner but he winced slightly when Terry slide his finger in, his recently used omega hole sore from the deflowering the night before and the subsequent many couplings later and throughout that night. Terry hadn’t taken him, rather explained that he would give Daniel a couple days reprieve from performing those particular duties as it was normal for an omega to be a bit uncomfortable after a marriage consummation - it being not only his first time but, well, his, husband was quite well endowed. Daniel knew it would be easier to take his husband the more he became used to Terry’s cock inside him, and that the pleasure in the act would increase, which, worried Daniel as he already liked it plenty enough already. But, when Terry showed him the other ways he could please him well, he liked those too.

“Well, it was your alpha who is responsible for you missing mass,” the priest continues in his explanation.

Daniel bites his lip - he does not want to blame his alpha …. He was the one, after all, who made his husband so hard and desperate that he needed release - release that could only be obtained by putting himself inside Daniel.

“It is alright my child,” he assures. “Next to god - your alpha is the most important voice for you to listen to. If he had other plans for you this morning well, that was all you could do. You must always listen and obey him - like a good omega.”

“I do father. I obey him and …. Allow him his liberties whenever and however he deems fit.”

He nods at Daniel before glancing to Terry again.

“So my former penance is no longer needed,” The priest explains.

“Father?” Question evident in his tone while he thinks, Can you do that.

“It is not your pace to question my child as my power comes from the almighty

“Of course father, I mean no disrespect.”

“I know my child - The most important thing is for you to settle into your new role and that you yield to your alpha - your union is holy - it was sealed under god and it now needs to bless the almighty with a child

“Yes father - I am doing my best - I receive my husband whenever he comes seeking his …. Husbandly rights,” he says.

“That’s good, my child - that is your most important task ahead for you now - to become heavy with your alpha’s child.”

“So… what is my penance then father?”

“Say the Hail Mary ten times asking the Holy Spirit to put a blessing inside you after each one and you will be absolved.”

He gives his thanks eager to get back to his alpha and tell him the good news.

“What else did he say?” Terry questions.

“He said my most important task was to become with child.”

“That it is, my love.”

“Do you think …. I will be blessed soon?!” His husband has been doing his part - diligently giving Daniel his seed every day - usually multiple times a day - but he is desperate to feel life inside him - life put their by his husband and mate.

Terry rests a hand on his stomach - he knows his little omegas already is, but he’s waiting for him to figure it out. “Of course we will, and it will be one of many, sweetheart.” Terry has big plans for his little mate and their family. He may not be a practising Catholic anymore, but his cock sure is - with the amount of children it’s going to put inside his womb.

“Let’s go see some sights,” Terry says - and Daniel starts listing out the places he wishes his alpha to take him to, Terry having bought him a book in the airport of the best places to visit while in Italy.

#ask #I got an ask 🤩#cobra kai #daniel larusso #karate kid #terry silver #silverusso #silverrusso #I need a puritan verse

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livingobserver · 2 years ago

Text

The Supreme Laws of Nature

Far be it for me as a mortal, to tell anyone what to believe or not to believe. I'm not sure myself anymore. I was trained since my early youth to believe as A Protestant Lutheran as far back as Summer Bible school to have faith in God. Now right off you're thinking this is going to be some attempt at religious conversion. Perhaps quite the opposite, actually. It won't be some Holy Roller mantra. Nor am I an Atheist type who tend to rant about religion as much as the religious often rant about, religion. Nope to both. You see..., I have questions as well, as not only a Thinker but as an Observer in this real world. This mortal world. I've guided many Wilderness trips into places like The Bighorn National Wilderness Area of Northern Wyoming right up to the Yellowstone as well as The Bob Marshal Wilderness area of Montana and The Breaks around Melstone, Montana. This meant I spent a lot of time away from Civilized distraction. My primary job was to scout for the best Hunting and Fishing opportunities for the clients. A hell of a lot of time spent studying Nature close up and personal, long before the first clients even needed to be picked up at the airport or airfield.

Anyway, to the point. I've also studied Human History, Human behavioral patterns as well What strikes me is this..., God's go extinct if they are not able to adapt (or be adapted by mortals) to fit shifting Societal/Cultural pressures. You see it in todays Catholic Church and the schisms in Islamic and other Faiths. God being of many personalities to keep God relevant to whatever mortals need God to be. Either for solace or gain of power or both. But mostly as a refuge for desired Peace of mind. Even in the same church on any Sunday morning, even during a sermon, there can be as many differing Gods as there are people in attendance. Each version of God suiting the individual needs of the congregation. That is a true statement of fact and reality. Obviously since people go on doing what they do pretty much regardless of the sermon. Perhaps that is God. Perhaps that is the intent. I couldn't possibly know for sure. But what I do know for sure is that any God must adapt or that God or God's will go extinct as so many have. It is apparent to me that God if He, She, they or it. do exist that, that God(s) must abide by the Supreme Laws of Nature. It must Adapt. So it begs the questions; is it not then reasonable to assume that Nature itself is the creator of the God(s) through mortals themselves? Are mortals even necessary for God(s) to exist? It would seem so. You and I as mortals, can not in any realistic way answer those questions. Most of us just rely on Faith I suppose that's good enough. But NOT good enough to wage harm in anyway in the name of a God or God's, or lack of God(s). In any regard, I have not seen a greater cathedral, or mosque, or any synagogue, greater than this planet Earth itself. It's Wilderness. I have not experienced many people coming to the wilderness and then going home unchanged. It is one of the Supreme Laws of Nature that you must be changed, you must adapt to the realities. For every Natural Reality observed, or missed..., carries with it equal consequences in being ignored. I thought you might want to hear this from a guy who is not speaking for an organized religion, but for Nature. One who is always deeply awed humbled by it's power to reward and punish all living things. Absent all Human sentiments. In Nature, there is no "Sin", there is only the failure to sense and react to the realities. In ways that best serve security and procreation. Peace of Mind through Peace of Instinct. What I believe is that..., that is what is most real. In Nature you MUST question all things (Risk Assessment), in knowing as best you can what is real and what is not. It means you must question your own condition and conditioning. But that's just me. You will of course take this for what it might be worth to you. You are Mortal after all.

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i-cant-stop-fandoming-help · 1 year ago

Text

Another Vent Fic methinks

It was going to be accompanied by some art but it won't let me post if it has art, so I'll post it separately.

tws: overdosing, s//cide, self hate, suicidal thoughts, mentions of periods, and small talk of religion, as well as mentions of COVID. and throwing up. As well as the situations with a certain b named person, and animal death(no animals died its just referring to a fear), parents fighting, abandonment issues, self harm mentions, and idk what else to warn yall for.

Uhh yeah look at the tws. They were put in bold so you would see them. There's a lot so I probably won't be able to tag them all. Tell me what tws to add and I will add them.

Because I thinking about the event from my perspective causes me to become ✨ pathetic✨(by that I mean physically gag and curl up and whine), I am going to write about it from my sona's perspective. I am not completely my sona, because I am Mika and my sona is Happie. Named that because I want to happy, she's carried that name ever since I got into Splatoon (about the end of 2020)

It will talk about what I went through in may-june of 2020, and how this all is now affecting me. It will also make references to things that I do believe are at fault for my depression and anxiety.

Also, note: the first part of the story took place before my mom became a teacher.

So, yeah, look at the tws.

The family was only a few hours into their trip when it went bad, horribly bad.

Happie rubbed the tears in her eyes, her knees to her chest.

Her brother was yelling at her again. She could barely hear his words through her own gasps, her own hyperventilation, her own sobbing.

She was a pathetic mess. She hated herself. She had just recently gotten out of the inpatient unit, but it didn't help. She still wanted to die, she still hated herself.

Her parents insisted on doing prayer and reading the bible, all whilst she was trembling and whimpering and choking on her own tears. Happie was scared of the church. She had panic attacks whenever her parents forced her to go. She clawed at the wall and sobbed and hyperventilated and tried to get smaller and smaller so her mom couldn't hug her and say "it will be alright. The church will help all your bad emotions go away."

Even though everyone at church scared her. She didn't want to go there and be judged. Everyone seemed to bear their eyes towards her for not looking like a proper lady, for having short and messy hair and eyebags.

She was always told she would go to hell if she broke any of the commandments. Happie grew a fear of doing anything wrong. It meant she would go to hell.

Her grandma's passing was her fault, she had done too much wrong and now everyone was being punished because of her.

She didn't like thinking about that. She tried to snap back to the present. But the verses were still being read. Happie knew that prayer would come soon.

Her brother said the prayer. It was quick and basic.

She said she would sleep in the living room. She didn't want to be sleeping in the same room as her brother. He would just yell at her again. She didn't like yelling.

Happie waited for everyone else to leave, looking at her notebook and pencils. Her plan had been come up with pretty quickly, but she knew it would likely work.

She began by writing a note.

She admitted she had been dating one of her classmates before COVID hit. Not even one of her male classmates- a female.

She admitted that she hated going to church, that she hated the bible and she hated scripture study.

She admitted that the inpatient unit didn't work.

And then she placed it on the table.

And went to the room she and her brother shared and grabbed a bottle.

It was a bottle of midol. It originally had 50 pills in it, but she had taken one earlier in the day to help with her period cramps.

Happie went back out to the living room, grabbing a can of rootbeer and cracking it open. She then opened the medicine bottle.

She began by taking two pills at a time. Then three. Then four. When the can of rootbeer was empty, Happie got herself a cup of water.

Five, six, seven pills at a time.

Swallowing 49 pills until the bottle was empty.

The white bottle with a blue label, round at the edges and holding a child proof circle as it's lid.

Only then did she realize, she didn't want to die. She was scared.

She ran to her and her brother's room, begging him for the phone they shared. A flip phone.

He got mad and asked why. Happie could only tell him to read the note on the table. She told him that she didn't want their parents to know, that she just wanted to call for an ambulance.

He told their parents. Happie's sad told her to make herself throw up or else they would take her to the ER. She didnt know how to make herself throw up.

Her parents got her in the car, quickly rushing her to the nearest hospital. She was put into the emergency room.

A bunch of wires were attached to her, and there was an IV in her arm.

A nurse came in with something that looked like a toothpaste tube, and squeezed the dark gray contents inside a small foam cup. The nurse then put a straw into it and gave it to Happie. "Drink it," the nurse instructed, "it's liquid charcoal and will clean your system of the medicine."

Happie gave it a reluctant sip and immediately pulled away. It was bitter, dry, salty, and it made her gag.

She gave a few more sips but not enough to finish the cup.

"Drink it all now or else we'll put a tube down your throat and pour it down." The nurse threatened.

Happie was terrified, so she drank. While she did so, the blood in her arm was drawn once again.

Her mom was in a chair in the infirmary, and it was the first time in Happie's life that her mother gave full attention and worry to her. More often than not, her mother was more worried about work, and paid more attention to TV shows.

How odd. Her mom only seemed to care whenever Happie's life was on the line. But was it because, if Happie died, her parents couldn't continue to play "perfect Christian family"?

She had gotten to the hospital at about 11pm, and now it was 6am.

The doctors originally thought she would be able to go home with her parents, but the spike in her Tylenol levels that had just showed up made them call an ambulance to drive her to a hospital in her home state.

She threw up a few times in the ambulance ride, and each time it was gray in color.

Her IV was still with her, but her mother wasn't. Her mother was driving home with her father and brother.

She didn't have a stuffed animal or a familiar blanket, she was alone.

When she arrived, they carried her on a stretcher to the mother's ward. All wards except inpatient were clogged up because of COVID.

She stayed in that ward for about 4 days, occasionally getting visits. One from her grandma, one from her dad, but the majority came from her mom. Her mom visited almost daily.

Happie couldn't tell if it was from actual care or if it was so that she'd look good to her family and the hospital staff and the church.

After her stay in the mother's ward was up, she was moved to in inpatient ward- the one for 17 and under people.

The room she was given has sanded windows, so she couldn't look outside. The bed was more like a gym mat, and the desk was small. The door to the bathroom had big gaps at the top and bottom. And the bookshelf was completely empty.

She could only call her parents, they weren't allowed to visit.

She felt trapped. She made friends and wasn't allowed to keep them- it felt like they were abandoning her whenever they were able to leave. She didn't like being abandoned.

By the end of June, she hadn't harmed herself of even thought about ending her life. That was nice.

She had lost a friend, but she was happy. Just like her name.

Happie's so-called friend wasn't a good person. That much she knew. She was terrified of this friend.

She had mutual friends with this friend, and she was worried that this friend would begin spreading lies about her if she said anything against what she was told.

Happie worked hard to become likeable enough to make these friends. Making friends has always been hard for her. They always ended up hurting her or abandoning her.

So she made as many as she could to make sure she wouldn't be left in the dirt once one friend grew tired of her.

When Happie finally realized how bad of a person this friend was, it destroyed her. She told only one of their mutual friends, and then three friends who didn't exactly know who this person was.

Then another mutual friend told Happie that this person had turned on her and went back on their word.

Her trust had fallen on crashed like a Jenga tower. She shouldn't have trusted a new friend so quickly, but she did. And it hurt.

The following weeks hurt. She began to attempt to investigate. She was given the user of someone who this person had hurt, and decided to interview them. Then she read through two Twitter threads. Then she contacted someone else that this person had lied about.

She made the posts. Finally speaking up.

She was terrified of her friends yelling at her and telling her that she was being petty and abandoning her. She had prepared herself for that.

She didn't prepare herself for the oncoming wave of support she received. For people to DM her and tell her their stories.

But that didn't mean it didn't still hurt. She beat herself up and called herself names, she had a hard time sleeping because she could be doxxed.

She had a hard time sleeping because she was worried that the person would somehow show up at her house and kill her dogs.

Happie hated herself. She hated the people on her side who has told Brady to off themselves. She hated the people who seemed to ignore her until she needed something.

She tried to show that she could be confronted if something rubbed someone the wrong way, but she was terrified of that too.

Mentally, she was still a pathetic little girl, hugging a white and gray blanket close and sobbing as she listened to her parents yelling and screaming at eachother. She was still a little girl who didn't ever get love shown to her with packed lunches with little notes, or thought out birthday gifts, or nightly hugs.

She was only hugged when her parents were upset and needed comfort.

She was still just a little girl playing with friends to avoid home, to avoid the screaming and the yelling and the crying. Still just a little preschool girl who played with her oldest sister's friend's puppies whenever she could.

Still just a little girl who read a series about cats fighting so she could be buried in a world where the good guys always win, and the cats in the sky would still communicate with the living through whatever.

Still just a little girl who wanted to believe happily ever after could exist.

But she was still the same little girl who started developing boobs in third grade, who got her first period the summer before fifth. The same little girl who learned what sex was in fourth, the same little girl who had cut herself in sixth.

She was the little girl who had matured early, physically and mentally, and never got to hold onto childish joy for long. The little girl who would tell her mom to go to her room to calm down, and her brother to go to his room to calm down. The same little girl who had been through four therapists by seventh grade.

Actually, no matter how much Happie wishes, she isn't a little girl anymore. She never will be a little girl again.

#tw overdosing #tw suicide #tw suicidal thoughts #tw religion #tw covid #etc

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chsn1togdml · 5 months ago

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RECEPTION OF CHURCH MEMBERS - MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

For use in Local Churches

(This application may be obtained on the website at www.eccenter,com or by calling the E.C. Church Center.)

Membership serves three purposes (1) it gives you “ownership” and a greater “commitment” to the work of the local church. (2) It gives you the opportunity to be a part of the decision making process as we work together for a positive ministry emphasis. (3) It gives you the opportunity to serve in the church in a position of leadership that benefits both yourself and the local body of believers.

The DISCIPLINE of the Evangelical Congregational Church outlines the qualifications for membership: (1) Believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; (2) Believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God; (3) Be committed to daily Christian growth; (4) Be committed to giving Jesus Christ your time, talent and treasure; (5) Be supportive of our local church and the ministry of the Evangelical Congregational Church denomination; (6) Be faithful in attendance and participation; and (7) Be baptized as a Christian.

mark lawrence rogers

City Kurtistown State

Hawaii Zip Code 96760

Telephone

808-937-4176

Business Address

Home Address 17308 13 Mile road 11 Mile homestead

City kurtistown State hi.

Zip Code 96760

Telephone 808937417 6

Birthplace Berkeley California

Date of birth 9-12-61

Have you been baptized? _yes

If married, give full name of husband or wife

Date of marriage

How long have you lived in the community where you now make your home? 25 years Are you a member of another church? Catholic Church

Name of church Catholic Church

Location USA Are

you uniting with this church (a) on confession of faith? Yes Or (b) by letter of transfer?

What church offices have you held?

OthNaffl&nbers of my family are- Age

Name Age

Confession of Faith

o you believe in the Bible to be the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine and conduct? yes

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? Yes

Do you purpose to remain steadfast in the faith unto the end, and as a true follower of Jesus Christ to walk in the newness of life? Yes

Do you promise in watchfulness and prayer to diligently use the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments? yes

Do you promise to join in worship and service and to give regularly of your time, talent and treasure for the work of the gospel as carried on by this church and the denomination to which it belongs?

On the following lines, give a brief statement concerning your relationship to Jesus Christ. Tell what he means to you and how he has enriched your life.

I repented the Christian law I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. For one year exactly, 52 weeks I fasted and had only fruit juice as I read and walked in the east bay regional parks and read the holy Bible both old and new testaments. I vowed to obey the Christian law only this latter day that the Lord is raising a world up to his kingdom. I hope to enter the kingdom of heaven and earth. Ive tried hard to seek the Lords promised land where I hope I'll live forevermore.

ina Christ: yourself(selves) before us today you are giving a

public testimony that you are professing personal faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. We rejoice with you that by this outward act you show that you have repented of your sins and trusted in Him for forgiveness of sin, newness of life now, and hope for eternity. The moment you personally received Christ you became (a) member(s) of the Body of Christ, the Church universal (Ephesians 2). Now you are presenting yourself(selves) before the Lord of the Church, and us as members of this congregation, in order to take your vows as (a) fellow-member(s) of this body of believers.

We are strengthened by hearing your public declaration of this purpose. We believe you also will be strengthened as you affirmatively answer the questions that follow:

We are a congregation affiliated with the Evangelical Congregational Church. We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Do you believe this and that only in these Divine writings do we find the Christian message of salvation?

If so, please answer: “YES, I DO BELIEVE THIS.”

You have heard the scriptural teachings regarding your need of the saving acts of Jesus Christ: His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His defeat of death by His resurrection. By presenting yourself(selves) today in this place you are professing personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Is this your profession? Will seek the Catholic priesthood⁰

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mindajane-blog · 7 months ago

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This blog post is coming from where I am now. I'm healing.

Healing takes time- longer than I would like. I can feel it these last few months and in healing, I am growing. It is uncomfortable.

In pain, I was closed off and stunted from growth by the walls I put up to protect myself.

I'm learning to trust again. I became untrusting and leery twenty years ago. My fear of people grew. I had reason to fear people at fourteen years old in church. I lost my church friends at a hard time in childhood, basically all my friends since my sister and I were homeschooled. We'd moved from our childhood home, lost a grandparent, and i developed a disorder called trichotillomania (hair pulling). Then, the girl friends i'd made in childhood at church stopped being my friends once we hit youth group. I will say exactly the situations that happened at youth. When my sister and I would join peers in a row, they would get up and leave the row, and if we sat in an empty row they wouldn't join us. We switched youth groups to one at another local church for the rest of highschool.

The fear of people and mistrust had taken root, though. I learned recently that's a root of rejection. I was stuck watching my life through those lenses for too many years. I never truly forgave. I was hurt and afraid, so afraid, especially in church. I KNEW without a shadow of doubt that God is was real. God is love. I also was wrestling and wrestling.

It was a lot. Life was a lot to carry. I can't go back, but if I could I would tell younger me to trust people again, love with all your heart, forgive fully. Yes, some people might hurt you really bad, BUT living afraid and hurt and feeling alone is VERY crappy and isolating. In fact, that life is worse than the life you could have if you move past fear and hurt into forgiveness and into love.

I know this is true, because it's my experience. I'm still sometimes scared now, but I see it is already worthwhile.

Jesus LOVES and Jesus forgives. He died to forgive all sins, my sins and yours, everyone's. I don't need to carry any hurt and offenses at all, I can feel them and forgive, give them to Jesus any time they cross my heart or mind.

I feel His love so deeply. I rebelled in my twenties and sinned in ways I knew were sinning. I thought it didn't matter so much because really I was so closed off and feeling so separate from Christian community. I thought that I would be happier just doing as I pleased. I liked things I did, but I wasn't happier. I loved people as much as I always had, because that doesn't change. I did really love and care about all the friends and family I had and have when I was hurting. I just was loving in my closed off ways.

I'm going to go on a small tangent here. If you aren't a Jesus follower you aren't expected to feel some type of way about sinning in your conscience... I'm not expecting you to live to the Bible or to Christian "standards" or "rules" and I'm not judging you. You're free to choose to live as you like.

Anyhow, back to what I was saying... I didn't feel free when i was sinning. I felt sad. There was loneliness and shame. I was more alone than before. I wanted to belong and doing things I wanted had felt freeing initially, but they weren't.

Last year changed me. Losing my Grandma changed me. Becoming so depressed last spring and summer changed me. I had to be totally broken to see that I was broken.

I had to leave my home church where I felt lifebound to by deep loyalty. I was dedicated there as a baby and I take loyalty to things far too seriously, haha, I'm not a minimilist, so you know that loyalty overflows into most aspects of my life, but I digress. Changing churches helped me finally really see the metaphorical glasses i'd been wearing and looking through for so long!

Glasses make things bigger, so those rejection glasses I'd had on just magnified slights, perceived or real, for YEARS. That is SO bad, I know it is.

I do want to say this, I'm really sorry to all I judged, mistrusted, and pushed away.

I forgive anyone who did hurt me back in youth years.

I'm not carrying those anymore. Jesus took both of our hurts and hurting to the cross.

I learned also that I'm free, so much more free and have so much more joy and love within me when I obey Jesus. He gives eternal life. He loves me! Living for Him is freer and fuller life than I ever was living for my flesh wants and desires.

Psalm 121 A Song of Ascents. 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

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crayons-cats-chaos · 8 months ago

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A trauma-dump about Christianity (TW: Religious Abuse)

I'll be using this place to also trauma dump since Debbie the Therapist wants me to talk about things where people can actually see them to feel less embarrassed like I did things wrong. ANYWHOOOOZLEEEE I was raised in a Southern Baptist Family. My grandparents lived in Kentucky in the mountains and my grandfather was a Pastor. So I got the lovely religion AND the mountain horror stories. But that's a story for another time. My dad, being raised in the church, also made us be an active part. I remember spending every Sunday, Wednesday, and sometimes Friday there. I had a lot of "rules" because he wanted us to appear as the perfect God Fearing Family. Some of them are as follows:

1) I could NOT wear pants to church. EVER. Even during youth activities I had to wear squorts. Which doesn't sound too bad until you're playing kickball in a squort and fall.

2) I HAD to ALWAYS have my hair done. A l w a y s. And I had to look presentable even if I was super sick, which brings me to 3

3) Even if I was sick, I still had to show up. Didn't matter if I was feverish and hallucinating, I was going to "at least try" to go to church.

4) Boots are a N O. If you wear boots, you're a whore. Snowboots come off the SECOND you step inside and you have to have a presentable pair of shoes to switch into and carry your boots around with you.

5) I had to read the bible (king james) front to back multiple times a year. I had to be an encyclopedia of religion. I could pull random verses out of my ass at the drop of a hat on command. And that's exactly what my father intended. Because I was to be the perfect little Christian "Girl Next Door" (spoiler alert: the girl next door turns into the Final Girl) 6) I had to be a part of EVERY activity. It didn't matter what it was, if it was for adults I was the entertainment, if it was for kids I was the show off, if it was for community display I was the example. 7) I was not allowed to cut my hair unless it was cut to match my mother's because she knew what was "acceptable". I had a legit mullet with a spiral perm for a while, guys, it was BAAAAAADDDDDDD. 8) I bet you guys saw this one coming: I was NOT allowed to watch or read Harry Potter. Yep. I actually went to a book burning when I was a child. Of course, I didn't know what we were burning at the time. 9) I ALSO was not allowed to watch Pokemon or Digimon when my grandparents were in town. They said they were demons and trying to possess kids. 10) If I was at an adult function, I was to be seen not heard unless I was entertaining. 11) Music was STRICTLY Christian, and further than that I could not listen to/perform anything that had drums. No, I'm not kidding. 12) I was allowed to be in the school choir and sing with them, but otherwise? No. 13) Sex Ed? HAHAHAHAHAHA (Jokes on them I was taught the hard way) 14) No halters, spaghetti straps, two piece bathing suits, shorts/skirts shorter than my fingertips or anything that showed even a miniscule amount of cleave. Even if i was at the pool. I had to wear a T shirt and shorts over my bathing suit anytime I was not in the water. There are so many more, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head. Incoming next post with some situations I've endured. Mind you, my religious abuse spanned from birth to about....15 ish. I started to really rebel around 11-12.

#TW religious trauma #Religious Abuse #traumadump #more to come #ive lived a lot of life #stay tuned

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blogger360ncislarules · 10 months ago

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THE CHOSEN Season 4 hits theaters on Feb. 1, and the cast and crew of the hit Christian TV series took to the Teal Carpet to reflect on the show.

While this season is expected to be darker than previous seasons, Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, told Movieguide® why it’s important to have a “glimmer of hope.”

“Because that’s the example Jesus gave us. He gave us the example of His life as a proof of a reason to hope,” Roumie said. “And I think by people connecting to Him however it happens—whether through Bible, through church, through a television show—that gets them to go to church, gets them to open the Bible, all of that leads back to the evidence of hope.”

THE CHOSEN’s creator and director, Dallas Jenkins, explained why the show doesn’t hold back when it comes to difficult topics.

[We don’t] shy away in this season from the bittersweet, from the pain, the suffering,” he said. “I think if we ignore that or gloss over it or imply that Jesus just makes everything okay, I think we’re not being honest…however throughout this season, you also see Jesus saying, ‘Stay with me…if you stay with me if you keep your eyes on me, there is a conclusion to the story, and it is joyous, and it is peace, and it is all the things that I promise, it just isn’t now.’”

Check out the rest of Movieguide®’s Teal Carpet interviews here:

youtube

Jenkins previously said that Season 4 is “getting closer and closer to what we know is coming,” namely Jesus’ crucifixion. ”There’s some extreme pain and sadness that’s coming soon in future seasons,” he said.

Jenkins continued, “And of course, there’s also some extreme joy that’s coming. But on the way there, Jesus is getting increasingly sad because of the fact that things are getting increasingly heavy.”

“While Jesus’ sorrow comes from his knowledge about the suffering He is soon to endure, it is more so a reflection of His sadness about humanity’s brokenness and that ‘his followers around Him’ and the ‘Holy City’ don’t ‘get it,’” Movieguide® reported.

Per Deadline, “Season 4 is billed as clashing kingdoms…rival rulers. The enemies of Jesus close in while His followers struggle to keep up, leaving Him to carry the burden alone. Season 4 picks up from Season 3’s cliffhanger where Christ walked on water.”

Season 4 will debut in theaters beginning on Feb. 1. Movieguide® reported, “Season 4 will start showing in theaters February 1, with a two-week run of the first three episodes. Episodes 4-6 will show for two weeks starting February 15, and the season’s last two episodes will be released February 29.”

#the chosen #Youtube

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lindajenni · 10 months ago

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jan 9

perhaps a last chance at laughter

"then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing." psa 126:2 when your pastor stops by for a visit a new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners. at one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. therefore, he took out a business card that had printed “revelation 3:20” on the back of it for just such an occasion, and stuck it in the door. when the offering was processed the following sunday, he found that his card had been returned. added to it was this cryptic message, “genesis 3:10.” reaching for his bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. revelation 3:20 begins “behold, I stand at the door and knock.” genesis 3:10 reads, “i heard your voice in the garden and i was afraid for i was naked.” when God answers prayer after starting a new diet i altered my drive to work to avoid passing my favorite bakery. i accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and as i approached, there in the window were a host of chocolates, donuts, and cheesecakes. i felt this was no accident, so I prayed... “Lord, it’s up to You. if You want me to have any of those delicious goodies, create a parking place for me directly in front of the bakery.” and sure enough, on the eighth time around the block, there it was! God is so good! the Word is indeed a sword an elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of religious service when she was startled by an intruder. as she caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables, she yelled, 'stop - acts 2:38!' (...turn from your sin...). the burglar stopped dead in his tracks. the woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. as the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, 'why did you just stand there? all she did was yell a scripture to you.' 'scripture?' replied the burglar, 'she said she had an axe and two 38's!' and now, some quick one-liners the sermon this morning: 'Jesus walks on the water.' the sermon tonight: 'searching for Jesus.' ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. it's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. bring your husbands. don't let worry kill you off - let the church help. miss charlene mason sang 'i will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones. please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered. the church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility. ------ laughter does indeed do good like a medicine. remember to laugh whenever you can. this coming year may carry few chances to do so. keep the word ever ready on your lips and in your heart. "anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." prov 12:25 no, we have not passed this way before, but we know Who holds the future, and we know He holds our hand. "so we may boldly say: 'the Lord is my helper; i will not fear. what can man do to me?" heb 13:6 "behold, I am coming quickly! hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." rev 3:11

#prayer #faith #rapture #jesus #jesus is coming

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thewahookid · 11 months ago

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I went to Medjugorje because I didn't want to miss a chance to meet Mary

Since I'd been meeting people transformed by their visit to Medjugorje (1), I had a strong desire to go there. I was certainly interested in the sensational aspect of the many testimonials, but my deeper motivation was that I didn't want to miss a chance to meet Mary if she did indeed visit us in our time in some part of the world.

In terms of miracles and the sensational, it didn't happen to me: I came away with the same minor health problems I'd brought with me (successfully operated on since then). On the other hand, I witnessed beautiful transformations in others. People started to open up about themselves, their faces transformed with smiles. I didn't need any more reasons than that, even though my Cartesian mind is always prompt to mock, with obvious bad faith, the great and obvious signs it has received!

My best memory of Medjugorje is above all the incredibly fraternal spirit that developed among the pilgrims on the sleeper bus. Father Francesco and his clear, friendly talks had a lot to do with it. In fact, everyone went along and opened up to each other as honestly as possible. I saw the Church on earth, made up of young and older people with their weaknesses and wounds.

I loved how everyone wanted to serve and share, to dialogue and carry out great projects for the glory of God. And I saw Hope generously shared. And with all that, I'm not even sure I've changed: the only one of the five stones (2) that gives me genuine joy is the Eucharist. For the rest, I have to go through a process of trust and courage.

J - M 's testimonial - www.clubmedj.com

(1) The Marian apparitions at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1981: Marian Encyclopedia

(2) Rosary prayed with the heart, Eucharist, Bible, fasting, monthly confession.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

#love #jesus loves you #jesus christ #blessed mother mary #mary #peace #prayer #medjugorje #church

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cursesand · 1 year ago

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when people hurt you, curse them

900 decillion ^same × same × same× same × same× same× same ×same × same× same × same × same× same × same× same× same ×same × same × same ×same × same × same× same × same× same× same ×same × same × same × same × same × same× same

We all the members of the body of christ on earth, past, present and future thank Yahweh for all he has done, we also present before Yahweh how R ABUBAKAR, A.A's wife has harmed Elise Barbeth oyinkromeineifa since she got to America after leaving Nigeria without much to come and start life again, of Great sovereign God who said venegance is mine, I will repay, we your children cry out to you against her, since she's so powerful and wants to destroy elise barbeth oyinkromeineifa's womb and life and make her a slave to her, we cry out to you to come and carry vengeance against her and all her children now for the sake of they Holy Child, your people andfor the sake of your great name: Jehovah, as she and the morrocan woman who have children have decided they will spend Their life to destroy her womb so she wont bring forth children, destroy them, humiliate them and their posterity, wipe them out of your creation, let all they and their children do fail, let the woman for harming elise's womb making it one with her mouth, kill all her children oh Great God that killeth And maketh alive, remove them from the land of the living, route a christian spirits around the world to contend with her, and all her children till they perish, let there be no child ever born to her and her children again, let all her curses go back on her head, let her and her children be constantly dying for making elise barbeth oyinkromeineifa's body one with a phone and killing her womb even here in america where sheis not near atiku has asked and collected nothing from him, any muslim, but rather took a loan to survive, judge her and her children for her extreme wickedness and for converting and killing and harming elise, we curse her to die an all her children, let it never be well with her, let every second bring her to death, let her perish and let all these curses begin maifesting on her now or let the amount of christain matrys begin to tripple every hour, until she leaves the land of the living, let these curses be placed in the spirits o all in christ jesus now so nothing done on elise or her pregnancy can ever stop it, even 5 billion deaths can't, except this woman hasnot harmed elise, but as long as she has, she must surely die and leave the land of the living this curse we place on her, the morrocan woman nana girl- we curse from being one with elise and all that is hers, and all who killed EliseBarbethoyinkromeineifa's womb, cursed her, put demons she is under them, holding and using her spirit, and converting her to anything not of Christ Jesus, using her destiny, holding it, puttng demons she is one with them, putting demons that the jobs she spoke with won't hire her, that she will be homeless and not have money - for those guilty, we curse their children to die and with all the curses in the holy bible every second as well, and all curses in the cosmos through the ages- for all such and join these curses all of them as one to all atoms in the universe and commanding the sun to destroy all works against these curses with all its powerr at the above power rate and double its power once she connects and is harming elise and anyone in christ jesus and they marry elise to muslims, with all the spirits of all who have been, are and will ever be in Christ Jesus and with the weight and power of the lamb's book of life also using all their angels and all the angels of the churches of Christ on earth, and all the angels of Yahweh, before this can be by passed, weakened, let the lamb's book of life be empty for all ages, and let that be the decree of all in christ Jesus Individual, at the above power rate covering all the planets and m and also s and 900 decillion times being yielded by all in Christ Jesus Individually and collectively on R Abubakar and the morrocan woman and all who have harmed and are harming elise barbeth oyinkromeineifa and all that is hers in the name of Jesus christ of Nazareth.

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destinyimage · 1 year ago

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Isaiah’s Secret Message to Gentiles: The End-Times Mandate to Fulfill God’s Ultimate Plan

Of all the many unique features that the Gentile relationship with the Jew holds, Israel’s redemption is arguably the most important.

Isaiah speaks about the salvation and blessing of the Gentiles like no other and emphasizes the importance of the Gentile role in God’s plan for the Jew fifteen times. Gentile is stated as often in his writings as it is used in all the rest of the Old Testament. Isaiah’s prophecies are the only ones quoted in the Gospels (Matthew 4:15, 12:18; Luke 2:32).

If Paul is considered the apostle to the Gentiles in the New Testament, Isaiah could be the apostle to the Gentiles in the Old Testament. He seems to rejoice in God’s plan of salvation for all the nations. In his own words:

This is what the Sovereign Lord says, “See, I will give a signal to the Gentiles, and they shall carry your little sons [Jewish boys] back to you in their arms, and your daughters [Jewish girls] on their shoulders (Isaiah 49:22 TLB).

Also, the following:

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth (Isaiah 49:6 KJV).

As one reviews the extraordinary range of involvement for the Gentile in God’s plan for the Jewish people, the Gentile calling is essential to God’s plan for the Jewish people.

One area is the Ruth Calling, a deeply prophetic calling which is dramatically affecting the Gentiles and bringing much-needed partnerships to the Messianic Jewish mission.

The Ruth Generation

Many are familiar with the story of Ruth; a woman who became famous for her compassion for her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth stated, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16 NIV). The question her statement raises: What does it mean to acknowledge a common destiny as Ruth did with Naomi?

For one, today it acknowledges oneself in a common future with the Jew; this is a profound truth with great relevance. Countless individuals are letting go of their own Gentile church culture to affirm their lot and future with the Jewish people. Often as part of the cost, it can bring separation from loved ones, accusations of converting to Judaism, or even erecting a wall of division; but despite it, they continue.

The real benefit that comes to the body through the Ruth generation is the true understanding of God’s heart for His firstborn. They come to be vital partners in the Messianic call, while demonstrating the model of the One New Man that is provoking both to Gentile Christians and the Jewish people. They become end-time light-bearers of God’s benevolent nature toward the Jewish people.

Aliyah, Jewish Return to the Land

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When God finally gave to the Jews their homeland in 1948, Jews returning to the land fulfilled what is termed “Aliyah” (Return). The essence of Aliyah is a virulent force in the Jewish people. Many of the Jewish people who return to Israel will do so with the assistance of the Gentiles. And Gentile ministries exist today whose sole purpose is to facilitate the return of the Jewish people.

Thousands are serving as these shepherds’ rods pointing the lost sheep of Israel back to Zion.

Jews who live outside Israel, the Diaspora, often return to Israel when anti-Semitism begins or economic and political difficulties arise. Some are compelled spiritually and prophetically, and some leave to take part in their own cultural return to live with their people in an entirely Jewish state.

More than 400 Scriptures in the Bible foretell the Jewish people’s return to the land of biblical history. The ingathering of the exiles, then, is a timeless principle. Tom Hess’s book, Let My People Go, is a classic reading for this train of thought. Consider the following:

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me (Isaiah 49:23 KJV).

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (Zechariah 8:23 KJV).

Provoking the Jews to Envy

With the gospel message falling to the Gentiles after Israel rejects her Messiah, the Gentile church has proclaimed the truth of the One True God to virtually every nation and tongue. Yet, the Gentile church was also to provoke the Jewish people to envy, a commission that is given in Romans 11:11 (NIV): the words of Paul, “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.”

Moses writes: “I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding” (Deuteronomy 32:21 NIV).

Sadly, Christendom has not understood the scriptural understanding of the relationship between the Jew and the Gentile—the Jew and the Christian church.

In this current time, however, God is wonderfully restoring love for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. He is restoring the Jewish root and making the church a more Jewish-friendly centered place. The body is being prepared to fulfill her final mandate to the Jew.

Gentiles Stand Against Anti-Semitism

Yeshua’s return, and the passage at length:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” “He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:31-46 NIV).

God’s devotion to His firstborn is affirmed again in a judgment that takes place at a future time in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It is spoken of in Matthew 25 and is specific to the Jewish people.

Often misquoted and used to impart a heart for the poor and the needy, this future event occurs upon Yeshua’s return before entering the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Messianic age.

For more clarification, and as noted, the nations are brought into a valley outside Jerusalem that is formed by three hills and shaped like a throne seat. It is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Those gathered for this judgment are the Gentile nations called sheep and goats. The goat Gentile nations are those who have mistreated the Jewish people; the sheep Gentile nations are those who supported, fed, and protected the Jewish people, Messiah’s brothers, during the great and dreadful tribulation period.

For greater context, this takes place at the end of the Tribulation period to determine who enters the Messianic Kingdom during the last half of the Great Tribulation. Amid this profound period of anguish, the non-Jewish nations aligned with the antichrist’s regime partake in the persecution of the Jewish people, thus relinquishing their opportunity to enter the Messianic Kingdom.

Those according to the flesh and natural seed of Abraham are Yeshua’s brethren, the Jewish people (Matthew 10:6; John 1:11). Throughout the book of Acts, Paul addresses his Jewish brothers forty-five times. In almost every instance, he speaks to a Jewish audience, his brothers.

We should note that salvation is first and always in the belief in Yeshua. But the actions of this later group, the goat Gentiles, is simply damning evidence of their allegiance to the antichrist. For this reason, they join in the most horrific persecution of the Jewish people ever in human history.

In closing, review the following passages of the extraordinary role that the Gentile has in the cause of Zion. Let us pray that God continues to move upon the hearts of nations to fulfill the church’s end-days mandate to “all Israel.”

Gentiles are seen as gathers of the exiles: “‘But now I will send for many fishermen,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will catch them…’” (Jeremiah 16:16 NIV).

Gentiles are guiding the Jews back to Jerusalem: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I will beckon to the nations [Gentiles], I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips’” (Isaiah 49:22 NIV).

Gentiles are drawn to Israel:

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee… (Isaiah 60:3-4 KJV).

The nations will be drawn to the Glory of Israel.

Gentiles recognizing God’s favor on the Jews: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you”’” (Zechariah 8:23 NIV).

Gentiles provoking the Jews to envy: “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (Romans 11:11 NIV).

Gentiles sharing with the Jews of their material blessings: “They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Romans 15:27 NIV).

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