#Pentecost 14

[guelphicreaction]

Some there are who are careless concerning their true life, greedy of the things which pass away. But as to the things which are eternal, they either understand them not, or, understanding them, hold them to be but of little importance so that they feel no sorrow. Nor do they know how to take wise advice and, forgetting the heavenly possessions which they have lost, deem themselves -- alas, poor wretches -- happy in their goods. They lift not up their eyes to the light of truth for which they were created and no keen desire ever makes them cast a longing look toward the everlasting Fatherland. Leaving alone the chief end for which they were made, they fix their affections upon the exile which they are enduring, instead of upon their home, and make merry in the blindness which they are suffering, as though it were glorious day-light.

St. Gregory the Great, Moral Reflections on Job

First Matins Lesson of the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

[paularoseauthor]

Empowered by the Spirit: Unleashing the Fire of Pentecost.

What is the purpose of a dictionary?  A dictionary tells us what a word means.  A dictionary shows us how to spell words–and even how to pronounce them.  A dictionary can help us to understand lots of things about words–about language. And that is what Pentecost is about- God uniting divided people because of different language- now unite all under the language of God which if faith, hope and…

[melvingaines]

Live Stream Sunday School - August 6, 2023

Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OHJohn 14:15-31 (Part 1)

[numbersbythebook]

Does Revelation 14 Show a Pentecost Rapture?

written by Will Schumacher

In my last post I speculate that Pentecost is the Rapture and therefore the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is a picture of our High Priest, Jesus Christ, lifting the 2 wave loaves and presenting them to the Father.  That would be the reason for the Church meeting Christ in the clouds and for Him not to actually set His feet on the earth to get His Bride. The Church age is then pictured as the process of harvesting wheat, with Pentecost being the wheat harvest.  Wheat is harvested by using a tribulum/tribulation to separate the grain from the husks and then are winnowed/shoveled up into the wind/Holy Spirit to separate the chaff from the grain.  The wheat is the purified Bride.

Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

I have thought for some time that the number 50 is tied to the Rapture. There are two periods of fifty in the Bible.  Pentecost is the 50th day and Yom Kippur is the 50th year.  However, numbers point to Pentecost as the Rapture. I did a series of posts recently looking at the 22 Books of Revelation and how they are tied to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter “nun”.  It has a gematria of 50.  If the rapture is tied to the number 50 and the 14th book of Revelation is tied to the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet with a gematria of 50, then I would surmise that we should see a Rapture in the 14th chapter of Revelation. There is a rapture that is pictured as a grain harvest in Revelation 14.  Maybe it is a wheat harvest.

Revelation 14:14-16 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

The Son of Man is Jesus.  He is on a cloud just as we are raptured to the clouds.  An angel cries out just as when Jesus descends it is with a voice of an archangel. There is a harvest.  Pentecost is the wheat harvest.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Further in Revelation 14, the 144,000 are called “firstfruits”. Jesus was the barley harvest firstfruits.  The 2 wave loaves that I believe the Rapture is a picture of is the wheat harvest firstfruits.

Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Exodus 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

What is also interesting is that Jesus as the “Son of man” is pictured with a golden crown on His head. This obviously refers to kingship.  Jesus is being pictured as the king when He reaps.  In the Old Testament God was the king of Israel ever since He made His covenant with His people at Sinai on Pentecost.  However Israel decided they wanted a man to be king over them instead. They chose Saul. This was on Pentecost, the wheat harvest.

1 Samuel 12:17 Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.

There is a second “reaping” in Revelation 14.  It is about grapes. The fall feasts are about the grape harvest.

Revelation 14:17-20 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

What I believe Revelation 14 may be showing is that the Rapture happens at the wheat harvest of Pentecost and then the wrath of God, pictured by the winepress for the grapes, is poured out during the fall feasts. An interesting verse jump:

Revelation 14: 14-16 is called a harvest.  Revelation 14: 17-20 never uses the word “harvest”.  Strong’s G2326 = ”harvest”. The first time the phrase “wheat harvest” is used in the Bible is verse 845:

Genesis 30:14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

Verse 29621 is what I believe may be a picture of the wheat harvest:

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

If you view the Bible as a continual circle and add 2326 (Strong’s G2326 = harvest) to verse 29621 you would come to verse 845 which is Genesis 30:14 and the first use of the phrase “wheat harvest”.

Some number information on firstfruits: Enoch who is the prototype of the Rapture is said to have been born and taken/raptured on Pentecost.  The wheat harvest firstfruits would be a type of the Rapture then. Strong’s H1061 = firstfruits. Enoch was taken/raptured 1061 years before Isaac the promised child of faith was born. Enoch taken after 987 years and Isaac born after 2048 years. Prime numbers 1-97 add up to 1061. Enoch New Testament gematria is 1455 =15x97. The 97th verse of the Bible is the first mention of an Enoch:

Genesis 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. Enoch Old Testament gematria is 84. Verse 84 is about an acceptable offering of “firstlings”.  This is Strong’s H1062.  It is the same root family as Strong’s H1061 = firstfruits.  It is actually the same word with the added letter “hey” at the end.

Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Jacob was 84 when he married Rachel and Leah. 536 years earlier was the flood when the ark/church was lifted up and saved while God’s wrath was poured out on the unrighteous.  Strong G536 =”firstfruits”.  The 144,000 of Revelation 14 are called firstfruits. This 84 number is tied to marriage.  God married His people on Pentecost.  Enoch with a gematria of 84 born and taken on Pentecost. Enoch’s root is shared by Hannukah, which is the 84th day of the civil year on the Jewish calendar.  Hannukah is about victory over assimilation.  You could say they chose to stay married to God rather than be married to the world. From the Temple Institute: The Israelites would mark their firstfruits (just like we are marked with the Holy Spirit) and they could bring them to the Temple beginning at Pentecost and the last day they could was Hannukah.

[fictionadventurer]

Stories referenced:

Pentecost: Acts 2:15

Peter and John escape prison: Acts 5: 21-26

Peter escapes prison: Acts 12: 1-16

Paul and Barnabas worshipped: Acts 14: 11-18

Paul's fatal preaching: Acts 20: 7-12

Paul's rules-lawyering: Acts 26: 30-32

Paul's snakebite: Acts 28: 1-6

Paul turning his enemies against each other: Acts 23: 6-10

Philip's teleportation: Acts 8:39

[ifelllikeastar]

B.B. King was born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola. While young, B.B. sang in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kilmichael. He was attracted to the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ because of its music. The local minister performed with a Sears Roebuck Silvertone guitar during services and taught King his first three chords. His first guitar was bought for him by Flake Cartledge, his employer in Kilmichael for 15 dollars. Cartledge withheld money from King's salary for the next two months until the debt was repaid. He was so attracted to music he taught himself to play guitar and began his career in juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis and Chicago; then, as his fame grew, he toured the world extensively.

Born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925 near Itta Bena, Mississippi and died on May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 89.

[greatrunner]

@tododeku-or-bust's post asking for examples of racism (experienced/witnessed) in fandom has got me thinking about how abstract the experience of antiblackness is once you (as in me, because I can only tell you my perspective) 'remove' yourself from the situation or the situation is considered 'settled.'

A lot of that is, obviously, a defense mechanism. If I didn't learn how to dissociate or numb myself from said experiences, I think I would be in a much worse place than I am right now.

But it also highlights how much I spent on Tumblr reading or experiencing antiblackness in different fandoms. Within the moment, the experience is raw and extremely triggering.

Left 4 Dead 2, Pacific Rim, Princess and the Frog, and Star Wars were probably the most active I'd been within a fanspace on Tumblr, and the antiblackness that ran rampant in those spaces was pretty vile.

At every turn, instead of owning up to the acts of passive and active racism, yt and non-Black users would break their backs to defend their position as 'not racist.'

The absolute refusal to investigate why they were so comfortable calling characters like Rochelle and Tiana boring or annoying compared to Lottie or Zoey allowed antiblackness to run rampant because, "I should be allowed to dislike a character!"

Do you know how aggravating it was to watch old-ass shows like Buffy and Angel at 14-then-22 and watch not only the writers but the audience (or LiveJournal or Television Without Pity) demonize characters like Charles Gunn and Robin Wood for doing things they cheered white characters on for doing... on the same shows? All while engaging in some truly racist stereotypes? It feels like you're going crazy when you see it. It made me wanna cry for help.

The fact that I had to remind Star Wars fans that 'DLF didn't mean it that way' wasn't an excuse for how LucasFilm treated Finn or John Boyega. That "actual racism" was benign, passive, uncritical, and often intentional.

The fact that much of my Pacific Rim experience was watching yt fandom call Stacker Pentecost an "asshole" or "control freak" because he was holding Raleigh and Chuck to account, or they wouldn't engage with his and Mako's relationship with the same respect they did with Herc and Chuck's.

I decided not to engage with the media outside of isolation or friend circles. As I moved further and further away from it, and it became vague and less sharp, I'd start to question, "Was it really that serious?" When so many people failed to read the room and centered themselves as victims of 'harassment,' was it really that serious?

And I have to remind myself, "Yeah, it was." Even as it becomes hard to verbalize or put into words to recall, it was and is that fucking serious.

And the worst part of all of this? Most of those racist shitheads knew that too. But they could get away with it, so...

The point ultimately is to drive people who'll challenge positions out of those spaces. That's why so many fanspaces don't promote growth or shifting dynamics. They prioritize anti-intellectualism and infantilization of the self or the work itself.

[walkswithmyfather]

Psalm 139:1-14 (NLT). “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” By In Touch Ministries:

“The Lord sees beyond who you are to who you can be.”

“Looking at all He had created, God declared that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). We’ve been “awesomely and wonderfully made,” with great potential for service in His kingdom (Ps. 139:14; Ephesians 2:10). However, some of us may doubt that this is true, because we notice so many ways in which we fall short. Let’s look at some biblical examples of people who might have felt the same way.

Moses appeared to have many advantages while he was growing up in Pharaoh’s household. Then he killed an Egyptian and fled the country. No longer did he seem a likely candidate to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But God looked beyond what Moses had done and saw who he could become.

Paul, prior to salvation, persecuted those who believed in Jesus. Yet through God’s mercy, the apostle became a mighty evangelist and author of almost half of the New Testament.

Peter denied—not once but three times—that he knew Jesus. Still, the Lord chose this simple fisherman to preach on the day of Pentecost.

God sees beyond our human frailties to the prospect of what we’re able to become in Him. Because His Spirit dwells in us, we have a greater capacity for spiritual transformation than we can imagine. Seek to become the person God has equipped you to be.”

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: Pentecost. 'Whether we be bond or free'

Out of the three dimensions of the Divine, the Holy Ghost is clearly the most mysterious one. It permeates everything and yet it is not to be felt or experienced by everyone. It gives sense and substance to all those moments in someone's Christian life, from Baptism to Eucharist to Last Rites. And yet, this is something to be almost taken for granted (and often hard to grasp) by the believers.

That does not make it less present, nor less important. Both vessel of Grace and tool of Togetherness.

Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians says it all, in an absolutely wonderful way:

“For the body is not one member, but many” (1 Corinthians 12:14).

Something many seem to forget, every single day.

[thedreadvampy]

I find Americans talking about religion fascinating because they think the weird pentecostal/evangelical eschatology cults are Normal Christianity and not like. a really specific thing.

and that is by no means to say Christianity elsewhere is less fucked up but it's different.

like Americans will say stuff like "like most Christians, this cult believes we're in the end times and have to reclaim Zion to bring about Revelations, but what's weird about their beliefs is..." and it's like???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN LIKE MOST CHRISTIANS?????

like Scotland's still a pretty Christian country. some of the biggest sociopolitical divides are Christian sectarianism. we got Presbyterians we got Catholics we got Episcopalians we got Quakers (hi) we got Baptists and Methodists and Jehovah's Witnesses and so on. half of the population are Christian. but I don't think I have ever met more than a handful of people whose Christian belief is focused on Revelations and the end times. that's weird stuff my guys.

my outside appraisal of American Christianity is that it looks really very samey. there doesn't seem to be a lot of significant theological difference, or tbh aesthetic difference, between a good number of the major churches. worship practise, structure, and the focus on sin, evangelism and apocalypse seem to be way more common threads there than in Europe. and I feel like people grow up in that and think that means all Christianity is the same as that. which like. it isn't.

A lot of folks I know who've been to American Quaker communities, for example, have been really surprised at how much some Meetings in the US are cramming into the same episcpentamethodbaptitradcathevangelist church model - fire and brimstone preachers, our god is a great big god songs, focus on end times prophecy - and it just doesn't. line up with the degree of diversity in practise and focus for different Christian sects in most other parts of the world. where like. those types of churches also exist (the evangelical born-again rapture and damnation churches) but they're one approach among many.

and again that's not cause like. Christianity is only bad in the US and not bad anywhere else. Christianity does a lot of social good and a looooooot of social harm everywhere. but it's wild what Americans, Christian or otherwise, seem to take as the baseline beliefs of global Christianity. like I went to a Church of England school and I don't believe I was ever taught about Revelations, let alone the rapture or young earth ideology or biblical literalist creationism, except, eventually, as a thing some other people believe and it's weird. when the young earth creationists came into my secondary school to prostyletize it was a bloodbath cause every 14 year old in that room was like "what r u talking about m8 that's cult shit".

what I'm saying is: there's not a huge amount of universal Christian beliefs across all sectors except like "God is there. There's some Bible which contains some amount of spiritual value for some amount of literal interpretation. Jesus? Pretty great and important guy. Probably the son of God or actually God or some secret third thing." and everything else there's some dissent on. but of the things that are broadly though not fully universal - maybe like heaven, hell, sin, redemption through faith or deed, the resurrection, a physical/spiritual divide, prayer, some key holidays etc - I don't think that 'weirdly intense eschatology involving reclaiming Zion, global warfare, the Antichrist, decades of torturous end times, physical rapture etc' is in that mix. that's your country's weird thing that it's since exported through cultural colonialism, just like Christianity itself was largely exported through European cultural colonialism.

[lbright90]

From the start

So the last few days I've tried to reflect on where my relationship began with Jesus and God. As I was reflecting I realized that despite me knowing WHO God and Jesus were from a very early age I didn't have a personal relationship with God until 2018. So I'm gonna recap on why this is. When I was little my family was always going to church. My grandparents and mom went to church and I was there with them. Now when I was little we went to mostly Pentecostal churches and I'm not here to put down any denomination for we are not to be divided but come together to form one and worship as one. However, when I was little I would sit there and listen and watch, and there are a few times I could feel the spirit talk to me, but much like I was immature that I couldn't understand fully what the Spirit wanted. Like much today when we take our children to church, we teach them how to behave and act in churc. When I got to my teenage years and joined a local church's choir I enjoyed singing and praising God. I could feel the spirit tugging at my heart but I still couldn't understand what it wanted. It wasn't until 2018 that I found myself in a world where I felt trapped raising a child (he will always be my baby) by myself with a little help of my mother and the father of my son not being as reliable. It was then that a woman I barely knew asked me, "Are you okay?" At that moment I realized that no matter what I did, no matter how much I tried, I wasn't okay because I was pulling the old fake it to you make it. I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. That day was when I realized that I can't get no where in this life without asking help from a higher power because everyone else is only human, they make errors, and are not going to be 100% reliable when I need them. So that's when I started going to church. The lady was nice enough to invite me to her church and that's where I met some of the most wonderful amazing people ever who will do anything and everything to help you. Even if it's just praying for you, sometimes prayers do more for you then what money or items every could. After a few weeks it was during a sermon about resentment and holding onto grudges that the Lord worked on me and showed me where I had erred all my life. That I was so quick to hold onto grudges from something that someone did over 20+ years ago and until I let go of that hatred I would never find peace or happiness. That day I left everything to God, I prayed for a resolution to an issue with my father that I had been facing for many years and guess what! God answered. I was able to make peace with my father and let go of some of the hatred I had been holding onto. Now I want to recap on why my faith and relationship with God and Jesus didn't start until 2018, despite me feeling him knocking on my heart multiple times before. When I was growing up, you were expected to act a certain way at church, but there wasn't a lot of explaining. Like we were told you raise your hands to praise but nobody could point it out to me in the bible exactly where it said this. Fast forward to 2018 when one of my coworkers who was studying the bible could point it out to me in less than a 5 minute conversation. Now I'm not putting all the blame on the church from my childhood, or my mom, or my grandparents. It wasn't for them to them force me to have a relationship with God. Now that I'm older and more understanding, if I wanted to really know the answer I should have opened my Bible and really tried to read it and let God's word speak to me. So in the end it was because I wasn't ready to accept God and that I couldn't perceive his will. Anyways I just wanted to share this story with you all and I hope everyone has a good day. John 14:6-7

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

[fear-not-beloved]

Mary is a woman who loves. How could it be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God's thoughts and wills with God's will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into the background during Jesus' public life, knowing that the Son must establish a new family and that the Mother's hour will come only with the Cross, which will be Jesus' true hour (cf. Jn 2:4; 13:1). When the disciples flee, Mary will remain beneath the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25-27); later, at the hour of Pentecost, it will be they who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). ― Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love: Deus Caritas Est

[anastpaul]

One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Giles (c650 – c710) Abbot – Pentecost XV – Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-10; Luke 7:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/ Young man, I say to thee, arise!” – Luke 7:14 REFLECTION – “Let no-one who is Christian doubt that even now, dead people rise. Certainly, every human being has eyes, by which he can see dead people rising, in the way this widow’s son, whom we just heard about in the Gospel, arose. But not everyone can see people who are spiritually dead rise. For that, it is necessary to have already risen interiorly. It is greater to raise someone, who is to live forever than to raise someone, who will have to die again. The young man’s mother, this widow, was transported with joy at seeing her son rise. Our Mother, the Church, also rejoices when she sees her children’s spiritual resurrection everyday. The widow’s son was dead with the death of the body but these latter, are dead with the death of the soul. People wept tears over the visible death of the former but people were not concerned by the invisible death of the latter – they did not even see it. The only One Who did not remain indifferent, is the One Who knew these deaths – only the One, Who could give life back to them, knew these deaths. For if the Lord had not come to raise the dead, the Apostle Paul would not have said: “Awake, O sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will give you Light.” (Eph 5:14).” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 98).

(via One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “Awake, O sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will give you Light! ” (Eph 5:14) – AnaStpaul)

[driftwithme]

Little big au where Scott Hansen died in jail regretting what he did because he died alone and away from his brother and nephew. His ghost ended up within Herc's memories and his feelings, mostly dormant, 'til the Double Event woke him up the second the electric pulse hit Striker.

He got caught by it before he could return to Herc, so when Pentecost and Chuck piloted it to Pitfall, he was able to watch it all with all the horror of seeing his nephew going to the end of the world basically alone.

As he heard Chuck's final words, he took all the energy left in him. It couldn't end like that for Herc. It could not. Losing Angela, then losing him (Scott) and now losing Chuck? No, Scott needed to do something, fuck.

Pentecost would never disrespect Chuck by ejecting him, but Scott? Oh, he didn't care much about morals then. Fuck the world and the Marshall and every single kaiju and fuck bomb and the jaeger program.

Cursing a storm, Scott prefers to never reach the afterlife, using his existence to gamble for Chuck's life instead. He posseses Striker for a second, triggers everything to go faster than it physically should be capable of and sends Chuck, now passed out due the shock and other factors, towards the surface on his escape-pod.

Funnily enough, Yancy Beckets does the same for his little brother in the Anteverse. 14-10 seconds are not enough for Raleigh to make it out of the Breach alive while it was collapsing. Raleigh should be dead, given the level of radiation that a literal closing portal between dimensions implies.

But against all odds, Chuck and Raleigh end up surviving. A bit later after the final scene of the movie, Raleigh remembers he saw his brother when he was escaping the Anteverse and Yancy told him some numbers, before saying his goodbye. Raleigh must had been dreaming, but when he says the numbers out loud, Tendon clocks it as coordinates.

Chuck's there, waiting. Nothing functions on his escape-pod, nothing to help LOCCENT on the job of finding him and yet--

Chuck looks sick. Everyone thinks it's the near death experience. He doesn't talk for a while. He finds out Raleigh was the one who knew his location and goes to pick another fight, but this time Herc can see the fear that is underneath. So can Raleigh. He looks,, well he looks spooked.

Raleigh face falls immediately and Chuck just knows then and they both freeze right there in the middle of their confrontation. The hair on Herc's arms stands on point and he takes both to his office, demanding an explanation.

It lands like its own bomb on Herc's chest.

Tell your dad I'm sorry, kid. I'm sorry, okay? I--

-- couldn't stay, Rals. Not even if I wanted and believe me, I wanted. If I could--

-- but it's done now. I fucked up my time with him. With you too. Ha, I know you both hate me and you should. You should. So then hate me for this too. When you wake up--

-- you need to find him. There's no turning back time, kiddo, but this? This we can do. Find him, take him home to his dad. See that he doesn't end up like us. And Raleigh? I love you. Good--

-- bye, Charles. Be good and say goodbye for me to your dad.

Mako finds them like this: Herc wrapping his arms around both young rangers, who were too busy trying not to choke on their words and the memory to react on time. They are slightly smaller, Herc shouldn't be using his sprained arm and the entire interaction feels heavy and tired. Still, she catches a glimpse of tears when Chuck turns away and leaves, not even noticing her. Raleigh smiles softly to Herc, exchanges some words with Herc and goes after Chuck, now more serious.

When Mako looks at the Marshall, she sees grief, a terrible terrible kind that echoes with her own sorrow. She also sees pride when he opens his arms to her to offer a hug, almost shy and awkward but happy all the same.

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

This Verse Secretly Undermines All of Christianity...

I just saw this and thought I would process it on my own.

This YouTuber doesn't sound like he's explored much beyond mainstream Western Christianity. He makes the bold statement that EVERY Christian sect finds indispensable the idea that Christ died on the Cross "for our sins". Period.

For the longest time I found that challenging too. He goes on to talk about many of the same things I've asked, "Why couldn't God just forgive us outright? Why must he go through a generational pageant to do something the God of the Universe could have done of his own accord in the first place?"

You can say this is a dumb question. I've been told this many times.

Yet I have never been the only one asking this.

Many, if not all Atheists ask this question. Frankly, many "Christian" answers sound a little unhinged.

Now, I don't think that his examples necessarily contradict the prevailing point of view though. All anyone has to do is look at the banking industry to see that credit on future earnings is a valid payment method. Now it's true that modern banking, and especially credit, wasn't developed until the European Jews, unable to make a living any other way, started lending during the medieval period. Jesuits came up with the idea of insurance, which didn't technically fall under the prohibition against usury. And with ongoing innovation, modern financial markets developed.

None of these, of course, would have been understood by the local people of Jesus' time and place.

What was understood was life and death.

And this is where I found my peace.

Sins can easily be forgiven, but sickness and eventual death? That's a whole other nut to crack. Now, to be clear, unfortunately even the most traditional Christian communities have started to obsess about how SIN must be atoned!

But there is a strain in the oldest Christian traditions that it wasn't primarily sin that was destroyed on the cross, but rather death, disease, corruption (of which sin is a derivation to be sure, but not the point).

Now it's easy to look around and say - "Look! it didn't work." I myself have had to say good bye to both my parents over the last several months.

However, there is a resurrection that is promised. And if Christ has done what he said he did, then there WILL be a general resurrection.

The key is to be prepared for that resurrection. Now we could go on about which denomination is best prepared, but I have little faith in denominationalism. I think it's a means to conquer and divide the faithful, pitting follower against follower. Soon the God who's being worshiped isn't the most High God, but the Deceiver who encourages us all to call each other heretics. I do not think most "Christians" are Christian, but rather following their own wisdom (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:11, Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 24:11).

Now I may be a false teacher myself for thinking such a thing and putting it out there, but I have faith that God will know his own. And while he loves the rest, and has given them life, that life will be so much less for the fact that they reject what he's given them.

I find the idea of a river of fire helpful - Moses and the Glory of God (Exodus 33:20-23), speaks to the idea that to human senses, God is Fire. The Story of the Three Holy Youths (Daniel 3) has also been seen as an illustration of man abiding in the presence of fire, as a proxy for God, unharmed. Pentecost is God's fire experienced by the faithful after his resurrection. How will Gods fire be experienced by the unfaithful?

I have no idea, but I doubt that it will be pleasant (Luke 16:19-31).

In short, I feel this video failed to land it's point. There's enough diversity in Christianity to survive this argument, though I do not think that most modern Christians are open to my resolution.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy upon me, a sinner.

[propheticeve]

Holiness Hoodoo: Speaking in tongues

In my exploration of the question, "Do any other religions practice speaking in tongues?" I arrived at a resounding "NO." More specifically, I discovered that speaking in tongues, or Glossolalia, is primarily native to Pentecostalism. This revelation left me pondering why the internet isn't more updated with information about the practice of speaking in tongues in African Traditional Religions (ATRs), as this practice predates the knowledge of Christ or Pentecostalism.

My curiosity extends to how this practice correlates with spirit possession in other cultures. Speaking in tongues is often seen as a form of being possessed by the Holy Spirit. I wonder how this phenomenon compares to the concept of being "ridden" by the lwa in Vodoun rituals, a practice prevalent in various religious traditions, such as shamanism, Yoruba, Santeria, and Spiritism. In these cultures, spirit possession is not only accepted but viewed as a privilege or a sign of divine favor and great power. The question arises: does it matter if one understands the spoken words, especially when the person speaking has no control over them or doesn't comprehend their meaning?

I shared that I grew up in a Pentecostal environment, where I witnessed numerous instances of tongues speaking, the laying on of hands, Holy Ghost encounters, and more. While I have not been gifted with the ability to speak in tongues myself, my sister has received this "mantle." I acknowledge that it might still be possible for me to receive this gift; it simply hasn't manifested yet.

A striking discrepancy lies between the way the Bible describes speaking in tongues and how it is practiced in the Black church. These two interpretations do not necessarily align. The way in which the Black church practices speaking in tongues could be considered blasphemous by those who do not understand the cultural context.

For instance, 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (ESV) advises that if anyone speaks in a tongue, there should be only two or at most three speakers, and someone should interpret. If there is no one to interpret, individuals should remain silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. However, I recall watching my mother enter profound trances in church and speak in tongues. She often conveyed familial messages, sometimes from loved ones or ancestors. On occasion, her utterances were messages directly from the Most High. This suggests that, despite our belief that we are communicating solely with the Most High, we may inadvertently be connecting with ancestral spirits.

As previously mentioned in my post about "shouting," Black people approach worship differently, and our cultural influence extends to various religions we encounter. This manner of worship has roots that run deeper than mere survival; it dates back long before the era of colonization. Our unique approach to worship resonates deeply with the source, and we have been able to utilize the Bible to justify our practices.

Acts 2:4 (ESV) states that the disciples were "filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." In the Black church, particularly the ones I attended, deliverance magic, akin to exorcism or the casting out of demons, was prevalent. When witnessing the casting out of a spirit, the individual performing the exorcism would often speak in tongues. My mother would emphasize that she wasn't addressing the person but the spirit.

Mark 16:17 (ESV) further supports this practice, stating that "these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name, they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues."

Despite its significance, many people question those who speak in tongues, doubting the authenticity of their utterances. They may ask, "What are they saying? Can you translate it?" The answer is generally no, as this conversation resembles a language of light—words only decipherable by the person and the spirit. Sometimes, the person speaking in tongues is unaware of the message once they emerge from the trance.

The discourse conducted through speaking in tongues is not meant for everyone's ears. It is a communication meant for specific individuals, often excluding the person speaking. Consequently, I do not advocate listening to or repeating others' tongues or mimicking the practice. The spirit being communicated with may not be in everyone's best interest. Speaking in tongues is a form of spirit communication bestowed upon only a few.

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