#and her new god is in many ways the opposite of the christian god - there is a sort of duality there; like the demiurge in gnosticism

[swordsonnet]

sometimes i make little speeches about my ocs in my head imagining i'm a famous writer giving an interview that 5000 gay people on tumblr will go insane over

[infinitepunches]

Possibly controversial take:

As beautiful as the animation was in this short, the first episode of Star Wars: Visions season two, “Sith,”  shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Star Wars and its core concepts, and it’s a microcosm of the Disney Star Wars problem as a whole.

Lola is well-acted, charming, and likable. She’s aesthetically quintessential modern Star Wars in all the best ways. But her character and story fly in direct contrast to the whole point of Star Wars.

She’s a former Sith, probably my favorite archetype of Star Wars character. There aren’t many former Sith characters in the franchise, especially outside of Legends. We have Ventress, and Quinlan Vos (sort of). Vader and Kylo are both killed off so to avoid the “you murdered my whole family” awkwardness at the respective New Republic celebration ceremonies.

And with as rare as the trope is, this is the second time Visions has done a story line with a reformed Sith, the first being in “Ronin.” The Ronin character adheres to the Star Wars philosophy of moral obligation to good. (This is made especially clear in the sequel Ronin novel.) The Ronin began the Jedi Schism and many died because of his actions. Because of this, he believes he has a duty to hunt down and eradicate the evil he created. He is still driven by emotion, like a Sith, but the core Lucasian moral of power demanding responsibility is still there.

“Both Light and Darkness are part of the painting... part of me...” Lola says as she ignites a saber that bears a bled crystal, a sentient stone that has been tortured by her hate and pain. And she proceeds to do precisely what her old Sith master tells her to do: she murders him. Not because she wants to right her wrongs, or because she wishes to stop the spread of evil, but because she wants to be alone and get to make every choice for herself.

Somewhere along the way, we forgot that Star Wars is Christianity through a space-fantasy lens. The Jedi serve the Will of the Force. The Will is the Force is supreme above all. Jedi abandon selfish desire in exchange for service to a higher omniscient Consciousness. The Jedi are freed from the Dark Side’s corruption by their submission to the Will of the Force.

In contrast, this episode adheres to the Sith Code: “Through victory, my chains are broken.” Just like the snake in the garden, the Sith spout the lie that you can be your own god and chart your own destiny. Jedi follow prophesy. Sith defy nature. Lola’s happy ending teaches the audience that by the sheer willpower we possess, we can escape our enemies and find peace in isolation doing whatever the hell we want.

This is precisely opposite to the core philosophy taught in the Original Trilogy. Seemingly, according to this short, Luke should have stayed on the farm and “not gotten involved.”

Ironically, Lucas himself was an artist who used his artistic power for good, unlike Lola who merely wishes to retreat from conflict and make art for her own enjoyment. And where Lucas wanted to adapt ancient myths into modern mediums for the sake of future generations and their moral landscape, Disney has been motivated by a lust for greater money and power for far longer than it has owned Lucasfilm.

[conjuremanj]

Erzulie/ Family Of Loa

Erzulie (sometimes spelled Erzili or Èzili) is a family of loa, or spirits, in Voodoo. She is a great sport for any one to work with. And yes any religion can work with her.

She's the Vodou Lwa (spirit) who represent the essence of love and women. She has many forms, from fierce warrior mother to red-eyed weeping crone, and can be counted among either the Rada or Petwo lwa (spirits or gods).

During the times of slavery, and Petwo lwa were dark and powerful. (Not evil) Erzulie manifests with deep passion, and Her mood can range from the height of joy to the depths of misery.

There are a number of sister forms of Erzulie, and She is sometimes is considered by some to be a triple Goddess.(but is not) (As such She has three husbands–Damballah (is the original force of creation, believed to be the inner voice of God), Agwe (the spirit of the sea), and Ogoun (warrior spirit and iron) Like the Triple Goddess in other religions.

Erzulie Dantor: 👇is a spirit the essence of love not the Voodoo Goddess of love, romance, art, jealousy, passion, & sex. Erzulie Dantor is not the patron loa of lesbian women, nor domestic violence. But is the patron loa of New Orleans. She is deeply caring and dedicated to her children and will stop at nothing to protect them. She is also a guardian and protector of orphans, sick children, and those who have been abused. Erzulie Dantor is a mulatto woman who is often portrayed as the Black Madonna, or the Roman Catholic “Saint Virgin Mary, sometimes Barbara Africana”. She loves knives and is considered the protector of newly consecrated Voodoo priests and priestesses. A common syncretic depiction of Erzulie Dantor is St. Jeanne D’Arc, who is displayed carrying or supporting a sword. Which is pretty cool.

You can see that she holds a baby the baby's name is Anais. Anais is her daughter she is the translator for Ezulie Dantor because she cannot speak only can say one syllable, the sound of her tongue clicking on the roof of her mouth, “ke-ke-ke-ke!”. Story goes during the revolution Manbo Mayinet Priestess call on her and her husband to help against the slave owners. During possession a priestess her tongue was cut out by Haitian Revolutionaries who feared she would betray them. just in case she is captured she won't speak their secrets. She is now a Lwa in the Petwo Nation. But their other stores too about her that you can read.

Rada:

Erzulie Fréda Dahomey: ☝️ the Rada aspect of Erzulie, is the spirit of love, beauty, jewelry, dancing, luxury, and flowers. She wears three wedding rings, one for each husbands. Her symbol is a heart, Her colors are pink, blue, white and gold, and Her favorite is jewelry, perfume, sweet cakes and liqueurs. She is femininity and compassionate. But has a darker side. She is seen as jealous and spoiled and within some vodoun circles is considered to be lazy. When She mounts a person (possessed) She flirts with all the men, and can treats all the women as rivals. In Christian she is the Virgin and Child, because She is the mother of Ti. Common syncretizations include Our Lady of Lourdes because She is usually depicted as light-skinned.

I took this pic of the Ezili altar form a voodoo society in New Orleans.

Erzulie Freda: is the sister of Ezili Dantor, and Her opposite in every way. Where Dantor is a hard working single mother, Freda is a glamor girl. 🙂. She is said to be the most powerful sorceress in the pantheon. Her colors are pink and pale blue, she like pink champagne and roses, frosted cakes, jewelry . Make Shure to keep Her things clean or she will not arrive in the temple.” She is a powerful spirit. To receive her as a guest during rituals, practitioners must treat her with honors due to her status as a fine lady. She loves heady perfumes, jewels, and anything related to beauty and coquetry.

Erzulie Mansur: (Erzulie the Blessed) - Represents maternal love and protects children from harm.

Granne Erzulie (Grandma Erzulie) - Represents the wisdom granted by experience and maturity and grandmotherly kindness and love. She is syncretized with St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

Petro:

Erzulie D'en Tort: / Erzulie Dantor (Erzulie of the Wrongs) Protects women and children and deals revenge against those who wrong them.

Erzulie Balianne: (Erzulie the Gagged) - "Silences" (heals or calms) hearts. Keeps secrets or ensures that secrets will not be revealed. Helps people to forget past loves and overcome passionate emotions. Her "horses" tend to speak as if they have a gag in their mouth. She is syncretized with The Immaculate Heart.

Erzulie Mapiangue: (Erzulie the Suckler) Deals with the pain of childbirth and the protection of unborn and newborn babies. Her "horses" tend to get in a fetal position or birthing position and cry tears of pain. Common syncretization is as the Virgin and Infant of Prague, which wear matching red velvet robes and gold crowns.

Erzulie Yeux Rouge or Erzulie Ge-Rouge (Red-Eyed Erzulie) Takes revenge on unfaithful lovers. Her "horses" cry tears of bitter sadness.

Erzulie Toho Aids: the jealous or slighted in love. Her "horses" cry tears of anger.

Others:

EditErzulie La Flambeau (Erzulie of the Torch)

Erzulie Wangol (Erzulie of the Sacred Banner)

Erzulie Shango Pye Nago loa that is a feminine aspect of Shango.

So you see she is represented in different ways not just as a loa in Haitian Vodou and a Orisha but in different forms of voodoo.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Friday, June 21st, 2024. It is the 173rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; Because it is a leap year, 193 days remain until the end of the year.

431: When they discover that Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria intends to open the Council of Ephesus without waiting for the arrival of Patriarch John of Antioch, who is supposed to be its president (John has been delayed by flooding), bishops of the East sign a formal act demanding delay. Cyril will ignore them and condemn Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople because of his christology and order John to break communion with him.

1579: Francis Fletcher, chaplain to Sir Francis Drake, reads from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer somewhere in California on “the first Sunday after Trinity”—the first time the English prayer book is known to have been used in the New World. A number of Indians gather to watch. Captain Drake's rough sailors, who have just plundered their way up the Spanish coast, lift their hands to heaven and pray God to open the eyes of the Indian idolaters “to the knowledge of him and of Jesus Christ the salvation of the Gentiles.”

1663: The men of Groton, Massachusetts, vote to make Samuel Willard their pastor “for as long as he lives.” Several years later an Indian raid will destroy the town and Willard will move to Boston where he will rise in prominence.

1691: John Flavel, a godly pastor in Dartmouth, England, preaches his last sermon, taking as his text 1 Corinthians 10: 12 “Wherefore let him that stands take heed lest he fall,” urging those who are careless of their Christian profession to show a deeper concern for their souls. He had written books urging full committment to Christ and was known for his passion in prayer. For instance, once learning that a sea battle was in progress and knowing that many Dartmouth boys were in the navy, he led his people in prayer and fasting. Not one of Dartmouth’s many sailors died.

1834: (pictured above) Cyrus McCormick, a Christian inventor and businessman from Virginia, patents the world’s first truly workable reaper. He will make a fortune from it, much of which will go to charity.

1837: Angelina Grimké addresses a large “mixed” audience of men and women in Boston, Massachusetts, the onset of bringing many women into active participation in the movement to abolish slavery, but also conclusively repulsing gender discrimination in her lectures.

1846: Death of Isaac McCoy, a missionary to American Indians. McCoy and his family had endured great privation and hardship in their pioneer life. He had been criticized for urging the transfer of Indians from their ancestral lands, but his writings show he was concerned they were being corrupted by contact with whites.

1853: The First Congregationalist Church in Chicago burns to the ground. Set ablze by enemies because of its opposition to slavery. The Congregationalists will dedicate a new, bigger church building just four months later.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Elaine Godfrey at The Atlantic:

Delivering hard truths is Allie Beth Stuckey’s job—a job she was called to do by God. And after a decade, she’s gotten pretty good at it. “Do I love when people think that I’m a hateful person?” Stuckey asked me in an interview in June. “Of course not.” We had been talking about her opposition to gay marriage, but Stuckey opposes many things that most younger Americans probably consider settled issues. “I’ve thought really hard about the things I believe in,” she said, “and I would go up against literally anyone.”

The 32-year-old Texan hosts Relatable With Allie Beth Stuckey, a podcast in which she discusses current events and political developments from her conservative-Christian perspective. Stuckey is neither a celebrity provocateur in the style of her fellow podcast host Candace Owens, nor the kind of soft-spoken trad homemaker who thrives in the Instagram ecosystem of cottagecore and sourdough bread. Stuckey is a different kind of leader in the new counterculture—one who criticizes the prevailing societal mores in a way that she hopes modern American women will find, well, relatable.

The vibe of her show is more Millennial mom than Christian soldier. Stuckey usually sits perched on a soft white couch while she talks, her blond hair in a low ponytail, wearing a pastel-colored sweatshirt and sipping from a pink Stanley cup. But from those plush surroundings issues a stream of stern dogma: In between monologues about the return of low-rise jeans, Stuckey will condemn hormonal birth control—even within marriage—and in vitro fertilization. She has helped push the idea of banning surrogate parenthood from the conservative movement’s fringes to the forefront of Republican politics. Her views align closely with those of Donald Trump’s running mate, J. D. Vance, and fit comfortably in the same ideological milieu as the Heritage Foundation’s presidential blueprint Project 2025, which recommends, among other things, tighter federal restrictions on abortion and the promotion of biblical marriage between a man and a woman.

I first became aware of Stuckey in 2018, when a low-production satirical video she made about Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went semi-viral. It wasn’t particularly funny, but it made a lot of liberals mad, which was, of course, the point. Back then, Stuckey didn’t have a huge fan base. Now she has 1 million followers on her YouTube and Instagram accounts combined. She runs a small media operation of editors and producers—and recently recorded Relatable’s 1,000th episode.

[...]

Stuckey’s is a movement that has felt ascendant in the past few years, especially since the fall of Roe v. Wade, which has emboldened social conservatives like her to seek new territory to conquer. Relatable is a glimpse into that crusade. Stuckey sees herself as a sisterly Sherpa helping Christian women navigate the rough terrain of America’s polarized society. “What she is doing is exactly what Phyllis Schlafly did,” Jonathan Merritt, a religion writer and the author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars, told me, referring to the activist who rallied conservative women against abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. “She’s just able to do it with the amplifiers of modern social media and the internet.” Stuckey is resisting what she views as a strong leftward drift in American society. “It’s easy to be a progressive. Everyone’s gonna affirm you and validate you and applaud you,” she told me. “The last thing a woman wants is to be excluded.” Stuckey, however, is comfortable swimming upstream. She wants her followers to be, too.

Conservatives have prescribed many remedies for what ails American culture. Stuckey, for example, would like people to stop having premarital sex, and for drag queens to stop reading stories to children. And right now, what she would really like is an iced honey latte—but only 12 ounces, because it’s already late afternoon. Stuckey had been reluctant to meet me, she said, because I was a journalist from outside the conservative-media universe. But she finally showed up—sans press handler—at a coffee shop in a North Dallas suburb. She wore another long floral dress, and her dark eyebrows were knit in a slightly suspicious frown.

[...]

At the San Antonio conference—the eighth annual Young Women’s Leadership Summit, held by the conservative group Turning Point Action—signs outside the bathrooms read GIRLS ONLY. The current iteration of the conservative-women’s movement is a hot-pink goulash of subcultures: evangelical traditionalism meets crunchy homesteader vibes—with a little MAGA rancor sprinkled in. At the conference, a clinical social worker addressed the crowd about the harms of day care for young children, and so did Alina Habba, Donald Trump’s lawyer, who talked about facing attacks from “fake news” outlets. Speaker after speaker vouched for the advantages of temperature-based ovulation tracking, holistic remedies for pain and depression, and all-natural fertility supplements. The most in-demand piece of merch at the event was a tote bag decorated with cutesy jam jars whose labels read Strawberry Jams But My Glock Don’t.

Attendees in their 20s and early 30s, predominantly wearing sundresses and shiny hair ribbons, told me that they felt judged by their peers for wanting to have babies and be homemakers. Some said they were relieved when Turning Point’s founder, Charlie Kirk, assured them in his welcome speech that college “is a waste of time.” Here is where people like Stuckey see an opportunity to promote an alternative—for women to embrace an older idea of womanhood with new verve. This retro brand of womanhood is feminine, not feminist. Stuckey told me that of course she wants women to have equal rights and protection under the law, but the notion that women “need to be liberated” and “go into the workforce,” rather than stay at home and have kids, “has actually led to a lot more misery than freedom.” Her push toward traditional womanhood is an attempt “to reassess some of the girl-boss culture that has permeated even some conservative spaces.” Of course, as a female employer, she is the definition of a girl boss. But this doesn’t strike her as hypocritical. “When I think of a girl boss, I think of this kind of domineering woman who puts her career first, who is independent at all costs, who don’t need no man,” she said.

Women should put family first, as she does with her three young children, Stuckey told me. “Whether you have an Etsy shop, whether you have a crocheting business, whether you have a podcast, or you’re a writer, I don’t think those things are bad,” she said. “But especially in these little years, I just think that they need to come after raising your children.” (When I asked Stuckey who watches her children while she’s in the studio, she declined to offer details but added that her husband is not a stay-at-home dad.)

Women in Stuckey’s DMs are constantly asking her how to advocate for their own socially conservative views. “Everyone knows if you want to learn the best way to win an argument or a debate, it’s by listening to Allie,” Alex Clark, a Turning Point commentator and Stuckey’s friend, told me in an email. “I hear pretty regularly from Millennial women who consider themselves to be newly conservative that they credit Allie for their transformation.” Some recent episodes of Relatable include “Can Christians Say No to Sex Within Marriage?” and “Feminism Is Gender Dysphoria.” Despite the abrasive titles, Stuckey says that she always aims to defend her positions first using a scientific argument, and then to “buttress that with what’s theologically true.” Her critique of gender theory, for example, starts with the fact that most humans possess either XX or XY chromosomes. Then she’ll explain that God makes people in his image—and that God doesn’t make mistakes.

Unlike the many commentators primarily focused on owning the libs, Stuckey has “an integrity, a sincerity,” Amy Binder, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, told me when I asked about Stuckey’s appeal. “There’s a sophistication with Allie, shot through with knowledge about the Bible, and linking it up to the choices women are making today.” Owens, who has had Stuckey on her own podcast, told me that Stuckey is the person “you hope your daughter will grow up to be” because of how well she “embodies the Christian values she espouses.” American culture is saturated with themes that Stuckey finds morally repugnant. She gave up going to Target because of the store’s prominent Pride section, and she lost faith in the fashion brand Anthropologie when it shared a video of a man modeling a woman’s dress. Stuckey enjoys reading the latest in fiction, but Colleen Hoover’s novels are “basically porn,” she told me. And music? “I can’t sit there and listen to Billie Eilish without being like, I’m sad for Billie Eilish,” she said. (The singer recently came out as bisexual.) “The only topic Allie and I may disagree on is Taylor Swift,” Clark told me. “I am a diehard fan.” (One of Stuckey’s latest episodes, “Ex-Psychic Says Taylor Swift Promotes Witchcraft,” explores “occult glorification” in the music industry.)

Stuckey described one audience she hoped to reach as women in the “mushy middle”—tuned-out Christians who see themselves as apolitical. She hopes to bring them into the fold and move them rightward. But she seems at least as devoted to stiffening the spines of women who already agree with her. During her monologues, her tone is blunt and mocking; she rarely laughs, and when she does, it’s usually at the expense of someone on the left.“Her following is looking for someone to help them articulate what they already believe in a concise and compelling way, and she does that,” Merritt said. And the already persuaded keep coming back partly for the scolding. “The meanness of a person like Allie Beth is attractive because it is a catharsis for conservatives.”

[...] Seeking the restoration of traditional gender roles is not new for the conservative movement. But these days, calls to take back womanhood from the feminist left are getting louder—arguably, louder than they’ve been since the late ’70s, when Schlafly helped kill the Equal Rights Amendment. This time around, the network of conservative commentators is sprawling and well financed, thanks to projects like Kirk’s Turning Point Action and Morton Blackwell’s Leadership Institute. Ahead of November’s election, conservatives hope to use gender and sexuality as a wedge—a way to peel off voters disillusioned with the Democrats. Although the Dobbs decision knocking down Roe two years ago was highly unpopular among American women, it seems to have emboldened social conservatives—forcing them to both reassess their goals and imagine new ones. “Even on gender and abortion,” Stuckey told me, “I think most conservatives are too liberal.” One of those milquetoast conservatives is Donald Trump. Stuckey isn’t exactly a fan of the former president. Like many Christian conservatives, she didn’t appreciate Trump’s criticism of six-week abortion bans, and she thinks the Trump-led changes to the GOP platform on abortion and traditional marriage were “stupid.” Stuckey, who voted for Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2016 and 2024 primaries, gets that Trump turns off many women. Some of her listeners are his supporters, but generally, she said, “my audience is not MAGA.”

Still, like many of her fellow evangelicals, Stuckey is pragmatic. Even if Trump doesn’t represent all of her views on abortion and sexuality, he will surround himself with people who do—people like Vance, for example. The president’s running mate “is definitely more my ‘vibe,’” Stuckey told me in an email after Trump announced his pick. “I like how he talks, how he writes, how he carries himself.”

The Atlantic did a story recently on Christian conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey being the new Phyllis Schlafly, with her culture war crusades against abortion, IVF, birth control, and LGBTQ+ rights being the focus of her Relatable program that airs on the Glenn Beck-owned BlazeTV.

[swearyshera]

You can't really get away from the religious / Christianity undertones with this, the "stained-glass language" as it were, but I would like to put a bid in that I think what She-Ra got at with the canon on this stuff was something of a specific form of it - a popular form, but there are actually many shades of "Christianity" out there. I've known Progressive Christians and Liberation Theology folks who are the absolute opposite of the authoritarian views. (There are LGBT+ ministers out there, in liberal churches, is what I'm saying). There are also people like me who are ex-evangelical, but who kept certain aspects of the belief system to become Progressive / go our own way. Granted, the authoritarian types, the Evangelical-authority structure that Prime represents, they don't think of the "liberal" or "leftist" Christians as actual Christians and tend to gatekeep authors and speakers out of "Christian" venues. (It's basically the reason like Rob Bell, a pastor who wrote a book arguing that Hell doesn't exist got drummed out of mainstream theological circles, to say nothing of what they do to LGBT+ believers and allies). I am sorry for rambling, but this is a long-term interest of mine. I'm an ex-evangelical in a long deconstruction. I've also been going through a fresh round of the Deconstruction That Never Ends as a part of my grief-process (I'm the person who lost a loved one this week, previous ask), so it is on the forefront of my mind. I just... in response to others, I do want to put in a word that describing Prime's ways as symbolic of "Christian" is... not inaccurate at all and is very on-point, but to warn that to fall into the trap of* all* things under the broad "Christian" banner are emblematic of that is kind of like saying "All Muslims are ISIS" or "All dogs are Dobermans." I do think the "Christian Left" needs a new name because "Christian" is essentially ruined, but we have not found it yet. All Dobermans are Dogs, but not all Dogs are Dobermans, I guess. I find, personally, that Prime represents a specific thing. He's the God who is worried about what's in your pants. He's a God who believes that suffering purifies. He is the God who will send you to Hell for not living to his perfection. Some of us who believe in a higher power and might even still call ourselves "Christian" for lack of a better, modern term stopped believing in that God long ago. (And want to murder him with as much extreme prejudice as future-Hordak with neck-grab strangle abyss-drop). You can guess at what scene I am most looking forward to in Sweary She-Ra. Make my boy Hordak shine. _freedfromthegalactichivemind

Nate has said a couple of times, I think, that Horde Prime and the whole storyline surrounding him was inspired by his own evangelical upbringing, so it's very much not a coincidence that much of Prime's world is a reflection of that particular type of Christianity. Personally, I grew up as Roman Catholic, which is a rather different type of Christianity to Evangelicalism, so this kind of outward, 'repent or go to hell' preaching is a little alien to what I'm familiar with. But there are still parallels.

The reason I haven't explicitly mentioned religion in the comic is twofold. The first being that I just don't have enough experience with the type of Christianity that Prime represents to make it (for want of a better word) faithful. It would either be a poor imitation or an exaggeration. And yeah, religion means a lot to some people - I mean, this is tumblr so you could all be out there like 'God is dead and I killed her', but I think there's a chunk of you who don't want to see the sledgehammer 'Religion bad' message it would end up as. The other reason is that I don't have an axe to grind against religion - I'm not religious now, but I've never had reason to say 'the church is awful and we should take it down'. Maybe I'm lucky, I dunno. So I focus here on the things that I do have stronger opinions about - the rise of anti-lgbt hate (shown in Prime's story), and the importance of persevering and showing that it really does get better if you just hold on (shown in Catra's).

And yes, Prime does represent that specific type of God used to strike fear into people to obtain obedience and compliance. And this scene, the 'purification' is a perfect example of that. I genuinely don't think Prime is too bothered by Catra calling Hordak by his name, I don't think he needs to go through the whole memory wipe thing for that. He does it as a show of power to scare Catra into obedience and compliance with his wishes. It's bad enough at face value, what Prime does, but when you consider that he's needlessly torturing a living being as a threat to someone else... ugh, that's utterly horrific.

Anyhow, I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to be debating religion and its portrayal in SPOP. All I can do is tell you things from my point of view and how I reflect them here. But one thing's for sure, I think we're all looking forward to Prime's defeat!

[freebiblestudyhub]

Who Is Demetrius in the Bible?

The name "Demetrius" appears in the Bible in connection with several individuals, but one Demetrius, in particular, stands out due to his mention in the New Testament as a prominent figure. While there are only a few references to Demetrius in the Bible, these instances have sparked interest among scholars and believers alike. In this article, we will explore who Demetrius is in the Bible, his significance in early Christian communities, and the lessons his story may offer for contemporary Christians.

Demetrius in the New Testament

There are two primary individuals named Demetrius mentioned in the New Testament. While they are not extensively discussed, their appearances highlight important themes of integrity, opposition, and the nature of early Christian witness.

1. Demetrius the Silversmith (Acts 19:23-41)

The most well-known Demetrius in the Bible is a silversmith mentioned in Acts 19:23-41, during Paul’s missionary work in the city of Ephesus. The episode in which Demetrius is mentioned takes place during a time of great upheaval, and his role as a silversmith becomes central to the tensions between the early Christian church and the local culture of Ephesus.

Context of Acts 19

Paul's ministry in Ephesus was immensely successful, with many people coming to faith in Christ. The church's growth had significant consequences for the local economy, especially the idol-making trade, which was a significant industry in Ephesus. The city was home to the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis was worshipped as the goddess of fertility, and her image was often crafted into statues by silversmiths like Demetrius.

As Paul's preaching about Jesus Christ began to take root in the hearts of the people, many former idol worshippers converted to Christianity. This was seen as a direct threat to the silversmiths’ business, as their livelihood depended on the demand for idols and religious artifacts associated with Artemis.

Demetrius’ Opposition to Paul

In Acts 19:23-27, Demetrius takes a prominent role in stirring up opposition to Paul:

“About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, ‘Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.’” (Acts 19:23-27, ESV)

Demetrius' primary concern is financial. He sees the spread of Christianity as a threat to his business and the prosperity of other craftsmen in the region. He goes on to incite a riot, gathering fellow silversmiths and artisans to protest Paul’s teachings and to protect their livelihoods. This leads to a chaotic scene in the city, and Paul is nearly dragged into the theater by an angry mob.

The Riot and Resolution

The situation in Ephesus escalates into a full-blown riot, but it is defused by the intervention of the city clerk, who calms the crowd and assures them that no legal action has been taken against the silversmiths. He points out that if there is a grievance, it should be dealt with through the courts, not through mob violence.

While the riot itself is a dramatic moment in the narrative, Demetrius' role serves to highlight the tension between the values of the early Christians and the economic and religious systems of the surrounding culture. The silversmith’s fear that the Christian message would undermine the worship of Artemis and his livelihood reflects the opposition that the early church often faced from established industries and religious practices.

2. Demetrius the Christian (3 John 1:12)

Another Demetrius is mentioned in the epistle of 3 John, where he is described as a believer in Christ and someone who is well-regarded by others in the early Christian community. His story is far more positive compared to the antagonistic Demetrius of Acts 19.

The Epistle of 3 John

The apostle John writes 3 John to a man named Gaius, commending him for his hospitality and support of traveling Christian missionaries. At the end of the letter, John also mentions Demetrius, saying:

“Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.” (3 John 1:12, ESV)

This passage reveals that Demetrius was a man who had a good reputation within the Christian community. He was someone whose life and actions were consistent with the teachings of Christ, and he was highly regarded by fellow believers. This brief mention paints Demetrius as a figure of integrity, whose commitment to the truth and to Christian values earned him the respect of the early church.

Who Was Demetrius?

While the Bible does not provide a great deal of detail about either of these Demetriuses, the information available allows us to draw some conclusions.

Demetrius the Silversmith

Demetrius the silversmith was likely an influential member of the business community in Ephesus. His reaction to the spread of Christianity suggests that he had a significant stake in the local religious practices, which included the worship of Artemis. His opposition to Paul was not just theological but economic—his livelihood depended on the continued sale of idols and shrines associated with Artemis.

The narrative surrounding Demetrius serves to highlight one of the key tensions in the early church: the conflict between the teachings of Christianity and the established economic and religious systems of the surrounding culture. The growth of Christianity often posed a direct threat to these systems, as it encouraged people to abandon idol worship, which had been central to many industries.

Demetrius the Christian

The Demetrius mentioned in 3 John, on the other hand, was a believer in Christ who was well-respected by his fellow Christians. His inclusion in the epistle, along with the commendation from the apostle John, suggests that he was a faithful and upright individual, living out the principles of the Gospel.

This mention underscores the importance of integrity and reputation within the early Christian community. Demetrius was known not only for his faith but also for his exemplary character, making him a model for others in the church. His life was a testimony to the truth of the Gospel, and his good name spread throughout the Christian community.

Theological Reflections on Demetrius

While we know very little about the specific lives of these two individuals named Demetrius, there are important theological lessons we can draw from their brief appearances in the New Testament.

1. The Conflict Between Faith and Worldly Systems

The story of Demetrius the silversmith in Acts 19 highlights a recurring theme in the New Testament: the conflict between the teachings of Christ and the values of the surrounding world. The early Christians often found themselves in tension with the prevailing religious and economic systems, which were rooted in idolatry and materialism.

Demetrius' reaction to Paul’s message about the futility of idol worship shows how deeply entrenched these systems were in the life of ancient societies. The spread of Christianity challenged not only religious beliefs but also economic structures. The message of the Gospel called people to rethink their values and priorities, and this often led to opposition from those who stood to lose the most.

2. Living with Integrity and Good Testimony

Demetrius in 3 John serves as an example of Christian integrity. His life was marked by faithfulness to Christ and a good reputation within the Christian community. In contrast to Demetrius the silversmith, who was motivated by financial gain and a desire to preserve his business, Demetrius the Christian was motivated by a desire to live in accordance with the truth of the Gospel.

This contrast serves as a reminder for Christians today to live with integrity, ensuring that our actions reflect the values of the Kingdom of God. Our lives, like Demetrius’ in 3 John, should be a testimony to the truth of the Gospel.

3. Faithfulness in the Face of Opposition

Demetrius the silversmith is a reminder of the opposition that the early Christians often faced, not just from religious leaders but from business interests and societal norms. Despite this opposition, the early church continued to grow and thrive, often in the face of adversity. Christians were called to remain faithful to their convictions, even when it meant challenging the established systems of power.

Conclusion

Demetrius appears in the Bible as two distinct figures, one as an antagonist to the early church and the other as a model Christian whose life bore witness to the truth of the Gospel. While the Bible provides only brief references to these men, their stories offer valuable insights into the early Christian experience.

From Demetrius the silversmith, we learn about the tension between the Gospel and worldly systems that promote idolatry and materialism. From Demetrius the Christian, we learn about the importance of integrity and a good reputation within the Christian community. Both figures, in their respective contexts, remind us of the challenges and opportunities that arise when we choose to follow Christ in a world that often opposes His message.

[riverdamien]

Who Is On Our Mind?

“Christian and Catholic Worker Gone Bad!”

"Who Is On Our Minds!"

Jesus and Martha

Luke 10:38-42 (Net Version)

"38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she approached him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, 42  but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

--------------------------------------------------------

    This story begs for an ending the Gospel does not provide. Did either sister change? Did Martha apologize? Did Mary get up and help? Did anyone get lunch?

    Perhaps no ending was provided because the ending is not about Mary and Martha but about us

    Jesus is not weighing servers against contemplatives. He asks whose voice we are listening to--our own or his. He is asking what is on our minds: our overloaded to-do lists with praise of getting them done, I am asked so often how many people "you" have gotten off the street and are visibly disappointed or angry when I say all I do is listen. It would be awesome to be praised and rewarded with money, or do we do the works of discipleship we are called to do?

    During this election season are we becoming angry with people who are voting on the opposite side, or not like how we demand they vote to be friends?

    Are we unduly worrying about one candidate being elected "assuming the worst" and declaring we will move to another country if one side is not elected?

    Are we saying harsh and unduly gossipy things about the candidates and the side the person is representing?

    I have lost several of what I thought were excellent friends because I would not talk about who I was voting for, simply remaining neutral, or seeing me with a friend of the opposite party. I maintain relationships with people, regardless of their party or choice, because we all are good people, no one is negative or positive because of their political party! We all have the gift of making choices!

    The "Forty Day Fast for a Free and Fair Election" invites us to join in forty days of fasting, and praying for peace in our election; for individuals of both parties to recognize we are all brothers and sisters; pray for the safety at all voting precincts; pray for our candidates and leaders to acknowledge the misery, hunger, and pain our people on the street suffer--pain does not stop with the "middle class"; pray for leaders who will recognize the suffering in Israel, Palestine, and Gaza; pray for leaders who will be non-violent in their actions and policies; and pray for ourselves to be present to each other during this election.

    In our logo, I have added a new sub-title: "Christian and Catholic Worker Gone Bad".   A Catholic Worker farmer suggested this to me. As I am reading The Poisoned Bible" a novel about the destruction and harm Christianity accomplished in the Congo in the 60s I am reminded of all the divisions we have in our world, and how destructive they are, and in "going bad," I am saying that all religious expressions are valid, coming from the same God of love, it is humans who are using them for destructions. My expression of Christ is one of love for all human beings.

    There is a Muslim gentleman, in our photo below, who shared with me his fear of Christians and Muslims in San Francisco, so much tension, resulting from the events in the Middle East.  He is afraid! 

    There is one God, with many streams flowing towards the River of Live! Each one of us is born with an inner fire. I believe this fire is the God within. It is an unquenchable divine fire. It warms us, encourages us, and occasionally asks us to dance.

    Perhaps Jesus in our story of Mary and Martha is asking who is on our minds: our over-burdened selves or God's reign both workers and listeners or called to build. I would like to imagine in the end, both Martha the busy server, and Marty the quiet contemplative got the answer right! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

==================================

Anyone interested in a "Gone Bad" teeshirt, please let me know, I will be looking into getting a few for our celebration!

------------------------------------------------------

May the work of

“figuring people out”

Never replace the work of knowing people

And loving people

And giving them room

To confound

And inspire

And surprise me

---------------------------------------------------------

30th Anniversary Celebration

Victor’s Pizza

6 p.m.

November 9, 2024

WE ARE BEGGARS! WE REALLY NEED MONEY--Really Badly At the moment!

FOR FOOD, SOCKS, HARM REDUCTION AND OTHER SERVICES!

P.O. Box 642656

415-305-2124

temenos@gmail.com

pay pal

www.temenos.org

(Temenos and Dr. River seek to remain accessible to everyone. We do not endorse particular causes, political parties, or candidates, or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social--Our pastoral ministry is to everyone!

Homeless People Are Made In God's Image!

Come Join us in Protest Against the Cruelty of the City of San Francisco!

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Noon.

Polk side of City Hall

==================

Temenos Catholic Worker

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

Dr. River Damien Carlos Sims, D.Min, D.S.T.

“Christian and Catholic Worker Gone Bad!”

"Who Is On Our Minds!"

Jesus and Martha

Luke 10:38-42 (Net Version)

"38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she approached him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, 42  but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

--------------------------------------------------------

    This story begs for an ending the Gospel does not provide. Did either sister change? Did Martha apologize? Did Mary get up and help? Did anyone get lunch?

    Perhaps no ending was provided because the ending is not about Mary and Martha but about us

    Jesus is not weighing servers against contemplatives. He asks whose voice we are listening to--our own or his. He is asking what is on our minds: our overloaded to-do lists with praise of getting them done, I am asked so often how many people "you" have gotten off the street and are visibly disappointed or angry when I say all I do is listen. It would be awesome to be praised and rewarded with money, or do we do the works of discipleship we are called to do?

    During this election season are we becoming angry with people who are voting on the opposite side, or not like how we demand they vote to be friends?

    Are we unduly worrying about one candidate being elected "assuming the worst" and declaring we will move to another country if one side is not elected?

    Are we saying harsh and unduly gossipy things about the candidates and the side the person is representing?

    I have lost several of what I thought were excellent friends because I would not talk about who I was voting for, simply remaining neutral, or seeing me with a friend of the opposite party. I maintain relationships with people, regardless of their party or choice, because we all are good people, no one is negative or positive because of their political party! We all have the gift of making choices!

    The "Forty Day Fast for a Free and Fair Election" invites us to join in forty days of fasting, and praying for peace in our election; for individuals of both parties to recognize we are all brothers and sisters; pray for the safety at all voting precincts; pray for our candidates and leaders to acknowledge the misery, hunger, and pain our people on the street suffer--pain does not stop with the "middle class"; pray for leaders who will recognize the suffering in Israel, Palestine, and Gaza; pray for leaders who will be non-violent in their actions and policies; and pray for ourselves to be present to each other during this election.

    In our logo, I have added a new sub-title: "Christian and Catholic Worker Gone Bad".   A Catholic Worker farmer suggested this to me. As I am reading The Poisoned Bible" a novel about the destruction and harm Christianity accomplished in the Congo in the 60s I am reminded of all the divisions we have in our world, and how destructive they are, and in "going bad," I am saying that all religious expressions are valid, coming from the same God of love, it is humans who are using them for destructions. My expression of Christ is one of love for all human beings.

    There is a Muslim gentleman, in our photo below, who shared with me his fear of Christians and Muslims in San Francisco, so much tension, resulting from the events in the Middle East.  He is afraid! 

    There is one God, with many streams flowing towards the River of Live! Each one of us is born with an inner fire. I believe this fire is the God within. It is an unquenchable divine fire. It warms us, encourages us, and occasionally asks us to dance.

    Perhaps Jesus in our story of Mary and Martha is asking who is on our minds: our over-burdened selves or God's reign both workers and listeners or called to build. I would like to imagine in the end, both Martha the busy server, and Marty the quiet contemplative got the answer right! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

==================================

Anyone interested in a "Gone Bad" teeshirt, please let me know, I will be looking into getting a few for our celebration!

------------------------------------------------------

May the work of

“figuring people out”

Never replace the work of knowing people

And loving people

And giving them room

To confound

And inspire

And surprise me

---------------------------------------------------------

30th Anniversary Celebration

Victor’s Pizza

6 p.m.

November 9, 2024

WE ARE BEGGARS! WE REALLY NEED MONEY--Really Badly At the moment!

FOR FOOD, SOCKS, HARM REDUCTION AND OTHER SERVICES!

P.O. Box 642656

415-305-2124

temenos@gmail.com

pay pal

www.temenos.org

(Temenos and Dr. River seek to remain accessible to everyone. We do not endorse particular causes, political parties, or candidates, or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social--Our pastoral ministry is to everyone!

Homeless People Are Made In God's Image!

Come Join us in Protest Against the Cruelty of the City of San Francisco!

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Noon.

Polk side of City Hall

==================

Temenos Catholic Worker

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

Dr. River Damien Carlos Sims, D.Min, D.S.T.

[dfroza]

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures

for the 21st of September 2024 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New Covenant) of the Bible

[The Book of Revelation, Chapter 21 • The Book of Joshua, Chapter 16]

along with Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms with Proverbs 21 and Psalm 21 coinciding with the day of the month, accompanied by Psalm 94 for the 94th and closing day of Astronomical Summer, and Psalm 115 for day 265 of the year (with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

A post by John Parsons:

“What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?” ― Thomas à Kempis

====

The devil wants you to be afraid, to be very afraid, and indeed, inciting fear is the primary weapon he uses against us... The devil understands that fear profoundly affects the way the human brain processes images and messages: Fear colors the way we see and hear things. Fear makes us feel angry, unsettled, and unhappy. And since the mind and body are intricately interconnected, fear is the root cause of many physiological problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, clinical depression, and other ailments. Left unchecked, fear can be deadly...

Most of our negative emotions come from fearful thoughts, including anger, frustration, and rage. On a spiritual level, fear and worry can cause people to question God’s love, to doubt His promises, and so on. The devil knows that frightening people causes them to be unsettled, off-balance, and therefore vulnerable to all sorts of sickness, manipulation, and deception. Living in fear is a form of slavery (Heb. 2:15).

Logicians call illegitimate appeals to fear argumentum ad baculum, or the “appeal to the stick.” When someone plays on your fears, it is wise to discern whether there is any basis in reality for the supposed threat, or if the appeal is simply a rhetorical scare tactic intended to persuade (coerce) you to accept some sort of conclusion. Unscrupulous people such as advertisers, politicians, dictators, community organizers, social activists, and so on, regularly use fear to manipulate public opinion, of course, and they are only too glad to tell you exactly what you should fear. They are delighted to prey upon your anxieties and then offer you their supposed “remedy.” You know whom they serve, friends...

The war for truth began in the Garden of Eden, when Satan lied to Eve by saying that she would not die if she disobeyed God (Gen. 3:4). Satan cunningly played on Eve’s fear of being deceived to persuade her to disobey. Fear, then, is the emotional center of sin and the opposite of faith. The fearful are referred to as the “unbelieving” and those who “love and make a lie” (Rev. 21:8, 22:15).

God repeatedly tells us not to be afraid – not of man, nor of war, nor of tribulation, nor of various plagues, yea, nor even of death itself (Rom. 8:35-39). Indeed, one of the most frequently occurring commandments in Scripture is simply al-tirah, “Be not afraid.”

But how do we overcome our fear? How can we live our faith in the midst of a worldwide cultural slide into deception and insanity? How can we walk in peace while a worldwide tyranny is crafting a globalist police state wherein no one will be able to buy or sell if they are not wholly subservient to the dictates of an unseen power elite? How else but by wholeheartedly trusting that God is with us? The LORD will never leave nor forsake us, even if we are faced with difficult circumstances. The antidote to fear is heartfelt faith in God’s love for us (1 John 4:18). God saves us from our fears (Psalm 34:4, 2 Tim. 1:7). When we trust that God personally cares for us, we find comfort and courage to face life without fear.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

========

Psalm 23:4a reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm23-4a-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm23-4a-lesson.pdf

9.20.24 • Facebook

from Today’s email by Israel365

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

[trusswork]

Merton on Zen vs Christianity

Thomas Merton says of Zen (particularly Buddhist or not) and Christianity, "[o]ne offers man a metaphysical enlightenment, the other a theological salvation" (Zen and the Birds of Appetite). The Zen Buddhist emphasis on the extinction of desire, one supposes, would judge unfavorably (while of course not judging at all ...) the endpoint Christian yearning for salvation, for validation, fulfillment, eternal life, freedom from temporal or eternal pain, etc.. And when Merton comments that Zen undoes the Platonic absolute/nonabsolute dichotomies of Christianity, it is a useful way to apply the Pali canon's forbidding of construal (more or less, of construal of opposites, which Merton accurately comments are left behind in Buddhism).

Merton's Zen gloss on "judge not, lest ye be judged" is murkier; yes, it may appear to speak against construal, but the idea that it is God who will ultimately construe, perhaps even as an instrument of retributive justice, makes little sense in Zen. Unless the point is, perhaps, that the one who judges will not see the divine aright as a result -- will wander under his sword, or at least miss his eye. The divine judgement will not so much be an active thing on the part of God, but rather a passive consequence of the mortal failing, as with a drunkard who cannot find the chapel where he might be mended.

*Schopenhauer on aesthetics, the rather impossible will-less free will, is also surprisingly useful to make connections with Zen. His liberum arbitrium indifferentiae has enough in common with Merton's "simple void where all is liberty because all is the actionless action, called by the Chinese Wuwei and by the New Testament the 'freedom of the Sons of God.' " And where Merton sees Zen and Christianity filling this void with the divine substance (a la negative capability in the arts), there is also a negative version: where the paralysis of too much choice does not emerge from an inability to decide among too many options, but from a lack of basis for deciding at all, where there is no constraint present or past, no basis for the formulation of a desire. (Ask an architect to build her dream house, on a any terrain, cost no object, and they may feel crazy; constraint and circumstance drives architecture.)

The idea of Zen and Christianity as indicating that void without articulating it directly, this has much to do with Wittgenstein's positing of the "pointing" function of language, and especially when we use John's gospel to try and theorize divine power/being of the Son, the Word, as a power of creating language.

[fortressofserenity]

It’s Too Late To Turn Back Now

Celestial said that America will be utterly destroyed, both from within and from outside forces, that I feel any American attempt at capturing the Philippine market would actually be too late these days. Given America’s growing debt, a forthcoming earthquake and an incoming civil war that will all undermine American industries and the US economy, entertainment being not exempt in some regards, that it would be too late to start a Disney store here. American brands might be popular for long, if God’s going to undo most of America’s influence, then it’s going to happen anyways because America does is largely no good.

Celestial said that America will undergo a civil war, get destroyed by Russia, turned into a Russian colony and then disappear for good, that I feel Philippine sympathy for America is utterly misplaced. I even think the Philippines will be judged for following Mystery Babylon a lot that no sooner or later, disasters will also occur in this country. America is Mystery Babylon in a way no other country is and ever comes close to, especially on such a scale like this. America’s ability to corrupt the entire world is frighteningly unparalleled, not helped by that it was a hyperpower. More than a superpower, it’s an extremely powerful state that dominates everywhere and anywhere else. That was America for a long while in recent memory.

For a while in the 1990s up to the 2010s, the world was politically unipolar if it weren’t for America’s absolute dominance. But it’s even more horrifying to think that America wouldn’t just be forgotten over time, but also made poorer and poorer if you believe her. If America is Mystery Babylon, then all those prophecies about America being undermined likely point out to Mystery Babylon’s true identity. I feel part of the problem with not recognising America as Mystery Babylon has to do with the nature of American Christian nationalism, in the sense of thinking America is God’s new chosen country. Thinking America is a Christian nation, even though it constantly does the opposite. They know America has done wrong, but you can’t point out that it’s Babylon 2.0.

This is not a good sign because it seems Christians would rather idolise the country, instead of seeing it for what God sees it as. It’s not that unpopular but it’s not something that many other Christians realise, despite what others like Dumitru Duduman have been saying, because I’m afraid they’re too worldly as to sleep under a rock. But regarding the parable of the ten brides, we should be aware of something were to come unexpectedly. The warnings are there, but we should be attentive to them. Otherwise we’ll realise it too late, I feel this is the Philippines’s undoing for following America a lot. Because the Philippines practises many of the same things America does (porn, LGBT, idolatry) that it will also be punished for it.

It will be judged for what it’s done, that God will make China conquer it for following Babylon a lot. We’ll never resist China because America will be taken away, we will even willingly follow China out of necessity because America will be gone. Not just physiogeographically but also geopolitically and culturally because America will be made into a Russian colony, most of the things America wrought are utterly corrupting, evil and unholy. A civil war is underway in America, starting with race riots before it escalates into further violence. America’s economy will sink much faster than expected, America will no longer export its products to the Philippines in a few months from now.

God will even make the Philippines turn to China more as a way to make this nation repent of its sins and renounce its ties to Babylon, China will even take this country as God’s punishment for the Philippines imitating and emulating Mystery Babylon. The Philippines will be warned for emulating Babylon in almost everything it does, that if Filipinos don’t renounce their sympathies for Babylon God will make China take this country in some way or another. If the Philippines continues to follow America, then it will be similarly judged and China will still conquer us.

Maybe conquer isn’t the right word for it, but it’s something the Philippines should heed to as America’s up to no good. America has corrupted the Philippines to the extent that in due time, the latter will also fall away from God en masse starting with not only the legalisation of divorce but also abortion and LGBT marriages because America made it do those things. America is apostate and the Philippines will be punished for following an apostate nation-state.

It rhymes but you should this by now.

[pashterlengkap]

Trans folks will someday be revered as the visionaries they are. Until then, the violence must end.

The Human Rights Campaign has reported that at least 30 trans and gender non-conforming people were killed in the United States in 2023. 87% were people of color, with 50% being Black trans women. 77% were murdered with a firearm, and 50% were misgendered or deadnamed by authorities or the press. First, let’s say their names: Savannah Ryan Williams Jean Butchart Kejuan Richardson Amiri Reid LaKendra Andrews London Price Lisa Love Dominic Dupree a.k.a. Dominic Palace A’nee Johnson Sherlyn Marjorie Chyna Long Luis Ángel Díaz Castro YOKO Thomas ‘Tom-Tom’ Robertson DéVonnie J’Rae Johnson Camdyn Rider Jacob Williamson Chanell Perez Ortiz Ashia Davis  Banko Brown Koko Da Doll Ashley Burton  Ta’Siyah Woodland Tortuguita Chashay Ashanti Henderson Maria Jose Rivera Rivera Zachee Imanitwitaho’ Unique Banks KC Johnson Jasmine “Star” Mack History is replete with groups and individuals facing colossal odds for simply expressing their truth, and for that, members of those groups were often forced to pay the ultimate price. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Promotions (occasional) * Week in Good News (one on the Weekend) * Week in Review (one on the Weekend) * Daily Brief (one each weekday) * Sign Up Related: Americans once overwhelmingly supported trans rights. Anti-trans lawmakers have changed that. The political divide is creating “two Americas” for LGBTQ+ people. Abolitionists joined together to work for the immediate end to the institution of slavery and the cessation of racial discrimination and segregation. They faced steep opposition from many quarters, including a number of Christian denominations who asserted that sacred scripture not only condoned but mandated the practice of slavery.  Young people conducted a number of sit-in demonstrations at Southern lunch counters to end Jim Crow laws of segregated public facilities, all while enduring the abusive taunts of onlookers and the crashing batons of local police. Demonstrators faced imprisonment and the imposition of permanent criminal records. Feminists formed a new wave in the fight for women’s suffrage against a high tide of obstructionism within a patriarchal system of male domination and misogyny, and an attitude that the enfranchisement of women would destroy Christianity and civilization itself. The Church convicted physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei on the charge of heresy by insisting that the Earth revolves around the Sun, rather than, as per Church teaching, that the Earth was the immovable center of the universe with the Sun revolving around the Earth. Galileo spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. Joan of Arc, the teenager who helped defeat the English in her native France, became one of the greatest war heroes in French history. In spite of this, she was tried by the Catholic Church on the charge of heresy in rejecting Church authority in preference for direct inspiration from God, and most importantly, by donning men’s clothing. Joan died by burning at the stake. Alan Turing, mathematician, logician, philosopher, cryptanalyst, and one of the original creators of the computer was largely responsible for cracking Nazi coded messages, which many believe shortened the war by two to four years. Many also say he saved Great Britain. However, the British government chose to convict Turing on the charge of being homosexual and ordered him to undergo “chemical castration” by taking estrogen injections as an alternative to spending two years in prison. Turing took his life a few weeks before his 42nd birthday. Governments and powerful individuals have long devised ways of silencing opposition for the purpose of maintaining and extending their control and domination. They commit genocide upon the true human liberators, the profits, the visionaries who advocate for a just and free world. These… http://dlvr.it/T0Yg34

[lumierecharity]

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON: JESUS RIDES ON A DONKEY INTO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY

BIBLE LESSON THEME;

Jesus rides on a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Matthew 21: 1-11 

WELCOME TIME;

Have you ever seen a group of people who were very excited and shouting happily? Sometimes when someone famous comes by, everybody stops what they are doing, and cheers and claps. This happened to Jesus.

THE LESSON'S GOALS;

To honour and love Jesus as God's Son, as the people who cheered Him on Palm Sunday did.

BIBLE STORY;

Jesus was a preacher for about three years. Passover time came around. Lots of people travelled to the big city of Jerusalem to celebrate. Jesus and His friends were on their way there too.

Jesus sent two of His friends to the next town to get a donkey and her colt. When they came, Jesus sat on the donkey and rode into the city. A donkey was a humble animal for a king to ride. Jesus was fulfilling the old prophecy that Israel's king would ride into Jerusalem by doing this.

GAME ONE;

Everybody stand in two lines opposite each other. Shout and call with joy, while one of the children takes two coconut shells and hits them together; this forms a 'clip-clop' noise for the donkey. This is great fun for the children!

BIBLE LESSON CONTINUED;

News that Jesus was coming spread. It was a very exciting time! So many people wanted to see Jesus that it was like a parade. Some people threw their cloaks down to carpet the road, and others cut palm branches and waved them like flags in honour of Jesus.

The children and adults were singing and shouting as Jesus passed, and were delighted to see Him. Some were saying loudly, 'Hosanna!' a word which means "Save, please!" People showed honour and respect to Jesus, and He expects us to do the same.

We must show Jesus how special we think He is. Everyone was so happy to see Him; such a great Saviour came riding in humbly on a donkey. He came to save us from our sins and to be the King of our hearts.

GAME TWO;

The pastor or a supervisory adult organises a large picture of Jesus riding the donkey. Organise a group of children and their parents to go for a walk around a garden - e.g. the church garden - behind the leader carrying the picture. While they are walking the children and adults wave palm branches, and shout 'Hosanna'. 

Enjoy the time and make it exciting for the children, explaining to them that this is what the people in Jesus' time did while he was riding into Jerusalem. If you are processing around the church yard, finish at the church door just before the beginning of Palm Sunday service. 

GAME THREE;

Write bible verses on slips of paper. Leave the notes hidden around the garden (if it is a fine day) or around the hall (on a rainy day). Let the children have a treasure hunt. Pray together for the parish needs once all the notes have been found.

GAME FOUR;

Colour in a picture of Jesus riding into Jerusalem through the crowds on a donkey. A free sample can be downloaded from the Internet for resources for Sunday School teachers, photocopied and coloured in. Make sure it is one of the free samples, not a picture with copyright on it. 

Alternately, there are great resource books for teachers with ready-to-colour in pictures from Christian bookshops. Have colouring pencils and erasers in boxes on the low tables for the children. Have an emergency pencil sharpener in your bag. Supervision is essential while the children work with colours.

SNACK TIME;

Have plastic tumblers of orange juice and edible palm branch biscuits you have previously made ready as snacks at the end of the lesson.

CLEAN UP TIME;

Make sure all have a suitable snack before you and the children clean up at the end of the Sunday School lesson!

Attribution to www.LumoProject.com, with thanks

Triumphant Entry

FreeBibleimages.org

With thanks too to freeclipart.library

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS OCTOBER 12

St. Wilfrid. Born in Northumberland in 634, St. Wilfrid was educated at Lindesfarne and then spent some time in Lyons and Rome. Returning to England, he was elected abbot of Ripon in 658 and introduced the Roman rules and practices in opposition to the Celtic ways of northern England. In 664, he was the architect of the definitive victory of the Roman party at the Conference of Whitby. He was appointed Bishop of York and after some difficulty finally took possession of his See in 669. He labored zealously and founded many monasteries of the Benedictine Order, but he was obliged to appeal to Rome in order to prevent the subdivision of his diocese by St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. While waiting for the case to be decided, he was forced to go into exile, and worked hard and long to evangelize the heathen south Saxons until his recall in 686. In 691, he had to retire again to the midlands until Rome once again vindicated him. In 703, he resigned his post and retired to his monastery at Ripon where he spent his remaining time in prayer and penitential practices, until his death in 709. St. Wilfrid was an outstanding personage of his day, extremely capable and possessed of unbounded courage, remaining firm in his convictions despite running afoul of civil and ecclesiastical authorities. He helped bring the discipline of the English Church into line with that of Rome. He was also a dedicated pastor and a zealous and skilled missionary; his brief time spent in Friesland in 678679 was the starting point for the great English mission to the Germanic peoples of continental Europe.

St. Edwin. In the year 616, King Ethelfrith was slain in battle by Redwald, King of the East Angles. Edwin of Deira became king of the whole kingdom of Northumbria and after the death of Redwald; he had a certain lordship over the other English kings. He married Ethelburga, daughter of St. Ethelbert, King of Kent after promising to allow her to practice her Christian religion. St. Paulinus was sent as chaplain to the Queen and bishop for his converts. When Queen Ethelburga gave birth to a daughter, she was baptized with twelve others on Whitsunday, and called Eanfleda; they were the first fruits of the Northumbrians. Edwin was a man of unusual wisdom and deliberated in his heart to which religion he should follow. Paulinus continued to instruct him and to pray for his conversion. King Edwin was baptized at York at Easter in the year 627, on the site of the present York Minster, in the wooden church of St. Peter which he had caused to be built. This good king had reigned seventeen years when the Welsh Cadwalon marched in arms against him with Penda of Mercia, a pagan. King Edwin met them at Hatfield Chase on October 12, 633, and in the ensuing battle he was slain. St. Edwin was certainly venerated in England as a martyr, but though his claims to sanctity are else doubtful than those of some other royal saints, English and other, he has had no liturgical cultus so far as is known. His relics were held in veneration, churches were dedicated in his honour in London and at Brean in Somerset; and Pope Gregory XIII permitted him to be represented among the English martyrs on the walls of the chapel of the Venerable at Rome.

St. Fiace, 5th century. An Irish bishop sometimes listed as Fiech. A disciple of St. Patrick, he wrote a hymn in St. Patrick's honor.

Bl. Maria Teresa Fasce, Roman Catholic Nun. Maria Terese was also known for her great stamina. As abbess, she directed the construction of a new church for Saint Rita and a girl's orphanage. This project consumed much of her tenure, and in fact, the church was not completed until several months after her death. Feast day is October 12th.

Our Lady of the Pillar

OUR LADY OF APARECIDA The month of October is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary; it is also the month during which we mark another festivity dedicated to Mary Mother of God: Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil, whose feast day is celebrated on October 12th. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/10/12/our-lady-of-aparecida.html

[jewinme]

We failed to see that we are the narcissist. Sure, there are various degrees of narcissism, but every single one of us struggles because of the narcissist.

The narcissist does not know love because he/she does not believe in love. Instead, he/she only sees what is not giving love to him or herself.

The narcissist only knows how to take. The narcissist gives to himself or herself only. All his or her actions are in vain.

The only way to break free from who we all became is to become the opposite.

I just went for my walk in the park. There were many gardners tending the beautiful gardens there. Every day, these amazing workers take care of our wonderful park, yet inconsiderate people still leave their garbage strewn around, and on benches, and I found a can of beer in the fountain. Why should I pick it up? It is the narcissist's mess!

We do it because we do not want to become the narcissist. 🙏

See my website for today's new post. Be inspired and connect to your deeper soul's purpose. Follow my blog if you want to understand more... 👇👇👇

See my bio for blog link.

Follow me @jewinme

#blessed #jewandgentile #narcissist #faith #kabbalah #torah #love #god #jewishcommunity #hashem #hasidic #yeshua #loveoneanother❤️ #keter #awakening #jesus #christianity #religions #messiah #oneness #jewish #islam #soul #israel #sabbath #unity #adamandeve #treeoflife #divinepurpose💜🗝 #treeofknowledge

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&reading: Sunday, May 28, 2023

may 28_may 15

VENERABLE PACHOMIUS THE GREAT, FOUNDER OF COENOBITIC MONASTICISM (346)

Saint Pachomius the Great was both a model of desert-dwelling, and with Saints Anthony the Great (January 17), Macarius the Great (January 19), and Euthymius the Great (January 20), a founder of the cenobitic monastic life in Egypt.

Saint Pachomius was born in the third century in the Thebaid (Upper Egypt). His parents were pagans who gave him an excellent secular education. From his youth, he had a good character and was prudent and sensible.

When Pachomius reached the age of twenty, he was called up to serve in the army of the emperor Constantine (apparently, in the year 315). They put the new conscripts in a city prison guarded by soldiers. The local Christians fed the soldiers and took care of them.

When the young man learned that these people acted this way because of their love for God, fulfilling His commandment to love their neighbor, this made a deep impression upon his pure soul. Pachomius vowed to become a Christian. Pachomius returned from the army after the victory, received holy Baptism, moved to the lonely settlement of Shenesit, and began to lead a strict ascetic life. Realizing the need for spiritual guidance, he turned to the desert-dweller Palamon. He was accepted by the Elder, and he began to follow the example of his instructor in monastic struggles.

Once, after ten years of asceticism, Saint Pachomius made his way through the desert, and halted at the ruins of the former village of Tabennisi. Here he heard a Voice ordering him to start a monastery at this place. Pachomius told the Elder Palamon of this, and they both regarded the words as a command from God.

They went to Tabennisi and built a small monastic cell. The holy Elder Palamon blessed the monastery's foundations and predicted its future glory. But soon, Palamon departed to the Lord. An angel of God then appeared to Saint Pachomius as a schemamonk and gave him a Rule of monastic life. Soon his older brother John came and settled there with him.

Saint Pachomius endured many temptations and assaults from the Enemy of the race of man, but he resisted all temptations by his prayer and endurance.

Gradually, followers began to gather around Saint Pachomius. Their teacher impressed everyone by his love for work, enabling him to accomplish monastic tasks. He cultivated a garden, conversed with those seeking guidance, and tended to the sick.

Saint Pachomius introduced a monastic Rule of cenobitic life, giving everyone the same food and attire. The monks of the monastery fulfilled the obediences assigned to them for the common good of the sanctuary. Among the various obediences was copying books. The monks were prohibited from possessing their own money or accepting anything from their relatives. Saint Pachomius considered that obedience fulfilled with zeal was greater than fasting or prayer. He also demanded an exact observance of the monastic Rule from the monks, and he chastized slackers.

His sister Maria came to see Saint Pachomius, but the strict ascetic refused to see her. Through the gatekeeper, he blessed her to enter the path of monastic life, promising his help. Maria wept but did as her brother had ordered. The Tabennisi monks built her a hut on the opposite side of the River Nile. Nuns also began to gather around Maria. Soon a women’s monastery was formed with a strict monastic Rule provided by Saint Pachomius.

The number of monks at the monastery grew quickly, and building seven more nearby monasteries became necessary. The number of monks reached 7,000, all under the guidance of Saint Pachomius, who visited all the monasteries and administered them. At the same time Saint Pachomius remained a profoundly humble monk who was always ready to comply with and accept the words of each brother.

Severe and strict towards himself, Saint Pachomius had great kindness and condescension toward the deficiencies of spiritually immature monks. One of the monks was eager for martyrdom. Still, Saint Pachomius turned him from this desire and instructed him to fulfill his monastic obedience, taming his pride and training him in humility.

Once, a monk did not heed his advice and left the monastery. He was set upon by brigands, who threatened him with death and forced him to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Filled with despair, the monk returned to the monastery. Saint Pachomius ordered him to pray intensely night and day, keep a strict fast and live in complete solitude. The monk followed his advice, and this saved his soul from despair.

The saint taught his spiritual children to avoid judging others, and he feared judging anyone even in thought.

Saint Pachomius cared for the sick monks with a special love. He visited them, cheered the disheartened, urged them to be thankful to God, and put their hope in His holy will. He relaxed the fasting rule for the sick if this would help them recover their health. Once, in the saint’s absence, the cook did not prepare any cooked food for the monks, assuming that the brethren loved to fast. Instead of fulfilling his obedience, the cook plaited 500 mats, which Saint Pachomius had not told him to do. In punishment for his disobedience, all the mats prepared by the cook were burned.

Saint Pachomius always taught the monks to rely only upon God’s help and mercy. It happened that there was a shortage of grain at the monastery. The saint spent the whole night in prayer, and in the morning a large quantity of bread was sent to the sanctuary from the city at no charge. The Lord granted Saint Pachomius the gift of wonderworking and healing the sick.

The Lord revealed to him the future of monasticism. The saint learned that future monks would not have such zeal in their struggles as the first generation had, and they would not have experienced guides. Prostrating himself upon the ground, Saint Pachomius wept bitterly, calling out to the Lord and imploring mercy for them. He heard a Voice answer, “Pachomius, be mindful of the mercy of God. The future monks shall receive a reward, since they too shall have occasion to suffer the life burdensome for the monk.”

Toward the end of his life, Saint Pachomius fell ill from a pestilence that afflicted the region. His closest disciple, Saint Theodore (May 17), tended to him with filial love. Saint Pachomius died around 348 at fifty-three and was buried on a hill near the monastery.

Source: Orthodox Church of America_OCA

ACTS 20:16-18, 28-36

16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost. 17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the church's elders. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every night and day with tears. 32 So now, brethren, I commend you to God and the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all sanctified people. 33 I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 Yes, these hands have provided for my necessities and those with me. 35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

JOHN 17:1-13 

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me with Yourself, with the glory I had with You before the world was. 6 I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they know that all things You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me, and they have received them, and have known indeed that I came forth from You, and they have believed that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in Your name. I have kept those whom You gave Me, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 , But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.