#like yea my main verse will always be bEFORE that happens or just in an AU where it never happens

[sansgout]

the thing with having a post-canon, off-the-rails vince (which I absolutely will) is that each time i think about writing up a quick description to slap on my verses page, i just Get Sad™ thinking about poor rody's fate ಥ_ಥ

me @ me: wdym he's ded in this verse wtf that's not allowed ???

the endless struggle of wanting to have that verse available for certain interactions (though I apologize to anyone who would engage in that verse bc vince is not okay), but depressing myself (and vince) having to accept rody's gone :')))) help

edit: ok i sucked it up and did it crisis averted

[flimflamblings]

I spent. a truly appalling amount of time on a verse I will probably never use again. Anyway headcanons under the cut awsecawdedrf

So I was thinking about an obligatory "flim and flam are related to the apples" verse, so I dug up an old idea for it and got a lil too in depth with it zscdvawf.

So basically the framing device of this au in my head is that the apples (main ones) deliver special zap apples to a pretty distant branch of the family (they're related through granny smiths aunt essentially) because the distant fam (I'm gonna call them the redloves) wants to make special desserts to celebrate them all being together for the first time in a long time, specifically the sons are visiting which never happens

The apples just vibe with the family helping them make these special desserts while apple bloom goes into town for something. While Apple Bloom is around guess who she spots, the boys, looking deeply deeply unenthused. She kinda assumes whatever scheme they were doing had already been foiled, but she thinks it's notable enough to go tell AJ.

She can barely get a word in edgewise with AJ as the aunt, Apple Leaves, is running her mouth off endlessly about weird embarrassing details about "Red and Goldie" - the sons who are visiting. Mainly about how they hate coming home and she has literally no idea why. Before Applebloom can tell everyone about who she saw in town, guess who's at the door.

Golden Delicious and Red Delicious - Flim and Flam

Let's get into relations. So as indicated, Auntie Apple Leaves is not the mother of the family, she's the aunt - but she is the main matriarch of the gaggle. Bushel is her son, the little boy next to him is his son, Buck. Then there's Flim and Flam with their respective family names, then their older sister pink lady and her daughter little Redlove. Finally there's their father, Oregon Trail, and late mother Redlove.

Basically, Redlove passed away when Flim, Flam, and Lady were youngish, definately old enough to remember her and the aftermath quite clearly, but not old enough to be super mature about it (so like 10 and 14 respectively I'd say). She was a very sweet mare who always supported her children, an overall comforting presence to contrast the brick wall that was their father. Oregon Trail was a rail pony, he pulled trains before the relatively new invention of engine power. He was extremely absent, he was never home for long but when he was he was sleeping.

Trail couldn't just give up his job when his wife passed, so the kids moved in with Redlove's sister Apple Leaves (okay that's her canon name but,, come on. I'm gonna pretend her name is Ambrosia Apple Leaves but that's beside the point) and her son Bushel.

Flim, Flam, and Lady were cityfolk compared to their relatives. Even the relatively small train stop settlement they lived in was bustling compared to the smattering of houses separated by acres of orchard Auntie and Bushel called home. Lady adjusted fine, she liked being alone and making herself useful but flim and flam... didn't.

Flim and Flam may just be the scrawniest apples to set hooves to equestria. It wasn't really their fault, they were twins which are already small, and unicorns to boot. They really got hit with every recessive gene in the apple gene pool, and they would absolutely feel the ramifications of that.

They would be simply unfit for orchard work, even if they wanted to do it (which they did not). They were too little to buck trees, they didn't have the attention span to sort, and them in the kitchen was a harbinger or disaster. Together, they had many talents, just not useful ones.

Flam's talent was engineering. He had always been curious about the inner workings of household machines and how to make them work better, and he was especially interested in the trains his dad worked with. Into his teen years he started to find them inefficient, and (never knowing when to shut up) argued with his dad pretty often over how much easier everything would be if ponies would just accept steam, or electric, or magic power over horse power - this predictably caused a rift between them.

Flim was more on the creative side. He had a lot of big ideas he was happy to wax on about (if anyone would actually want to hear them) but was overall more of a planner than a doer. He also took a lot of pride in his showmanship and appearance, he tried very, very hard to look 'respectable'. His worst fear was to come off as a simple country bumpkin, but this did not go over well in the country.

One common gene Flim and Flam DID inherit was macromagenisia (very creative yea yea), a fairly common disorder where a pony produces an unusual amount of magic, leading to enhanced abilities but also uncontrollable outbursts. Instead of making them stronger and more in tune with the earth like other apples, if just have them more powerful unicorn magic. Too bad there were no unicorns around to teach them nor to control it.

In there first years on the farm, the boys would do anything to make themselves useful. This usually came in the form of trying to apply their inventing talents to daily tasks - which almost always ended in disaster. Eventually things devolved into a mutual hatred of the situation from both the boys and the family.

Though Auntie always at least attempted to be sweet with the boys, even if she wasn't very good at it, Bushel did not in the slightest. He didn't hate the boys per say, but he certainly went out of his way to give them hell more often than not. He came up with the nicknames "Spiffy and Sparky" which unfortunately caught on with the few other children in the area, which was a thorn in the brothers side until they moved out.

Flim and Flam didn't really know why Bushel didn't like them. Bushel didn't even know why Bushel didn't like them. I guess it was mostly about the tiny sliver of reputation Bushel had with the other kids around, that he was the big manly tough guy everyone wanted to be. His image was somewhat hampered by having to drag the town weirdos around with him everywhere, and being related to them certainly didn't help. He just didn't appreciate their ~ alternative ~ talents, and to be honest, they made no attempt to be kind to him.

The only pony Flim and Flam even kind of enjoyed was their older sister, Pink Lady. She was kind of everything they wanted to be, deep down. She was smart and adaptable - she knew how to make the best out of every situation. Lady was an optimistic, but a realistic one. She put off an heir of maturity, like she was truly above it all. She didn't indulge them any more then the rest of the family did, but she was always quick to defend them one way or another. She was the only member of the family they even attempted to keep contact with after they left, though it was tough being penpals with travelers.

As the boys grew up the farm became more and more grating. The one thing they couldn't stand was routine, and 8 years of it had them on the brink of a breakdown. All they wanted was adventure, literally anything to shake things up. So when they turned 18, they skipped town. They're first act of freedom was changing their names, they simply wanted to become someone new.

The very few times the twins visited the family was to meet their niece and nephew. They actually get along with kids quite well, and despite not liking their family, they had a soft spot for welcoming new members.

Karma manifests in funny ways, because rather than be like his father, Buck is surprisingly like Flim and Flam. He doesnt particularly like farm life, and is overall pretty meek and nerdy, to Bushel's dismay.

Okay so I'm super tired and this is so long, I'm ending the post. yall get the gyst.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

I like the writing you do about dick grayson and Birdflash! Do you have any ficrecs (Ship and otherwise?) Thank You!!

N o  ,   t h a n k   y o u .   

now i assume that you’re talking about dick grayson/birdflash fic recs because that was in your ask. if not idk just shoot me another ask with whatever dynamic/pairing/ship you wanted and i guarantee you i’ll have some recs for it. now let’s get to the good stuff because birdflash is one of my top otps of all time and that is saying something considering how many fandoms i’m in. 

now lets start with authors. anything that padfootphrophet has ever written is so so glorious (i tried to find their tumblr and i failed i’m sorry). be sure to check them out! there’s @novaviis, the birdflash deity, we all know them. if you haven’t read watercolour then what are you doing with your life go read it right now. 

time for actual fic recs! i have practically over a hundred bookmarked, so here are some of my favourites, or ones that i think need more love. (be sure to check the tags on all of them, there are some squicks and/or triggering content in them.)

1. Summer Lovin’ by @theo-ography  4,500 words. birdflash set in the comics verse or with the titans is always my favourite, and this one is practically the best of the best! a little angsty, a little heartwearming, a little bittersweet, all-around perfect.

2. Before the End by RobinRedR 6,700 words. angst angst angst and more angst. set in the yj universe, follows dick and wally as they grow up (but in reverse order) and how the two of them never got to say what they really meant until it was too late.

3. Safe and Sound by @kingburu 12,000 words. more angst. you guys can tell i have a penchant for making myself cry. wally travels forward in time after his death, you get to see how he and everyone else reacts. i loved this one so much i made a moodboard for it.

4. Strawberry Punch by @synxailla (sorry if i linked the wrong tumblr, it wasn’t in the fic so i did a little digging.) 38,000 words. one of the best birflash fics out there. set in the yj universe, and god, dick and wally are so cute in this one. also, wally is unabashedly, totally, completely in awe of everything robin does. its adorable.

5. Mainline by @kazyre 232,000 words. this is the ultimate hurt!wally fic, and it’s a ride. featuring most of the flash fam from the comics, a whole bunch of heroes dc always forget about, and wally being an absolute badass. also, this is probably the worst rudy fic out there. wait,,,,that came out wrong. what i mean is that rudy crosses the line from bad parent, skips over asshole, and goes straight into main villian. this fic is long, plotty, wally-centric, and super fun to read. 

6. Every Fiber of My Being by @lanestreets​ 21,000 words. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. my absolute favourite dick grayson and birdflash fics in existence. unlike the last one, this fic is dick-centric, but the way birdflash is done is beautiful. you absolutely will not regret this one, i promise you that

7. In Ice and Fire by RedRobinR 7,000 words. this one’s a little dark and a little creepy and lot wonderful. birdflash vampire au, and it’s just so well written. kind of and out-there au for this particular rec list, but i urge you to give it a read. i made a moodboard for this one too.

8. the heavy weight of living by @satellites​ (once again, super sorry if i got the wrong user, i just sort of took a shot in the dark) 3,500 words. one of the coolest, sweetest aus out there. civvies au where dick and wally survive the zombie apocalypse. i’ve been meaning to make a moodboard for this one, if someone reads this fic and likes it enough to request one i’ll do it.

9. Starbucks Epiphanies by maidenofsouls 2,000 words. fluff fluff fluff adorableness my heart is bursting. this is a perfect representation of wally’s oh shit i’m in love with him moment and it was just SO CUTE. just,,,,,,go read it. i need to make a moodboard for this one too. UGH i have too many ideas.

10. Sadist by birdflashshipper 11,500 words. i just,,,,,,,,,,you know what. i’m not even sorry. imma end this fic rec with a bang, and if that bang happens to be heavy smut with a whole bunch of bdsm sprinkled in, then so be it. except this is,,,,like,,,, well written smut. with feels. and dick’s escrima sticks are a wonderful guest star. so yea if that’s your thing then definitely give this a read.

so there are some of my favs, would absolutely recommend, i go back and read them all the time. if you want more, or if you want a fic rec for another dynamic/ship/fandom, my askbox is always open!

[pekorosu]

just a lil “if ash lived” headcanon that i need to unload somewhere bc i've been holding it in for a long time

- set within the manga ‘verse

- takes place when ash and eiji are in their early 30s... so around the mid 1990s?

- i don’t get the weird animanga trope where older = longer hair, so they’re gonna look the same... maybe with slightly shorter hair bc they get regular haircuts now 

- (note: i've always interpreted long-haired eiji as symbolic of the fact that he couldn't move on from ash’s death)

- ash and eiji will continue living in the states, idk if still in NYC or somewhere else. they’ll move around a lot though.

- ash will mostly remain underground as he had to fake his death after lao’s stab, but he does it in a "hiding in plain sight" kind of way. only a handful of people know he’s still alive.  

- ash spends most of his time on the computer, mostly coding, hacking, being a nerd, among other fun stuff.

- he also takes on “jobs” anonymously, and occasionally from max (who’s still into investigative journalism) when he needs info that can only be obtained through Dubious Means.

- i also like to think that ash's a bit of a hacker robin hood lol. but he isn’t doing it purely out of the goodness of his heart, as part of it is a subconscious need to atone for his “sins” and cleanse the gnawing and persistent feeling of shame that gets amplified when he’s around eiji.

- also whatever he’s up to these days would ofc still be Highly Dangerous and Illegal, but it keeps him busy and would sate the part of him that’s still hungry for adrenaline without him having to engage in stuff like active bloodshed or substance abuse. basically that’s how i imagine he’d try to cope with life the only way he knows.

- eiji continues to do photography and other part time gigs bc he does not like the idea of mooching off ash forever, and he slowly makes a name for himself.

- ash and eiji live together but they are NOT together in a romantic sense... not yet >:)

- therefore eiji will probably date other people in the meantime, which gets a little troublesome bc it's not like he can bring them home to where his secret Very Important Friend is secretly hiding.

- ash will maybe have one-night stands every now and then. or not. idk. this isn’t a very important detail.

- anyway there will be lots of clueless but mutual pining :)

- ash especially, is of the opinion that they should start living separately bc someone will eventually track him down, maybe someone who has a past or present grudge on him. combined with his current activities, it’s only a matter of time before eiji would unwittingly get dragged into his problems again.

- eiji is v adamantly against that plan bc he's sorta developed a debilitating sense of paranoia that ash might just get killed somewhere while he’s not looking. not that ash isn’t paranoid either, but his insecurities often tip the scale over to “eiji is safer away from me” than “with me”.

- basically they’re doing their whole “stay. no, leave. no, stay” dance all over again, but like, dragged out over MANY YEARS.

- you thought eiji’s letter would’ve cleared up any crossed wires? 

- HELL NO

- like yea, there was probably a beautiful honeymoon period of about a year or two after they reunited, before their respective trauma and issues started creeping in and fucking things up again.

- esp on ash’s end, i think he’d engage in a lot of self-sabotage. and eiji is only human, he has his own limits and baggage too.

- there will be a government conspiracy plotline but on a smaller scale compared to canon that i am unfortunately not knowledgeable enough to worldbuild on, but it will probably have something to do with cybercrime/cyberterrorism/stuff like that bc it needs to tie in with ash's hacking shenanigans.

- i've heard that sing ends up becoming some sorta political big shot in yasha? idk, i haven't read it myself, but since china’s rising status was mentioned in GoL i imagine the plot should relate to that somehow.

- therefore sing would also get to be in this story! 

- i guess this means yut-lung would come into the picture at some point as well, and it would be a good opportunity for a redemption arc but i haven’t given it much of a thought bc i’m indifferent to his character orz SORRY.

- look i can’t do plot, but i am basically envisioning a political thriller with a side of slow burn romance (wait, you mean like a rehash of canon?)

- i’m thinking max is the one who kicks off the story by bringing something fishy to ash, and they just end up uncovering more and more and MORE stuff as they keep going.

- so for like 80% of the story, ash and eiji will be separated bc ash will be busy spying or infiltrating something... and being at the center of Plot Things, while max and eiji will be more on the outside dealing with the journalist side of things. i’m fond of max-ash interactions but i’m also REALLY CURIOUS about max-eiji’s dynamic :D

- meanwhile sing will be like, half in and half out i imagine. he's versatile like that lol

- ...i did NOT mean that in a dirty way

- anyway, this will provide ash and eiji ample space to work out their issues separately, as i think living in close quarters for so many years has actually been aggravating them. ofc those issues don’t get 100% resolved by the end, but some time apart from each other to cool off and spend with other people should provide a bit of perspective.

- i want ash to make some NEW FRIENDS (!!!) that are on the same wavelength as him bc there’s only so much that he can tell eiji and i’m sure he gets rather lonely, so there will be OCs that he will meet in the middle of Plot Things.

- ash will get trapped at some point. preferably with sing so they can have a much needed heart-to-heart talk. they’ll have a lot to hash out, ranging from the events in BF, shorter’s and lao’s death, all the way to ash’s love life. 

- btw i like the idea of eiji and sing being close drinking buddies who confide in one another but ash is kinda, justalittle, not very happy about that LOL 

- i mean, it's not like eiji can confide in ash when ash is the topic at hand, ya get me? as for sing, he’s similar to ash in the sense that they live dangerous lives, so i imagine he just finds it nice to be able to hang out with someone mundane like eiji every now and then.

- not to say that ash and sing aren’t talking to each other at all, but i think they’d have a bit of a rift between them. sing probably does feel some resentment, both at ash for killing lao AND at himself bc he knows deep down that given a choice, he would’ve saved ash over his own brother. ash can sense that tortured vibe, so eiji’s like their middle man. AND THAT’S WHY THEY NEED A HEART-TO-HEART TALK

- (SIDE NOTE: i want akira to have a role in this too. i actually have a separate headcanon that happens prior to this story... kinda like an alternate GoL? 

akira goes to the states to visit eiji, but ash is also there, yeah? akira and ash start out sorta prickly with each other bc ash is all weird and standoffish and always cooped up in his room. she probably mistook him as a jobless model mooching off eiji at first since 1) eiji and ibe have never spoken about him back in japan (cuz he’s supposed to be dead), 2) why would eiji be living with some random hot guy? unless they met during one of his photography gigs? right??? 

and then she ends up witnessing them in the middle of a tiff, which makes her not like ash even more bc HOW DARE HE YELL AT POOR OKUMURA-SAN??? UNGRATEFUL JERK!!!

but over the course of her visit, she snoops around learns a bit about their history and gathers hints as to why their r’ship is kinda strained. also ash and akira somehow end up bonding (reluctantly) over their emotional insecurities and part on a friendly rivalry to win over eiji’s affections (which eiji is completely oblivious to. also akira may have been 100% serious but ash was just jokingly playing along with her (OR WAS HE???)). anyway long story short, ash teaches akira some cool tech/IT stuff along the way so that leads to her gaining an interest in the field. 

she won’t be able to do much in this story, but a minor role would be cool :)

 ^ a lighthearted gyoza-making scene amid all the angst)

- (SIDE NOTE #2: i ALSO want cain to feature in this, but bc canon provided very little bg info on him it’s hard for me to figure out where he’d fit. but i suppose that’s precisely why it would be great to include him, since i can just make up my own backstory! lol. for now, i think he should be connected to one of the new OCs to make him more central to the plot. or heck, he can be involved himself! ...yeah, i’m just salty about how cain was treated more like a convenient plot device compared to the other major side characters. we barely know anything about him even though he was one of ash’s most trusted allies. #caindeservedbetter2k20)

- anyway, back to the main story. ash (and his new "friends") barely escape where they’re held hostage. ash would be rusty with combat now as he’s spent the past few years doing only stealth work and being rather sedentary. 

- so there’ll be lotsa old man!ash jokes like them poking fun at him whenever he complains about his back hehe

- when they finally emerge outside they find themselves in the middle of nowhere! they then hijack a passing pickup truck and do a roadtrip back to civilisation. ROAD TRIP FTW

- at this point, quite some time has already passed and ash even has a fuzzy beard and mane and all. he’s standing at the back of the truck with a small smile on his face and the wind blowing in his hair, thinking GONNA GO BACK AND SEE EIJI, MISS HIM LOADS, HELL YEA 

- (bonus: this song and this scene is the catalyst for this entire headcanon btw)

(drew this about a year ago. i was trying to imitate the manga’s art style... and the ash i had in my mind was a little different. i’m too lazy to redraw, but he’s fuzzier now okay! MORE FUZZ! like an actual freakin LION!)

- meanwhile, eiji and max will get into some deep shit around this point? 

- eiji in the pic above was me imagining that the Bad Guys had tossed some damning evidence (eg. severed body part?) on the ground like “ash’s dead/ash’s in a lot of danger now so hand over all the info u have”

- and eiji and max are like. SHOOKETH

- this would be the 3rd time ash has “died” after all, and as they say... 3rd time's the charm...

- eiji almost gives in, but then max spits in their face like fuck no and then... yeah. they get beat up and taken away or something lol

- EDIT: hmm... what if the Bad Guy is someone IN the government, and he uses his power to get eiji and max arrested for aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive (ash). and then ash has to rescue them... JAILBREAK STYLE

- also it might be cool to introduce ash's mom somewhere in this story... maybe SHE'S the villain! mwahaha *drama intensifies*

- anyways they will get saved by ash and gang bc that’s just the way things go, BUT! only on the condition they already made it out at least 80% of the way bc GODDAMN IT👏LET👏EIJI👏BE👏BADASS👏FOR👏ONCE👏 

- (that is, after he overcomes the initial shock of ash possibly being dead again... again...... again............)

- there will ofc be moments of “oh my god, you’re okay” "i thought i lost you...!"

- something like this, because one can never have enough cheesy reunion scenes

- this will eventually lead to REVELATIONS (of the romantic kind, yes) 

- buuuut they will never say "i love you" directly to each other bc ash is too emotionally constipated and eiji is too japanese. it's okay, they will communicate it through heated stares 👀

- i would love for there to be a scene where they have to be separated again for Plot Reasons and ash sorta hesitantly goes all "...will you wait for me?" as a direct parallel to canon!eiji's "i'll be waiting" and it’s like,

- FINALLY! 

- FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! ash has finally allowed himself to ask for this, to let himself want it! 

- and eiji would be like OF COURSE I WILL YOU BIG DUMMY, ALWAYS AND FOREVER

- but i think it'd be hilarious if eiji pops up while ash's in the middle of the final showdown and ash's like WTF I TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR ME and eiji's like I WAS WORRIED OKAY YOU WERE TAKING SO LONG

- idk how this is supposed to end...

- oh wait! since the plot is government-related, maybe Someone will be able to pull strings to wipe out ash’s criminal record (past and present) and give him a brand new 100% legal identity, as thanks for his efforts? or maybe ash (or sing) just does it himself somewhere along the way LOL. anyway, he’ll be able to start over with a fresh clean slate and finally work on recovery FOR REAL NOW. yes this is a happy ending AND it didn’t require him to go to japan /flips off canon

- ...i realise it’s never going to be that simple but W H A T E V E R

- (also they probably will visit japan in the future with that shiny new passport... gotta meet the in-laws and all y’know)

- who do i gotta pay to write this cheesy self-indulgent fic for me

[vcngttpt-a]

ALL OF THEM. @mun meme ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

@deceptivetreat || mun q&a                      

                            ━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

||you are. the bane. of my existence. 

☯ Is there a muse you’ve always wanted to play?

hmm ig i’ll go with canon for this one because i have many ocs, but uh i really wanna write for seto from fragile dreams. i used to have an ask blog for him back in the day but that died quickly seeing as how dead the fandom is so- but i do love him with all my heart and i would love to be able to someday write him or something

♣ Is there an author(s) that you look up to with your writing skills?

rick riordan, marissa meyer and michelle rowen. i’ve read their books throughout middle school and high school and i still find myself going back to reread their books because i just love how their words flow as well as how engaging their plots are. i honestly hope i can reach rick riordan levels of skill whenever i get around to finishing my own novel!

♧ Is there an RP partner(s) that you credit for becoming a better writer?

one would have to be an old rp friend that we sadly don’t talk to anymore since she was the first one i started writing with a lot more back in high school as well as the one who would give me advice on how to improve and just be patient with me when i go stuck with writing our threads and also mikey (@snw-cnvs) since he also supports me outside of rp’ing to get me to write actually fiction drabbles. i just wish i could finish them lmao

♥ What’s your favorite ship with your muse?

all of my ships with mikey no i’m joking lolol i really love my ship with haneul because i’ve had him for two years now and he’s grown a lot because of his ship. he’s someone whose never believed that love was real and sure their relationship is a little rocky, but they both don’t really have the proper understanding for love until waaaay later. i also really love how whenever he’s with obe, he’s able to pull out this different side of haneul, someone whose so overconfident and quick to words, becomes at a loss for words and questioning himself a lot. i just love them best otp 

♡ Would you ever write a poly ship?

sure, i’d be down for it as long as our muses have the right chemistry as well as if i know both muns pretty well and if they’re also comfortable with it.

♦ What’s an AU that you’ve always wanted?

answered

♢ What’s an AU that you think just won’t work with your muse?

any au that causes too much of a shift in my muses’ personality. i’m usually willing to try any au but if it becomes too much that my muse basically becomes a different person i don’t like it. 

♔ What’s your opinion on teacher/student verses? Do you have any of these as threads?

eeeeh i dont really care, but i work at a school so the thought makes me like uncomfy because i don’t wanna think about work lolol but its also like fiction and i’m able to tell the difference between fiction and reality so yea. also no i don’t have any threads like that

♕ Do you like magic!anons? Why or why not?

not really. it became too much of a thing to deal with back in the day. i just like the simple things

⚜ What is the best time to write for you? Why?

nighttime because i’m fuckin nocturnal even tho i have a day job rip my sleep schedule and ever growing eye bags

★ What type of historical AU would you like to do one day?

Victorian era, or the prohibition era don’t ask me why i like them i don’t even know myself i just know i wouldn’t mind

☆ What type of fantasy AU would you like to do one day?

all of them. i’m a huge slut for fantasy in general. its one of the best things i love the most. 

☄ Do you think your muse would have liked going to high school sports games? Do you or did you go to high school sports games?

haneul: no, he’s not into those things, but also he was home schooled until he went to college

eiji: he used to play soccer in high school so yea

reese: do magic tournaments count? cause if so then yes

sage: no, i was the loser who hung out at the library with friends to sit around and read books and manga 

☾ Do you like writing smut? Why or why not?

okay, if it wasn’t obvious i used to rp back in middle school through high school and on tumblr and i have done my fair share of the sin once i turned 18. nowadays i’m pretty much like eh, but ig i could try again if the need arises, but it also depends on my mood ig? i’d have to write it with someone i’m completely comfortable writing with but also even then it’s gotten to the point i’m more like ig we can just fade to black yea? 

tbh i feel i got all the urges to write sin outta me when i was on my old en blog lmao i had so many smut threads on there i’m ashamed 

☽ Do you like writing angst? Why or why not?

yes god i love being able to break my muses because it’s so fun. like yea it also hurts because that’s my kid i’m hurting but i’m okay with that. it’s just something that adds realness to them because the world sure as fuck ain’t rainbow and sunshine

☼ What’s an FC that you’re dying to use? Why?

i have these icons that i squirreled away for awhile now and i really wanna use them but my brain is too dead to figure out who he could work for. like he was my first thought for reese but he didn’t really give off the right reese vibes so maybe i’ll dig around my oc bin and see who looks the closest to him 

or i cave and just make a brand new oc for him

☀ What’s an FC that you desperately want to play with? Why?

i’m not really picky about what fc write with tbh 

☁ What’s an FC that you refuse to play with? Why?

not really refuse to play - more like i’m eh with. if only because en used to be my main chara for a long time like, i was so deep into the magical boy lore that a good chunk of my headcanons became canon. but also it just…leaves a bad taste in my mouth even more so since the drama that happened in that fandom left me filled with fear and hesitance to rp for a good chunk like before. it just brings back bad memories and i thought i was moving past it when i was thinking about using him for reese but alas. some memories don’t leave

maybe one day i’ll either get to write en again or i can use his face as fc but we’ll see

☂ How does your muse spend a rainy day? How do you spend a rainy day?

haneul: he loves the rain and he’ll spend it either under an umbrella or just sitting there in the rain just letting it wash away his thoughts and fears for a little bit 

eiji: he’d spend it indoors playing a video game or playing with seto

reese: he’d prob be dumb and splash in the puddles because he likes to enjoy the little things. other times he’ll just ignore it and stay indoors either hanging with friends or studying and practicing his magic for his school’s next tournament 

sage: i like to spend it just lookin out my window with my kitty on my chest. i love the sound of it against the sidewalk and streets. 

☃ If your muse was cartoonized, what would their FC be? Why?

uh idk how to answer this tbh 

☺ What’s a character that you desperately want your muse to play with? Why?

toshi @ haneul *stares at @snw-cnvs* and also reese @ momo *stares at @deceptivetreat* but also i just want everyone to bother my boys i love them so much. 

☹ What’s a character that you refuse to play with? Why?

idk i’m pretty open for any character

☢ Are there any ships that you would like to write for one day? Any that you wouldn’t?

uh dunno. i’m open for any ships that have the right chemistry tbh just not haneul since he’s already taken

☣ What’s one thing that will make you drop a thread?

useless drama and or if i can’t seem to figure out where the thread is going for our muses. like if they don’t clash well i don’t wanna give tryin to grasp at straws. but i’m always down to try again unless it ends up the same than welp

♨ What’s a muse that you wished had lasted, but didn’t?

aaaah my supernatural brothers!!! i love them so much but they didn’t last and i’m not sure if i’m goin to add them on here or leave them in the void. 

❀ Do you like reblog karma? Why or why not?

i’m gonna sound old but i don’t know what that is hold on. *googles* oh okay yea no. that seems like too much pressure to do and i have too much anxiety to do that i’m sorry. 

✿ Do you have a mun FC? If so why did you choose that as your FC, and if not who would you choose?

yes. because i have so many icons it’s not even funny, but also before i got my  hair cut she looked the most like me and also i thought it’d be fun to be able to tell the difference between me and my boys 

see, back in the day i was the loser who would make ooc posts that included my muses and it was easy to have mun fc so you could do that and it was a lot fun, but it’s somethin i won’t so nowadays.

♪♩♫ Does music inspire your muse? What’s one song on your playlist that reminds you of your muse?

haneul: mirror part II

any of weiss’ songs work for him tbvh

eiji: rpg

reese: havent found one that works for him yet, so come back later

✂ Do you like to format your posts? Why or why not?

yes it’s all for the aesthetic 

✆ Other than RPing, what’s a hobby of yours?

i love to write and draw. lmao sometimes i don’t write drafts so i can write more of my novel or little drabbles that’s for friends. 

✉ Do you RP on any other platforms?

nope

❤ Have you or are you currently in love?

answered

❥ Has something ever happened for you to hate a ship? Why?

uh nope can’t say there has been.

ツ Who has been your favorite muse to play so far? Why?

haneul, eiji, lifty and shifty, and en

han and eiji because they’re both my ocs and it’s so much fun to see them develop and grow their characters more. 

en because i was able to write a lot of different aus, headcanons, and just develop a canon character until he pretty much just became my own character

lifty and shifty were my roots. i started in the htf fandom and had so much fun writing those lil shits. it was just my go fuckin crazy shit. i still have their icons and their old blog is still up and i do kinda miss them some days.

回 Which muse was the worst to play? Why?

i used to have an oc named harley who was a living doll and i haha came to hate him because i made him around the same time i created haneul and i always loved haneul because i put a lot of effort into him and not much in harley and i got annoyed and jealous that back then everyone seemed to love harley more him. so i pretty much tossed him to the curve adfhsdkfjh

sorry harley but you were also hard to write because you were too sweet and cliche for me 

✘ People come in a group. If I were to look on your blog, who would I see you interacting with the most?

@snw-cnvs and @deceptivetreat

ღ Do you have a personal blog? Do you share it with your followers or do you keep it private?

nah i haven’t used tumblr in years until now. i do have one but i don’t use it so idc it’s called @shouyoutheworld but again i don’t use it it’s…v old

▼ Do you keep your character in character even if they are one of the worst people in the world?

yes. what’s the point of writing and creating said character if you’re gonna sugar coat them?

▽ Why did you create this muse?

haneul: i wanted an oc who was really jaded and brat. i wanted to see him grow into something more even if its difficult 

eiji: i pretty much wanted a muse that i could dump all my useless game infos on

reese: i wanted a witch oc who had a rival that they both hated their guts for and eventually fall in love I’M SO RR Y THAT’S REALLY WHY HE WAS MADE FORGIVE ME BUT NOW I DEVELOPED HIM A LOT MORE FOR RP’ING PURPOSES BUT Y’KN OW

[snicketstrange]

What are the sources of my last hypothesis?

Some people asked me where that information came from about my last hypothesis, a brief history of VFD.

Most of the hypothesis is based on LSTUA, and a little on ATWQ. And in ASOUE's main books.

Of course, there will be people who will question this, and question the very validity of the documents found in LSTUSA. But I am not among these people. I am one of those people who uphold the validity of the documents found on LSTUA, and who do not believe they were fraudulent. And my assumptions are based on this premise.

And I won't spend the space on this text discussing whether these documents are valid or not. The question is: if these documents are valid, what are the consequences of this?

For starters ... Lemony's childhood.

The Litte Snicket Lad song most likely describes a real situation, although Lemony doesn't remember what happened, because he was still a very young baby.

The question at the beginning of LSTUA Chapter 1 is the key to the mystery: "Who took this picture?" The photo in question is evidently a photo of Lemony when he was a very small baby.

And of course ... You need to understand how LSTUA itself was formed. LSTUA was originally a file mounted by Lemony. He has developed the archive over many years. From time to time, Lemony himself reviewed these documents and made observations in pencil, pen or pieces of charcoal.

In chapter 1 we find the document called the Lemony Letter to Dr. Charley Patton. The letter was originally written at the time Lemony almost married Beatrice.

The letter records what Lemony believed at the time. But for some reason, Lemony later retrieved the letter, made some personal remarks, and added photos. The fruit of this additional research that Lemony did about himself sometime after writing the letter is that it is probably closer to the truth. So we see some inconsistencies that were already evident when Lemony wrote the letter, and which were even more blunt when he added the photos and personal remarks.

Now let's look at the song along with Lemony's original remarks, along with Lemony's later remarks and the photos, and see what conclusion we came to.

For starters, the music.

Verse One:

On a charming little cattle farm 

Near a pretty deadly lake, 

Was a very pregnant woman, 

And her husband, known as Jake. 

Though they lived in a big mansion, 

Down Robber Road a tad, 

It was at the farm the lady 

Bore the little Snicket lad. 

Chorus:

And then they took him, yea they took him, 

They took him far away, 

They took him in the dead of night 

Beneath a moon of gray. 

They took him from the kitchen 

Like you'd take a midnight snack, 

The V.F.D. they took him, 

And they never brought him back. 

Verse Two:

He was lively, and intelligent, 

And drank a lot of milk, 

His crib was made of silver, 

And his diapers sewn from silk. 

Both his siblings watched him 

And his mother, and his dad, 

But someone else was watching 

O'er the little Snicket lad. 

Coda:

"When we grab you by the ankles, 

Where our mark is to be made, 

You'll soon be doing noble work, 

Although you won't be paid. 

When we drive away in secret, 

You'll be a volunteer, 

So don't scream when we take you: 

The world is quiet here." 

Now note the following part of the letter:

It has alway bothered me that the song implies that I was taken while still in diapers. In fact, I have heard an alternate version of the ballad performed in the North, with the lyrics of the chorus as follows:

They took him from the kitchen,

And dropped him on the way,

He fell upon the darkened ground,

And tried to crawl away.  

But lyrics are not proof; photographs are. 

(Lemony later underlined this sentence and wrote to check the note at the end of the chapter)

I was far past crwaling on the day in question. If I can find it, I will paste a photograph on this paper of myself at the age I was taken. (If I can't find it, I will paste a photograph of someone else of more or less the same age.) 

(We see in the picture a child about 2 years old)

[...]

This is more or less accurate, much to my mother's dismay, who always wished that she had delayed her investigation one more day, so she could have been at home that day to say good-bye. 

Lemony's hint implies that his mother knew he would be taken on a specific date. She seems to have some involvement with VFD because she was investigating something.

My brother insists that he was allowed to finish his tea before departure but this has been disputed over the years. 

(Jacques evidently has memories of the two times he was taken by VFD).

[At the end of the chapter, we see a picture of Lemony as a baby. He actually fell to the ground while being kidnapped, and he was really still crawling at that time.

This photo seems to show that Lemony later realized that the song was telling the truth, so she added this photo and the handwritten remark, quoting the song.]

Lemony also makes the subsequent remark "Drat!" when you referred to the cheese makers. This seems to be an offensive expression. Lemony probably discovered later that cheesemakers lied to him about his childhood.

So it can be concluded that the song was telling the truth, and Lemony was told lies about his childhood. If so, then Lemony's biogenic parents were rich. And this part is not just a figment of my head ... It's just a conclusion, albeit hypothetical.

According to ATWQ Book 1 and Book 4, Lemony also had fake parents, that is, VFD agents who took on the role of Lemony's parents. Their names were Gifford and Ghede.

[staboteur]

Munday meme - 🐶📝💘🔪

It’s Tuesday, but do I care? Not Really (accepting)

Send  🐶 for a role play related pet peeve.

//omg there are so many but like,, ok one of my biggest pet peeves is like if you want. To ship. With Rene. Just tell me. Or like bring it up in a thread idk, like have your muse ask him out in a thread we set up. At least at that point he can rebuff you if he’s not interested or he can be like “eh maybe” and see where it goes. I hate the whole song and dance of skirting around the edge just bc i put “highly highly selective shipping” in my rules, like it’s not subtle, and I’m not missing it. My radar for picking up cues that someone wants to ship is really sensitive, but I don’t usually take the first step bc i would rather we wrote together a little first, then discuss shipping. Establish how they work together first, in an IC setting, then talk shipping, like I won’t ship with people who have never written with rene before, like IC, i have a bunch of rp memes that are good for first interactions in my drafts rn i can post a few of them??

Send 📝 for a rule you think is important when it comes to role playing

//communication. I hate it when people ghost, block, delete, otherwise cut contact without even trying to resolve the problem. Anxiety isn’t an excuse, and frankly, people who do use anxiety as an excuse aren’t compatible as rp partners with me anyway. This is a communication based hobby, and if you can’t communicate with me, we won’t rp, full stop.

Send 💘 for your policy on shipping with your muse(s)

//THIS WENT LONG LIKE EVERY TIME I TRIED TO EXPLAIN IT HGABGKSJGDALHFKJHSKJGBDFJLAHKSHJFKJ IM JUST NOT SURE HOW TO QUICKLY EXPLAIN THAT SHIPPING WITH ME IS LONG AND CONVOLUTED and that people shouldn’t get their hopes too high for a romantic relationship with Rene since he’s extremely picky and requires a deep emotional bond with someone before he considers dating them and even then, the feelings have to be mutual for the ship to happen and obviously that doesn’t always happen so yeah

//the crux of the thing is that we need to have an ic and ooc connection and trust each other lots. I also have preferences for certain ships over others and that influences rene’s trust of muses who are a certain class (also based on team, he’s more likely to trust teammates than enemies, etc). Oh and I want long term ship partners. I also want the relationship to feel special, like all of Rene’s romantic relationships should be. This means i want every plot point possible, not just first kiss/falling in love plots. I want fights, i want making up, i want the messiness that comes with real relationships. This also means Rene’s not here to be another character to add to your collection. I want each ship to be equally meaningful, and it’s hard to believe a ship is meaningful to my partner if Rene’s like the 5th in a line of BLU Spies on someone’s blog. However…

//he’s open to casual hook ups, no strings attached, all they have to be is compatible in bed (any questions, DM me or ask for my n/sf/w blog, since I don’t talk about risque headcanons here). This is the only time it’d be okay to add René to a collection, bc that connection doesn’t go much deeper than that on either side.

Send 🔪 for a fandom you refuse to associate with

//oh there are so many but the main ones are he.tal.ia and st.eve.n u.niv.ers.e. Mostly bc the fanbase can be super toxic, so I tend to only associate with people on a case to case basis. I also don’t really write in either of those fandoms so eyy yea (but I do have an su verse for rene and will sorta in the backlines…. i’ve had rene and will for so long that i’ve got a verse for pretty much every major fandom/idea you can get out there–sometimes multiple versions of the AU)

[cyberlife-sent-blog]

SHIPPING INFO // answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog. REPOST. don’t reblog.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?:

I have quite a few. I mean, there’s RK1000 (Markus/Connor), Leo/Connor, Gavin/Connor, to name a few canon character ships. I ship others, always open to you asking about it. Uhm, I also ship with OC’s and other fandom characters (as evident by a certain Samuel/Connor ship I have). And then I also have side muses on this blog (RK900, Hank, Amanda), but since Connor’s my main I will keep these directed towards him. Message me if you wanna know the others.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?:

Anything really. Fluff, smut, normal everyday stuff, jealousy, hate ships, platonic ships. I’m not picky

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?:

No underage stuff (so a under 18), other than that I’m fine with most age gaps (I mean...come on, I shipped with a Loki there for a while and he’s a god soooo...).

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?:

Kinda. Our muses need to have chemistry (so they have to meet obviously) and my Connor is gay, so he only likes men in ALL my verses. We gotta chat too, don’t just go assuming we can ship just because we’ve rped a couple times.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NS.FW?: 

Full blown nudity or the muses getting handsy in a sexual way. Making out is fine, but if it’s gunna lead to sex anyway then it’s under a readmore.

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?:

Hah uhhhh. So many???? Markus (androidrightsactivist), Leo (senhsucht), Sam (deviated-android), Luu (persimmonsilver), and there’s more but yea. I ship so many. Gimme all the ships. -grabby hands-

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?:

Yes, it comes down to that and chemistry with the muses.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?:

If there’s chemistry, and the other mun is into it, then I jump in. Sometimes ships take a while to build and sometimes they happen super fast. It depends if my muse and another muns mesh well and we enjoy each others writing I guess.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?:

I love a good ship, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not the only thing I enjoy. Don’t need it. 

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?:

Of course!

WHAT IS ( ARE ) YOUR FAVORITE SHIP(S) IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?:

Uhhhh in DBH? I have so many favorite ships. Just with Connor??? I mean, I already listed a couple before....D:

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?:

Come have a chitchat with the mun and we can work something out. So long as the muses are feeling the same, of course.

TAGGED BY: the wonderful @hannah-the-small

TAGGING: @androidrightsactivist, @senhsucht, @nicholas-wolfwood, @deviated-android, @devils-messenger, and anyone else who wants to.

[thatxvguy]

KNOCK KNOCK, LET THE DEVIL IN.

Nah man like seriously what the actual fuck.

It was Friday, August 31st. A nice day to start Anime Festival Asia in Indonesia, I was already happy thinking what to buy to make myself broke at the convention, then aS SOON AS I FUCKING ARRIVED AT THE CONVENTION, SHIT BROKE IG AND TWITTER: EMINEM NEW ALBUM “KAMIKAZE”.

At first I shrugged and laughed thinking it was a troll/just an album announcement bUT AY TURNS OUT THAT SHIT LITERALLY DROPPED JUST WHEN I GOT MY MONEY FOR AFA & NOW BY THE TIME OF THIS WRITING I STILL DON’T KNOW HOW TO SAVE UP MONEY TO BUY KAMIKAZE MERCH, LIKE I SWEAR FUCK THIS SHIT SLIM, I FUCKING HATE YOU SMH.

Tbh I don’t expect much when I saw the Venom teaser for the movie, I thought he was just going to have a song for the movie soundtrack/at best, a soundtrack album by him just like how Kendrick did with Black Panther, but ay this looks promising.

Aside of me being salty, this album’s apparently executive produced by Dr. Dre and “Slim Shady”, like literally Marshall is fucking credited as Slim Shady, this shit sounds like a classic already- HE EVEN PUT BACK THE PAUL SKITS AGAIN YO DAMN.

Features are actually fresh as fuck tho, like Joyner Lucas? Nickle Nine? Goddamn man. First look at the tracklists & I can feel the fire already.

Aight then with that all being said, new EM album, Kamikaze, let’s go (I’m still salty to not have money to buy the merch).

01. The Ringer - SHIT BRO I CANNOT. WAIT A MINUTE *takes a fucking hour to get ready*

Okay so uh, wow. Illadaproducer. You fire bro. AND RONNY J? OMYGOD MAN.

First song and he’s shNAPPING ALREADY LIKE DAMN BRO. Okayokayokay let me slow myself here. Because he literally snapped on everybody who criticized him on The Storm freestyle & Revival, should I like write of a list of it?

>Vince Staples >Joe Budden >Lil Yachty (It’s not a diss tho, he just called him out) >Lil Pump >Lil Xan >Iggy Azalea >MGK >NF >Journalists >Donald Trump >Charmalagne tha God >Pretty much the whole current state of Hip-Hop

One song going and it’s fire already, why the fuck should we hit Em’s nerve for him to make a fire album like this though? That’s a big problem.

I like how he interpolates Young M.A. here, matter of fact everything he interpolates sounds better than the original lol excuse me for being biased smh. AND THAT EVIL SPELL LINE, GOT ME SO GOOD.

Overall a fire intro. Personal favorite already. I felt perfect when Em shouted out his favorite new-wave rappers, makes me feel like I listen to the right side of Hip-Hop lol.

02. Greatest - REVIVAL DIDN’T GO VIRAL

As much as I like some aspects of Revival, it’s still an ass album overall, so sorry I gotta say that man but that’s like, Jesus man it’s the fucking lowest.

AY MIKE WILL WASSUP BRO THIS SHIT BUMPS BROOO, better than the whole SR3MM album tbh smh. And the hook yooo, I really wokeuplikethis when I heard the fucking hook. Definitely one of the best hooks of 2018 lmao don’t @ me.

He still continues the theme of clapping back at people who clapped back at him & he’s not being boring on it which is very unusual, because y'know how it feels like when people wrote the same shit on different songs right? That shit gets repetitive & boring, but not this one.

And again, his interpolations are fucking top notch man, I can’t praise it enough for being too fucking great.

And that 2nd verse? God. Another personal favorite.

03. Lucky You (feat. Joyner Lucas) - I’m lucky to be alive after listening to these 3 fire straight.

Dude.

Whatthefuck.

This is godly bro.

Joyner came in with that fire verse, then Em ended the song with next level heat. That’s the whole gist of it tbh.

BOI-1DA CAME WITH THE HEAT. SHIT’S AMAZING BRO, I CAN STILL HEAR THAT NC-17 HERE, ILLA YOU FIRE TOO MAN WTFFF.

I like how they started their parts with different perspective of their respective careers, with Joyner not having the accolades he was supposed to get and Em with the awards that he ironically don’t need.

Joyner man, he came in with rapid fire yo & he fucking interpolates Denzel’s SUMO | ZUMO amazingly & fittingly. And Em back again snapping on the current state of Hip-Hop FOR THE 3RD TIME IN THE ALBUM & HE’S YET TO BORE ME WITH THE SAME TOPIC. And that “Record Breaker/Broken Record” line is slick as hell yo, plus how he interpolates (again) DNA. here is just amazing but somehow expected. Plus that ghostwriter line probably struck a nerve somewhere in the 6ix lol.

3 tracks in with pretty much the same topics, yet I didn’t get bored of it yet. The first 3 tracks & and those hits the personal favorites list already. This is probably a classic already.

04. Paul (Skit) - The very core question of Eminem’s career by this point tbh. Is he going just to put out shit albums and snap back the next year with a fire album? Is he going to repeat the same shit all over? So far the first 3 tracks don’t bore me but I feel like he’s trying a lil too hard on it? At least he didn’t sound bitter on this album so far.

05. Normal - It’s not an Eminem album if there’s no at least one misogynystic song isn’t it.

At first I wasn’t feeling it until the beat switches I was like, “Damn bro, Em can actually sound melodic like the mumble rappers too, damn.”

But I got the message of the song tho, it’s surprising that Em is still wishing for a normal relationship with women (Maybe he could had one if he didn’t went full misogynystic but eh).

Milo verse is funny tho, not anything special but it’s just funny. Not hilarious either but it’s just… Funny.

06. Em Calls Paul (Skit) - Basically a response about Em saying that he’s not trying to make an album just to clap back at people who criticized the album badly, thank goodness because I hope that shit doesn’t happen to him (I still don’t like the timing of this surprise album tho, still salty over the fact I can’t buy the merch yet).

Rumors believe that he was referring to Shawn Cee on the skit, but I don’t think it’s about him tho because Em said he read about some Yahoo-motherfucker who wrote about Revival and criticized about how bad Em did the album (Which I think to be true).

Now, Shawn Cee is a YouTuber famous for his Hip-Hop reaction/review videos. Eminem clearly said that he read about someone writing about Revival, not watched about someone reviewing Revival. So I guess Shawn Cee is in a safe position in his career lol. RIP to that Yahoo-motherfucker tho.

07. Stepping Stone - THIS HERE, THIS ACTUALLY BROKE MY HEART

It’s sad to hear that D12 is officially dead & to hear it from the group most popular member makes it even worse.

I like how to hook goes in & the bridge is just amazing to hear. I’m happy that he decides to break the silence about D12, it’s a plus point too for this album because I don’t want him to always talk about how bad Revival is tbh lol.

A great song to refresh yourself from this album’s main topic.

08. Not Alike (feat. Royce da 5'9") - THAT LOOK ALIVE SAMPLE THOOO. TAY KEITH FUCK THESE DUDES UP.

I don’t know why but I enjoy Eminem doing the Migos flow, it just makes him sounds funnier to me, the hook says all: Em is nothing alike to these mumble rappers, just like how what he says have nothing in common.

Royce went great here, but I feel like before his verse ends he sounds a lil rushed, or is it just me? Great feature nevertheless.

THEN EMINEM BACK AGAIN WITH THE MGK DISS & WHEN THAT BEAT SWITCHED TO THAT RONNY J FIRE? GODFUCKINGDAMN BRO.

Did Em just started his verse with the Ay flow? Because it feels refreshing when Em doesn’t go too fast on his raps & being more laid-back with it.

The flow showdown here man, it’s just unlikely people will hate on this one, I mean hey, GOAT with Tay Keith & Ronny J who doesn’t want that?

Definitely another personal favorite.

09. Kamikaze - Title song of the album, I gotta stop listening when I heard the word “Fack” said here lmao, the whole first part of the song is hilarious too, I mean that beat whatthefuck man, corny as shit lmao.

But hey as hilarious as it gets it’s still worth noting that this song sums up the whole point of the album, it’s basically him snapping back to haters & mumble rap by dropping a surprise album just for the fuck of it (Fuck it tho I’m still salty off the merch)

When the beat switched tho, that shit went sinister like straight up, WHY CAN’T HE JUST DO THE WHOLE SONG WITH THAT BEAT? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST EM SMH.

And that outro bro, was that a diss at Drake? Those ghostwriters line still got me great man.

10. Fall - Featuring uncredited vocals by Justin Vernon for the hook, here Em talks about… WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT MAN THE ALBUMS BASICALLY A BUNCH OF DISS TRACKS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T HAD ENOUGH OF HIM SMH, Mike WiLL fucking made a banger tho.

I felt bad for Tyler after hearing him got dissed badly with the other F-word, RIP Tyler & Earl too.

Budden, DJ Akademiks, Charmalagne & Lord Jamar got fucked up pretty badly here too, I mean I think this is the first time Em proved his point right & stayed relevant to the era he’s in. I mean he’s doing it in Trap beats so that explains a thing. (Listen to Lucky You for reference)

Verse 3 > Legacy in MMLP2.

11. Nice Guy (feat. Jessie Reyez) - NOW THIS, THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST EMINEM SONG FOR THEM CONCERT MOSHPITS.

THAT DROP IS JUST SO FIRE, & JESSIE, GODDAMN BRO.

I like the fact that the songs is less than 3 minutes just like how songs are nowadays. The bars are nothing serious tbh bUT THAT ENERGY BRO, IF THIS SHIT EVER GETS PERFORMED ON AN EMINEM CONCERT, I’LL DEFINITELY JOIN THE MOSHPIT.

Another personal favorite. And yea it’s a favorite personal because even tho the bars aren’t really nothing, I can still relate on how dudes just wanted to be nice for their woman out there.

Hook-post hook = definite anthem.

12. Good Guy (feat. Jessie Reyez) - BRO EMINEM ON A KINGDOM HEARTS SAMPLE BRO THANK YOU ILLA YOU DA GOAT.

I feel like this song & the song before is like a mini sequel to the long-ass Bad Guy song back in MMLP2, this song especially is just a continuation of Nice Guy, so nothing special tbh, lacks the same energy from Nice Guy tho.

The Kingdom Hearts sample fucking saved the song.

13. Venom (Music from the Motion Picture) - Now this shit, was the shit that made me believe that Em is actually going to produce the whole Venom soundtrack. This shit went off great, KNOCK KNOCK, LET THE DEVIL IN.

I LOVE HOW HE STARTED EVERY VERSE WITH THAT SENTENCE, REAL SLIM SHADY VIBES IN THIS SONG. AND THAT HOOK, UGH FUCK BRO SHIT.

How Eminem stated that we the fans are Eddie Brock & him being the Venom Symbiote is just very fucking symbolic, because as bad as he gets you know that he’ll still stick to us like how Venom sticks to Eddie.

THe very perfect outro for the album, a definite personal favorite because of the “Knock knock” line & the hook.

Overall album score: 9/10

A very great album which basically consists mainly about responses to haters, but somehow ends up being a breathe of fresh air of an Eminem record for the past 8 years.

Great team of producers (Illa you da MVP bro), great features, Eminem on his prime, executive produced by Dre & Shady,the return of Paul skits, no comment needed, definitely a classic already.

The only question I have in mind is that; should it really be like this for Eminem to put out a classic album? Should a big sack of hating in mass media on a shit album he put out previously fuel the urge for him to make one of the best records of him to this date? I don’t think so.

Personal favorites: The Ringer, Greatest, Lucky You (feat. Joyner Lucas), Not Alike (feat. Royce da 5'9"), Nice Guy (feat. Jessie Reyez), Venom (Music from the Motion Picture).

I’M STILL SALTY OVER THE FACT THAT I CAN’T BUY MERCH BECAUSE OF THE UNFORTUNATE SURPRISE TIMING. FUCK YOU EM.

Kamikaze > Eminem albums from 2010-2017

He actually did a serious damage because of his Kamikaze wtf he actually didn’t flopped, great.

You should’ve seen the memes for this album bro, shit’s wild.

Again, Eminem if you’re reading this, I love you for putting such a classic album in this era, bUT FUCK YOU FOR RELEASING IT THE EXACT SAME DAY OF ME BEING BROKE. Sincerely, a Stan.

[liberty-belle-a]

// My Rambling Thoughts on Episode 3x08

All right. Finale. Let’s go.

Ryan!!!! Hi, Ryan! Maddie needs threads with the half-brother. Like these two really need to have a conversation / bonding time.

OMG THE CONFLICTING PROTESTS. 

Wait. Wait. Are they...was that to knock Maeve out...or kill her? THEY BETTER NOT KILL MAEVE.

I actually feel really bad for Soldier Boy. He looks so conflicted.

Oh thank god. She’s alive! GO MAEVE!

Bless Frenchie. Putting weapons in drugstore perfume bottles.

Oooooh he’s not doing well. I love how Ashley brought the Deep for back up. And to throw under the bus.

Noir’s back! With pissed off forest friends! Is there a petition to make Noir a Disney Princess. Because I feel their should be.

WHY IS NOIR SO WONDERFUL. He is def one of Maddie’s favorites. Even if does, occasionally, throw her junk food in the trash.

Oh, Butcher. Wanting to protect Hughie. But from WHAT???? WHAT ARE YOU UP TO, BUTCHER???

As FUCKED UP and TOXIC as Homelander is cause OH MAN is her a psychopath, he really REALLY just wants to be loved. Like to a psychotic amount and will do psychotic things to get the adulation he feels he is owed...but it gives me a LOT of feelings about him and Maddie. Because he would love her in her own way. And everything he did would be to protect her and see her carry on his legacy and yeah....

STARLIGHT CAME TO GET HIM. 

Ahhh. He saved him from taking more V.

PIZZA ROLLS!!!! Now I want pizza rolls. 

Hughie having revelations and apologizing to Annie. Good, Hughie.

MAEVE!!!!! Just chilling with Marvin. MADDIE WANTS TO HUG HER MOM SO MUCH. SOMEONE LET HER HUG HER MOM.

Damn, Kimiko.

Hughie, you precious cupcake. Determined to see the good in people. 

I need all the threads with Maddie and Soldier Boy. ALL OF THEM. I need these two to meet.

Also I want to watch the Soldier Boy story. I love how in real life he was the anti- Steve Rogers. A rich boarding school kid. 

Also Maddie would love to punch Soldier Boy’s dad in the face. Maddie would love to punch a lot of people in the face.

“I always assumed I had a few.” “I always wanted them.” LET HIM HANG OUT WITH HIS GRANDDAUGHTER. 

Noir’s lines are pretty much his version of DID I FUCKING STUDDER.

Oh shit. This cannot end well. 

Now Maddie wants to hug her Da...WHAT THE FUCK DID HE JUST DO???? THE FUCK. No. I do not accept this. Noir is not allowed to die. NO. Canon rejected.

AND THE SAD ANIMALS. WHY AM I ABOUT THE CRY. 

FRENCHIE IS NOT GOING TO SHUT UP ANYMORE. (And now I need someone to play that song from the musical version of Heathers for him).

MAEVE, COME GET YOUR BABY PLEASE BEFORE THE TOWER BLOWS UP.

A-Train’s face at the whole ‘fucking an octopus’ thing.

I TOLD YOU ALL SHE WAS GONNA HAVE A BREAKDOWN. 

I legit need LOST HIS SHIT Homelander with Maddie. Who at this point is probably locked in her room. For her own safety. 

OH GOOD. SO MADDIE WOULD BE HANGING OUT WITH RYAN. CAUSE 2 GRANDKIDS TO HOLD OVER SOLDIER BOY’S HEAD. 

Seriously, tho. Someone just let Maddie and Ryan hang out. 

WHY IS THIS SHOW MAKING ME CRY. WHY. 

Then they go and have Jensen call someone a pussy and I’m cracking up.

Well that’s a team up no one saw coming.

How are there still 20 minutes left in this episode. MY GOD. SO MUCH IS HAPPENING.

Notice how Maeve is the only person Homelander even hesitates to fight. 

Soldier Boy was about to go John Walker on Butcher. 

FLASHDANCE!

MADDIE DOES NOT APPROVE OF ANY OF THIS.

“Fuck you shiled, bitch!”

YEA, HUGHIE!!!!!!

WTF. WTAF. 

NO NO NO NO NO.

NO. 

NO.

NO.

DISAPPROVED. I mean, I knew it was coming because she announced she wasn’t coming back for Season 4. But DISAPPROVED. 

RYAN MY PRECIOUS ANGEL. The amount with which Maddie loves her half-brother. I can’t even tell you.

BUTCHER!

I both reject canon and need threads with Maddie dealing with the loss of her mom. I will probably make canon a side verse. And keep Maeve alive in my main cause Maddie needs her mom.

So Butcher is dying. :(

MAEVE IS ALIVE!!!!! And normal. And with Elena. Okay. Screw that. I need Maeve and Elena taking Maddie away from all this. Allowing her to be normal. Basically give me all the variations of this ending. Maddie thinking her mom is dead. Maddie going with her. Maeve remaining with the Seven. ALL OF IT.

ALL OF IT.

THE PAINTING. I CAN’T DEAL WITH THE PAINTING. And the Deep eating his feelings.

OOOOOOH. So she’s gonna be VP...

And Homelander’s fans are still out there. “True Patriots”. 

TODD NO! BAD TODD!

And yeah. The amt with which Maddie would have been paraded about...this kind of just proves that. Also no. NOT LETTING THE LITTLE BROTHER BECOME THE NEXT VERSION OF HOMELANDER. Nope. Not happening.

[ladyjonquilinthenorth]

The Future of House Stark

My dear readers, I write to you from the bottom of the cesspool known as Jonsa where I have established myself and forsee to remain until the end of my days. The climate here is dank, but thoroughly enjoyable, and I'm glad to report that last night brought an influx of curious visitors beneath the depths. They are currently setting up camp, but I won't complain about the crowding just now, for the occasional murmers of "Joffrey", spontaneous hand grabs, and heartfelt cries of "the Queen in the North" have bouyed my spirits such as they have not been for many a moon's turn.  And now, dear readers, to business.  *please be aware that the following paragraphs contain linguisticly advanced terms which the author has chosen to employ in order to convey her feelings on the following subject in the most accurate means possible. It is worth noting that the author is not well-versed in the Common Tongue and prefers to revert to her native Anglicus in moments of extreme emotional upheaval. A brief suspension in disbelief would be greatly appreciated* OMIGOSH guys, that was amazing! So many great Jonsa moments! I'm honestly still squeeing over the Joffrey line and the fact that they fight like a married couple. Not just any married couple, but one in which Hubby has resigned himself, over the course of many years, to the fact that Wifey will always be right, as much as he hates to admit it. They tease each other and the "why are you laughing [at me]" and "would that be so terrible" really struck a chord with me because it was so intimate.

Anyway, enough squeeing. I have a theory (more like a hypothesis) which I would like to share with you and which has only been strengthened by the events witnessed last night.

The Starks have been the “main” characters in ASOIAF and GoT since its inception. They have been written to appeal to the audience and so that we, the readers, sympathize with them and wish the best for their future. Over the course of five books and 6 seasons, we have laughed, cried, cheered, and shaken our damn heads at the stubbornly (stupidly) honorable men and kick-ass, sharp-tounged women of House Stark. But we have come to love them all the same.

But, let me ask you. 

Can we imagine a future without House Stark? Can it be possible that the characters we have come to know and love are really the last of their line? That the descendants of Brandon and Builder and the Kings of Winter will not reside at their ancestral seat (whether it be as Kings in the North or Lords of Winterfell) for generations to come?

This meta by the lovely @fedonciadale describes just why it is so important that “there must always be a Stark in Winterfell”. And before I continue, I must add that no, I don’t think that the WW will be completely destroyed. It may be a hundred years, it may be a thousand, but Winter will always be coming for Westeros. New heroes and saviors will rise and fall, but, there will always be a Stark in Winterfell.

That being said, let’s examine the possible progenitors of future Starklings available to us at this point in the Game.

Ned: Yea, I don’t need to repeat what happened to him. If you don’t know, WHY ARE YOU HERE?

Catelyn: Currently wandering the Riverlands as a Lannister hating, vengeance bearing, fire zombie killing machine. Not happening.

Robb: Very dead. I should include Talisa/Jeyne. Talisa is also very dead, and Jeyne never actually got pregnant, as theories claim, (otherwise we would know about it by now) so that’s not happening either.

Rickon: WHY DIDN’T YOU ZIGZAG????

Bran, the actual heir to Winterfell: I’m going to hazard a guess and say, medically impossible?

Arya: Unlikely. Highly unikely.

Who are we left with? Why, Jon Snow (Targaryen), the current King in the North, and Sansa, of House Stark, his queen in all but name.

Before you say “but Jon is a Targaryen, not a Stark”, I would like to quote for you the honorable Lady Mormont who so eloquently put it: “I don’t care if he’s a bastard. Ned Stark’s blood runs through his veins”. Jon is more Stark than Bran, who is off swiveling his three eyes, and Robb who is, again, very dead.

And then there’s Sansa. Sansa, Sansa, Sansa. Sansa, of the dreams of her Queen Naerys being declared the undying love of (Jon’s, it’s important to point out) Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. Sansa, the beautiful, sassy, “you don’t need to have the last word, Lord Baelish. I’ll just assume it was something clever”, queenly creature that she is.

You can’t tell me that Sansa has been left alive for 61 episodes just to die in Daenerys’s dragonfire. Nope. Nope. Nope. There is a higher purpose. Seriously. This has been rehashed here time and time again so I don’t need to repeat the details. 

Go read this meta by @blindestspot which pretty much predicted the Jonsa events of Season 6 FOUR years ago. FOUR.

Let’s be honest here. It looks like the leaks were legit. The bare bones of them, anyway. At this point, there’s about a 75% chance in my head of boatbang happening. Why it won’t sink my ship is another post for another time. So, I’m not worried. I’m not worried because I don’t see Jon riding off into the sunset with Dany. I don’t see either of them sitting the Iron Throne. In fact, a theory I heard first mentioned by Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell RIP), is becoming more and more plausible. The theory goes that the throne will be melted down, whether to fight the WW or to form a democracy/feudal system. I think the throne will be inconsequential as an entity in the end. 

GRRM promised “bittersweet” and “bittersweet” I’ll accept. It’s not a fairy tale, has never been one, but the Starks of Winterfell will have a “bittersweet” ending. In my head, that translates into Jon and Sansa continuing the line while learning to deal with the ghosts of the past and confront the uncertainties of the future. Whatever the ending is, House Stark will continue, and will always be prepared, because Winter is always coming.

Thanks for reading and please please please let me know what you think!

[xlikeidontevenexist-blog]

SHIPPING INFO  //  answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog. REPOST.  don’t reblog.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?: Canon wise? I’d have to say a tie between JackRabbit and Blackice… although I also think Rainbow Snowcone is super cute. Otherwise, I’d really have to say Jackunzel is one of my favorite Jack pairings, if only because of how sweet it seems. ( And their the first pairing that really took off – next to Hijack – when ROTG came out, and I fell in love. So it’s another reason why I’m lowkey bitter towards Jelsa, because it took all the fan work away from Jackunzel rip xD ) Otherwise, anything can be my otp with enough development! It really just comes down to chemistry between writers and muses <3 

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?: Anything, really. I’m up for plotting almost anything, and I have no triggers so that’s not a problem to worry about either. My favorite kind of plots – especially ship wise – are those with complicated storylines, the kind that really tries the relationship. Angst and dark themes are ALWAYS a bonus, if not a given.  

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?: Hmm… I’d have to say a 10 year age gap might be my limit. I mean, that of course can be subject to change depending on plot/muses – y’know, so long as both muses are, of course, legal and mature enough for the relationship. It’s hard for me to really gauge --- I think a lot of it depends on plot and muses like I said. But as an estimate right now, a 10 year age gap is probably as far as I’m willing to go. ( Although let’s be real--- who the hell is gonna be older than Jack in his regular verse??? XD )  

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?: … No? And yes at the same time? Like I love shipping, but I’m much more comfortable shipping with people that I talk to. And that I can build a friendship with. Sometimes people in the rp community can be toxic and immature when it comes to shipping, and I’ve been burned by that before, so I’m a bit cautious. And especially with a muse like Jack, I’d prefer it if talk plot or interact a bit first next to talk. Not only does it build security, but it leaves more room to really build up a ship into something much more secure!!

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NS.FW?: Ehhh, I’d say when it starts taking that turn from ‘making out’ to ‘we’re definitely gonna bang’ kind of transition xD I’m usually really good at slapping a read more on when I know for sure where it’s leading to, because I don’t want anyone seeing stuff they don’t wanna/can’t see. <3 

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?:  There’s quite a few actually!! I’m assuming we’re talking romantic ships for this question, so Imma say that right now I’m super deep into HinataXJack ( @xx-watch-me-fly-xx). And then there’s Jack’s ship with Ari ( @sugarkss) and Moana ( @moanaialiki ) and Carlos ( @techiedcvil ) and even an Elsa ( @glacicr ). Oh, and a really sweet one with Ardra ( @uasalbhan ). There’s also a few more that are in development <3 <3 

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?:  Yes please. Never assume! Usually, I’m pretty chill when it comes to shipping, but please don’t approach me SOLELY for that purpose. I mean, there are some cases when I’m first interacting with someone and they’re like ‘eyyy these guys might be cute together’ and I’m like ‘siGN ME THE FUCK UP’ because I’m a hopeless romantic and developing ships is my shit. XD But please--- ask me before you assume it’s okay!! With Jack, I’m a bit more cautious about shipping – please understand XD – and while I’m usually okay with it, it’ll put my mind at ease if you ask. I don’t bite, honest!! ( and I make the best shipping playlists, lemme tell you--- )

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?: Despite what I said previously, I ADORE shipping!! Like seriously, it’s one of the best things for me. There’s so much that can happen when plotting a ship and plotting aus, and I fall in love with the whole process; especially with an eager partner. Like I said—hopeless romantic <3

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?: Yep!! Sometimes I might click super well with a muse and because exclusives with them, but that’s usually on REALLY RARE cases. ( And I’ve only really been approached directly about being mains like once, which surprised me when it happened XD) But yes, I’m multiship, and I’m willing to try/interact with anyone!

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?: A little bit of both? Kind of like smack dab in the middle honestly… XDD I love having a bunch of different ships with my muses, but it’s not all I look for. But when I really get into a ship… man, it gets bad. XD

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?: Hmmm… Kinda ties in with my first answer. XDD There’s something just so GREAT about toxic ships to me, which is probably why I adore BlackIce as much as I do. I know some people portray BlackIce in a way that’s healthy, but I just… I can’t see it? With how they were in canon?? Of course, people interpret things differently, but I gonna say that unstable/manipulative tension between them is what made me love them. 

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?: TALK TO ME. INTERACT WITH ME AND JACK. SEND MEMES. STRAIGHT UP JUST ASK ME. And please remember that I reserve the right to say no if I wanna, but LIKE I LOVE SHIPS. AND I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH WITH JACK SO YEA. <3

Tagged by:stole this from @quiietones

Tagging: steal it from me because i think this meme is rad and is informative af <3

[uta-no-knb]

[Songfic] "S&M" (Hanamiya x Reader) ~ Request

Yes another request from my wattpad story. The requester asked for a Hanamiya lemon….well….kinda like a lemon. 

Key: (b/F/N) = Best Friend Name

WARNING: This chapter contains sexual themes as well as sexual kinks. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

You love him. You really do. Sure, other people see him as a sinister, disingenuous person, but there is a side of him that he only shows you. When its just the two of you, he’s gentle-ish; when in public, he keeps up his “bad boy” appearance and picks on you a bit, but you know that all the stuff he says to you isn’t true.

However, as much as you love this bad boy, you do get annoyed with him, and this happens to be one of those days; reason why? He’s always embarrassing you; especially in front of his friends, which included your brother. You really wanted to get back at him and tonight was the night you were going to do it.

You were at a Karaoke bar with your friends, waiting for your boyfriend to show up-and by your friends, you mean your brother and boyfriend’s friends.

“You told Hanamiya to come at the right time, right (Y/N)?” Yamazaki exclaimed.

Yes, thats right. The group of people you’re hanging out with is no other than the Kirisaki Daichi basketball team. People often question why you hang out with them, despite the way they play. Main reason? Your brother is on the team.

“Calm your tits, Yamazaki,” you say, taking a sip of the beverage you ordered. “Kazu and I told him to come at 9. He’ll be here-” you flinch when you heard the sound of gum popping. “Onii-chan, stop it. That’s disgusting.”

“Your sister is right, Hara,” Furuhashi said, glaring at his senpai. “Besides, don’t you think he’ll get pissed at you for wearing his jersey, (F/N)?”

You shrugged. “It’s not like I’ve altered it….yet,” you replied with a chuckle. Taking a hair tie off your wrist, you began to bunch up the jersey and tied it, revealing a bit of your stomach.

Hara laughed as he checked his phone. “You better get ready, (F/N). He’s walking in now.”

With a nod, you got up,

“What are you planning, Hara?” Seto asked, as they watched you head up to the stage, standing in a very dark corner.

Blowing a bubble, the male shrugged.

It was a few minutes later that the door to the private karaoke room opened and closed, revealing their former captain.

“‘Bout time you got here, man,” Hara said, getting up and giving the black haired male a fist bump.

“Yea, Yea. I couldn’t find my f***ing jersey, and I know your sister took it-” his voice trailed off looking around the room. “Speaking of which, where is she?”

Yamazaki took a breath and opened his mouth, only for Furuhashi to clamp his hand over it; Yamazaki can’t keep his mouth shut so Hara was grateful for his kouhai’s quick thinking.

“Bathroom,” Furuhashi said,

Shrugging,  Hanamiya sat down. “Tch. So which of you idiots is first,” Hanamiya said, leaning back in his chair. Knowing that you would be singing, he made sure that he sat facing the stage. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that there was a pole in the middle of it.

Suddenly, the lights in the room went dark, and the sound of speakers turning on was heard, followed by upbeat music.

🎶 I like it, Like it I like it, like it I like it, like it I I like it like it- Na na na Come on Na na na Come on Na na na na na Come on Na na na Come on Come on Come on Na na na na 🎶

The lights focusing on the stage turned on, revealing you in all your sexy glory. Yes, your plan was to turn him on in front of his teammates.

With your back against the pole and mic in your hand, you began to slide down, and crouched down in a very seductive way as you sang the  first verse.

🎶 Feels so good being bad There’s no way I’m turning back Now the pain is my pleasure Cause nothing could measure 🎶

🎶 Love is great, love is fine Out the box, out of line The affliction of the feeling Leaves me wanting more 🎶

The moment the chorus came on, you once again, seductively crouched down, running your right hand down your front-traveling over your breast, your stomach and by the time you were fully crouched down, your hand had brushed over the front of your intimate area. As the chorus repeated, you slowly and seductively stood up again

🎶 Cause I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it Sex in the air I don’t care I love the smell of it Sticks and stones May break my bones But chains and whips Excite me 🎶

As the interlude came on, you couldn’t help but look at Hanamiya, who’s face hasn’t changed a bit; still with a scowl on his face.

…..Does he really not like me wearing his jersey? You thought.

It was time to turn it up a notch. With the mic still in your hand you took off the jersey and the sweats you were wearing, revealing your true outfit. You were actually wearing a teal crop top, while the skirt you were wearing barely covered  your butt. As you began to sing the second verse, a smirk came on your lips.

🎶 Just one night full of sin Feel the pain on your skin Tough, I don’t scream mercy It’s your time to hurt me Yeah 🎶

Just like you did earlier, you shimmied your body as you swayed your hips.

🎶 If I’m bad tie me down Shut me up, gag and bound me Cos the pain is my pleasure Nothing comes better Yeah 🎶

The chorus came on again and you decided to walk back to the pole, swaying your hips.

🎶 Cause I may be bad But I’m perfectly good at it Sex in the air I don’t care I love the smell of it Sticks and stones May break my bones But chains and whips Excite me 🎶

While Makotos eyes were slightly expressive, he still didn’t show any emotion. It wasn’t until you got to the mini bridge that he finally understood the meaning of the song. You notice his facial expression shift, his lips in a straight line, but you knew it wouldn’t last long-that he would soon break.

🎶 S…S…S And M…M…M S…S…S And M…M…M 🎶

You took your hair out of the messy bun you were wearing to allow your (H/C) locks to cascade down your back.  Your eyes connected with Hanamiyas, and this time, you could see his facial expression fully change; his face was red and with your awesome sight, you could see a bulge in his pants. You decided , you would seductively (very seductively) walk towards him.

🎶 Oh I love the feeling You bring to me Oh, you turn me on It’s exactly what I’ve been yearning for Give it to me strong 🎶

Before you got to the ending of the bridge, you jumped off the stage walked over to him; you straddled his lap and continued.

🎶 And meet me in my boudoir Make my body say ah, ah, ah I like it Like it 🎶

The chorus was on again and you decided to walk your fingers up his chest as you sang it-while you ground your hips against his crotch.

🎶 Cause I may be bad But I’m perfectly good at it Sex in the air I don’t care I love the smell of it Sticks and stones May break my bones But chains and whips Excite me 🎶

As you repeated the chorus, you walked back towards the stage, while you still swayed your hips.

🎶 Na na na na [x 4] Come on Come on Come on I like it Like it 🎶

🎶 S…S…S And M…M…M S…S…S And M…M…M S…S…S And M…M…M 🎶

As the song came to an end, your body was leaning against the pole, as a very husky and loud moan escaped your lips.

You stood up straight and grabbing your sweatpants which you discarded earlier, you quickly slipped them on as well as Makotos jersey.

The boys were too awestruck to move; they were literally in shock. There was no indication of movement-including from your boyfriend (which was a first).

The only one who wasn’t affected by the performance was your brother. “I think it worked,” you said, as you walked passed them and grabbed your bag.

“Maybe a bit too well,” Hara chuckled, which caused you to look confused. Motioning his head towards Makoto, you looked and your eyes widened; he’ll definitely have to deal with that later on.

“I thought he would’ve noticed-”

“Eh, leave him be. He’ll have to deal with it.”

“I can’t believe one of your plans worked,” you say as you turned around to give Hara a one sided goodbye hug. “But I’m off to the mall with (B/F/N). ”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t,” you say as you walk away, chuckling at your boyfriends reaction.

The sound of the door slamming shut brought the others back into reality.

“What the hell was that?!” Yamasaki exclaimed.

The normally expressionless Furuhashi nodded-his cheeks tinted a shade of red. “Indeed.”

“What the f*ck happened Hara?!” Makoto exclaimed, getting up and grabbing the gum chewer by the front of his shirt.

“I would think it would be obvious no? She wanted to get payback -”

“For what?!”

“All the times you humiliated and embarrassed her,” he replied, only for his lips to move into a smile. “And I think it worked.”

“What the hell do you mean, idiot!”

It was then that the other guys in the room started laughing.

“Again, I think it would have been obvious. You have an uninvited guest that got too excited.”

Catching on to what the male meant, he released him and looked down. Not only was he massively turned on, it turned out that he subconsciously soiled himself. For the first time in his life, he was embarrassed.

“(F/N)!!!” He yelled, storming out of the bar.

“There is one flaw to your plan dude,” Seto said, grabbing the lavender haired makes attention.

“Which is?”

“We all know how Hanamiya is. Your plan pretty much gave him full permission to screw your sister.”

The only sound heard in the room was the sound of gum popping.

“Shit.”

So I’m not very good with song fics involving the character actually singing and dancing. - =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ( ‘Д’)ﾉ

I know it isn’t exactly a lemon….but….it’s hard trying to embarrass Hanamiya.

I’ll most likely be editing this some more to make it flow better so I apologize if it’s choppy. （／_＼) and I also wanted to update this story so…yea…. (-_-);

[meltedmagazine]

AN INTERVIEW WITH CHAIN DAZEY 

    Chain Dazey, a hard rock band from Long Beach, NY just released their album Lo Lyfe. Sonically and visually tied to the nostalgia of the 90s, they combine punk guitar and explosive drums with ideas and lyrics relevant to those growing up in today’s society. Reminiscent of the anger and angst of Nirvana and the muffled guitars of Sonic Youth, this album makes powerful, creative statements. We talked with Chain Dazey to learn a little more about their band, cheesy 80s cereal commercials, and the importance of spontaneity when creating art. 

Tell us about the birth of chain dazey! 

    Chain Dazey was formed shortly after I dropped out of college and spent all the money I had left on recording gear. I recorded a couple songs I had been working on and posted to craigslist to see if anybody wanted to start a band. And that's how I teamed up with our bass player, Jimmy. He was going to school for audio engineering, so having him around was kind of a virtue. Not only is he an amazing bass player but when it comes down to making demos and recording, he’s a big help, because although I may be able to write a song and hit the record button, when it comes down to mixing and EQ, I have no clue what's going on. We originally came up with the name Chain Smoke, due to our consistent passion for smoking pot, but then realized there was already some band called The Chain Smokers. So we settled for Chain Dazey. We wound up liking the new name a lot better. It makes more sense in a way, if were consistently in a daze wouldn’t that make us Chain Dazey? So that's that.. I’m sure I’m leaving out a large amount of our story, maybe a drummer or two, but that’s pretty much the main gist of how Chain Dazey was formed.

I know this is super unoriginal on my part, but when I first heard your music it instantly reminded me of Nirvana. What artists do you draw a majority of your inspiration from?

Maybe its just super unoriginal on our part, but yea, a lot of people say we sound like an offspring of Nirvana and Green Day.  Although I do see where they're coming from with that, I don’t really see those bands being our main influences. I think we might just share some of the same influences those bands may have had, like The Replacements and stuff. I’m a big rock guy, from classic rock to punk and alternative, I’m pretty much into it all.

How has the New York area + music scene affected your sound, if at all?

It's great.There are a lot of really good bands on the East Coast and in New York, but I don’t think it's ever really had an effect on our sound. Many of the bands, from my area try way to hard to sound like Taking Back Sunday and Brand New. It all just winds up sounding the same to me, so I don’t see where Chain Dazey really fits in with that. Is that what New York sounds like? Most of the music I listen to is older sounds. I'm way out of the loop over here. I think we would have way more fun being a West Coast band.  

You recently released your music video for your single ‘Return of the Mutt’ which consists of cheesy snippets of 90s cartoons among many other things. What was the idea behind this video?

I have this really strange obsession with old TVs and crappy quality video and I really wanted to make a music video that emulated the feeling of paranoia through a bad acid trip. There is this part during the verses when I up strike the guitar between each measure. After listening back to the song it kind of reminded me of the sound an old TV would make, when changing the channel. So I came up with this idea of creating a 80's/90's channel surfing montage. I spent a couple days downloading old commercial vaults off YouTube, scrounging through them and picking the most bizarre clips I could find to add to the mix. All in all I had a lot of fun making the video and it was quite the learning experience for me. There aren't nearly as many fast food or sugar cereal commercials today as there was back then.

When can we expect your debut album to be released?

Our debut full length album Rawhyde will hopefully be out by March. Right after we finished production for it, we started recording this Lo-Fi influenced EP we had been working on and got kind of carried away with the spontaneity of it. Then we figured that since “Rawhyde” was recorded in more of a studio setting, it would only make sense to release a lower quality version of Chain Dazey first.

You guys recently released an album out of the blue; what inspired this sudden EP? What was it like recording it in such little time?

I had just finished watching the first season of Stranger Things and was really inspired by the dark retro tone the show had, along with its soundtrack, so I started listening to a lot of ambient style music. I really wanted to find a way to incorporate that into our sound. I wanted to make music that could almost disturb you. The recording process wasn't too much of a problem for us, if anything, we had a lot of fun. Unlike our full length Rawhyde that was recorded in a studio, Lo Lyfe was recorded entirely out of my garage, so we kind of had a lot of time on our hands, we weren’t working off of anyone else’s schedules but our own.

do you think that this sort of spontaneity is important in creating art, specifically music?

I do!! I think when it comes to art, or in my case songwriting, it’s important to act on impulse. It's so easy to get inspired by something and just let that feeling pass you by and do nothing with that. It happens to me all the time! But when you really take the time to try and express what your feeling and grab it before it goes away, then there's an actual outcome. I do however believe it's also important to take your time on your craft. Act on inspiration quickly, but once you have it all mapped out, really study it and try to make sure it’s your all.

an artist, song, or album that makes you feel a heavy dose of nostalgia?

Tons!! Old and new bands. Every time i put on Joan Jett or The Clash I get this urge to throw away every object in my room made past 1985 and live in denial for a little bit. Technology scares the crap out of me, especially when it comes to music. Maybe I'm getting a little off topic here, but I feel like so many artists these days embrace the digital era. It’s a really bad thing in my opinion, but I also feel as if it's created a chain reaction of some sort. A lot of bands/artists are going back to recording analog and people are buying vinyl records and cassettes again!! I don't even think its trendy, I honestly like the sound better.

any upcoming shows you'd like our viewers to know about?

Not at the moment, but we really want to do some touring in 2017. We're always looking for established bands to jump on the bandwagon with. We're pretty much ready for anything.

LISTEN TO CHAIN DAZEY HERE

interview by AL SMITH 

[astridstorm]

Psalm 23 in a Pandemic

Good morning, again. Welcome parishioners and friends from near and far! We’ve been doing this, worshiping online, for six weeks now. And I remember that on the day we started, the day Bishop Shin joined me here, we read Psalm 23--just like we’re reading today. It’s unusual to have the same Psalm so close together like this. I consider it a small mercy that we’ve had it in these difficult times not once, but twice. 

This is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, what we call “Good Shepherd Sunday” because we read each year these lessons that play on the metaphor of sheep and shepherd, a metaphor we Christians know well from the New Testament but that derives from the Hebrew Scriptures. Psalm 23 is probably the most famous use of it in the Old Testament, if not the entire Bible. 

The version we read today from the New Revised Standard Edition is not the one most of us grew up hearing. That would be the King James translation, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” We owe thanks to the brilliant translators of that Bible for many sonorous passages, but this is far and away one of their best, so good No other version has ever managed to replace it in the four hundred years since.

The authors of the King James version were not only translators, they were poets, scholars, priests, sometimes all four. Some were even travel writers, who recorded their adventurers exploring new worlds and trade routes. Their grasp of language came from both scholarship and experience. Some would argue even playwrights were among the translators. There’s a legend (probably just that) that Shakespeare had a hand in some of the Psalms and Gospels.

Up to 93% of the King James Bible comes from a prior English translation, by William Tyndale, who was the first to translate the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew. But it was the King James translators who often, with just a word changed, or moved, one word in a whole paragraph, even a whole page, could turn a passage of Tyndale’s from prose into poetry. 

And they did that with Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 

Tyndale had said, “therefore I can want nothing.” 

And compare both of these to another rough contemporary, the poet George Herbert: The God of love my shepherd is, /And he that does me feed./ While He is mine, and I am His,/ What can I want or need?

I Shall Not Want. Four syllables. So simple, and direct. It’s not always embellishment that makes the King James version so beautiful, particularly with this Psalm, but restraint and simplicity. I shall not want.

But this sweet and simple beginning now gives way to the more lush and rhythmic language we think of as the King James style. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Those “eth” endings were actually going out of fashion by the time the King James Bible was made. People weren’t speaking like that anymore. Language changed quickly then, just like it does today. But when you need to slow down a thought, because you’re walking along at peace with God and you don’t want to hurry the moment, that “eth” ending--not once, but 4 times: maketh, leadeth, restoreth, leadeth--is a nice way to slow down, and savor.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

This is the most familiar of all the verses in the Psalm, after The Lord is my Shepherd. It’s what makes this the favorite Psalm for foxholes and funerals -- times of stress and uncertainty. The “valley of the shadow of death” is Tyndale, from the Hebrew (of course). But just a small word more, “yea though I walk…” adds peace and assuredness--also some informality, almost like the Psalmist is thinking out loud, developing the thought with us.

Something unusual happens now in the latter part of the Psalm--two things, actually. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

The Psalmist goes from talking about God, to talking to God. From he, to thou, making it now more intimate, more direct. It used to be that “thou” was actually the more intimate, less formal form of address. “You” was how you referred to someone more important, “thou” was what you called your child, your servant, or your spouse--just the opposite of what we think today. Like with the “eth” ending, “thees and thous” were going out of fashion in favor of simply “you.” So when the King James writers chose to keep “thou” in the Psalmist’s address to God, they were choosing to stress the intimacy, and the informality of this relationship. This is tender language.

The other shift at this point in the Psalm is the metaphor. The speaker is no longer a sheep being led and steered by rod and staff, but a person, a man and even a royal figure, before whom God has set a table. A person, speaking directly, and intimately, to God. It is the brilliance of this Psalm (and now I don’t just mean tin the King James version of it, but the original) that it makes this shift so abruptly yet imperceptibly. 

Some months ago I read an essay whose author questioned why it is that so many children’s books feature animals as their main characters. Animals that talk, dress in little clothes, sleep in little beds. Have you ever stopped to think about how strange this is? Why not populate children’s books with other children? What do talking frogs do for us at a young age? Jeremy Fisher. Frog and Toad. Moose and Squirrel. Pigeon. Elephant and Pig. I read these to my kids and I’m not even sure it occurs to them that animals don’t get up, have breakfast and get dressed and go to school, like we do (or did!).

The Bible puts us in the place of animals, too, quite a lot. We are sheep, sometimes goats, sparrows, baby chicks, even worms. But we’re also kings, priests (all of us), sons and daughters of the living God. The Psalmist captures with one short Psalm the paradox of being both utterly vulnerable and dependent on God as a sheep to its shepherd, and also as dignified as sons or daughters of God, with heads anointed like kings, speaking as intimately to our Maker as Adam once did in the Garden.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Amen.

[johnchiarello]

Sunday sermon

SUNDAY SERMON  5-19-19

Matthew 18:10

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Blog-  https://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/

The blog is my main site- on some sites if you click the link it gives a ‘warning’- if that happens- simply type the address in or search on google- the site is safe- the most up to date posts are on the Blog.

Site- https://ccoutreach87.com/

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks

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Other sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/  

Cloud links- https://ccoutreach87.com/cloud-links-12-2018/

Youtube Playlist- https://ccoutreach87.com/youtube-playlist/

[Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post]

NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello and I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I do share my past posts from my other sites- but it is not spam- Thank you- John.

Today- 5-19-19- I don’t plan on making a Sunday video- and I’m not sure if I will post videos tonight. I hope everyone has a good Sunday and want to encourage those who feel led to do ministry- step out in faith.

Just about everyone has the tools to reach out- to the world. I know that seems strange to hear- to realize we all have a world wide platform thru social media and video recording devices [Phones] and there was a day when this was not true- but now it is true.

Yet- our modern world simply uses these things like toys, fun things to mess with- to get the most up to date device- ad ‘play’ with it. Yet we can use these tools for a real world wide outreach- so I guess the word for this day is- JUST DO IT.

Take action with what you have and believe you can make a difference- for good- in the world-

John

 Sunday sermon-

https://youtu.be/dOKudRzK0Xc

https://vimeo.com/242361602

http://ccoutreach87.com/11-5-17-sunday-sermon/ 

http://ccoutreach87.com/11-5-17-sunday-sermon-2/ 

 ON VIDEO- [Mass- Church Unlimited verses]

.The Oso bridge and the water bottle

.My dog Troy [Bear too]

.Stairway to heaven [the song]

.Message to the priests

.Honor God

.Servant leadership

.Paul’s example

.What right did he give up?

.Why are they called synoptic gospels? [Matt.- Mark- Luke]

.Moses seat

.Ministry is not like rising the corporate ladder

.What does the word Christ mean?

.Anointed one [anointing]

.5- fold ministry

.How should leadership operate in the church?

.What is the model Jesus gave us?

.What exactly is the local church?

.The community of believers

.The sacrament of penance

.Accountability

.The question from my daughter

.Are there evil people in the world?

.Original sin

.Killing can never eradicate evil

.There are times for self defense- and the stopping of genocide- when humans engage in war

.But to see the killing of other humans- as the answer- will never work in the long run

.I do not teach pluralism

.Yet we are all created in the image of God

 TEACHING- [More videos below]

I taught on the verses from this Sundays Mass [copied below] as well as the verses from Church Unlimited.

Once again- I went too long [about 50 minutes].

In short- the scriptures spoke about leadership in the kingdom- the reading from the Old Testament was a strong rebuke-

Malachi 2:1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

Malachi 2:2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

The priests were abusing their calling as leaders- they were not honoring God- they were corrupting the priesthood-

Malachi 2:7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 2:8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 2:9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

And God indeed judged them for this-

I also mentioned- at the end of the video- the distinction between being children of God- thru Christ- as well as the commonality of all men [even those who are not Christian] because we have a common creator-

Which just happened to be one of the verses from the Mass-

Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Leadership was the main theme from the verses-

We read another from the Mass-

1Thessalonians 2:6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

1Thessalonians 2:7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

1Thessalonians 2:8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Paul showed true concern for the people- he was not among them as one who would benefit from them-

He even worked [tent maker] while he was with them- so he would not be a financial burden on the young church-

1Thessalonians 2:9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

And the passage from the gospel was the same basic rebuke from Malachi-

Matthew 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

Matthew 23:2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

Matthew 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

Matthew 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

Matthew 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Matthew 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Ministry to the religious leaders of Jesus day was a position- attaining a place of honor among men- yet- they did not honor God in this-

 Jesus used their example of self glory- and contrasted it with true kingdom leadership-

Matthew 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Matthew 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

Matthew 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

He gave the fledgling leaders of the church direct instructions on how we should view leadership in the kingdom-

It is a function of Christ as being the head- and his anointing present in all of us.

 So even though we have earthly leaders- yet- these gifted ones are not to Lord it over God’s heritage-

But lead the flock as a servant-

 5 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

1st Peter 5

 I talked about the nature of the church- and how leadership functions from a biblical view-

I have taught lots of this before and will try and add my past teaching below.

 One more thing- right at the end of the video my daughter had a question-

‘Does evil exist in the world- are there actually evil people’?

 Now- you will have to watch the video to get the full explanation.

But I talked about the present problems in the world-

And tried to show how evil actually lives in all of us- to a degree [original sin].

 But I of course condemned radical Islam- and terrorism.

Right after I turned off the video- I checked the news.

As of right now- we just had another tragic shooting in Texas.

 Right outside of San Antonio- http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/05/mass-shooting-reported-at-texas-sutherland-springs-church.html 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/05/us/texas-church-shooting/index.html 

 Someone opened fire in a church- right around the time I was making the video.

And the first reports are about 20 people gunned down.

As I write these notes [around 3:30 pm- 11-5-17] I do not know all the details.

 But I found it ironic that this was the top news story-

And it happened as I was speaking- about this very thing.

 UPDATE 11-6- 17- [the next day]-

I’ll leave the original comments above- because they fit- while I made the video I talked about having a balance.

In a way- I was saying that it’s easy for the western world to say ‘evil exists’ meaning radical Islam- yet- I also noted that we often do not see evil in ‘all of us’.

I did a defense of peaceful Muslims- while also rejecting hatred and violence from all sides of the political/religious spectrum.

 Then when I saw the news of the shooting- thinking it might be linked to radical Islam- I felt defensive.

Realizing people get offended when you try and teach a balanced view-

As of now- the shooter has been identified as an anti christian- atheist.

 He had a grudge against his in laws- and as of now that seems to be one of the reasons he targeted the church- they attended that church- though they were not there on the day of the shooting.

 Yes- like I said on the video- violence comes from all walks of life- and should be rejected by all.

The small town where the shooting took place is an area I drive past a lot when going from Corpus Christi to San Antonio.

 It’s a very small town community- and was devastated by this senseless killing.

 All atheists should not be defined by the acts of one.

All Muslims should not be defined by the acts of some.

All Christians should not be defined by the acts of other Christians- if violent and bigoted.

 At the end of the day- I think my comments on today’s video were right.

John

 NOTE- I have since made a later post on the shooting- here it is-https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/07/texas-shooting/ 

OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- PAST POSTS below]

5-16-19 Friends- the sign  https://youtu.be/s9vBN3q9bIs

We are the light too

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhTXLqO6gaq9g9geO

Galatians 1  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BlNAPypwibvIztxQUiOoA_7Hpf7mds6G/view?usp=sharing

Acts 25  https://www.dropbox.com/s/eelcggyqfvg9aiu/10-10-17%20Acts%2025.mp4?dl=0

History of everything- 1  https://d.tube/v/ccoutreach/d1xbdy1s

Battle is the Lords  https://dai.ly/x75l1le

5-27-18  part 2  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhhA9a4odpkhrxISx

10-1-17  Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gZNkx0G-ZO10GMT3OQWxZWeaIRM1ypdb/view?usp=sharing

5-5-19 friends n Teaching- ‘the witness of God is greater’ https://youtu.be/8wSavaB4hko

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205650186132159/

Died- Raised  https://youtu.be/HypDkZTtR-o  

4-29-18   Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhWpDd0I6ww_IOV-T

Acts 2  https://www.dropbox.com/s/vnrwyg0oa637rhk/10-10-15%20Acts%202%20%5BRussia%2C%20Syria%5D.mp4?dl=0

Palm Sunday  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgXuXo1-t0CKgZOfB

Micah 4-6  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1POHNjMCJfPI95cqDaxqgmtJjgoptcoJB/view?usp=sharing

Romans 11-13  https://www.dropbox.com/s/ej7tvvd64txxeoh/3-12-15%20Romans%2011-13.mp4?dl=0

Battle is the Lords  https://dai.ly/x75l1le

2nd Samuel 19  https://www.bitchute.com/video/gJ36nCXKZiFF/

  5-12-19 Homeless friend  https://youtu.be/ZMEiaP7GdpU

A chance meeting  https://flic.kr/p/2fRuDgi

Hudson County Park  https://www.instagram.com/tv/Bv3-xs8n9J3/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Ephesians 3  https://youtu.be/4F9ud-CbJ8o

10-15-17  Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/19H_nSRjjsV2Xbu33s1O12DBpCuXfI1Tl/view?usp=sharing

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgQk1IZSLLnUHmTF8

Caveman  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiHqUItJzBoNX25tX

Revelation 15  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E8BNJxujkftfU8cvZgV2NWQj8OPtU_Jd/view?usp=sharing

Mark 2  https://www.dropbox.com/s/fjkan8ktsr8ed3x/3-1-17%20Mark%202%20%5BNorth%20Bergen%5D.mp4?dl=0

12-17-17  Sunday sermon  https://youtu.be/Wv7j9rIXdf8

Acts 6  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgXkzfGOvHZEnfb9k

Behold my servant https://drive.google.com/file/d/1drm7E2Q48gmNOd43bHrnreuEFs9TGcVw/view?usp=sharing

Rams horn  https://www.dropbox.com/s/ha177rf8meha55q/3-1-16%20Rams%20horn.mp4?dl=0

John 15  https://flic.kr/p/S4JFeX

Homeless friends  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgXp8qJq_piiF6J1a

10-22-17  Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmfj5rte16qi47h/10-22-17%20Sunday%20Sermon.mp4?dl=0

The Keys  https://dai.ly/x75l1lf

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205641904125114/

5-11-19 Matt. 12- Isaiah 42- friends  https://youtu.be/9I_iew9YF1E

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205637449973763/

Micah 4-6  https://youtu.be/_dhoLRSFzV0

Slow train coming https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhTIpFteuGB82k_s0

Eat the bread  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1te_I2Ebm5197xe4-qti2Req92wbI5DI_/view?usp=sharing

Times up  https://flic.kr/p/2fJXoB7

Acts 23  https://mega.nz/#!3CAAgQhI!Nxnquv9LmNqgUxMviN9kDCHhoERwtb5CZjyj66VrxeM

2-18-18 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgTlYdJIX5MEsAB0N

Samuel 31  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tf0Oduj8RRUqA3EolMw_TMReATPWlMZx/view?usp=sharing

The Table  https://dai.ly/x75dbfy

 PAST POSTS- [Verses below]

Here’s a book I wrote years ago- it’s about the nature of church and ministry-

[The book is below the links- being the links just copied [by accident] the ones I was going to add are- James- Islam- John]

· 1ST, 2ND CORINTHIANS

· 1ST- 2ND SAMUEL

· 1ST- 2ND SAMUEL [LINKS- UPDATED 3-17]

· 1ST-2ND KINGS

· ABOUT

· ACTS

· ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [LINKS ADDED]

· CHRISTIAN RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION [LONG VERSION]

· CLASSICS OF WESTERN LITERATURE

· DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA

· EPHESIANS [HIGHLIGHTS]

· FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY

· GALATIANS [LINKS]

· GALATIANS- JOHN’S GOSPEL

· GENESIS

· HAGGAI

· HEBREWS- UPDATED 2015

· HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM CHURCH HISTORY

· HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES

· HURRICANE HARVEY

· INSIGHTS FROM A REVOLUTION

· ISLAM

· JAMES- 2015

· JOHN [COMPLETE- LINKS ADDED]

· JONAH [LINKS]

· JUDGES- RUTH [VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED]

· JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

· MARK [LINKS]

· MY BIBLE COMMENTARIES [OTHER LINKS]

· MY OTHER SITES

· N.J./NYC- 2017

· NEHEMIAH, ISAIAH

· NYC-NEW JERSEY TRIP- 2015

· OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY

· OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE

· PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER

· QM

· RADIO CATALOG

· RAPTURE- 2ND COMING- 2 EVENTS?

· ROMANS-UPDATED 2015

· RUSSIA- U.S.- WORLD EVENTS

· THE GREAT BUILDING OF GOD

· WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

//

further talks on church and ministry

[BOOK]

‘FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY’

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

 CHAPTER ONE

HOLY SITES AND HOLY PLACES.

 CHAPTER TWO

AUTHORITY IN THE KINGDOM, WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

 CHAPTER THREE

KINGDOM BUILDING OR LEGACY BUILDING?

 CHAPTER FOUR

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE UNDER THE LOCAL CHURCH?

 CHAPTER FIVE

BUILDING THE CHURCH AROUND THE PERSONA OF CHRIST, NOT MEN!

 CHAPTER SIX

ORDINATION AND THE BIBLICAL MODEL OF ACCOUNTABILITY.

 CHAPTER SEVEN

EXAMPLES FROM PASTORS AND BELIEVERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

 CHAPTER EIGHT

ARE CHURCH BUILDINGS EVIL? [OR THE GUY WHO WANTED TO CAST DEMONS OUT OF ME!]

 CHAPTER NINE

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ‘THE LOCAL CHURCH’?

 CHAPTER TEN

THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN THE MODERN CHURCH.

 CHAPTER ELEVEN

GODS PEOPLE ARE NOT SIMPLY ASSETS TO AN ORGANIZATION.

 CHAPTER TWELVE

WHAT MODEL OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT DO I ESPOUSE?

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE CAT CHAPTER. [I DID THIS FOR MY KIDS!]

CONCLUSION

   INTRODUCTION

 Welcome back! I hope those of you who are reading this booklet have read our other 2 books first. Though it’s not necessary in order to understand this book, I prefer to think of these little booklets as an on going conversation with our friends in the kingdom. Those of you who are familiar with our ministry know that we view ‘ministry’ and ‘church’ in an unconventional way. I see church as the people of God who are gathered together by Christ in various and unique ways. I see the people that we associate with and minister to as a legitimate expression of church. Therefore those of you who have been in conversation with us through our various areas of ministry [radio,outreach,etc.]are a unique and vital expression of Christ’s body. Our goal is to simply relate to you in such a way that the end result would be for you to be built up in Christ and to find fulfillment in him. In this book I hope to share a lot of personal thoughts that the lord has communicated to me over a period of time. I feel that if I can simply communicate to you the biblical idea of church/ministry and how we all fit into this picture, that I will have in some small way accomplished the goal of writing this third little ‘letter’ to the ‘churches’ that the lord has called us to speak into.

 CHAPTER 1

HOLY SITES AND HOLY PLACES

 I recently have been studying and speaking on the issue of church and ministry as seen in the New Testament, as opposed to the way we as 21st century believers view it. In this ongoing conversation [primarily through radio] I have been talking about our tendency as believers to fall into a pattern of seeing ourselves as spectators/funders of the work of professionals. We settle into roles that relegate us into a nonfunctioning position of hearers of truth. We generally believe that if we attend the church meeting on Sunday and give financially to the church that somehow this has fulfilled our Christian obligation and that we are free to do as we please with our time and resources the other six days of the week. In this conversation there are those who feel this whole ritual of Sunday church is wrong and should be totally abolished, but there are others who are not quite that extreme but still see a need for a radical rethinking of this whole process. I consider myself to be in the more moderate class.

 I personally don’t find anything inherently wrong with ‘going to church on Sunday’ but the general theme of New Testament Christianity is against the idea of believers simply being hearers of the word only. Because of our limited understanding of the word ‘church’ [ecclesia] in the New Testament we usually do not view ourselves as Christians in a proper way. One of the main themes in the New Testament is the idea of the church as community. That God intended for there to be a body of people who would actually be the place where God would dwell. He really lives inside the people who believe in Christ. Because of this the old idea of God manifesting himself only at a certain location [like the temple] is done away in Christ. If you remember the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman [John 4] she asked Jesus about the legitimacy of the religious locations of her day. She wanted him to speak to the issue of which physical location is the proper one in which people should go to worship. Jesus reply was there is going to be a change in the whole system of so-called ‘holy sites’. He tells her that the true worshipers of God will be accessing him in spirit and truth. He is looking forward to the reality of the body of Christ being a living temple of people who will be able to be in Gods presence all the time regardless of there physical location. While most Christians believe this truth, in practice we often deny it. We look to the religious activities that surround our church day as some how being a more spiritual site or day of worship. We gear up for religious meeting and then experience ‘coming down’ from the religious high point of our week.

 Now this is where I take a more moderate view than some of my brothers. I too enjoy the day of worship and fellowship that takes place on Sunday; I just wish that we could break the mindset that sees the doing of this as the primary role for Christians. I wish we could see that God is really with us on a daily basis as we interact as believers with each other. There are many times in our focus of going to church on Sunday that we unconsciously transfer the mindset of the Samaritan woman into the present day. We tend to view both the place and the day of church as taking place at a set location at a certain day. Jesus specifically told her that the day was coming that true worship would take place at a temple in a set location, but that temple would be the corporate people of God and that place would be wherever 2 or more are gathered together in his name!

 CHAPTER 2

AUTHORITY IN THE KINGDOM, WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

 Not only are we hindered in our thinking by seeing church as something we go to on a special day, but the whole idea of ministry being some kind of a corporation that exists as a 501 c3 entity. Over the years of ministry I have personally come to rethink this whole issue. I’ve come to view ministry primarily as the kingdom works that God produces through his people when they are in right relationship with him. If you think about it this goes right to the heart of the issue of church being a living society of people. A functioning nation of Christ followers. When Jesus commissioned his followers to go out into the world and be witnesses for him, he told them to do kingdom works and to say to the people that the kingdom of God has come near to them. The actual presence of Christ in his people carrying out his works is true ministry. Later in the book of acts the Spirit falls on a bunch of people and they go forth both speaking and doing things in the name of Jesus. Ministry is primarily a function of God working through his people while bypassing all the technical loopholes of religion. There are certain basic standards that Christians who want to serve God should live by, but the whole idea of ministry being this 501c3 entity that exists as a separate thing is really unscriptural. Jesus not only challenged the idea of holy-sites being a special place, but also the idea of God’s authority/legitimacy existing in certain religious offices or institutions of his day.

 The religious class challenged the authority of Jesus. They were saying you have no right to function as the Son of God. Who gave you this authority? Jesus answered in an interesting way. He asked them who gave John the Baptist the authority to do the things he did. Was it from heaven or of men? Well the Pharisee’s didn’t answer. But Jesus showed us that there where 2 types of authority, or ways of being legitimate in what you do. One way is that God directly gives you the right to function as a kingdom person, or you derive your authority from other people. You somehow seek legitimacy by going through the procedures of men. One of the main truths of the New Testament is the incarnation. God becoming man in the person of Christ. The very fact that Jesus was sent by his father, and being God incarnate in planet earth was all the legitimacy that anyone would ever need to do ‘ministry’. Any attempt from the religious mind to try and denigrate his character, or de-legitimize his right to function was directly challenged by the fact that he was sent by God. The works themselves were proof that he was legitimate! Now when we in the church seek to become legitimate, or to derive authority to do ministry through all sorts of natural procedures, we are in essence saying ‘we get our authority through man’.  Its o.k. to become a 501c3 organization if it’s simply a matter of necessity [you need it to accomplish mission] but if it becomes a means whereby we feel ‘more legitimate’then we’ve simply jumped thru a hoop that will become a hindrance down the road.

 The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost was more than an event by which the church would enjoy charismatic gifts. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God would come upon certain individuals at certain times to give them authority to function in their offices [kings and prophets]. The fact that the Spirit came upon them was proof of their legitimacy to function in that office. The day of Pentecost was a ‘pouring out’ of the anointing on a whole body of people as opposed to a particular office. God was fulfilling the words of Jesus when he said ‘all authority is given to me go ye therefore’. Jesus was ‘legitimizing’ a whole society of people to go forth and do his works. No special class or office, but the whole body would now have this priestly/kingly anointing. If anyone would question their authority, or right to do what they were going to do, they would respond by saying we derive our authority through Jesus. They understood that their ordination came by the very fact that Christ poured out his Spirit upon them. Any challenge to who gave them the right to function was seen as a direct challenge to Christ’s authority. In the Old Testament when you challenged an emissary of the king you were directly challenging the king, so likewise when we question the legitimacy of fellow believers because they don’t seem to fit the ‘normal’ way of doing things, we’re unconsciously saying ‘who gave you this authority’. Now I am not saying that every Christian has the right to do anything he feels like doing, but there is a difference between seeking the legitimacy of man and simply doing the works of Jesus!

 CHAPTER 3

 KINGDOM BUILDING OR LEGACY BUILDING?

 I just finished doing a teaching on the radio on the book of Exodus. We covered the story of the children of Israel as they progressed in time from a few people into a whole nation of people. If you remember your bible well, you can follow the original desire for God to have a family of people who would inhabit earth and live in fellowship with him. As man sinned and rebelled against God he became separated from God, but the desire to build and make a name for himself still existed within man. The story of the tower of Babel speaks of this. Men tried to come together as a corporate group, and even were willing to have unity [as opposed to ‘doing their own thing’] but it was for the purpose of building to the glory of man. It was ‘legacy building’. A desire that’s in all men to ‘leave a name for myself’. In the corporate world of business you find this mindset existing in a very strong way. In 21st century American society we call it ‘keeping up with the joneses’.

 There is a popular commercial on TV at this time that shows an average Joe living high on the hog in order to keep up a certain image in the community. It shows ‘Joe’ as possessing a lot of things in order to live up to the image of the people around him. At the end of the commercial the question is asked ‘how does Joe manage to live like this?’. The answer is ‘he’s in debt up to his eyeballs’. This little commercial captures in a nutshell the attitude of trying to create an image of ourselves so others would think more highly of us, or so we can feel vindicated in the sight of our critics. Now many times in modern ministry and ‘church’ building we give in to this desire without even realizing it. We build facilities or large organizations in order to prove to those around us that we can really do this thing [tower building mentality]. We seem to loose sight of the great reality that Gods  ‘institution’ or ‘organization’ which he uses to carry out his will is the church. It is a family of people [a holy nation, temple, city, body] that God freely dwells in, in order to advance his ‘cause’ throughout the earth.

 When we unconsciously develop systems of ministry that we feel are the ‘church’, that is if we follow certain patterns and models of ministry and then begin to build these entities with the belief that these models are actually ‘the church’ then what we’ve done is transferred Gods true desire to build his kingdom [a rule in the earth that would give glory to his image] and replaced it unconsciously with a natural desire to build something that gives testimony to our image [i.e.: ‘look what I’ve done, look at the big legacy I will leave when I’m gone’]. Jesus warned the disciples that this desire to have authority and be ‘in charge’ of people would not be acceptable in true kingdom building. He was showing us that this desire for success was nothing different than what already exists in lost society. Many men sacrifice a lot in order to build institutions or businesses. People regularly sacrifice their time and resources in order to get their business going. Often times they even work in unity with many other people [staff, employees] to accomplish their goal. Now I’m not saying this is wrong in and of itself, there are many good businesses and institutions that have started this way. But when we transfer this mindset into the church we can confuse the energy and excitement that naturally comes with any true adventure and begin building ‘at all costs’. We can loose sight of the ‘entity’ that God is building and get caught up in the natural desire to ‘image’ build and become sidetracked.

 In extreme cases this actually leads to abusive church situations where the leader[s] are so focused on building the ministry that they begin to unconsciously manipulate people in order to fulfill the vision. This is why it’s so important to see that the church exists as a community of people in the earth whom God lives in and interacts with in various ways in order to build his image in the earth. God wants the knowledge of the glory of ‘the lord’ to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The ‘tower’ that all men will see is the ‘Cross’. God will draw all men to the image of his Son as opposed to some great edifice of man. Gods Spirit wars against the natural desire in man to ‘legacy’ build to his own image. We as believers need to reevaluate the motivations behind our outward enthusiasm to ‘press ahead’ at all costs. When we examine ourselves and make adjustments in our thinking I believe God will allow us to participate in great works for his name.

 CHAPTER 4

 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE UNDER THE LOCAL CHURCH?

 Over the years of seeing the freedom that we have in Christ, especially as it pertains to functioning in church and ministry, I have met other believers who have seen and grown in the same understanding that the lord has given us. I believe this to be a natural process of the body of Christ coming to maturity. When the head [Jesus] is communicating with the body [the church] you often find different members seeing and functioning in the same truths, though they have never personally met each other. Some of these experiences are lessons for the whole church. Many times in trying to express truth there is a natural tendency for fellow believers to respond in a unified way in defense of a wrong [or misguided] way of seeing things. I remember sharing with a missionary family how the New Testament teaches a greater freedom for the functioning of missionaries/apostles than what we put on them today. I showed how Paul simply operated under the spirits guidance and practiced giving and receiving in a voluntary way with all the believers he was spending time with. I showed how even though Paul was an apostle sent out of the church at Antioch [acts 13] that this didn’t mean he was under some type of 501c3 entity at Antioch that he was sending his tithes to in order to be in obedience to the ‘New Testament pattern.’ If you read the story in acts all the apostles and believers functioned as citizens of a heavenly city and saw themselves all equally as part of this new community of Christ followers.

 The idea that Paul [or any other New Testament minister] had some type of structural relationship with his ‘home church’ in the sense that he was sending tithes back to his ‘home church’ on a regular basis is simply reading 21st century American patterns into the story that doesn’t exist. You would think that the missionary family would have rejoiced to have seen this truth, as it would have given them freedom in moving forward in new ways in the kingdom. But contrary they were offended in a sense because they truly felt the role of tithing to a specific group of Christians who meet in a building in there area was a New Testament pattern that must be adhered to. While its ok to give to groups of Christians in this way, but to see this as a pattern that if violated would bring the curse in Malachi upon a person is ridiculous. These are ways that we confuse the spiritual temple of believers with the entity/501c3 structures that exist in ministry today. While the obtaining of the 501c3 status, or the purchasing of a building for believers to meet in is not inherently wrong [remember, if its needed for mission it’s o.k.] but to then view that as ‘local church’ which the missionary needs to tithe to in order to be in obedience to the ‘local church’ is confusing the spiritual entity of Christ’s body with the physical entity of American ministry.

 When we view ‘ministry’ as a separate organization, we sacrifice the freedom to directly build into people. I was driving through town one day with a friend and as we passed by a certain business I mentioned that I needed to go in at a later time to purchase some equipment. My friend asked why I needed it and I explained I felt the Lord wanted me to buy it for a friend in order to help him in ministry. He questioned why I would spend money on someone who had no type of relationship with us, like a ‘part of our church/ministry’. I explained how believers should be willing to spend time and money for the benefit of others regardless of whether or not they are ‘part of our organization’ [by the way we have no ‘organization’ that someone ‘joins’]. I should mention that the person I wanted to spend the money on was one of our original friends/converts that we worked with in the early days of ministry. So the benefit would be purely spiritual, that is I would receive a reward from God in the sense that one of ‘our disciples’ would benefit directly from this purchase. Paul told the Corinthians that he would gladly spend and be spent for them. He said the fathers spend for the children, not the children for the fathers. He was showing the attitude of building people up for their sole benefit, not simply building staff or employees but giving yourself away solely for the benefit of ‘spiritual children’.

 Many times people will unconsciously do the things I advocate, without realizing it! Recently there have been many examples of God working supernaturally in the area of finances. Many people who disagree with my teaching on grace giving have actually been blessed by doing it the way I teach it! People have been giving testimonies of how God would move on them to freely give [apart from the tithe concept] and how after they obeyed his voice to MEET THE NEED OF ANOTHER PERSON, versus ‘paying the tithe’ that the Lord would move supernaturally on their behalf by another person [not institution] being moved to give to them in return. I have been teaching this for years! How when Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for ‘corban’ giving that he told them their mindset of dedicating money to the temple [institution] caused them to neglect giving directly to people [their parents]. So the recent breakthrough in giving that people are experiencing is what I have been saying all along. God wants us to give spontaneously to directly meet the needs of people! I realize this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also give regularly, but the point is sometimes we reject what a persons saying [like me!] without realizing that what their saying is right!

 I should note something here; over the years I have consistently taught and believed in the concept of giving as God leads. There have been many times where the Lord would move on me to meet the needs of people. Just a few days ago one of my homeless friends asked me if I was still buying tents for people, I said sure. There was really no second thought or feeling of ‘I already gave the required amount this week, and this is going out of the way’. I simply felt it to be in keeping with the New Testament to give to someone in need. A few weeks back I ran into one of the original homeless friends that I met many years ago. The first thing he remembered and couldn’t stop talking about was how when I first met him I was giving away clothes in the winter to him and a bunch of other people. Theses simple acts of charity are in keeping with the teaching of Jesus on giving. The New Testament says ‘give to him that asks of thee’ ‘if you have the ability to help your brother and don’t how dwelleth the love of God in you’ ‘if someone comes to your door in need and you don’t help, it profits nothing’ ‘let him who is not working get a job so he MAY HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH’.

 All these verses [which I just paraphrased off the top of my head, you’ll have to look them up for yourself] speak clearly to the issue of God wanting us to give to meet the needs of others spontaneously and freely. No sense of ‘I already tithed this week to the church’. This legalistic mindset actually works against the spirit of New Testament giving. I am not saying Christians shouldn’t give regularly for the functioning of Christian ministry, I put aside money on a bi-weekly basis in order to fund Christian works. It is because of my priority of doing this that enables me to meet the needs of people when they come up.

 I believe Christians should regularly give to the work of the kingdom, I also believe that many people would experience breakthrough in their giving if they truly practiced the New Testament doctrine of grace giving. All the communities of the New Testament [churches] gave this way. There simply was no tithing concept taught to the gentile believers. The scripture says the Corinthians gathered on the 1st day of the week and gave Paul an offering to BRING BACK TO THE POOR SAINTS AT JERUSALEM. Do you see this ‘THE POOR SAINTS’. They were giving to meet the needs of people here. We use these verses to tell Christians if you put in the required amount on Sunday then you’ve met your obligation. We distort scripture to fit into our way of seeing things. I believe its O.K. to put money in the offerings on Sunday, many times the work of ‘building based’ churches is good. Supporting missionaries, planting churches and many other good things. It’s just that we shouldn’t use this as an excuse to by pass all the other instructions in the New Testament to freely give to others in need!

 I want to note something here, this is a good example of how are ‘seeing’ church as the Sunday meeting as opposed to the corporate group affects us. The issue of ‘how much should I put into the basket on Sunday’ was a NON ISSUE in the New Testament. There were times where all the believers in a community [the church] gave in a corporate way[ Acts 6, 1 Cor. 16] but there was no ‘Sunday church offering’ that all the ‘New Testament’ churches gave into. Why? Because the New Testament churches are all the believers in any given community. The focus wasn’t ‘going to church on Sunday’ that is our ‘thoughts’ or ways of seeing things [it’s O.K. to go to church on Sunday] but the focus was a community of people living and sharing on a daily basis. So when Paul writes these churches, or when Jesus tells us to give to him in need, they are addressing people directly. It’s not like the focus was on an institution. This is why ‘how much should we give, or should Christians tithe?’ is not seen in the New Testament like we see this question today. The bible speaks of ‘churches’ as communities of people; we speak about them in terms of ‘the church I go to on Sunday’. This basic misunderstanding of church causes us to hold onto a less than ideal view of Christian giving.

CHAPTER 5

 BUILDING THE CHURCH AROUND THE PERSONA OF CHRIST, NOT MEN!

 In the early days of ministry I remember listening to some tapes on apostles and how they build Gods church. Later I came to see ‘church planting’ as apostles [or evangelists, or just Christians] going to areas and simply preaching Christ to groups of people. After the people believed there was a natural development of family and community that took place as Christ’s Spirit develops the body of Christ. So the New Testament churches are simply bodies of believers in these location’s who came to know Christ. God’s authority and the works of his kingdom are simply a natural expression of Christ’s Spirit through his body. As time progressed in church history people later developed all sorts of offices and institutions that they incorporated into the church. Eventually people began viewing the institution or 501c3 entity as a separate thing called ‘church’.

 With this mindset people began seeing apostles and ministers and people who plant these entities as ‘CHURCH PLANTERS’. Church planting then began to be looked at as C.E.O.’s who are starting corporate entities with all sorts of projects to do. The entity itself became the focal point of all ministry and authority in any given community. The actual people [the real church] simply became servants to the entity’. The 501c3 itself became the thing that we saw as having the actual conferred authority of God upon it. The people who did not conform to the ‘system’ in many different generations of Christians were seen as being rebellious or not coming under the authority of the church [system separate from the people] though many of these people were truly Gods corporate community [church] they were looked at as in opposition to the church because the understanding of church evolved [or devolved] from the original meaning. We then put expectations on church leaders to build big facilities and to try and fill them up.

 I want to make a note here; I am not against the modern phenomena of mega churches. If they are growing as a natural outgrowth of healthy evangelism it is a good thing. Where we often miss it is when we begin seeing the goal as having the big thing and then pressuring the flock because they’re not helping us obtain the big thing. Well the original tapes I listened to from the brother who was teaching on apostles eventually visited Corpus Christi and he spoke on his vision to build a 7 thousand seat auditorium and having 100,000 dollar faith and then a million dollar faith and having faith to build it and that people will want to hear him speak [the money stuff was spoken at a different time, but this is the context]. While this minister meant well he simply was not speaking New Testament language. True apostolic church planting is the natural outgrowth that takes place in communities of people when they come to know Christ. When we as leaders begin seeing the entity [501c3] as the goal, and the people as the tools, or fellow helpers and financial supporters of the entity, we’re then relegating the body of Christ to simple servants of the system. Sort of like the children of Israel in Egypt. They were multiple [big numbers] but they were under constricting styles of leadership that caused them to build the cities of man [Pithom, Raamses]. God raised up prophetic leadership [Moses] to bring them out of bondage so they themselves would become a self functioning society on their own, without being subservient to another system.

 The unhealthy focus of ‘church’ that centers around the high-powered personas of men is in direct violation of the spirit of the New Testament. Church today too often has become a community of people whose ‘common bond’ is found in the personality of the pastor. All healthy groups of people in society will have stages of growth where they go through the process of leadership bringing them from dependence to independence and finally to interdependence [the stage where I don’t need you to survive or find my identity through you, but I need you as a coequal member in order for us both to function in a healthy way]. The New Testament ecclesias were groups of believers whose leadership [elders] functioned as mature guides and facilitators of this corporate experience. This leadership style is far removed from the present mindset of church leadership, which patterns itself after the predominant personality of one individual. While its O.K. at certain stages of group development to have periods of time where one person is the main influence in an individuals life [like a mentor/big brother], but if this relationship between mentor [pastor/leader] never grows to a stage where the ones being mentored do not eventually develop to the point where they are no longer dependent on the mentor, then you have the danger of the leader and his personality becoming the central figure that the disciple organizes his life around. We unconsciously repeat this cycle in the church without realizing it.

 The simple truth of the churches of the New Testament having no central office where a person [no matter how well meaning he is] is the primary figure of the community should cause us to rethink our present mindset of church and ministry. It is inherently dangerous for any group of people to hear and see and be centered around the giftings of one person [the exception being Christ]. The gifts of the Spirit that freely operate through all of Gods children are powerful. God designed a safety mechanism in the church [body] to prevent the power of these giftings from causing people to become to oriented around one individual. The method God chose was ‘body ministry’. That is Gods pattern of all the people of God corporately sharing and giving to each other would prevent the unhealthy focus on one persons personality. Any group of people, no matter how well intentioned they are, put themselves in an unhealthy position when they violate this principle. We often confuse the New Testament doctrine of leadership and replace it with the charismatic individual. We don’t realize that we are violating the intent of scripture when we do this! All biblical leadership should bring people to a point where ‘He must increase and I must decrease’. Leaders need to be the ones who take the bold initiative to ‘wean’ people off of our personalities.

 Children in a natural home environment will go through stages in their relationship with their parents that hopefully bring them to a point of independence. Though they are your children when there 12,25,or 55 yet the way you relate to them will be different as they mature. The mistake we make in present models of church leadership is we think it’s healthy to relate to the people the same way throughout their entire lives. If you hear me preach or function in some prophetic gift week after week for 30 years, and my primary relationship with you is this way, then its only natural for you to develop an unhealthy view of me. It’s inherent in the gift of the Spirit to cause people to be drawn to the persona of Christ, when we violate the principle of body ministry [that is where all the people give and receive from each other] we unconsciously set up an unnatural environment where people are eventually drawn to the wrong persona [the person who they see functioning in the gift all their lives]. Many well-meaning pastors do not realize what a basic violation of scripture this is. Our goal should be bringing people to a point in their lives where they need us less and less as they develop a greater trust in God.

 I know that it’s difficult to embrace these truths, even if they are true! I myself had a hard time seeing the reality of the present day mindset of ‘pastor/minister’ as a basic violation of the intention of God for the church [body] to be an environment where people are centered around the persona [identity] of Christ. Many times well-meaning pastors become the central personality of the group in an unintentional way. Out of a sincere desire to ‘protect’ the flock they unintentionally become the central attraction of the local community. They feel that if there were too much freedom the people could go off track. This possibility does exist, but the primary method of preventing people from going off track is to allow them to develop into mature saints who need not be dependent upon us. The example of the parent/child relationship. It would be ‘safer’ to allow the child to never leave the home and for you to always be the child’s main source of comfort and identity, but it would not be right! So likewise in the church leadership needs to re-examine our proper roles and responsibilities.  If we have embraced roles of ‘pastor’ that truly violate this most basic principle, then it is incumbent upon leadership to recognize this and to make the proper course corrections as God would direct.

 I really want to emphasize the truth that the church is a community of people whose environment tends to the exalting of the personality of Christ at the expense of the personality of the individual leader. God intended the Church to be a place where gifted individuals WOULD NOT come to the forefront in the minds of the group, but would recognize the fundamental nature of servant leadership and willingly take the position of humility. [John 13, 1Cor. 12:22-25]

 We don’t seem to understand that the way modern Christians relate to leadership in the present day is in many ways a violation of the spirit of the New Testament. Today it is common in any city to have many churches who all have their own pastors with believers attending the church of their choice. While all of these people [both the pastors and believers] are for the most part well intentioned, they unconsciously develop a mindset that Paul rebuked in the Corinthian church. The church at Corinth [all the believers living in the city!] got to a point where they began identifying themselves by the people they followed. Some said they followed Paul, while others were following Apollos. The actual seeing of the individual leader, and identifying around him was rebuked by Paul.

 Now I know that we don’t realize this, but for us today to have many thousands of believers in many cities actually saying ‘he is my pastor’, to the point where all the believers have one main personality that they look to and identify with is not the intent of leadership in the New Testament. The biblical model of believers in any location is to have a plural group of elders that are viewed as trusted community leaders; this is more in keeping with the intent of the New Testament. If you later were to visit these New Testament communities and found them saying ‘he is my elder, or I go to elder so and so’s church’ this would be seen as division resulting from having too high of a view of Christian leadership. I know it’s difficult to realize we have done these things, and I’m not advocating getting rid of all the good men who serve as pastors today, but if we begin to see the basic violation of scripture in our present models of leadership this will allow us to take a more humble approach and hopefully facilitate a greater spirit of unity in the Church.

 What I want you to see is how we in the church have a view of ‘local church’ that causes us to have a misplaced loyalty that is inherent in Christ’s brotherhood. Because we view ourselves as ‘members’ of so and so’s church, as opposed to truly being one body in Christ, this breeds a spirit of disloyalty to our fellow brothers in Christ. We tend to hold to the view that if your not a part of ‘my local church’ [meaning the individual meeting I attend] that somehow I am truly not responsible to you. While in reality I really am supposed to have the same care and concern for you as my brother in Christ, regardless of whether or not you attend my ‘church’ [group I meet with]. In the New Testament there are references to the ‘church in your house’ and things of this nature.

 Where we usually ‘miss it’ is when we think that somehow these statements violate the concept of our oneness in Christ. When the bible speaks like this, it is not saying that all the believers in one location have separate ‘churches’ that they belong to. It is simply saying ‘that part of Christ’s body that meets in your house’. It would be wrong to view statements like this and then develop an ecclesiology that ‘sees’ a hundred different independent ‘churches’ [entities] in your city. While there very well might be a hundred different groups of believers in your city, you should be committed to these believers just as much as the people you meet with every Sunday. While God recognizes different groups of believers in each city, He also lays down guidelines for our mutual care and concern that we are all to have for one another. Our dividing over ‘who’s church I attend’ creates a false mindset of a lack of loyalty to our brothers because ‘they don’t go to my church’.

 I just read a verse in Isaiah [55: 8] ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord’. I want you to see that when we view things from our own perspective [our thoughts] we often violate Gods ways [his thoughts]. Many times when dealing with issues that would personally affect an individual’s present mindset, or the lifestyle that he’s living [like when I deal with the subject of tithing, or the lack of the full-time paid minister in the New Testament story]. People will often reject the truth of scripture [Gods thoughts] simply on the grounds that they are already practicing ‘church’ in a certain way [their thoughts] and have no desire to ‘give up’ their present practice of doing things. Many times it’s simply a matter of personal survival. ‘If you are right John, then it will affect me too much, and I am not willing to ‘die to the way I see things [my thoughts] because it will entail too much pain [I think they used to call this ‘bearing our cross’]’.

 So while I don’t want to personally condemn any brother for his views on church and ministry, I want us all to see how we are subject to preferring our own views to Gods [even me!]. It’s a natural tendency of the sinful nature to presume ‘our thoughts’ [our way of seeing things] are ‘Gods thoughts’. It’s when we take this presumption to the extreme that we get into trouble. We get to the point of seeing others who don’t hold to ‘our thoughts’ as violating scripture [Gods thoughts] and then we unconsciously fall into the category of the Pharisees where we condemn those who don’t ‘see things our way’.

 CHAPTER 6

 ORDINATION AND THE BIBLICAL MODEL OF ACCOUNTABILTY.

 In the 1st century Jesus showed up in the midst of a religious system that had a voice of its own and refused to acknowledge anyone who did not submit to its authority. This system [religious Judaism] not only resisted Christ and the disciples, but would later resist the freedom and growth of the New Testament churches established by the apostle Paul. The leaders of this system actually said that they feared loosing the influence they had in society if the young church continued to experience success. They were already showing signs of the kingdoms of men resisting the kingdom of God. The Pharisees had their position that religion gave them and they were unwilling to give it up, even if it meant their rejection of messiah. The Pharisees used the law and religious protocol as a means to de-legitimize those who would not jump through the hoops of their day. Many of our modern concepts of church and ministry unconciously produce the same results. The very idea of ordination in the new testament was simply the public recognition [through the laying on of hands] of those leaders [elders] in the Christian community [not some non profit entity] who were deemed grounded in the person of Christ and could be looked up to as spiritual guides in a voluntary society of believers.

 Over the years ordination has evolved into a ritual of licensing and certification from a religious institution in order to be legitimate to function in church circles. So the simple concept of all believers having the ordination of God [John 15] has now developed into a system of approval that one must have in order to function in the church [as a full time minister]. Now while I personally have no problem with ordained ministry, we must see that what we call ordination today is a more developed concept than was originally intended in the New Testament. It can become wrong when we begin to limit the function of all believers as ordained priests under God and use the modern concept of ordination to de-legitimize those who don’t have it. The 1st century Pharisee saw Jesus ministry as a direct violation of their understanding of legitimate ministry. They were using law and religious regulation to exclude people from feeling accepted in Gods society. Jesus way of doing ministry not only violated the current standards of the day, but also opened up a whole new realm of people who would be able to function in Gods kingdom. All who would simply accept him and become a follower were now given legitimacy to spread God’s kingdom despite their unwillingness to submit to the system of their day. This is what offended the religious mind of the 1st century Pharisee. They spent years jumping through the hoops of religious protocol in order to function as religious leaders, Jesus comes on the scene and bypasses all their procedures and vests authority to do kingdom works to the common people.

 There was a spirit present in both the mind and religion of the 1st century Pharisee. They had an intellectual knowledge of scripture that focused on particular aspects of scripture while never being able to comprehend the ‘body of truth’. Their religious position in society gave them a greater degree of responsibility to be able to understand that Christ himself was the goal and result of all religious learning. In essence they were guilty of possessing a special position in society and because of there unwillingness to loose the ‘honor’ that came from this position they committed the worst type of offense that leaders could commit. They actually rejected the person of Christ in order for there own personas to continue to be at the forefront. If you remember when Paul speaks of antichrist [I am not saying here that present Christian leaders are antichrist!] Paul says that ‘he sits in the temple of God showing HIMSELF to be God’ 2 Thes.2: 4]. There is an aspect of ‘anti-christ’ that rejects the development of the person of Christ in the Church [body] in order for mans persona to remain at the forefront. He sits [antichrist-not wanting Christ to be seen!] in the place of God taking the glory [adulation/honor] to his persona that belongs to Christ.

 I want you to see that no matter how well we know scripture, we really know nothing until the actual person of Christ is at the forefront [Jesus being Lord]. When man persists in his pride to continue to hold on to a position of attention in the Christian community that rightfully belongs to Christ, he unknowingly is violating one of the most fundamental truths of the church. What I want you to see, without getting too much into the whole subject of antichrist, is that he wants the place that rightfully belongs to Christ. In the Christian community Christ’s rightful place is the center of our attention. True worship is Him actually being the focus and center of attention. The unhealthy attention that we often see given to people’s personalities is a subtle way the enemy uses from keeping Christ’s image and person from being the center of community.

 Recently there was a Christian brother who fell in a very public way. It was a situation where he admitted to certain sins [adultery] and it was very public. While I wont use his name, he was a very influential leader in charismatic circles. He held the title of ‘arch-bishop’ [I don’t understand why we do this stuff!] Well as usual when word got out about his fall, people began to expound on why this happened. Some explained that they thought it was because he wasn’t ‘accountable enough’ [he was archbishop to more than 200 churches!] We never seem to think that if we allow individuals to be exalted above measure, that this itself is a violation of the principle of New Testament leadership. Jesus said whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Many times in Christian circles we don’t realize that we are doing this!

 We often blame the fall on ‘lack of accountability’. True accountability is submitting to each other in love. It is not some unnatural structure that we create. I have heard it taught in the way that if some outside person is our ‘covering’ and they call us once a month and yell at us, that some how this is being humble and being accountable. You can’t be accountable without true friendship and relationship. We often jump to the conclusion that when one of our brothers fall that it’s a result of a lack of accountability, when it just might be that we allowed them to be lifted up to a place where the Lord had to humble them. [I don’t want to judge this man, I didn’t even realize I was going to share this but during my prayer time early this morning I continued to pray for him and some other brothers who have fallen, and then I felt the Lord permitted me to share this!] When we allow leaders to attain honorific titles in violation of scripture we are unknowingly placing them in a position where Christ must humble them.

 Let me mention here the interesting phenomena of Christians [charismatic and others] seeing the ‘need’ for believers to revert back to ecclesiastical structures. During the Jesus movement of the 70’s, as well as the charismatic movement, there were well intentioned brothers who felt like the freedom of ‘simply following Christ’ and the working of the Spirit were not enough to keep the movements from going off track. They sensed the need to have ‘structure’ for the new believers. Jack Sparks, a brother who felt this way, eventually reverted all the way back to Greek orthodoxy and is an orthodox priest today in California. Others like Bob Mumford and Ern Baxter became involved in the discipleship/shepherding movement which placed an overemphasis on the concept of covering and being in submission to authority. These men were well intentioned, but it is my feeling that there is a degree of arrogance and elitism that causes people to believe that somehow through establishing ‘structure’ that they can safeguard the new Christians who where coming to Christ at this time.

 The whole phenomena of reverting back to previous church communities is nothing new. You had the ‘oxford movement’ after the reformation where many Anglican scholars became Catholics after studying the church fathers and other early sources and felt that the earliest Christian witness was Catholic. You had cardinal Newman later on also becoming catholic, or a Frances Schaffer jr. leaving evangelicalism in order to become eastern orthodox. In all these scenarios these are good men who are finding refuge in ‘structure’. While I consider all of these faiths to be Christian, I believe the error of this type of thinking is we seem to believe if we add structure to new believers this will keep them from going off track. The ‘structure’ of the New Testament churches was nothing like this. Their safeguard was in keeping Jesus pre-eminent in their lives and living together in Christian love and brotherhood. When a Paul or other Christian leader saw them getting off track [Galatians/Corinthians] the answer was not more structure, but simply refuting the error and re-presenting Christ. It was ultimately being able to trust God to finish the work that He started in them.

 CHAPTER 7

 EXAMPLES FROM PASTORS AND BELIEVERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

 I recently did a study on the whole phenomena of the house church movement. Many of the stories I encountered while doing research went along theses lines. You would find various groups of believers who felt disenfranchised with their roles in modern church systems; they felt like they were professional spectators. The whole concept of church became to them a place where you go to hear lectures. The only one who finds fulfillment in expressing themselves are the professional clergy [and a few rebellious prophets who could muster up the nerve to stand up and speak!] but the overall sense was these people were simply filling roles of listening to preaching week after week without ever truly functioning. Many of these people left their churches to form house/cell type churches. There were also many traditional pastors who saw this same restricting style of contemporary church and also left the whole concept of professional pastor and simply became a bi-vocational leader in a voluntary based movement of believers.

 Some of the movements I studied were tremendous in their ability to rapidly spread throughout regions without the drag of salaries, buildings and all the other usual things associated with full time ministry. I find these movements to be exciting and biblical. The whole idea of average believers advancing the kingdom of God without all the trappings of modern religion is truly getting back to the heart of New Testament Christianity.  Many of their stories shared a common theme of being seen as rebellious or not willing to submit to authority because of their willingness to break out of restricting mindsets in order to advance the kingdom. Many of the pastors who also left traditional church roles found freedom in not having to raise huge amounts of money for salaries and buildings, they testified of a freedom that came with their not having to sermonize on tithing and other money raising efforts. There was a real sense of effectiveness in the reality of the ‘church’ being vibrant groups of believers who can rapidly expand across a region without having to stop and build structures and set in order clergy and all the other trappings associated with modern day church. While I personally don’t advocate one form above another to the degree that some house church enthusiasts do [it can be just as bad to focus on the ‘house’ in house church as in the building in modern church] but I do see in this movement a return to the simple reality of Christ moving and expanding through his people [true church growth].

 As you read the New Testament you never get the feeling that Jesus or the apostles were going to areas to start some type of meeting that they would get people to attend. They were being sent out to spread the great message of Gods kingdom. All the sermons in the book of acts focus on Jesus and his great work for us. After people in these various regions came to the reality of Christ they were then considered to be the church. The actual reality of Jesus living in them through his Spirit is the entity that God recognizes as legitimate to carry out his works. There was no magical element of organizing under a particular form that would then become the ‘church’. They were church by virtue of the fact that Christ dwelt in their hearts by faith.

 As these communities spread throughout the earth they would have more mature leaders in their midst who gave guidance and direction to the flock in a voluntary way, but the concept of one professional minister who was hired to perform religious functions for the community was absent from these New Testament ecclesias. The whole mindset of ‘church-planting’ was simply the natural outgrowth of people coming to know Christ. There wasn’t a separate calling to start churches apart from the great commission to go and tell all people about this great gospel of Christ. Apostles had a special gifting to help build these communities, but in no way is this separate from the calling to preach the gospel. It is simply the proclaiming of Christ to communities of people that holds the power of ‘church planting’. And the thing that we’re planting is Christ in the hearts of people. I think if we can get back to seeing things on these terms there will be less of a pressure to go and make something happen, and more of a balance on Christ in us, the hope of glory!

 CHAPTER 8

 ARE CHURCH BUILDINGS EVIL? [OR THE GUY WHO WANTED TO CAST DEMONS OUT OF ME!]

 Many years ago before I really understood the truths of ecclesia and the communal aspect of the church, I was introduced to the belief that the ‘church building’ itself was wrong. I don’t personally adhere to this belief, but let me share the story. While ministering as a new believer in Christ and learning ‘the ropes’ of ministry, I remember driving past a brother who was a street minister from Mexico. It was unusual in the way he was conducting his street meetings. He would get permission to use an empty lot and then set up actual church pews in the lot without walls or any type of cover over it [even if it rained!]. Well one day on my daily rounds of visiting people and witnessing for Jesus [because this is what ministers are supposed to do, right?] I stopped by this brother’s lot and figured I would bless him with some lunch and listen to him preach [I felt sorry for the brother because no one else was attending his meetings]. After he spoke I had a chance to fellowship with him. After hearing his thoughts I realized it was on purpose for him to have no walls or cover over the pews [these were actual church pews that were out there in the open!].

 He shared with me the verse in Hebrews [13:10] where it says that those who worship at the sanctuary have no right to partake of the altar of Christ [the cross]. He saw this as meaning that all Christians who meet in buildings [the sanctuary] were lost! Well, even as a young believer in the lord I was smart enough to know that this verse had nothing to do with ‘church buildings’. I showed the brother that in context the verse simply meant that those Jews [remember who the book of Hebrews was written to] who were not willing to leave the old covenant system [the sanctuary] could not move on with the new covenant truth of Christ and his cross. The sanctuary represented the whole concept of law and Judaism. This verse had nothing to do about the inherent nature of church buildings! Buildings themselves are neutral ground; it’s the style of one person functioning [the pastor] at the expense of the rest of the body that I see as less than ideal.

 Well after seeing the obvious error of the way this brother was reading this verse, I began to ‘expound unto him the way of God more perfectly’. When he finally understood what I was saying [you could tell by the look in his eyes that he saw the truth] instead of repenting of his distorted view, he became irate and began to cast demons out of me [hey, I didn’t think there were any in me!]. The reason I share this example is because there are those in the house church movement, while not as extreme, seem to view the church building itself as an evil thing.

 My personal view is the church building can become a hindrance when we view it as part of a system that makes up ‘church’. We seem to see the whole concept of the church building and the pastor as the weekly speaker and all the other things associated around this structure [like tithing to the storehouse] as ‘the system’ that God instituted to carry out his work in the earth. Remember Gods inherent authority resides in no human system or mode of religious worship. His authority resides in the church, the actual people of God in any given community on earth. So if there are believers carrying out Gods purpose, whether they have the whole system that we deem ‘local church’ or not, is irrelevant. Remember what we said about Jesus and the 1st century religious mind? They were finding fault with Jesus and his disciples because they were not following the religious protocol of the day. When we embrace certain mindsets that see ‘local church’ as the limited system of Sunday worship and all the other usual things associated with it, what we’re unconsciously doing is vesting authority in a style, or form of religious worship while by-passing the true legitimacy of Gods people. Its not to say that Gods people who function in the whole system of Sunday church are illegitimate [that would be making the same mistake as the brother who wanted to cast the demons out of me!] but this shows us how we unconsciously make the same mistake as the 1st century Pharisee by seeing as illegitimate those who don’t follow certain protocols.

 It was a common thing during the 90’s to speak about the ‘changing of the wineskin’ in order to receive the new wine [the new move of God]. Many of theses thoughts were helpful in causing us to re-think the way we ‘do’ church. I also remember a common theme being ‘God wants to pour out his Spirit, but the wineskins are not ready’ in some of these examples the ministers actually meant that we don’t have big enough buildings to put all these new converts so God is ‘withholding the new wine until the new buildings go up’. At this point you should begin seeing how once again this is confusing the reality of Christian community with ‘the church building’. I find it interesting that the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost was not delayed because of the lack of facilities to put all the new converts in.

 Also the great missionary journeys of Paul were not delayed ‘until the new wineskins were in place’. This shows us how we’ve come to view the people of God as being dependent on the present system. Could it be that God withholds His Spirit because the ‘new wineskin’ could refer more to believers seeing themselves as the actual church that God wants to fill? If we are not rightly discerning Christ’s community as a self-sustaining society of people then the church really isn’t able to contain the new wine. If we are so limited in our thinking to view the new wineskin as larger facilities, as opposed to a rethinking of what it means to truly be Christ’s body, then maybe the holdup has more to do with a change in the way we view ‘church’ then it has to do with bigger church buildings!

 CHAPTER 9

 WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ‘THE LOCAL CHURCH’?

 Growing up as a catholic boy [though not a good one] I remember when I came to know the lord I started reading through the bible and found how the bible contradicted many of the religious beliefs I held to as a boy [this is not to say Catholics are not Christian]. Later while attending a good Baptist church I naively believed that good Baptists must have it right because they do read the bible! Well now I see that none of us have everything right [including me!] but some of us are closer to truth than others.

 One of the traditions I saw with my Baptist friends was their whole concept of ‘local church’. They seemed to see it as the actual process of ‘going to church on Sunday’ and all the things associated with that particular form of worship. Many of them found fault with the Catholic Church and her traditions, but could not see how their own limited view of ‘local church’ was just as religious as some of the Catholic teachings that they so often criticized. Till this day I still cant see how so many of my brothers in Christ view a particular form of modern church service as ‘the local church’. Some brothers view it to a degree where they really do harm to the rest of the body of Christ.

 When any system of church or worship is embraced to the degree of seeing others who don’t embrace it as lost or in rebellion, then we unconsciously are saying that all others are illegitimate. While the practice of Sunday church and the other expressions of it are o.k. with me [to a degree], I still couldn’t see how bible believing Christians could view this form as ‘the’ legitimate form of church that Jesus established 2000 years ago. The ‘church’ in the New Testament are all the communities of believers in any area where they reside. She is not some limited form of worship or specific social group that someone joins. How arrogant would it be for me to teach that the meetings or expressions of my own ministry were ‘the’ local church, and then tell people if they do not put 10% of their money into this expression that they would be under a curse! This really is wrong at the heart of it. Its o.k. for Christians to associate in this Sunday church way, but its not o.k. to view this form as ‘the local church’ to the exclusion of all the other varied forms of ‘church’ that exist in a living organism [the real ecclesia].

 I recall reading an article from one of the leaders of ‘youth with a mission’ [ywam] this is a great organization. This leader is seeing many of the truths I’m expressing in this book. He went on to explain how in the early years of ywam that they would lead many college students to Christ, and these students would naturally form on campus Christian associations/bible groups that would flourish naturally as any living organism should. But they would then tell their students that in order to not be in rebellion they needed to be ‘part of a local church’ [not realizing that they already were ‘part of the local church’ by virtue of the fact that Christ was dwelling in them and having expression through them as they met together]. Well the brother explained how they would then send them into ‘the local churches’ [which really meant lecture hall/church building environments in order to hear sermons]. And how these young groups of students would stagnate by being told to be under this type of authority. So what they viewed as being in submission to authority and being ‘under a local church covering’ was really a violation of the true expression of church that already existed in the on campus meetings. The brother also shared how they felt constrained to send the students to ‘the churches’ in order to appease the egos of the men who led the churches. This little example shows us how the mindset of viewing one form of religious expression as ‘the local church’ can actually hinder ‘the local church!’

 One night I attended a fellowship group where a bunch of Christians ‘unofficially’ met together to eat and share and just have a good time [much like the early atmosphere of the Lords supper/love feast]. During this time of fellowship everyone just shared, sang and enjoyed themselves in a very relaxed atmosphere. The place we were at is a beautiful environment out in the country that is dedicated to the body of Christ. This place is not considered ‘a local church’, though every aspect of our meeting fit the criteria of ‘local church’ to the tee. On our way back to Corpus Christi the friend I was with had recently read some of our books and sincerely asked me about my views on the ‘local church’. This brother is a mature older prophet in the Corpus Christi area with a proven track record of faithfulness to the Lord.

 He couldn’t understand why I saw very little distinction between the ‘local church’ and para-church ministries. Well as we were driving back into town it was late in the evening and all the lights of C.C. could be seen, it was a great view of the city. I explained to my friend how what we just experienced at the ‘para-church’ ministry was a real expression of ecclesia and Christian unity. Two or more were gathered together and Christ was present. As we drove back into town I explained that today [it was Sunday] many various groups of believers met in many different locations and that this was also an expression of the Body of Christ. And as we looked over the city I told him that my understanding of all the various ‘churches’ that met together in all the different locations were in Gods eyes one church. That the New Testament doesn’t show them to be 100 different separate entities that we call ‘local church’, but that all the believers who gathered in this day were ‘local church’ [ecclesia] even the ones who met at the Christian camp [actually the style of meeting at the camp was more in keeping with the 1stcentury model].

 God sees his church as one entity, not as many different entities all with their own separate identities. There are many church buildings going up in our city [nothing wrong about this], while driving to work not to long ago I noticed how one of the churches is building within a few hundred feet of another church. They are both good churches, but God simply doesn’t see these brothers as separate entities. It would be like the kids living in your home, they might be in different rooms right next to each other, but they don’t ‘operate’ as unique entities apart from the other siblings [at least I hope not!].

 I was fellowshipping with a friend and sharing with him some of the thoughts in this book. During our discussion he was struggling with the concept of ‘the church’ being a free society of Christ followers [a brotherhood] as opposed to the normal way we see church today [the whole concept of Sunday church as the ‘church’ we go to]. While trying to explain myself [or should I say ‘defend’] I noticed that there was a picture of the last supper on the wall. I then used it as an illustration of ‘local church’. I showed him how this ‘supper’ was one aspect of Jesus sharing of his life with the disciples. Jesus lived and walked daily with his disciples for three years and is now going to leave them for their benefit [even though they don’t see it yet!].

 During this final meal he rightfully is the center of their attention. He has already taught them the principle of calling no man on earth ‘father’ or ‘master’ or ‘rabbi’, because they are all brothers and their master/rabbi is Christ himself. So the atmosphere of them all being equal at this supper with him being the focal point is an intentional lesson for them. He then does the unthinkable, he gets up from the table and puts on a servants garb [towel] and begins to wash their feet! He tells them he is giving them an example of what it will mean to be a leader in the church. He shatters the gentile idea of leadership [being at the top] and once again shows them that the last will be first is a real mindset that is to be lived out in Christian community. True ‘local church’ is the common sharing of the life of Christ [the Eucharist is a picture of this] in Christian community where we all are equals [this means all, do you see how there was purposely no man or office that was predominant here, apart from Christ] and where leadership is identified by a servant’s heart!

 CHAPTER 10

 THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION IN THE MODERN CHURCH

 Over the years while working with brothers who were addicts or ex-cons we would spend a lot of time just fellowshipping and spending time together as friends. Jesus was actually accused of being a friend of sinners. This accusation seemed to imply that it was all right to view people as a thing to be ministered to, but to actually befriend sinners was a violation of the religious world of separation between sinner and saint. The religious mind views people as a resource pool to accomplish ministry goals. People are viewed as being expendable. I have often seen the example used where if people are in the way of accomplishing religious goals then you must avoid them. While the principle of not allowing critics to stop us from accomplishing God given goals is important, yet we must put in perspective that the actual city/building that God desires to build is the community of people herself. Many times while working with these friends of mine we would run into or have experiences where other pastors would interact with them in efforts to ‘get them into their church’. Some would visit one church or another and then later tell me how the one pastor would be offended that they went to the other ‘church’. They seemed to be able to see right through the church games that these men were playing.

 The goal of these well meaning pastors was to get people to go ‘to their church’ which in many of these scenarios simply meant attending a building to listen to someone preach. If the many ‘churches’ are simply competitive lecture halls from which men find personal fulfillment by having people come and listen, then in these scenarios the struggle or guilt that we put on people to make them come is an actual violation of the true church, which after all is made up of all these various believers in our communities. I am not saying that in all of these types of situations that there are never legitimate expressions of church, but the actual spirit of this type of thing goes on a lot in the average city. The people can fall into mindsets of where their simply being viewed as tools to accomplish religious goals. In the New Testament the mindset of ministry and ‘church planting’ had nothing close to this sort of attitude. The New Testament Churches were simply communities of people who gathered around the reality of Jesus. In these communities church was a daily way of life, it was not focused around meetings at all.

 This is why I take issue with the strong house church emphasis that actually sees a pattern of ‘house church’ as the only legitimate expression of church. This is the same mistake as the building centered approach. They are both focusing on the wrong thing, where the people meet. The focus in the New Testament is not on where or even how they meet, but the emphasis is on the reality of all the believers in any given location as being the corporate expression of Christ in all types of situations. The fact that Christ lives in all of us is the great mystery. It’s really insignificant in my thinking on exactly how we meet. Now I know that some styles are better than others. For instance a meeting where all the believers function by sharing and caring for one another is much more edifying, but the daily reality of Christ manifesting through us as we interact in community is the true church. This obviously includes our meetings, but like I said earlier the New Testament thrust was preaching the gospel to people. It wasn’t on setting up meetings at all. The meetings were a simple outgrowth of true church life. When we loose the reality of this we digress into this competitive approach that causes pastors to compete with one another in a childish way. Paul told the Corinthians that their sectarian attitude to gather around the personas of men was a sign of their immaturity.

 I can’t believe how immature we are in our thinking. I was having a discussion with a mature leader in the church and when I shared some of these truths he actually said ‘my pastor knows how to spot wolves who try to come in and harm us’ [or something to that effect] the feeling I got was he was feeling threatened. Now this was a mature believer in his 50s[I’m 43 as I write this book]. The reason I say this is because it seemed so unnatural for a mature saint to even use the term ‘my pastor’. In the body of Christ there are many different gifts, some are apostles others prophets, some evangelists, but out of all these gifted ones it would be highly unscriptural to refer to any of these in this way. Just try it, do you feel comfortable saying ‘my prophet’ or ‘my apostle’ then why do we think ‘my pastor’ is not indicative of our immature thinking. I am not advocating the doing away of this term [pastor] but this language should cause us to rethink our immature ways of seeing church. Church is not an endless series of religious meetings whereby people ‘attend’ in order to listen to bible words being spoken. The practical instruction and teaching that are operating in any healthy group of people will allow there to be room for the functioning of all the people in the group. This codependence that we’ve developed with the emphasis on one persons persona is in direct violation of the function and flow of New Testament thought.

 The phenomena of one person being the primary voice and expression in the group [ecclesia] are an immature result of not rightly discerning Christ’s body. When people are together at social functions there is usually at least one person who has had a few drinks. You can identify that person by the way he acts. He wants to dominate the conversation, if you try and talk back he’ll cut you off because he derives enjoyment when the conversation centers around himself. He actually feels good about being the predominant voice in the group, to the exclusion of every other voice! I don’t know if we realize it or not, but in many modern church scenarios this is what the world sees. They frankly don’t want to ‘go to church’ because it has become an environment where one person is doing all the talking, and a lot of times it’s about him! People are tired of this. Our conversation [more than one person speaking] should revolve around the person of Christ as opposed to the persona of any one person.

 Grasping the biblical truth of leaders choosing between effective ministry or ministry for the honor of men is a hard pill to swallow if you are involved with the ‘honor of men’ mode at the present time [if you are now reading this and it describes you!]. What I want us all to see is that it takes true courage to walk in truth in every generation of believers from the 1st. century until today. There were many well-meaning Christians during the time of the reformation who were serving God as priests in the Catholic church. Many felt it to be a disruption to go on in the new truths of the reformation [justification by faith] and simply remained faithful to God in the majority position of their day. These priests were still Christians [for the most part] and many of them sincerely followed Christ to the best of their ability without embracing the new truths that God was bringing forth in their day. I mention this because there are many well-meaning brothers in Christ who see the things in this book as truth, but choose to stay in the majority system of contemporary church and will continue to be used by God to a degree. The real question for us is do we want to be a part of ‘modern reformation’ or just be faithful to the system [after all our brothers have been doing it this way for years!].

 CHAPTER 11

 GOD’S PEOPLE ARE NOT SIMPLY ASSETS TO AN ORGANIZATION!

 Getting back to the story of the children of Israel in the book of exodus. If you remember the story God took his society of people, who were many [big numbers] and he brought them through stages to lead them into a place where they would become a self-sustaining entity on their own [with God as their king!]. They were living in Egypt and being ruled over by taskmasters. The bondage they were under was an expectation to produce a certain amount of building materials in order for the cities of man to be built. The cities represented the images and personas of men. In the process of God delivering them from this bondage of image building he raises up Moses [a type of Christ]. Moses God given prophetic authority begins to confront mans authority [pharaoh] and begins a process of freeing the people from this mindset of being ruled over in order to produce things so the images of men would be glorified [ouch!].

 As Moses confronts mans authority, he at the same time leads the people on a journey. The journey is exciting and life changing, but it also has many risks and pitfalls. The children of Israel’s response determined how long this journey would take. The more they complained about this new walk and all of the difficulties involved with it, the longer it would take before they could enter a place of rest and true self rule [under God]. During this season of testing and trial in the wilderness they actually longed to go back into a system of being ruled over because the old system provided a sense of stability and structure that they were comfortable with, despite the fact that they were slaves in it! In process of time they [their children] eventually do enter into the promised land of self-rule.

 They obtain their own national identity [the nation of Israel] apart from simply existing under another’s identity [Egypt] and God begins leading them with the assistance of prophets and judges and elders [a type of plural leadership flowing freely in society]. During process of time they reach a stage where they see how all the other nations are ruled [watch out!] and decide that they too want a king [man] to rule over them. Wow, after all that God brought them through to deliver them from mans control you would think they wouldn’t have done this! Well God actually says that by doing this they are rejecting his leadership for the leadership of men. He even warns them that this type of ‘mans rule’ will take of their best men and use them for the self-advancement of his dynasty. God says this king will even demand the tithes of the people in order to fund his kingdom [wow]. I guess when God says that the things that happened to Israel were for a sign for us so we don’t make the same mistakes; he really means it [1st cor.10]!

 Many times in our present understanding of church we view people as assets to our ‘organization.’  ‘Wow if I could just get that talented person as a staff member in our church’. This way of viewing people as things that can help our organizations grow is the ‘Saul’ mindset ‘he will take of your best men’ mentality. People have intrinsic value, they are valuable in Gods eyes because of the simple fact that Christ died for them and has purchased them with his blood. People are not objects or tools to be looked upon as assets to an organization. If you were to adopt a child [a very noble task] hopefully you would do it because you loved the child and wanted to be with them. If this child later found out that you did this in order to gain some type of benefit [like a tax deduction or something of this nature] your child would be devastated. So when we view Gods children [the true church] as objects that will help advance our ‘churches’ [organizations] we devalue them.

 I am not saying here that all present models of leadership in the church are ‘mans rule’, but a large degree of it is. There is so much image building that goes on in the church that it’s not even funny. Much of the collecting of tithes is simply a process where one leader is in competition with the other in order to ‘out build’ him, and a lot of times the people begin to simply be weekly attendees of our meetings who we deliver messages to and then hope to bring in a huge offering so the image of ‘our church’ can gain a degree of respect in the community. Like I said before, there is nothing inherently wrong with ‘big churches’ or ministries, but we must be careful that as we build we are not doing it at the expense of Gods true heritage [the people of God!].

 If we can grasp the concept of Gods people actually being the vehicle that God uses to express His image and purpose in the earth, then we will stop viewing them as being simply a resource pool to accomplish ministry goals. My own prayer time has evolved as I began to see these truths. I used to spend a lot of time praying for the success of ‘my ministry’ but as I’ve come to see these truths I focused my prayer time more on the actual purposes of God to be made manifest through all the people we relate to. I began praying for God to accomplish and activate his purposes directly through his people. I began viewing ministry as not so much ‘something I am building for God’ but as the expression of his Son being developed and manifested through the people I relate to. If the people you influence over your life are truly impacted by the person of Christ, then in essence you have had a successful ministry. Many of these approaches to ministry will obviously not have the same amount of outward ministry things to look to [like buildings] therefore the concept of not building for the honor of men must be fully grasped by those who take on this style of ministry. This way of seeing and doing ministry also allows you to be free from having to raise large amounts of money in order to accomplish ministry goals. God truly can and will use any believer to expand his kingdom in the earth as you begin to see ministry this way.

 Jesus simple way of sending the disciples out and telling them not to worry about purse or scrip [money. I like the way the message bible puts it ‘don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this, you are the equipment. No special appeals for funds, keep it simple’ Mark 6] shows us the simplicity of all believers being able to carry out ministry by virtue of the fact that Christ is in us. This is what I tried to stress earlier, that as you begin to view ministry as a simple function of Christ revealing and manifesting himself through his people, then this is something we all can do all the time. No big process of raising money [no special appeals for funds] but simply being a Christian in society and interacting with God and fellow believers in all types of situations makes the presence of Christ manifest [where 2 or more are gathered there am I in the midst]. It is common today to view ministry as a function of professionals and the need for them to raise money for projects causes there to exist in the Christian community a mindset where good Christians are always appealing for funds in order to accomplish some project. This actually projects the image that ministry is some type of a separate function apart from us. This really violates the whole concept of ministry being a natural outgrowth of believers being in right relationship with God [John 15].

 CHAPTER 12

 WHAT MODEL OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT DO I ESPOUSE?

 Over the years when dealing with these types of issues I have found it difficult to break through the ‘normal’ way and pattern of thinking that most Christians have. For instance some times people will ask me the question ‘what type of church government do you believe in’? Most Times in their minds they’re really asking me ‘what type of order, or pattern of Sunday church do you espouse’. While I also understand that they are including the concept of government that applies to the broader association of the various denominations, to me they are still ‘seeing’ church government as a particular order imposed by the ‘separate entity’ of their denomination. Let me try to make this a little clearer [hopefully].

 If I were to explain to someone the reality of natural human life, I would go through the process of showing how life starts between a healthy relationship of 2 people coming together by Gods design [I hope I don’t have to get to detailed here!]. As children are born they will go through various stages of development and life. They will encounter many different situations as they proceed along this thing called life. One of the many things that most children will have [though sad to say, not all] is a home environment. This home environment is just one of the many things that make up their lives. In this home/house they will at different times and in different settings be taught all types of things, both by example and through actual instruction [I thought I told you to clean up your room! 2 days ago!].

 In this home environment you might have a special day where you all come together in the family room for devotional time [this day varies with my younger girls but I try to do this on a weekly basis]. While this devotional time is important, it is only one small aspect of their entire lives. If you were to refer to this one day of teaching as ‘the life/the church’ I would correct your thinking and say this small area of Christian activity, though important, is only one aspect of their lives. Life itself is the actual organic reality of them being human beings who were birthed and grew up as real human beings. The sum total of all their experiences have shaped them, but they themselves, by virtue of the fact that they were born and actually [really] exist as human beings, is life. Life does not describe the home/house environment only. Or just one specific way in which we do our devotion time. It consists of the fact that they are truly alive!

 So getting back to the question of ‘what type of church govt. do I believe in’ I often answer ‘none’, to the surprise of the person asking the question. I then go on to explain that I view ‘church’ as the actual living/organic entity of Gods people. God’s people are Gods people by virtue of the fact that they were born into his family; they are children of God, really! They are ‘church’ because of this fact. They will experience many good [and sometimes bad] things along the way. Most of them will find a ‘home/house’ environment to go to in order to associate with other believers [what we often describe as church] during these times of fellowship there will be certain days in which instruction is given [normally Sunday]. And they will experience many other types of situations throughout their Christian experience. So when someone asks me what type of church govt. do I believe in, I usually see the question to mean ‘what type, or style of Sunday church meeting do you espouse’. I try to make an effort to explain that I believe in the ‘actual church govt.’ that is I believe that all the people of God, all the time make up the church everywhere they are [remember Jesus answer to the Samaritan woman].

 As God is daily communicating and interacting with his people by his Spirit this is an actual real existence that we share both with our creator and all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This type of ‘church govt.’ is what I espouse. The ‘ordaining’ of elders in the New Testament was simply the recognition of more mature/grounded spiritual leaders who the early Christian communities could look to for guidance and direction [or correction] as they experience and live out ‘church life’. We have such a legalistic mind that as Christians we have changed church govt. to describe a certain form, or way of doing religious meeting while it originally referred to God ‘governing’ His people through the ‘govt.’ of Jesus being at the right hand of glory!

 CHAPTER 13

 THE CAT CHAPTER [I DID THIS FOR MY KIDS!]

 Whenever I have this type of discussion I usually receive different responses from well meaning Christians in defense of the old way of seeing church. Some feel it is total rebellion to even dare question the system [my pastor knows how to spot wolves mentality, which usually means me!] sometimes people try to devalue this message by saying ‘oh, that brothers one of those theologian types’ which I assure you I’m not! [never been to bible school, never been ordained [by men]]. Some feel that this way of seeing ‘church’ is impractical. I believe that seeing all of Gods people as the actual entity in earth that God has ordained to advance his kingdom is the most practical thing you can do. I personally have been active and involved as a believer in all sorts of practical charitable outreach. I do this by virtue of the fact that I’ve been ordained by God to go into all the world and make disciples. Whether you realize it or not, so are you!

 All the ‘ministry’ stuff I do is not some higher calling that I have in which others need to recognize and support in order for them to get some type of reward simply because they support me [by the way we do not accept financial support]. This mindset creates a false barrier that causes Christians to see ministry as something separate from themselves, that somehow relieves them from their own personal responsibility to spread the kingdom. We sort of give the attitude that if the ‘average Christian’ simply supports the pro’s that he’s fulfilled his obligation. I often tell people that I am no different than them. God requires all believers to reach out and touch society around them in real practical ways.

  No one is to simply be a book writer, or radio speaker or any other ‘thing’ we see as ministry. But we are all responsible to reach out in real practical ways, touching the lost world around us. Our real message as Christians is that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The message that the world needs to hear from us is that God is not mad at them, or trying to make them conform to some church standard. But God has already embraced and accepted them through Jesus Christ. Our message is one of total reconciliation and forgiveness. We all bare a responsibility to give our lives away for the sake of others. This whole book is to emphasize the reality and responsibility we all share in the great commission. The great truth of God ‘legitimizing’ all of us bares with it a great responsibility to touch the world. Jesus said to whom much is given much will be required.

 This book hopefully opened your eyes to some degree to how much has been given to you. Much is now required. All the ‘ministry’ things that I personally do, working with homeless people, ex-cons [or present ones!], doing radio, personal outreach/evangelism, all of these areas are a natural function of trying to hear God and respond. I’m not saying I do everything right, I’m sure I don’t [really sure!] but I try to view ministry as simply hearing and doing the works of Jesus. If the verse in Mark says to  ‘make no special appeals for funds, travel light because you are the equipment’ then my first reaction to God calling me to do something in ministry is to simply act. This is a forgotten doctrine of the old traditional church; I think they used to call it ‘obedience’. So my response to God should be ‘Lets go’.

 Now I realize practically there are many contemporary building based churches that are hearing and responding to God, and that many of these pastors are obviously not going to personally fund everything they do. But I’m trying to show how we often respond to God’s call on us by perceiving that ‘God wants me to start a ministry’, once again falling into the trap of seeing ministry as some type of entity [usually a 501c3] that God wants us to start. God isn’t telling the ‘entity’ to do it, He’s telling you! [Or me] do you see this? So all the ministry stuff I do is without a board, no 501c3, and no separate entity at all. Just do it! [I should make a note here, in the early days I did incorporate and had a name, Corpus Christi outreach ministries, but this now is simply the name of our radio program. It’s more humble to leave it like this then to tell everyone ‘you’re listening today to John Chiarello’]. Now the principle of team work is important, after all this book is about the Church, Gods corporate people, but what I want you to see is you are free to do kingdom works without starting some  ‘thing’.

 I have also sensed at times that when I share this simple approach I take concerning ministry, that it will offend others who have gone the more traditional route. Sort of like a feeling of ‘how dare you think that you can just do these things on your own, who is your covering!’. This attitude is what I was trying to express earlier when I shared how the mindset of the 1st century Pharisee was offended at both Jesus and his disciples simply doing kingdom works because they were sent by God. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the true nature of our sonship in Christ. While God doesn’t want Christians to be rebellious or out of order, we often use this type of language in order to challenge true believers who are walking in the will of God.

 If you think about it all of the commands in the New Testament are given to believers in order for us to actively participate in kingdom works. Jesus says when he returns that all nations will be judged on whether they fed him when he was hungry, or visited him when he was in prison [actual things that Christians should do]. He gives instructions on when we invite people for a meal to invite the down and out because they cant repay us [no political lobbying here!] but how many times have we actually done these things? We seem to read the new testament and confer the responsibility of these things on ‘the church’ as in if she were some type of separate institution that if we just give money to that we will be relieved of our responsibility to act!

 Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for this type of thinking. Jesus also taught that there would be people who at the judgment would be rejected because they never knew him, these people primarily focused on ministry as being ‘performance’ [have we not prophesied in your name type mentality]. This shows us that true ministry are the works done as a response of the compassion of Christ being expressed through us. Ministry is primarily not a function of religious performance. In American Christianity we often view ministry as a time were someone will be performing in an audience type atmosphere. Either a great sermon or fantastic singer, while there are times where these types of gifts edify, we often view ministry in these ways not realizing that for the most part this is simply ‘performance’. [I don’t want to sound mean here, but I really don’t know how else I could say this!]

 A few weeks ago I took a trip to the New York City area, before I left I gave specific instructions to my kids to not bring home any more cats! I told them that they all ready had enough pets and I didn’t want them to have any more. My daughters have been involved with a lot of pet rescues where they find strays and get them fixed and get all their shots and find them homes. The only problem is some times the home they find is mine! To be honest they have done pretty well. I also now have two dogs living with us [it’s a long story]. So when I arrived back from my trip I was greeted by the whole family and I noticed there was a strange looking kitten, I wasn’t really sure if it was new or one that I just didn’t remember. Well as the puppy is playing with the kitten my daughter says ‘oh, daddy did you see the new kitten, she belongs to the puppy’ in essence they were telling me that they really didn’t get any new pets, but that one of the pets got a new pet! This is what you would call living up to the letter of the law while violating the spirit of the law. This is what we do in our understanding of church and ministry. The whole intent is to build and edify people. They are the valuable object to God. In our efforts to ‘build ministry’ we often devalue them [most of the times unconsciously]. As we re-examine our ideas and concepts of church it is my goal to lead us to a place where people are valued again, even if it’s at the expense of the institution!

 Let me end this chapter with one more ‘cat’ story. One day one of our cats was killed by a car. My kids were upset so I violated the rule of not bringing any more cats home and went to the local shelter and adopted this real cute kitten. Well being I was the first voice that this kitten would hear [from my family] she became closer to me than normal. After a few more bad experiences with cats getting out my kids took 3 new stray kittens [recently rescued] and put them all in their room for months. The litter box, food and everything they needed was in this little isolated closed environment [watch out], well they stuck my little kitten in there too!

 After a few months I told my kids that this isn’t right. I haven’t seen my kitten for so long, she used to play with me and really liked me a lot, being I was the first voice she’d grown accustomed to. Well my kids warned me that she isn’t like that anymore, she’s been with the little scared strays in the room for so long that she’s picked up the scared attitude and is afraid of people. Well I couldn’t believe that she would have forgotten my voice, I know its been a long time since she’s heard it, but after all I am her ‘daddy’ and she was a special kitten to me. Well I finally broke this little secluded environment that they were living in and went into the room. Sure enough all the cats were scared of this type of forced intimacy. I was just to close! They all had this scared look and ran under the bed. I couldn’t believe that even my little kitten was so affected by the natural fear that these strays had, that she too thought it necessary to hide from the face of her father.

 Well after a few seconds my little cat came running out from under the bed and into my arms, as if to say ‘yes I remember you, your that first person that rescued me that day a long time ago, Its been so long since I saw you that I had forgotten your voice. I have been living with these unwanted strays for so long that I was afraid to approach you anymore’ well I think this is what happens to Gods kids sometimes. They start out at ‘the day of rescue [salvation]’ with the joy of hearing His voice, but after living our lives out in unnatural environments [closed rooms] for so long we forget what it was like to truly hear his voice and to commune with him. Often times there needs to be an intrusion into our closed environments before we can recognize the voice of our father once again. [NOTE; when I told my girls I was going to put a story about our cats in the book, they said ‘wow, our cats are going to be famous’ we just cant seem to get away from this desire to legacy build!]

 CONCLUSION

 Leadership is primarily the function of helping people ‘get out of their rooms’. It is the process of leading people away from feeling content and satisfied in our little rooms of fellowship and doctrine, which cause us to feel superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ. The end result of this little book shouldn’t be ‘now that I see these things I have found a ‘new’ room to dwell in [the room of the doctrine of ecclesiology/house church] but the result should be seeing ourselves as free in Christ and being built up as co-equal members of Christ’s body, Paul said knowledge puffeth up but charity buildeth up [edifieth]. As we all come out of our peculiar rooms of various doctrines [some of which are true!] we don’t advocate the belief that doctrine is not important but want to bring people to a place where we find our identity in the person of Christ as opposed to the doctrines of men.

 I would like to end this little booklet in an unconventional way. I want to simply share some thoughts from my own personal mission statement. Also I want to speak directly to all of our friends who either listen to us on radio or who I relate to in some way in the kingdom. Over the years of sharing these truths I would often have people who have heard us or read one of our books and after seeing certain truths would express their concern about their church, or so and so’s church. I without fail have always defended the church or pastor. The reason is I feel that the truths in these books are not to be used to personally come against a particular church or pastor. I do believe we all need to examine our motives and readjust our thinking when it comes to why we do the things we do ‘for God’. Its possible to be involved in church building and without realizing it, to be building monuments that will burn up in the day of judgment. All true church building consists of unselfishly depositing into other people for their growth and benefit. Ministry is not a ‘career choice’ as if someone were choosing between auto mechanic/fire-fighter/pastor. Ministry is a gift that God deposits in all his people for the mutual edification of the whole body. What we fail to see in many present forms of church is how we are simply empowering a few individuals at the expense of the people in the pews.

 I have seen many well-meaning men go into ministry and immediately feel a sense of fulfillment because they are flowing and speaking and giving out of themselves to others. The writing of this book as well as the radio programs I do give a sense of fulfillment in that we are all created to give ourselves away. But in many current situations the main speaker is finding fulfillment at the expense of the rest of the body. God designed the church to be a place where all of Gods people would find fulfillment in giving themselves away. The unnatural act of submission that we often teach is not true biblical submission. We often tell people if they are not satisfied with their passive role as listeners that they are in rebellion. While in reality true rebellion is not developing into the mature functioning person that God wants all of us to be. My purpose is not to give Christians excuses to ‘not go to church’.

 The mindset of ‘I can worship God on the golf course’ mentality. But to cause us to radically rethink what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. The Pharisees of Jesus day were involved in all types of religious activities, but Jesus said their main motivation was to simply attain a certain status amongst their fellow peers. He said that’s what they were in it for and that they already received their reward [the honor of men]. Why do we want to build big ministries? Is it truly for the glory of God or are we unconciously enjoying the natural success that comes with the adventure of any big project? I’m not against big projects in and of themselves, but we must examine our motives for doing the things we do. True New Testament Church planting is simply depositing Jesus image into the people we relate to over our lifetime. What legacy did Paul leave behind? Was it some huge earthly institution? We find him at the end of his life living in a rented house, receiving visitors and declaring the kingdom of God [Acts 28; 30-31] he left behind a legacy of gentile communities who believed in Christ!

 Here are some of my own personal thoughts from my mission statement.

 1 spend time making quality friends, all ministry takes place in this type of atmosphere.

 2 true leadership is relating directly to groups of people in cities, not starting some type of organization.

 3 the apostle Paul had relationship with believers in different locals, but he didn’t own them.

 4 don’t try to produce only one type or way of church, but allow Gods natural process to work in various ways.

 5 relating to areas/groups of people regularly is building the body. Either a church building, home or any regular place of contact can be the format for building the house of God.

 6 planting churches in the New Testament sense was not the concept of setting up regular meetings in which Paul would preach to them week after week as a pastor, but planting churches was an apostle going to a location and making believers of the gospel of grace, and then trusting the Spirit in them to continue his work. Paul did speak of recognizing and ordaining elders in these cities, but it wasn’t a weekly church concept.

 7 in the book of acts the focus wasn’t on setting up meetings, but sharing Christ with groups of people and relating to them as a family of children of whom you will always have relationship with, but allow them to mature and grow up on their own and eventually become independent.

 8 the focus isn’t meetings but ecclesia. That is the actual people you disciple. when Jesus sent them out 2 by 2 it wasn’t to start home groups, but to bring the kingdom to regions. Don’t sacrifice the freedom of touching people directly. Jesus and those he sends simply speak, do, share and communicate with people. His great commission to go and make disciples and baptize. Direct authority to do kingdom without having to start or set up a movement. The movement itself is ‘Jesus family’ [ecclesia]. You will meet with people, but the focus is the people not the act of meeting. Learn to relate to people without having an agenda. Simply be free to love people.

 9 look at Jesus and the 12. Later in acts, even Paul when going to a region, he holds meetings for a limited time [though the longest was around 2 years] preaches Christ, has a give and take with the community and then leaves. No ‘starting’ of anything, but a revolution in the hearts and minds of people. Later when re-visiting these communities, these are the ‘churches’ of the New Testament. We must see and operate in this simple way. This simple way is New Testament church planting.

 10 his yoke is easy and burden light. Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Don’t loose the simplicity of doing Gods will. He requires nothing more than to go and touch and share and love. The people you touch are the ecclesia.

 11 in these friendships the main truth will be Jesus and his grace, these friends will be encouraged to continue in Jesus and his grace. Prayer, bible study, fellowship and their journey with God. Be available to baptize and communicate with them, but allow God to grow the seed.

 12 you never get the sense/feeling from Jesus or Paul that they were going somewhere to recruit people to their ministry. The sense was bringing this great message and kingdom to people! The people continued in the apostles doctrine and fellowship with each other and later Paul would come back to see how they were doing, not to start some type of ministry, but true long term friendships in the kingdom.

 13 the freedom isnt ‘house church’ or ‘temple worship’ but the kingdom being amongst us now! Obeying Jesus command to love! This command is free from all forms and structures of ministry, and allows us to daily love in action, always sharing in word and deed Jesus. A willingness to baptize those who believe and share and love and relate on a friendship basis. Jesus style.

  I would like to note here that at the present time [2000’s] there are many worldwide Christian movements that are actually doing many of the things that I mentioned in this book. There are many ‘ex-pastors’ who have left their former roles as the central figure of the people they were pastoring and have continued to serve the body of Christ in a bi-vocational way [not getting paid to pastor!]. While I am not advocating this for every pastor who might read this book, I share this to emphasize that these thoughts are presently being practiced on a large scale worldwide [I do a lot of research!]. When people are confronted with new truth there is a tendency to discredit the messenger, so I wanted you to see that there are many thousands of believers who are walking this path right now. There are also many brothers who have seen these things before I did and I appreciate the role they played in helping me to see new truth. In many cases the believers who have left there former churches to live in simple community have been ostracized and looked upon as backslidden rebels. This has created in some a resentment in those who are technically correct in their seeing the church as the community, but many wont hear their voices because of the barrier of resentment that they pick up from them. So you have some who remain in the old way of seeing church and justify it by the fact that some who moved on have a bad attitude. We are all responsible before God to respond to truth when confronted with it, regardless of how much we resent the messenger! I personally believe that after reading this little book that your level of responsibility has gone up. You must ask God how He personally wants you to respond to the truths presented to you.

 A few weeks ago I had a dream that I felt was prophetic, over the years I have had many interesting dreams and visions. I have never shared any of them in book form, but have spoken about them through our radio program. I dreamt that I was going to a Christian university, when arriving at the university there were many scholarly people dressed in suits and ties. There were many classes going on and discussions taking place about theological subjects. As I continued on my tour of the university there was a classroom where all the professors were gathered in a circle examining something. As I got closer I saw in the middle of these scholars there was what looked like an Indian warrior, he was crouched and just sitting there as something to be examined. He was severely scarred, not just normal scares but sort of a grotesque mutilation. He was there as something to be examined [I thought of the verse in Isaiah where it says he was marred more than any man, that he was wounded to beyond the point of recognition]. Later when I woke up I felt part of this dream spoke to the danger of us as Christians being able to learn and study truth, while never fully embracing the mystery in Christ. We have a tendency to build people up with all sorts of doctrines and never arriving at the point of fully grasping Him. My goal is after reading this book that your focus will not be ‘now I am going to go do the things in this book’, but that you would be able to see Him to a greater degree. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

  Let me close with this, the apostle Paul told the Corinthians that he was given authority by God to build them up and not to tear them down. He actually regretted being so hard on them in his 1st letter, but later said he was glad he made them sorry for a season because it would later bear good results. While I’m not comparing myself to the apostle, I do see a similar situation in some of the teaching we do. Its seems to upset people initially but after a while it will produce good fruit. My intent in examining our whole idea of church and ministry is not to give people ammunition to fight against their church, but rather to cause us all to embrace a more biblical concept of church and ministry. I personally do not advocate the total deconstructing of all present day church practices. I personally believe there is room for both building based churches [the church building] and the house church movement. My appeal is for us to look at all these issues and come to our own conclusions on how to embrace these truths at our own pace. I thank the lord that he has been patient with me as I walk this journey and I want to give you all the same room and grace he has extended to me. May God bless you guys until the next book!

Here’s the chapter in Acts that I spoke about on today’s post- Sunday Sermon- 11-5-17-

ACTS 20- Paul travels with some brothers on the journey. This mode of visiting different regions and bringing brothers with him is exciting! They are truly seeing the Kingdom of God becoming established in the earth. Scripture says ‘they broke bread on the first day of the week’ we read later in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that when they met on the ‘first day of the week’ he asked them to take up a collection before he arrived [so he could take the money and meet the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem]. Do we see here some type of Sunday Sabbath, that is the ‘church day to pay tithes’ so you don’t get cursed? Of course not. You are seeing the simple practical outworking of a people who are becoming the people of God. It’s fine to meet on a Sunday and to ‘break bread’. Hey, the group needs to know when to meet for the meal! But don't develop liturgical/sacramental ideas out of this. You say ‘hooray for John [me], he is really giving it to those Catholics’ well, don’t say hooray yet. Now he calls for the Elders at Ephesus to come to Miletus so he can give them some instructions and a farewell. This address from Paul is one of the best in the New Testament. He covers the basics for leadership and church growth. Now, he tells them ‘all the time I was with you guys I was upright. I taught you publicly and from house to house. I showed you repentance toward God and faith towards Jesus Christ. I worked and did not covet your money. I did this to prove I was not there to gain financially from you. To give you an example as Elders yourselves, so you would not see the responsibility of oversight thru a covetous mindset. Beware! After I leave you there will be an attempt by the enemy to undo the work of the Cross. Some men, even from your own group will rise up and speak twisted doctrines. They will try to become preeminent in the group, drawing away disciples after themselves. Don’t become sidetracked and become followers of men! Guard the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Feed them Gods good word’. Paul lays down strong guidelines here. He actually teaches the elders that he worked when he was among them to leave this example of leaders not seeing ministry as a means to get gain. In one of his future letters [Timothy or Thessalonians?] he actually says this ‘working’ that he did was a tradition for them to keep. He said this in context of those who refused to work. Very strong indeed. Peter also will teach the Elders to take oversight of Gods flock ‘not for money, but out of a pure motive’. In the wars that rage over ‘simple church’ versus the modern 501c3 model, both sides have shot at each other wrongfully at times. There are very intelligent brothers who will take this chapter and teach that the modern Pastor has fallen into the trap of ‘making disciples after themselves’. They see the development of the role of Pastor as becoming the fulfillment of this. Now, I do see some merit to this, but I see most pastors [all the ones I know and have known personally over the years] as Elders who are striving to help Gods People. I see a real need for all leadership to see that ministry is not a fulltime clergy type office that has developed over the centuries! Paul is simply addressing the Elders [more mature ones- in the gospel, not necessarily old!] and showing them that their purpose is to help the people of God grow in grace and make it to a place of self sufficiency in Christ. Paul is pretty much laying down the gauntlet that leadership is not some ticket of ‘now that I am in ministry, my income comes from the God ordained tithe’. This is never taught as a means of support for New testament ministers. These ideas have developed out of the Old Testament idea of the tithe supporting the Levitical Priests. In the New Covenant all are Priests and we don’t practice this type of thing. But Paul does teach that it’s good to support materially [financially] those who are feeding you spiritual food. He does teach ‘don’t muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn’ [he called us ox's!] seriously, he lays down the biblical guideline of supporting those who minister the word. But it is important to see he was not establishing some type of clergy system, the fact that he was working while with these Ephesians and actually used this as an example for OTHER ELDERS as well as the believers shows you this. All in all the main point Paul is getting across is he wants the basic truth of the gospel to prevail and he does not want top heavy leadership to come in and draw away disciples after them. That is for strong gifted leaders to become the main focus of these Ephesian believers. So this chapter is important because we see Paul address these elders that he has been ‘ordaining’ in the churches [groups of believers]. We see the basic character and function of these men. We see the warning that cults will arise. In Paul’s day groups did come forth from the basic Christian communities [Gnostics and Docetists] that had a basic understanding of certain Christian things, but would deny the reality of Jesus. Paul bids them Farwell as they all embrace on the shoreline. The Elders were heartbroken over Paul’s words that he will probably see them no more. He wanted to keep the upcoming feast at Jerusalem and eventually preach at Rome. He was on this obsession to carry this gospel to the seat of the empire, even if it means his life.

Here’s a link- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/20/acts-20/ 

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

Here’s my past teaching from Mark 12 that relates to the Matt. 23 reading-

 Mark 12

POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ JULY 14, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

MARK 12 Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. https://youtu.be/VJBAPuroAUY Mark 12 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/7-6-17-mark-12.zip https://ccoutreach87.com/7-6-17-mark-12/ ON VIDEO- .Sandia .Storehouse wisdom .Kingdom to the gentiles [church] .Vineyard- wisdom- tower .Song of the vineyard .Apostles .Leadership .7 dead brothers .Married in heaven? .We are the bride- he is the groom .Burning bush- I AM .Great commandment .Beware of the religious leaders .Jesus has a question too .The common people liked it

NEW- Jesus teaches the parable of the vineyard [or tenants]- it comes from the song of Isaiah chapter 5. The parable speaks about the Jewish people- and their rejection of Jesus as the promised Messiah.

A landowner plants a vineyard- puts a hedge around it- places a wine-press in it- and sets up a tower. He then leases it out to tenants.

The Lord of the vineyard leaves- and over time he sends his men back to collect the fruit. The people who have leased the land refuse to give the fruit.

They beat and stone those who are sent. And finally the landowner sends his son- and they kill him.

The meaning is clear- God sent his prophets to speak to his people [Israel] they rejected them over time- and finally kill the Son.

Remember- Jesus is teaching this- before he is crucified. He predicts his own death in the parable. Yet- at the end- he quotes Psalm 118- Psalm 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Mark 12:11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? He predicts his Resurrection as well. The Son who was rejected and killed- becomes the head of the corner.

In this chapter Jesus will also quote Psalm 110- Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

He questions the religious leaders- He asks them Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? Yes- Jesus did indeed come from the line of David- but as the eternal logos- he was before David- John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The chapter ends with 2 stories- about widows. It’s important that we see them both.

Jesus rebukes the religious teachers for taking advantage of widows- for financial gain Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the market places, Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, Then he commends the poor widow for giving into the offering- Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: Mark 12:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Over the years there have been many examples of religious leaders taking advantage of the poor- many have enriched themselves by abusing their office as teachers of the bible.

Jesus strongly condemns those who do this. Yet- he commends the poor widow for giving to God.

The rich were giving out of an abundance- it seems as if they actually learned the principle of abundance in their giving to God. Yet- he sees the woman giving out of her poverty- understand- she is still poor at the time she is commended.

Yet the others were rich- and giving.

Many in today’s church would look at the rich- who had an abundance- and say they prospered because they were giving- and had a lot.

And some would condemn the poor widow- because she obviously must be doing something wrong- because she gives- and is yet poor.

But Jesus did not see it that way. The woman gave sacrificially because of her love for God.

The rich gave- yet they did it out of their wealth. Jesus honors the poor widow- not because she learned some secret of giving to get a harvest- because she had no harvest. But she loved God- she gave for the work of God- as she understood it.

Her giving was not based on the return she would get- because as of now- she has not received a return [poor widow]. Yet in the eyes of Jesus- she indeed gave more.

There are a few other things in this chapter that I taught on the video. The challenge of the Sadducees- who do not believe in the resurrection. And Jesus rebuke- Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? I have taught this before- and will try and find those past posts and add them below. Jesus also gives us the great commandment in this chapter- Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

When the common people saw Jesus put the religious leaders to silence- the bible says they loved it- Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

The downtrodden of society were rejected by the religious leaders of the day. Their outward religion caused them to neglect true justice- true love of fellow man.

The same things that the song of Isaiah- which Jesus used in the parable- were being rebuked for- Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. The fruit the land owner wanted- was not simply religious works- It was what the other man in this chapter saw- Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The animal sacrifices and outward religion were the things that Jesus rebuked them for. Those who seemed to use religion in order to have an abundant wealthy life- were not seen in a good light by Jesus.

The tenants wanted an inheritance and their lust for the wealth of the vineyard [financial harvest] caused them to reject the actual Son of God himself- Mark 12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. Mark 12:7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our’s.

Yes- many in the modern church have tried to seize on some material inheritance and given out of an abundance and implemented many of the principles of the bible in order to prosper.

But in doing this- they have had to reject many of the plain things Jesus taught- New International Version “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matt. 6:24

Yes- in a way- they have killed the Son- and seized the wealth.

But Jesus saw the widow- the poor widow- the woman who seemed to have never gotten a hold of the wealth building principles of those who gave out of their abundance.

Yes Jesus saw her- And in the wisdom of God- She gave more than all the others combined-

And thus the chapter ends.

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I mentioned Bultmann and the Herodians on today’s video- below are some past teachings I did on them-

During the time of Jesus you had a divided people. In 1st century Palestine the Jewish people split into 4 basic sects. 2 of them are pretty well known- the Pharisees and Sadducees- they are mentioned often in scripture.

The other 2 are less well known- the Zealots and the Essenes. The Zealots are named in the bible- but only in passing. We have no references to the Essenes.

The Pharisees were sticklers for the Torah [Jewish bible] and the Sadducees centered their life around the Temple- they were more of a political/religious type group.

They stuck to the Torah alone. That is they only received the actual first 5 books of the Old Testament- which is the Torah [also the term is used to speak of the entire Old Testament] and that’s why the Sadducees rejected miracles and angels and stuff. Most of those stories are found in the other O.T. books.

The Zealots were a group of people who hated compromise- they were actually a 1st century ‘terrorist’ group- who carried out assassinations. Not on Rome- but on their own people!

The zealots hated those who compromised with Rome- and if they felt a leader was too chummy- they killed him.

The Essenes were a separatist group who lived in ‘the hills’ [Qumran community] they simply gave up completely on any political solutions for the day- and went and lived in the hills. These are the ones responsible for hiding the Dead Sea scrolls [old bible books found in the last century] in a cave.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus had both a Zealot on his team [Simon- not Peter who also went by that name] and Matthew- a Tax collector. Tax collectors were considered the biggest sell outs of all- they actually worked for Rome and scammed their own people- it must have been hard for Jesus to lead this group [the 12 disciples] who came from such opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Yet Jesus did lead them- he was even offered earthly rule a few times [once from satan- and once from the people who heard him] he rejected it both times. His kingdom was not ‘of this world’.

In the New Testament book of Philippians- the bible says that though Jesus was in the form of God [deity] yet he became a man and humbled himself to the death of the Cross- a shameful way to die.

We have one letter written in the N.T. by a ‘family’ member of Jesus- that’s the epistle of James.

Protestants believe that Mary had other kids after Jesus was born- our Catholic friends teach that she remained a Virgin her whole life. My purpose right now is not to get into that.

James was considered the ‘half brother’ of Jesus [Mary was the mom of both boys- Joseph was the dad of James- Jesus’ father was God]. Okay- James was slow to believe in his brother- but over time as Jesus was declaring himself to be the Messiah- I’m sure James had to wonder- you know- think back ‘gee- come to think of it- I can’t’ remember a time where my brother got in trouble’.

Wait- now I remember- yeah- that time when Jesus was 12- we all went to Jerusalem for the big feast- and Jesus stayed behind while we started the trip home. Yeah- we went 3 days before we realized he was gone. Boy was mom mad that day.

So we went all the way back to get him- and when we found him- he was sitting in the temple- asking these questions- I mean questions that only theologians knew- Jesus was still a kid.

Mom said to him ‘son- why did you stay behind- we were worried’! Yeah- she was mad- if there was ever a time my brother came close to getting in trouble- this was it. But Jesus said ‘why were you worried- didn’t you know I would be doing my Fathers business’ yeah- he sure seemed different- but the Messiah- come on.

So as the ministry years of Jesus role by- there are all these reports of miracles and healings- blind people seeing- dead people coming back from the grave.

Yeah- James has got to be wondering now- but no- he could not accept that his own brother was the promised Son of God- no- too much.

Then the day came- that terrible day where mom had to watch Jesus die on that rugged Cross- on Golgotha- man the hill looked like a skull.

Yeah- it was a strange site- I mean the sky got dark- an earthquake shook the place- and even the Roman soldier who witnessed my brother die said ‘surely this was the son of God’. Wow- too much- my bother has carried this thing too far- even in his death he won’t let this obsession go.

Then James hears some disturbing reports- his friends are saying that Jesus has come back- that he pulled it off- the greatest miracle ever- the one Houdini himself couldn’t do.

But are the reports true? I mean if anyone could tell if this guy walking around is really Jesus- James would know.

We don’t read of the account- but all we know is James became a believer- a believer that his brother was indeed the Messiah- the Son of God.

I guess it went something like this- Jesus sitting there with his men- James shows up and sees his brother- the perfect one- not a spot on his record. Maybe Jesus looked up- maybe he said ‘brother- do you now see’ and yeah- he saw.

James would go on to be one of the leaders/Pastors of the church at Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. Most scholars believe this was the same James who penned the short letter we find in the N.T. that bears his name.

One thing James hits on a lot in his letter- is he defends the poor- the downtrodden- and he rips into the rich- the elite of the day. He warns us not to be biased- not to use ‘uneven scales’ when dealing with people.

James hit on social justice issues- he picked them up from his brother.

We need to be concerned about the world- if a raped woman is forced to marry her rapist- then we ought not say ‘she was pardoned’. When we critique one person for past failures- then we must do that to all.

But at the end of the day- Jesus never took the earthly crown- he did not see the solution to be a political one- he brought Simon and Matthew together on the same team- and he showed them what it means to lay your life down for others- to live without the praise of men- the earthly standard of success- he chose another way- and he left that path for us.

http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1622] ARE THE JAPANESE DISPROVING FREUD? One of the narratives coming from the Japan disaster is the response of the Japanese people. In contrast to our Katrina tragedy the Japanese are very self reliant. Jack Cafferty [CNN] read an email from some elderly lady who contrasted the 2 responses. She called the Louisiana residents who looted, killed, complained and wined- she said ‘those scumbags’ [ouch!] What are we seeing in the Japanese people? The media are referring to them as Stoic’s- the philosophy [ancient Greek- one of only 2 philosophies mentioned by name in the bible- Acts chapter 17 mentions the Stoic’s and Epicureanism] that said the secret to life is living on an even plane. Don’t get too ‘up’ or too down- just ride the wave of life as moderately as you can. The other side of the coin is Hedonism- the philosophy of men like Freud- who taught that the problem with man is that he is taught to restrain himself [by religion] and that this restraint is itself a product of neurosis. Freud was a strange fellow, the father of modern Psychoanalysis; his ideas were actually quite weird. As a Jew [non practicing] he embraced the higher criticism of his day [a way of interpreting the bible as not being actually true- just good stories] and he sought to come up with an explanation for mans religious bent. So he came up with the idea of the Oedipal Complex- a strange view of man that said the real problems of man are they have this view of love and hate for the father figure- and the ‘real’ story of Moses and the children of Israel was the Jews killed Moses in the wilderness [hatred for the father figure] they then felt guilty about it- and out of this guilt they would eventually develop a ‘religion of the Son’ [Christianity] and Walla- that’s the real story. You would be surprised how many people hear silly stuff like this in life [or college!] and they never give it a second thought. Like Pope Benedict says in ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ [1st book of a trilogy on the life of Christ] he mentions the theories of the critics [men like Bultmann] and he then responds ‘and how do you know this’? Bultmann [one of the famous liberal theologians of the day] would come up with ideas like this- and he would just espouse them. The funny thing about these critics was they were trying to challenge the historical accuracy of the bible- are the gospels true- stuff like that. And in their challenge they would ‘make up’ their own stuff [Oedipal complex] and simply expect everyone to believe it. So Freud taught that we need to free man from this neurosis of religion- this thing in society that says ‘restrain yourself’ and if we teach man to do and be all that he feels like doing- then we will have healed him of this destructive religious belief that developed out of a secret love/hate relationship of father. Wow. I can think of no greater philosophy to not live your life by than that. How did the Freudian experiment turn out? It was/is a disaster- I’m not just saying this as a Christian who rejects Freud’s atheism- but many of his ideas have also been roundly rejected by the psychologists of the modern day. Freud actually taught that when you counsel a person [yes- he was the originator of the idea of the patient lying on the couch while the counselor listens] that the patient is ‘transmitting’ psychic energy from himself to the doctor- and that’s what makes him better. Freud wrote Moses and Monotheism [his fictional account of the origins of Judaism/Christianity] Totem and Taboo- the fictional idea of the primitive religion of man- and Civilization and it’s Discontents, his explanation of the conflict between mans psychic life and the demands of society. The basic view of Freud [Hedonism] is a failed system that does not work in the real world. To live your life based on the philosophy of ‘if it feels good- do it’ does not work in any area of life- for the long term. In food, shopping, family life, marriage, sexual expression- the basic principle of self restraint and discipline [the Japanese response] is in great contrast to the ‘unrestrained’ view of life [as seen in some of the Katrina response- many of the looters and rioters were raised with a welfare mentality- they were dependant on the state/govt. to do things for them. When things went bad- they blamed the govt. for it]. In the end of the day- the society that practices self discipline- that teaches their children to be self reliant- those are the ones who have the most successful lives. Those who practice Hedonism blame stuff on everyone else.

http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

VERSES- New International Version As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. John 8:40 10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Heb. 13 KJ21 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which being interpreted is, “God with us”). Matt. 1:23 Proverbs 21:20 There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. Heb. 6

Mark 12:1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. Mark 12:2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. Mark 12:3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. Mark 12:4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. Mark 12:5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Mark 12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. Mark 12:7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our’s. Mark 12:8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. Mark 12:9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Mark 12:11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Mark 12:12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. Mark 12:13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. Mark 12:14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Mark 12:15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. Mark 12:16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. Mark 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him. Mark 12:18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Mark 12:19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Mark 12:20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. Mark 12:21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. Mark 12:22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. Mark 12:23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. Mark 12:41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: Mark 12:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Isaiah 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: Isaiah 5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Isaiah 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. Isaiah 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Isaiah 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: Isaiah 5:6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

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   VERSES-

Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?

Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:

Mark 12:40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

Mark 12:41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

Mark 12:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

1 Corinthians 12:28

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

 Ephesians 4:11-13

King James Version (KJV)

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Here’s my teaching on the chapter-https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/john-8/ 

https://youtu.be/f8VpxlYM_kU 

I mentioned on the vidoe that I accidentally read the wrong verses from the Mass- these are the ‘wrong ones’-

2Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

1 John 2:20

But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Matthew 18:10

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and thelife: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

   Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 151

Reading 1

MAL 1:14B-2:2B, 8-10

A great King am I, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. And now, O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and of your blessing I will make a curse. You have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction; you have made void the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts. I, therefore, have made you contemptible and base before all the people, since you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your decisions. Have we not all the one father? Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with one another, violating the covenant of our fathers?

Responsorial Psalm

PS 131:1, 2, 3

R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace. O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace. Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me. R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace. O Israel, hope in the LORD, both now and forever. R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

Reading 2

1 THES 2:7B-9, 13

Brothers and sisters: We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.  With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.  You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.  Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.

Alleluia

MT 23:9B, 10B

R. Alleluia, alleluia. You have but one Father in heaven and one master, the Christ. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.  Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  For they preach but they do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders,  but they will not lift a finger to move them.  All their works are performed to be seen.  They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.  They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.' As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.  Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Christ.  The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

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