#moreover beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i refuse to be fed a beauty standard that doesn't represent MY idea of beauty

[kulturegroupie]

thank u thank u thank u artists who portray every body type so we can see them all for what they really are: beautiful, and human.

[dalyunministry]

Four surprises of Heaven

By Pastor. Ernest Kwame Amonoo

💥

Good evening people of God ... we thank God for another day of gift of life

Greetings all the ministers of the gospel in this honorable platform.. I say may God continue to bless and honor you .

May the grace upon you multiply in Jesus name amen

Father we thank you for your word .. we give you praise tonight.. we say may your name be glorified.. we worship and bless your name.., the alpha and the omega.. the kings of kings... the holiest of all ... the I am that I am ... we thank you lord we give you praise amen.

Is a great honor to share a word tonight to the glory of God.. and I believe in my heart that someone will be bless tonight..

Tonight I want to share a brief massage I have entitled THE FOUR SURPRISE OF HEAVEN.

Let’s open our bible to the book of Luke 16:19-23

Luke.16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

• THE 4 SURPRISES OF HEAVEN.

Listen, You came from God and you are going to God..

Not matter how much you have there’s an appointment that’s inevitable..

Listen.

In life you can avoid a job interview appointment...

You can miss a visa appointment..

You can even miss a marriage appointment but hear me child of God, you can never miss death appointment. What we pray most is for long life but listen nobody on earth has a permanent life..I want us to listen very careful today. Because this world has now become a world where people spend their time investing and spend money on things that will pass away.

The Bible saids In 1 John 2:17 And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.

Listen, I came to talk to you today. Because there are people that had been to this world before and these people were more beautiful they were more educated they were richer than you. They were more connected in the world. But listen where are those people who had so much money in their days on earth?

Where are those who were millionaires and billionaires in every currencies in their time?

Hear me child of God. Those people are under the earth today despite the several wealth fame and name. Listen to me precious one,

In life whether you like it or not you are going to be there too .

My question today is, Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?

The way you take care of your body if you take care of your spirit like that then your heaven is guaranteed.

You spend money to buy human hair

You spend money to buy all kinds of wigs

You spend money to buy all kinds of jewelries

You spend money to buy things of the flesh but you don’t have a new bible you don’t have any Christian materials

You don’t have Christian tapes and videos

But Listen

For what can a man give in return for his soul? (Mark 8:37), Child of God is appointed unto man once to die and after death judgment

Hear me, If heaven is not your goal then you have know goal. Most of us when we begin the year we write a plan and I think your number one plan is not I think I want invest more capital in my business or I think I want to get more works or I think I want to change my car. Child of God your number one plan should be like this is what hindered my serving God last year let me tackle it.

Write this down, YOUR WEAK POINT SHOULD YOUR PRAYER POINT. You can never be adequately Holy until heaven is your focus

In 1John 3, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, You goal should not be a car or a house because if your goal is a car or a house then you are not better than the unbeliever. Because an unbeliever doesn’t need to set these as a goal them to get them.

Listen, If your goal is heaven then every other goal will be fulfilled. From the main scripture above there are four things I discovered when I did a close study..

THE FOUR SURPRISES OF HEAVEN

The Bible says there a rich man and a poor man called Lazarus

Listen

It was two scenario and the Bible saids Lazarus died and the rich man died also.

When I saw this I ask myself why did the Bible used also.

Ladies and gentlemen the Bible is trying let us know that no matter your wealth fame influence affluence you cannot buy death.

When they were alive there were somethings Lazarus experienced the rich man did not experienced but hear this child of God,in death everybody was equal. The Bible says again that when they died Lazarus was carried but the rich man was buried.

To be carried is to go up and to be buried is to go down..Because one was connected to God his was honored..

Listen

It doesn’t matter who has money now and you don’t have.. if you can have Jesus and you can follow God, in death you will go up.

Listen

There four surprise that await so called Christians of today.

The first thing that awaits us as Christians is the absence of those we thought will be present. The Bible says while the rich man was alive he was feeding people and as he was feeding the poor The was a guarantee that for this man to be this nice then when we get to heaven he should be number one. There are many people who are in for a shocker and a surprise.. because you maybe so Holy but just little anger will disqualify you.

You may be so Holy but just little pride will disqualify you. There’s a way you can so Holy but what will disqualify you is a vow made years ago to God and you have refused to pay.

In Matthew 7:21 the Bible says Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

It doesn’t matter your depth of revelation child of God heaven is real and Hell fire is also real..

Sinners go to hell and the righteous go to heaven but there are Christians today who we see as very spiritual inside them are stained with anger quarrel jealousy gossip etc.

Child of God holiness is like pregnancy which starts from inside outside and not outside inside. Many will be heavily disappointed because they were speaking but tongues but not keeping peace with their spouse.

Many men of God Deaconess and deacons won’t go to heaven.

Because they take monies before they pray for people.. every prophecies by them is connected to money. Man of God listen carefully there’s no right away to do the wrong thing.

THE SECOND SURPRISE OF HEAVEN is the PRESENCE OF THOSE WE THOUGHT WILL BE ABSENT.

In the above scripture Lazarus was the one that looked poor thinking God was dealing with him because of sin.

We live in a generation that people think the more blessed you are is a sign that you are serving God faithfully.

The brother that is praying fasting and doesn’t have a car and the brother that’s in the church with cars but living anyhow for God, something inside us tells us that he’s more closer to God than the other one.

Listen

There are people in the church who are not even recognized by the church departments or the church leaders, nobody identifies with them nobody knows them but they have personal relationship with God.

Listen, there are people in church known who are not honored not respected but these people in the sight of God qualifies to make heaven..

Ladies and gentlemen man doesn’t give award man give reward.., there are people the world has rejected but God has registered their names in lambs book of life..

Listen many will disappointed because of your mindset about purity righteousness and holiness.

Listen there are many Christians like Aaron in the Bible.. Aron as a priest knew how to offer sacrifice to God and also knew how to make Golden calf’s to satan.

These are, THE PRESENCE OF THOSE WE THOUGHT WILL BE ABSENT. I will give you the third surprise of heaven then I end my message for today.

THE REWARD OF THE SAINTS

Listen there are many of us who gave money but we gave grudgingly, you will be so surprise on that day that person will be disappointed but the person that gave wholeheartedly but little get a massive reward. When Jesus entered the temple he watched where they were giving money and saw a woman that gave her last night he said this one gave out of her needs and he said this one has given more... not those brandishing seed out of the abundance.

Ladies and gentlemen, In 1Corinthians 15:58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

As a leader you step into leadership position and people say all kinds of bad things against you, there’s a reward. There are many of you here now, you have worked for God in certain ministries rather than getting commendation you get condemnation.

Lazarus I believe may have been mocked in his days of troubles and pain but at the end he got a reward..

saints in the faith keep on pressing on .. is too late to backslide... let’s us all focus not for the reward on this earth but for the reward after death in heaven like Abraham in the Bible.

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

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

Because of time I will stop here and thank you for doing the reading... God bless us all... Stay bless Shalom.

[getoffthesoapbox]

[7DQ] - The Tragedy of Yeonsan-gun

I started watching Queen for Seven Days (Q7D) on a whim this week. I went in expecting to enjoy a romance and some politics and yet another tyrant king who devolves into madness. But what I got was one of the most compelling character arcs for a “mad king” I’ve seen in a long time. 

I’ll be the first to admit to having a soft spot for Wang Yo from Moon Lovers, but he had absolutely not a single redeeming quality to make the outcome of his sorry life anything more than justified karma. Q7D’s tragic Yeonsan-gun is a completely different story, and I’ve been obsessively thinking about him now that I’ve caught up with the latest episodes. I’d like to explore his character on its own and in conjunction with Chae-kyung, Q7D’s heroine, to hopefully pin down what exactly is so compelling about him.

Behold the twisted paths of a rambling mind under the cut below!

~ the tragedy of a self-fulfilled prophecy ~

The Yeonsan-gun we’re introduced to is a flat out tyrant, and his people and ministers are beginning to grumble about how unworthy he is of the king’s seat. Fairly standard for a mad tyrant. The creators initially make it appear that he’s tormenting everyone around him for no reason--he refuses to listen to his ministers give their reports, he berates them, he belittles his brother, he’s constantly paranoid and on the defensive. He’s one prickly pear, and it’s initially quite difficult to understand why he hasn’t had his own head chopped off yet. 

I initially wrote him off, thinking there was no point in investing in a character so obviously set up to fall. But the creators surprised me on this one. Instead of treating him like a caricature of a person, they began to peel back the layers of the initial impression they gave of him, and with each layer peeled back a tiny hint of a potential pearl was revealed. 

Slowly we begin to learn more about him. Why is he paranoid about his sweet brother Yeok, who looks at him with such affection and devotion? Why because the former king had told Yeonsan in no uncertain terms that he was to step down from kingship when his brother was of age, because Yeonsan was destined to destroy the kingdom. His own father wrote him off, stole his birthright, and didn’t see any value in him. That’s a pretty big pill to swallow for anyone.

Now, if Yeok was Yeonsan’s full blood brother, things might have turned out differently. Yeonsan loved Yeok, but he slowly watched Yeok stand in the spotlight of their father’s attention. Yeonsan, whose own mother had been deposed, was left abandoned and alone--the unwanted son of a traitorous queen, with a prophecy of doom on his head, writing him off entirely as being of any worth at all.

This I think quite understandably turned Yeonsan bitter and resentful, and upon taking the throne, he was determined to keep it. That being said, as Yeok mentions early in the series, Yeonsan never harms Yeok, despite having plenty of opportunities to. This is thanks to the affection Yeonsan bears Yeok, in spite of all the resentment and the envy. There is real love there between them, even as it begins to be subsumed by the heavy burdens and isolation of the throne. 

Yeonsan’s troubles don’t end with his father’s death and his brother’s potential for usurpation. On top of these, his court is full of vipers--ministers hellbent on promoting their own ambitions and playing their little games. It’s clear early on that Yeonsan is completely and utterly fed up with the ministers to the point of holding each and every one of them in contempt. Worse, he has virtually no connection with his people, the people he’s meant to rule. Because he has no connection to the people, he is wasteful and extravagant and shows little interest in their welfare so long as his own needs are fulfilled.

Not a single person believes in Yeonsan as a person and moreover a king, other than Yeok, who is by birth Yeonsan’s rival and cannot become a trusted companion or advisor. Although Yeonsan has the comfort of a beautiful wife from the Shin family, he seems to have virtually no connection with her--likely she was forced upon him in marriage during his father’s reign, probably adding to his resentment. Had he chosen her on his own, I suspect he would be more attentive to her. He does have a concubine he seems to trust in a limited capacity, but this concubine is constantly conspiring with the ministers behind his back. Even though she’s working for Yeonsan’s sake, it’s also to keep herself in power. Basically Yeonsan has no team to support him, because they’re all acting against him in secret or are supporting him in unhelpful ways due to their own ambitions. No man is an island, and Yeonsan is isolated beyond reason. It’s no wonder he cracks.

Beyond this, Yeok’s mother the Queen plays her own games and is always lurking in the background, scheming to destroy Yeonsan in favor of her blood child. Yeonsan clearly wanted her affection and love, but was unable to receive either, adding further to his resentment toward Yeok despite Yeok having done no wrong.

All of this leads us to the present day Yeonsan, who is a man full of paranoia, rage, resentment, impotence, thwarted hopes, and desperation. He wants to prove the world wrong, but this very wish is driving him toward fulfilling the very prophecy he wants to escape. It’s a terrible tragedy that his family pushed him down this path and the ministers helped shove him over the edge, and then in the end he’ll be the one who must take responsibility for his failures, despite having never had a chance to begin with. 

The most tragic aspect of his character is that there is within him a small, tiny flame of light and justice. This small flame, if only someone could have found it much earlier, could have truly led him toward becoming a sage king, rather than a paranoid figure of tragedy. I know historically Yeonsan-gun was considered mad, and perhaps that’s accurate in truth (maybe he really did have a genuine and legitimate mental disorder). But it’s easy to drive a person to desperate acts that appear insane on the surface or to an outsider but are actually quite rational given the limited decisions the person has left to them, and perhaps this more nuanced version of Yeonsan is meant to highlight that not all madness comes from the mind--sometimes it’s a reaction to external influences, and without a strong foundation to guard it, the mind soon crumbles under the onslaught. Not to mention the old adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely, which may also be the more truthful result of Yeonsan’s fall. I’ll leave that to the historians, though, lol.

All I can say is that I’m going to cry buckets when this man meets his end. I’m not usually the type who wants to save villains from their foolish or arrogant actions, but this man is such an unfortunate wretch that my heart bleeds for him. It would be one thing if he’d been given every chance in the world and had squandered it due to pride or arrogance or selfishness. But I can’t bear how he was written off before he’d even been given a chance, how his own father could believe a prophecy over his own eyes. It’s one thing to try and fail and then be deposed, it’s another to be told from day one you never had a chance and you’ll never succeed no matter how hard you try. What a debilitating thing to tell your own son. All I can think is that the former king must have hated the deposed queen and his own resentment must have come out against Yeonsan. 

Although I know Yeonsan-gun’s story is headed straight to tragedy, I can’t help wishing there was some way to save him. 

~ the king who can only move a single space ~

One thing I really appreciate about Yeonsan is how he just rips into his ministers nearly every episode. I get such vicious glee out of watching him chew them out and taunt them and mock them. After watching so many sageuks where the ministers drive the sweet and kind heroes to distraction with their games, it’s absolutely refreshing to see a king who won’t take any of their shit. 

Unfortunately, he’s ultimately impotent and powerless. I think this story does such a wonderful job at highlighting how helpless a king is when he doesn’t have the natural charisma and wherewithal to navigate the political waters. Yeonsan has no support, and he seems to be under the childish impression that because he’s wearing the crown people have to do what he says. It’s a tragedy of the highest order that he doesn’t have wise advisors around him to help him understand that the crown is only a symbol and that it has no power in and of itself. 

~ a song of what might have been ~

A few things struck me after the time skip. One was that Yeonsan-gun is ridiculously talented--he plays instruments and paints professionally. He seems happiest when he’s playing the bard, a free spirit floating around the town, nameless and unknown. 

I can’t help but wonder if he wouldn’t have been happier giving up the throne entirely and abandoning politics altogether. It would have been impossible for him, I know--the throne is really all he has and to let that go would cast him adrift into a sea of chaos he might not emerge from intact. He’s so desperate to prove his father wrong that he would never have been able to let the throne go. His resentment’s too strong for that. 

Still, it’s touching that he is willing to dispense with guards and servants and live on his own, helping Chae-kyung with the anniversary service meal without a single complaint, shopping with her, eating peasant food without turning his nose up. It makes me want to write some kind of alternate universe story where he realizes he needs to sacrifice the throne for his own good and goes on to become a renowned minstrel or something. Then he really could have gotten his own back on his father--rather than destroying the kingdom, his poems and songs become emblematic of the kingdom’s prosperity. 

It’s too bad humans are so foolish that they cling to the things that hurt them the most when letting go and sacrificing them is sometimes the only way to move forward. 

~ love arrived too late conquers none ~

Okay, I saved Yeonsan-gun and Chae-kyung for last because...holy mackerel this ship’s gonna be the death of me. ;D I never expected to get on board this thing, but now that I am it’s going to be such a heart wrenching experience watching everything fall apart. 

I probably should have put this in its own post, but I feel so much of Yeonsan’s interactions with Chae-kyung point out the inner light he still carries that it has to be part of this exploration of the depth of his character. So here we are, lol. From the moment they first met in the pool after she chased him down, I thought “oh no, this is my ship.” It’s absolutely adorable that Chae-kyung checks Yeonsan out--she has more of a reaction to him as a man than she does to Yeok later on, lol. What an adorable meet cute. It’s such a shame they’re doomed to never even have a chance. 

The thing that I noticed Chae-kyung brings out in Yeonsan is his smile. The man does not smile, unless it’s a mocking or derisive smirk. When he’s with Chae-kyung, his eyes light up like a sad puppy’s and although he tries to keep a poker face, these small tic smiles force their way onto his face. He usually covers them up quickly, but it’s just so deeply endearing to see Chae-kyung surprise a smile on his face, or a laugh. You can tell he’s not used to joy, and that it comes unnaturally to him, and that says a lot about his character without us needing to explore his back story any further. Kudos to his actor for doing such a fantastic job--the sheer amount of micro-expressions he puts into Yeonsan’s interactions with Chae-kyung never cease to leave me speechless.

Chae-kyung also brings out Yeonsan’s sense of humor, which is adorable and dry and clever and fun. If his court could have seen this side of him, maybe he’d have more political sway. But to show humor, you have to be wiling to be vulnerable, and Chae-kyung’s the only person who’s able to give Yeonsan enough of a sense of safety that he’s willing to let down his guard.

And that’s really the main thing I love about Chae-kyung’s effect on Yeonsan--her simple, honest affection is enough to make him feel safe for probably the first time in his life. He’s looking for a home, a place to rest and feel secure. It’s easy to see why he’s never had that--his father threw out his mother and then rejected him entirely, and his stepmother gave him nothing. Yeonsan took care of Yeok, and Yeok loved him back, but Yeok’s love wasn’t enough to cancel out the resentment. Yeonsan has never had that feeling of “home.” That’s why Chae-kyung, and her father really, get under his skin so much--these people offer him family, something he desperately, desperately wants underneath it all. Although he tells Chae-kyung not to call him brother, he doesn’t press the issue and continues to allow her to attach herself to him. Near her, he can sleep and the nightmares disappear, because he feels protected. It might seem kind of bizarre for a grown man to feel protected by a child, and then by a woman later on, but I think that’s what’s going on here. Something about Chae-kyung makes Yeonsan feel safe, the way a mother or sister does. 

I don’t know if Yeonsan has romantic feelings for Chae-kyung. I’d say those are probably in there now that she’s older, and that they’re growing now that he’s getting heavily involved with her, but at the same time I think the simplicity of familial devotion that she offered him was the foundation of their bond, and I think that’s the piece that will always remain, no matter what happens. 

He responds to Chae-kyung’s devotion with such a fierce desire to please her that it’s hard not to compare him to a puppy she picked up in the rain, haha. When she tells him that family should stick together, he rethinks his position on Yeok. When she tells him just to punish her alongside Yeok, he’s flabbergasted at her desire to protect both Yeok and him. When she tells him that he can become a sage king and do his father proud and restore his mother to her rightful place, he begins to change his actions to meet her wishes, much to the derision of Yeok and the Queen and the ministers. When she tries to get him to paint red on the ink wash painting of the Chinese rose, he immediately gives into her wishes despite an obligatory refusal. He clearly wants to please her and make her smile, and these are aspects of his character he’s probably never had the opportunity to explore. 

This man has never known tenderness. He doesn’t know how to demonstrate affection or speak of his feelings. His love comes out in all these adorable, quiet ways that Chae-kyung sadly will never notice because her heart is elsewhere. When they chat at the table in episode 5, he gets all shy after he touches her face (I love how he’s always looking away shyly when he notices her as a woman or when she makes him smile and he doesn’t want her to know). When he finds her drenched in the rain, he offers his own umbrella to her, catches her in his arms, and then immediately begins ordering her to get herself dry. Anyone else would ask her if she’s alright, but he’s never said those words in his life. Instead he offers gentle orders to eat or dry up or tell him what’s happened. In time, perhaps, he could have made that final leap to speaking more gently and carefully, but he softens where he can. 

He takes a huge step forward when he rescues her from being tied up on the cross and feeds her the antidote for the poison with his own hands. Like this is huge stuff for a king, especially this king in particular. For him to allow himself to express this much affection for someone is a milestone. Of course, this alerts all the ministers to a new weakness, which is unfortunate. Just as he’s beginning to learn to love, he’ll be quashed by the calculating cunning of his ministers. Still, he tries to save her father and her. The moment when he faces her down in episode 8 as she begs him to punish her rather than her family breaks my heart. He says her name over and over, wanting her to let him save her, but she won’t give in--insisting that in spite of all he’s offered her, she’s the one who’s let him down.

That’s the other thing about Chae-kyung that I think really gets to Yeonsan. She absolutely appreciates and values how he sticks his neck out for her, but she also fears for him and doesn’t want him to lose his influence because of her or her actions. Even though she loves Yeok and is desperate to protect him, she also wants to protect Yeonsan. The girl just has so much love in her heart, and it’s such a shame she’ll ultimately be unable to bring these brothers together and rebuild the torched fence between them. 

I think Chae-kyung’s interactions with Yeonsan-gun help us see what he could have been if someone had only given him the chance. Chae-kyung enters Yeonsan’s life far too late to achieve any great results, and his course was long since set before she arrived on the scene. He was already married and in the hands of a cunning concubine; there was never any room for Chae-kyung, and now Chae-kyung has no room for him either. 

In the end, I just feel grateful for anything the creators are willing to give me with this pair at this point. I know Chae-kyung will marry Yeok and that Yeonsan-gun’s in for a tragic end, but still... I hope there’re still some moments in the future episodes for me to enjoy highlighting this pair and their potential. Ultimately, they’re a love that can never be which was over before it started, but still, I can’t help but find it the more compelling love story in Q7D. Yeok, you’ve got a long way to go to overcome your big bro. Good luck, m’boy. ;)