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renaissanceclassics · 1 year ago

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The Pilgrim's Progress: Part 25

Listen to: Book 2, 9th stage, at Renaissance Classics Podcast.

When they were gone from the shepherds, they quickly came to the place where CHRISTIAN met with one TURN-AWAY, that dwelt in the town of Apostasy. Wherefore of him Mr. GREAT-HEART their guide did now put them in mind; saying, "This is the place where CHRISTIAN met with one TURN-AWAY, who carried with him the character of his rebellion at his back. And this I have to say concerning this man: He would hearken to no counsel; but once a-falling, persuasion could not stop him.

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" ~ Hebrews 10:26-29 ~

When he came to the place where the cross and the sepulchre was, he did meet with one that bade him look there; but he gnashed with his teeth, and stamped, and said he was resolved to go back to his own town. Before he came to the gate, he met with EVANGELIST, who offered to lay hands on him, to turn him into the way again. But this TURN-AWAY resisted him; and having done much despite unto him, he got away over the wall, and so escaped his hand."

Valiant-For-Truth Then they went on; and just at the place where LITTLE-FAITH formerly was robbed, there stood a man with his sword drawn, and his face all bloody. Then said Mr. GREAT-HEART, "What art thou?" The man made answer, saying, "I am one whose name is VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH. I am a pilgrim, and am going to the Celestial City. Now as I was in my way, there three men did beset me, and propounded unto me these three things: 1. Whether I would become one of them? 2. Or go back from whence I came? 3. Or die upon the place? To the first I answered, I had been a true man a long season; and therefore it could not be expected that I now should cast in my lot with thieves.

"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:" ~ Proverbs 1:10-14 ~

Then they demanded what I would say to the second. So I told them that the place from whence I came, had I not found incommodity there, I had not forsaken it at all; but finding it altogether unsuitable to me, and very unprofitable for me, I forsook it for this way. Then they asked me what I said to the third; and I told them my life cost more dear far, than that I should lightly give it away. Besides, you have nothing to do thus to put things to my choice; wherefore at your peril be it if you meddle. Then these three, to wit, WILD-HEAD, INCONSIDERATE, and PRAGMATIC, drew upon me; and I also drew upon them. "So we fell to it, one against three, for the space of above three hours. They have left upon me, as you see, some of the marks of their valour; and have also carried away with them some of mine. They are but just now gone. I suppose they might, as the saying is, hear your horse dash; and so they betook them to flight." Great-heart. But here were great odds, three against one! Valiant. "'Tis true; but little and more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side. 'Though a host should encamp against me,' said one, 'my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident,' etc.

"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." ~ Psalms 27:3 ~

Besides," said he, "I have read in some records, that one man has fought an army; and how many did Samson slay with the jawbone of an ass?" Great-heart. Then said the guide, "Why did you not cry out, that some might have come in for your succour." Valiant. So I did, to my King,--who I knew could hear, and afford invisible help; and that was sufficient for me. Great-heart. Then said GREAT-HEART to Mr. VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH, "Thou hast worthily behaved thyself: let me see thy sword." So he showed it him. When he had taken it in his hand, and looked thereon awhile, he said, "Ah, it is a right Jerusalem blade!" Valiant. It is so, Let a man have one of these blades, with a hand to wield it, and skill to use it, and he may venture upon an angel with it. He need not fear its holding, if he can but tell how to lay on. Its edges will never blunt. It will cut flesh, and bones, and soul, and spirit, and all.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" ~ Ephesians 6:12-17 ~ "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." ~ Hebrews 4:12 ~

Great-heart. But you fought a great while, I wonder you were not weary. Valiant. I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand;

"He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil." ~ 2 Samuel 23:10 ~

and when they were joined together, as if a sword grew out of my arm, and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage. Great-heart. Thou hast done well; thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Thou shall abide by us: come in, and go out with us; for we are thy companions. Then they took him and washed his wounds, and gave him of what they had to refresh him; and so they went on together. Now as they went on, because Mr. GREAT-HEART was delighted in him (for he loved one greatly that he found to be a man of his hands), and because there were with his company them that were feeble and weak, therefore he questioned him about many things; as first, "What countryman he was?" Valiant. I am of Darkland for there I was born; and there my father and mother are still. Great-heart. "Darkland," said the guide; "doth not that lie upon the same coast with the city of Destruction?" Valiant. Yes, it doth. Now that which caused me to come on pilgrimage was this: We had one Mr. TELL-TRUE come into our parts, and he told it about what CHRISTIAN had done, that went from the city of Destruction; namely, how he had forsaken his wife and children, and had betaken himself to a pilgrim's life. It was also confidently reported how he had killed a serpent that did come out to resist him in his journey; and how he got through to whither he intended. It was also told what welcome he had at all his Lord's lodgings; especially when he came to the gates of the Celestial City. "For there," said the man, "he was received with sound of trumpet by a company of shining ones." He told it also how all the bells in the City did ring for joy at his reception; and what golden garments he was clothed with; with many other things that now I shall forbear to relate. In a word, that man so told the story of CHRISTIAN and his travels, that my heart fell into a burning haste to be gone after him; nor could father or mother stay me: so I got from them, and am come thus far on my way. Great-heart. You came in at the gate, did you not? Valiant. Yes, yes; for the same man also told us that all would be nothing, if we did not begin to enter this way at the gate. Great-heart. "Look you," said the guide to CHRISTIANA, "the pilgrimage of your husband, and what he has gotten thereby, is spread abroad far and near." Valiant. Why, is this CHRISTIAN'S wife? Great-heart. Yes, that it is; and these are also her four sons. Valiant. What! and going on pilgrimage too? Great-heart. Yes, verily; they are following after. Valiant. It gladdens me at heart! Good man! How joyful will he be when he shall see them that would not go with him, yet to enter in after him at the gates into the City. Great-heart. Without doubt it will be a comfort to him; for next to the joy of seeing himself there, it will be a joy to meet there his wife and his children. Valiant. But now you are upon that, pray let me hear your opinion about it. Some make a question whether we shall know one another when we are there. Great-heart. Do they think they shall know themselves, then? or that they shall rejoice to see themselves in that bliss? And if they think they shall know and do these, why not know others, and rejoice in their welfare also? Again, since relations are our second self, though that state will be dissolved there, yet why may it not be rationally concluded, that we shall be more glad to see them there, than to see they are wanting? Valiant. Well, I perceive whereabouts you are as to this. Have you any more things to ask me about my beginning to come on pilgrimage? Great-heart. Yes; were your father and mother willing that you should become a pilgrim? Valiant. Oh no; they used all means imaginable to persuade me to stay at home. Great-heart. Why, what could they say against it? Valiant. They said it was an idle life; and if I myself were not inclined to sloth and laziness, I would never countenance a pilgrim's condition. Great-heart. And what did they say else? Valiant. Why, they told me that it was a dangerous way; "yea, the most dangerous way in the world," said they, "is that which the pilgrims go." Great-heart. Did they show wherein this way is so dangerous? Valiant. Yes; and that in many particulars. Great-heart. Name some of them. Valiant. They told me of the Slough of Despond, where CHRISTIAN was well nigh smothered. They told me that there were archers standing ready in Beelzebub Castle to shoot them that should knock at the wicket gate for entrance. They told me also of the wood and dark mountains; of the hill Difficulty; of the lions; and also of the three giants, BLOODY-MAN, MAUL, and SLAY-GOOD. They said, moreover, that there was a foul fiend haunted the Valley of Humiliation, and that CHRISTIAN was by him almost bereft of life. "Besides," said they, "you must go over the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where the hobgoblins are; where the light is darkness; where the way is full of snares, pits, traps, and gins." They told me also of Giant DESPAIR; of Doubting Castle; and of the ruins that the pilgrims met with there. Further, they said, I must go over the Enchanted Ground, which was dangerous. And that, after all this, I should find a river, over which I should find no bridge; and that that river did lie betwixt. me and the Celestial Country. Great-heart. And was this all? Valiant. No: they also told me that this way was full of deceivers; and of persons that laid await there to turn good men out of the path. Great-heart. But how did they make that out? Valiant. They told me that Mr. WORLDLY-WISEMAN did there lie in wait to deceive. They also said that there was FORMALITY and HYPOCRISY continually on the road. They said also that BY-ENDS, TALKATIVE, or DEMAS, would go near to gather me up; that FLATTERER would catch me in his net; or that, with green-headed IGNORANCE, I would presume to go on to the gate, from whence he always was sent back to the hole that was in the side of the hill, and made to go the by-way to hell. Great-heart. I promise you this was enough to discourage. But did they make an end here? Valiant. No; stay. They told me also of many that had tried that way of old; and that had gone a great way therein, to see if they could find something of the glory there that so many had so much talked of from time to time; and how they came back again, and befooled themselves for setting a foot out of doors in that path, to the satisfaction of all the country. And they named several that did so; as OBSTINATE and PLIABLE; MISTRUST and TIMOROUS;--TURN-AWAY, and old ATHEIST; with several more, who, they said, had, some of them, gone far to see if they could find, but not one of them found so much advantage by going as amounted to the weight of a feather. Great-heart. Said they anything more to discourage you? Valiant. Yes; they told me of one Mr. FEARING, who was a pilgrim, and how he found this way so solitary, that he never had a comfortable hour therein; also that Mr. DESPONDENCY had like to have been starved therein; yea, and also--which I had almost forgot--that CHRISTIAN himself, about whom there has been such a noise, after all his ventures for a celestial crown, was certainly drowned in the Black River, and never went a foot farther; however, it was smothered up. Great-heart. And did none of these things discourage you? Valiant. No; they seemed but as so many nothings to me. Great-heart. How came that about? Valiant. Why, I still believed what Mr. TELL-TRUE had said; and that carried me beyond them all. Great-heart. Then this was your victory, even your faith. Valiant. It was so: I believed, and therefore came out, got into the way, fought all that set themselves against me; and, by believing, am come to this place. "Who would true valour see, Let him come hither: One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather. There's no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim. Who so beset him round With dismal stories, Do but themselves confound-- His strength the more is. No lion can him fright: He'll with a giant fight; But he will have a right To be a pilgrim. Hobgoblin nor foul fiend Can daunt his spirit: He knows he at the end Shall life inherit. Then, fancies, fly away! He'll fear not what men say; He'll labour night and day To be a pilgrim." Overcoming the Enchanted Ground By this time they were got to the Enchanted Ground, where the air naturally tended to make one drowsy. And that place was all grown over with briers and thorns, excepting here and there; where was an enchanted arbour, upon which, if a man sits, or in which, if a man sleeps, 'tis a question, say some, whether ever they shall rise or wake again in this world. Over this forest, therefore, they went, both one with another. Mr. GREAT-HEART went before, for that he was the guide; and Mr. VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH, he came behind, being there a guard--for fear lest peradventure some fiend, or dragon, or giant, or thief, should fall upon their rear, and so do mischief. They went on here each man with his sword drawn in his hand; for they knew it was a dangerous place. Also they cheered up one another as well as they could. FEEBLE-MIND, Mr. GREAT-HEART commanded should come up after him; and Mr. DESPONDENCY was under the eye of Mr. VALIANT. Now they had not gone far, but a great mist and a darkness fell upon them all; so that they could scarce, for a great while, see one another. Wherefore they were forced for some time to feel for one another by words; for they walked not by sight. Any one must think that here was but sorry going for the best of them all; but how much worse for the women and children, who both of feet and heart were but tender. Yet so it was, that, through the encouraging words of him that led in the front, and of him that brought them up behind, they made a pretty good shift to move along. The way also was here very wearisome through dirt and slabbiness. Nor was there on all this ground so much as one inn or victualling house, therein to refresh the feebler sort. Here, therefore, was grunting, and puffing, and sighing: while one tumbles over a bush, another sticks fast in the dirt; and the children, some of them, lost their shoes in the mire. While one cries out, "I am down;" and another, "Ho! where are you?" and a third, "The bushes have got such fast hold on me, I think I cannot get away from them." Then they came at an arbour, warm, and promising much refreshing to the pilgrims; for it was finely wrought abovehead, beautified with greens, furnished with benches and settles. It also had in it a soft couch whereon the weary might lean. This, you must think, all things considered, was tempting; for the pilgrims already began to be foiled with the badness of the way: but there was not one of them that made so much as a motion to stop there. Yea, for aught I could perceive, they continually gave so good heed to the advice of their guide; and he did so faithfully tell them of dangers, and of the nature of dangers when they were at them, that usually, when they were nearest to them, they did most pluck up their spirits, and hearten one another to deny the flesh. This arbour was called the Slothful's Friend; on purpose to allure, if it might be, some of the pilgrims there, to take up their rest when weary. I saw then in my dream, that they went on in this their solitary ground, till they came to a place at which a man is apt to lose his way. Now, though when it was light, their guide could well enough tell how to miss those ways that led wrong, yet, in the dark, he was put to a stand; but he had in his pocket a map of all ways leading to or from the Celestial City: wherefore he struck a light (for he never goes also without his tinderbox), and took a view of his book or map, which bade him be careful in that place to turn to the right hand way. And had he not here been careful to look in his map, they had, in all probability, been smothered in the mud; for just a little way before them, and that at the end of the cleanest way too, was a pit--none knows how deep--full of nothing but mud, there made on purpose to destroy the pilgrims in. Then thought I with myself, who that goes on pilgrimage, but would have one of these maps about him; that he may look, when he is at a stand, which is the way he must take. They went on then in this Enchanted Ground, till they came to where was another arbour; and it was built by the highway side. And in that arbour there lay two men whose names were HEEDLESS and TOO-BOLD. These two went thus far on pilgrimage; but here, being wearied with their journey, they sat down to rest themselves, and so fell fast asleep. When the pilgrims saw them, they stood still and shook their heads; for they knew that the sleepers were in a pitiful case. Then they consulted what to do: whether to go on and leave them in their sleep, or to step to them and try to awake them. So they concluded to go to them and wake them--that is, if they could; but with this caution, namely, to take heed that they themselves did not sit down, nor embrace the offered benefit of that arbour. So they went in and spake to the men, and called each by his name (for the guide, it seems, did know them); but there was no voice or answer. Then the guide did shake them, and do what he could to disturb them. Then said one of them, "I will pay you when I take my money;" at which the guide shook his head. "I will fight so long as I can hold my sword in my hand," said the other. At that, one of the children laughed. Then said CHRISTIANA, "What is the meaning of this?" The guide said, "They talk in their sleep. If you strike them, beat them, or whatever else you do to them, they will answer you after this fashion; or as one of them said in old time, when the waves of the sea did beat upon him, and he slept as one upon the mast of a ship, 'When I awake, I will seek it again'.

"Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again." ~ Proverbs 23:34, 35 ~

You know, when men talk in their sleep, they say anything; but their words are not governed either by faith or reason. There is an incoherency in their words now, as there was before, betwixt their going on pilgrimage and sitting down here. This, then, is the mischief on't; when heedless ones go on pilgrimage, 'tis twenty to one but they are served thus. For this Enchanted Ground is one of the last refuges that the enemy to pilgrims has: wherefore it is, as you see, placed almost at the end of the way; and so it stands against us with the more advantage. For when, thinks the enemy, will these fools be so desirous to sit down as when they are weary? and when so like to be weary as when almost at their journey's end? Therefore it is, I say, that the Enchanted Ground is placed so nigh to the land Beulah, and so near the end of their race. Wherefore let pilgrims look to themselves; lest it happen to them as it has done to these that, as you see, are fallen asleep, and none can wake them." Then the pilgrims desired with trembling to go forward; only they prayed their guide to strike a light, that they might go the rest of their way by the help of the light of a lantern.

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" ~ 2 Peter 1:19 ~

So he struck a light; and they went by the help of that through the rest of this way, though the darkness was very great. But the children began to be sorely weary; and they cried out unto him that loves pilgrims, to make their way more comfortable. So by that they had gone a little farther, a wind arose that drove away the fog; so the air became more clear. Yet they were not off, by much, of the Enchanted Ground; only now they could see one another better, and the way wherein they should walk. Now, when they were almost at the end of this ground, they perceived that a little before them was a solemn noise, as of one that was much concerned. So they went on and looked before them; and behold, they saw, as they thought, a man upon his knees, with hands and eyes lifted up, and speaking, as they thought, earnestly to One that was above. They drew nigh, but could not tell what he said; so they went softly till he had done. When he had done, he got up, and began to run towards the Celestial City.

#podcast #audio #story #pilgrim's progress #john bunyan #christian #fiction #renaissance #awakening #allegory #heaven

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theprayerfulword · 3 months ago

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August 18

1 Corinthians 15:55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

Psalm 40:5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders You have done, the things You planned for us.

Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Psalm 119:28 My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word.

Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

May you not place limits or set boundaries on your willingness to obey the bidding of the Lord and the prompting of the Spirit, but honor Him before the people in your humble obedience, for He will give you the beauty of His holiness. Esther 1

May you not be impatient with the time spent in purification and preparatory training for service to your King, but seek advice and accept direction through the Spirit Who is given charge over you. Esther 2

May you stand firm before the enemy, without wavering or fear, for though threats and warnings are made towards you, the Lord is the only One worthy to receive honor and He will not share His praise with another but will rescue you to show forth His glory. Esther 3

May you accept the judgment of the Lord, and embrace His discipline, which in compassion and grace will cleanse and draw you to the Father, so that you will not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11

May you serve those who have less than you in order to honor Him Who has served you. 1 Corinthians 11

What person among men can stand before Me on an equal basis, My child? All flesh is dust and, as the flower of the field, withers in the heat of the day. Fear no man, My dear one, nor be anxious about their opinion, but love them from My heart, and minister to them as I do, for the sun and the rain fall equally on the just and unjust alike. All are created in My image and are worthy of respect, courtesy, and acknowledgment as My creation, and as a soul for whom I died, even as for you. What power in the world, that men recognize as greater than themselves, will not obey when I speak to it? The winds blow, tornadoes whirl, hurricanes turn, yet when I say “halt,” they do not go beyond My boundaries; when fire ravages the countryside, those that I choose to protect, for My purpose and My praise, are not touched. Do not fear the powers of creation, My love, for I hold them in My hand, and they obey My word as servants, acknowledging My will as theirs, even as you do. What authorities in the heavens, that men align themselves with in rejection of Me, have not been conquered and defeated by Me? Though they skulk and scurry through My creation seeking to resist My purpose and entice My own to turn from Me, they are only gathering the tares to be bundled and burned. My love continues to be shed abroad and all who are My Father's respond to My love. It is to them that I send you, My dedicated one, to places you have not seen, and in ways you had not imagined. You are My hands to lift up the branches of the vine fallen in the mud, unable to bear fruit. I send you to lift them up, not cut them off; to walk with them as I clean them, encourage them to reach for Me into the light, and rejoice as the life of the True Vine causes them to flower and they bear much fruit to My glory.

May you give thanks to the Lord in the great assembly and among throngs of people praise Him, for He rescues your life from the ravages of the lions seeking to devour you. Psalm 35

May the Lord be close to you when those who hate you without reason come against you with slander as you live quietly in the land, for He will contend for you and rise to your defense, vindicating you in His righteousness. Psalm 35

May your tongue speak of God's righteousness and His praises all day long, for all who gloat over your distress shall be put to shame and confusion while those who always exalt the Lord will shout for joy and delight in your vindication. Psalm 35

May the respectful awe and reverential obedience to the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, prompt you to store up choice food and oil to exercise hospitality, enabling you to restrain your appetites lest you devour all God gives you like a foolish person. Proverbs 21:20

#daily #blessings #prayers #scripture

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lostetiquette · 7 months ago

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7 ”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Extortions to Embrace Wisdom - Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.

11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;

12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;

14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—

15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;

16 for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

17 How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!

18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!

19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.“

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wisdom's Rebuke

20 ”Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square;

21 on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:

22 "How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

23 Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,

25 since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,

26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—

27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,

29 since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord.

30 Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”“

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

#invisible string

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hatrackley · 1 year ago

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Vespers – Proverbs 1:8-19

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those…

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#Family #Listening to God #Prayer and Devotions #The Christian Life #Worship

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shitisaysometimes · 1 year ago

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I dont think the coffee was evil. I think the intentions of Metatron were. Metatron tempted Aziraphale just as much as Crowley tempted Eve (and also later Aziraphale). He lied to Aziraphale about Az being "honest." We know he's not honest. He thought he was going to Hell for lying about Job's kids. He lies to Crowley about knowing about Adam in season 1. There's more instances, I'm sure, but lets keep to those. Metatron knows the only way they can succeed in the End plan is if Crowley and Aziraphale are at odds. So, as said earlier, Metatron tempted Az back to heaven using Crowley as bait. I don't even think Metatron intends to let Aziraphale take over. I think hes going to imprison him. Why? Cause of this: Proverbs 1:10-14 a popular verse about "sowing oats and paying the cosequences" –

10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”

Fun fact: almond blossoms are known in floriography for meaning, hope and devotion to god. However, they are not edible (not poisonous, just not edible.) The almond nut however, the part we eat and make coffee syrups from, means being blind or stupid or foolish.

So.

Thanks for that Neil.

OK OK OK OK-

Ok is ANYONE else talking about the “evil coffee” theory yet??? Or is that just the discord I’m in

Cause like…. Who the FUCK puts THAT much emphasis on a RANDOM CUP OF COFFEE??

I mean Aziraphale literally says “I made my position clear” and then Metaron is immediately like “aAAH, but I brought you.. an OAT milk LaTé 👹” with foreboding music and ominous shots like some scene straight out of a fucking Disney movie, OH Kay… I see you you Jafar sounding bitch 😭😂

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #spoilers

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motiv8world · 1 year ago

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Rhapsody of Realities 24 June 2023: Overcoming Temptation Through Prayer - Pastor Chris O.

SCRIPTURE: And when he was atthe place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation (Luke 22:40-42).

No one exemplified the power of prayer in overcoming temptation better than our Lord Jesus. Hebrews 5:7 gives us an idea of why He prayed to the Father the way He did in our theme scripture: He (Jesus) “… shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father” (AMPC). That separation from the Father was what He never wanted to experience even for a moment.

As a result, He knelt and prayed, and as He did, something remarkable happened: “…there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). The 44th verse says, “And being in an agony he (Jesus) prayed more earnestly…” Remember, the earnest prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working (James 5:16). Jesus, being in agony, prayed more earnestly.

His prayer was so intense that the Bible says “… His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44 AMPC). Thanks be unto God; His prayer was answered. He submitted Himself to the will of the Father by becoming sin for us so we would become the righteousness of God in Him. Hallelujah!

When He was done praying, He said something instructive to His disciples as seen in Luke 22:45-46: “When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (NIV). The problem isn’t being tempted, but falling into the temptation. Jesus here shows us we must pray to avoid falling into temptation.

Remember, He was about to experience the horror of being separated from the Father, and had to wrestle with the temptation to say, “No, I’m not doing this!” He knew He had to pray, because He had Himself taught that *.. Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 181).

Like the Master, give yourself to prayer. In the place of prayer, Your spirit is conditioned to discern and walk in God’s perfect will, and your faith is strengthened to overcome temptations and ule over circumstances. You’e invigorated with the might of the Spirit to live Victoriously every day. Hallelujah.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for the privilege and blessing of prayer, a place where my spirit is conditioned to discern and walk in your perfect will always, and my faith is strengthened to overcome temptations and rule over circumstances. I’m fully equipped and fortified, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might to triumph gloriously today, and always. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

1Corinthians 10:13

13 For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

Hebrews 5:5-7 AMPC

5 So too Christ (the Messiah) did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed and exalted by Him Who said to Him, You are My Son; today I have begotten You;

6 As He says also in another place, You are a Priest [appointed] forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek.

7 In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, [c] in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].

Matthew 26:41

41 All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Acts 11:1-18 & Ezra 9-10

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Luke 3:23-38 & Deuteronomy 22

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miajolensdevotion · 2 years ago

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October 24, 2020

Verse: Proverbs 1:8-19 Write/ Copy Gods words :

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men 8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; 12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”— 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! 18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! 19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.

What is your Favorite verse(s):

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—

Explain in your own words what you just read. My son, “listen to your father’s direction & do not turn away your mother’s teaching. They will be a collection to grace your head & a chain bar to around your neck. If sinner tempt you, do not give in to them. If they say: come join with us; let us lie in waiting for someone blood, let us attack someone some harmless soul; let us swallow them while they are still alive, like the grave & whole like those who go down to the pit hole”

Commitment / what will i do : I will not let any sinner to tempt me, instead Itetempt ko sila papunta kay God (sorry taglish)

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ufohits · 2 years ago

Video

vimeo

Avoid The Temptation Of Evildoers - Proverbs 2v10.mp4 from Terry Grieve on Vimeo.

Welcome To Proverbs Club. Avoid The Temptation Of Evildoers. Proverbs 2:10 (NIV). 10) My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. Proverbs Club Commentary. Ward off the evil bait of the godless, at all costs. pc1.tiny.us/ykxahkw2 #son #sinful #men #entice #you #give-in #them

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orthodoxydaily · 4 years ago

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Saints&Reading: Mon., Mar. 15, 2021

Commemorated on March 2_by the New calendar

The Priest Martyr Theodotus (315)

The PriestMartyr Theodotus, a native of Galatia in Asia Minor, was bishop of the city of Kyreneia in Cyprus. During a time of persecution against christians under the impious emperor Licinius (307-324), Saint Theodotus openly preached Christ, calling on the pagans to abandon idol-worship and turn to the True God. The governor of Cyprus Sabinus gave orders to arrest and bring bishop Theodotus to trial. Having found out about this order, the saint did not wait for the soldiers sent after him, but instead immediately went to the governor with the words: "I am here, whom thou seekest; I have shown myself, so as to preach Christ my God". The governor gave orders for the saint to be beaten without mercy, hung up upon a tree and be dealt with by sharp implements, and then be taken to prison. After five days Saint Theodotus was again brought to the governor, who presumed that the bishop would prefer after his tortures to renounce Christ, rather than endure new sufferings. But Saint Theodotus did not cease to preach about Christ. At first they put the saint on an iron grate, under which they set a bon-fire, and then hammered nails into his feet and let him go. Many witnessed the sufferings of the martyr: astonished at the endurance of the saint and his Divinely-inspired speaking, they came to believe in Christ. Learning of this, Sabinus gave orders to stop the torture and lock up the saint in prison. During the time of Saint Constantine the Great (Comm. 21 May), the freedom to confess their faith was given to all christians, and among the sufferers set free from prison was also Saint Theodotus. The saint returned to Kyreneia and after two years serving as bishop he peacefully expired to the Lord in about the year 326.

The Monk Agathon of Egypt (5th.c.)

The Monk Agathon of Egypt, a contemporary of the Monk Makarios the Great (Comm. 19 January), pursued asceticism in a skete monastery in Egypt. He was distinguished by an especial meekness, accounting himself most sinful among men. One time monks from afar came to the monk Agathon for spiritual talk and asked him: "Art thou Father Agathon?" "Ye see before you a sinful servant of God", – answered the monk. "It is rumoured, that thou art a man proud and intemperate", – replied the monks. "Completely true", agreed the saint. "We have heard also, that thou art a liar that loveth to gossip about others". "This also is true", – assented Saint Agathon. "They say moreover, that thou art an heretic?" – the monks persisted, but immediately they met with an objection: "In vain, I am not an heretic". When they asked the monk why, having accepted upon himself other vices, that he refused this last one, the saint explained: "These vices it is impossible not to ascribe to myself, since every man by his nature falls into sin, and all of us, through the corruption of our nature, are involuntarily captivated by vices; but heresy is apostacy from God, a deliberate renunciation of the True God". To the question about which ascetic deeds are more important for salvation, the external or the inner, the monk Agathon answered: "A man is like a tree; the outer or bodily concerns itself with leaves, whereas the inner soul grows fruit. But just as Holy Scripture asserts, that "every tree which does not bear good fruit, shalt be cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mt 3: 10), so then it is evident from this, that the greater attention ought to concern the fruit. But a tree also has need for its leaves, so as to sustain the life-bearing sap and by the shade of its leaves offer protection to the tree and its fruit from the desiccating heat". The monk Agathon died in about the year 435. For three days before his end the monk sat in silence and concentration, as though disturbed about something. To the perplexed questioning of the monks he answered, that he saw himself at the Judgement in front of Christ. "How is it possible that thou, father, should fear judgement?" – they asked him. "I through my strength have kept the commandments of the Lord, but as a man how might I be certain, that my deeds have been pleasing to God?". "Dost thou not trust that thy good deeds which thou hast accomplished, are pleasing to God?" – asked the monks. "I have no hope until such time as I see God. Human judgement is one thing, but Divine judgement is another matter". Having said this, the saint expired to the Lord. [Trans. Note: "Agathon" in Greek means "Good", just as also "Makarios" means "Blessed"; – there is a didactic thread woven into the fabric of many of the Saints vitae teaching this or that moral point or insight. Thus, whether or not Saint Agathon started monastically with such a name is less relevant than having finished with it. The opening dialogue with the monks from afar takes on a deeper dimension when set in perspective of: "Art thou Brother Good", – "Ye see before you a sinner" "guilty of all the sins ye allege and more" "but God forbid, no heretic!"].

Isaiah 1:1-20 (6th Hour)

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; 3 The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” 4 Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Childrenwho are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. 5 Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city. 9 Unless the Lord of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. 12 When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. 16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Proverbs 1:1-20

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; 4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— 5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.11 If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; 12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit; 13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil; 14 Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”—15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; 18 But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.20Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristian #ancientchristianity #originofchristianity #spirituality #old testament #sacredtext #wisdom

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renaissanceclassics · 1 year ago

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The Pilgrim's Progress: Part 25

Listen to: Book 2, 9th stage, at Renaissance Classics Podcast.

"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." ~ Psalms 27:3 ~

Great-heart. But you fought a great while, I wonder you were not weary. Valiant. I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand;

#podcast #audio #story #pilgrim's progress #john bunyan #christian #fiction #renaissance #awakening #allegory

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pope-francis-quotes · 5 years ago

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1st March >> (@ZenitEnglish By Virginia Forrester) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis’ Angelus Address: On the Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent: Jesus Is Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be Tempted by the Devil.

‘Jesus Doesn’t Dialogue with the Devil, Jesus Answers the Devil with the Word of God; Never Dialogue with the Devil’

Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave today, before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

* * *

Before the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

In this first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel (Cf. Matthew 4:1-11) tells us that, after the Baptism in the Jordan, Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). He prepares Himself to begin His mission to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven and, already as Moses and Elijah (Cf. Exodus 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8) in the Old Testament, He does so with a forty-day fast. He enters “Lent.” At the end of this period of fasting, the tempter, the devil breaks in and seeks three times to put Jesus in difficulty. The first temptation takes its cue from the fact that Jesus is hungry, and he suggests to Him: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (v. 3) — a challenge, but Jesus’ answer is clear: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (4:4). He refers to Moses when he reminds the people of the long journey made in the desert, in which they learned that their life depended on the Word of God (Cf. Deuteronomy 8:3).

Then the devil makes a second attempt (vv. 5-6); he becomes more astute, also quoting Sacred Scripture. The strategy is clear: if you have so much trust in God’s power, then experience it; in fact, Scripture itself affirms that the Angels will bear you up (v. 6). However, also, in this case, Jesus doesn’t let Himself be confused, because one who believes knows that God doesn’t put one to the test, but entrusts himself to His goodness. Therefore, to the words of the Bible, instrumentally interpreted by Satan, Jesus answers with another quotation: “It is also written: ’You shall not tempt the Lord your God’” (v. 7).

Finally, the third attempt (vv. 8-9) reveals the devil’s real thought: because the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven marks the beginning of his defeat, the Evil One wants to divert Jesus from bringing His mission to fulfillment, offering Him a prospect of political messianism. However, Jesus rejects the idolatry of power and of human glory and, in the end, chases the tempter away, saying to him: “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve’” (v. 10). And at this point, near Jesus, faithful to the Father’s order, Angels approach to minister to Him (Cf. v. 11). This teaches us something: Jesus doesn’t dialogue with the devil. Jesus answers the devil with the Word of God, not with his word. Very often in temptation, we begin to dialogue with the temptation, to dialogue with the devil: “yes, but I can do this . . ., then I can go to confession, then this, then that . . .” Never dialogue with the devil. Jesus does two things with the devil: He chases him away or, as in this case, He answers with the Word of God. Be careful: never dialogue with temptation, never dialogue with the devil.

Today also Satan breaks into people’s life to tempt them with his enticing proposals; he mixes his voice with the many voices that seek to tame the conscience. Messages arrive from many parts that invite you to “let oneself be tempted” to experience the thrill of transgression.

Jesus’ experience teaches us that temptation is an attempt to follow alternative ways than those of God: “But, do this, there’s no problem, then God <will> forgive! But have a day of joy . . . “ “But it’s a sin!” — “No, it’s nothing.” They are alternative ways, ways that give us the sensation of self-sufficiency, of the enjoyment of life as an end in itself. However, all that is illusory: very soon we realize that the more we move away from God, the more we feel defenseless and helpless in face of the great problems of existence.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Him who crushed the head of the serpent, help us in this time of Lent to be vigilant in face of temptations, not to submit ourselves to an idol of this world, to follow Jesus in the fight against evil, and for us also to be winners as Jesus.

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

After the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

I greet you all, faithful of Rome and pilgrims from Italy and from various countries. In particular, I greet the young people of Formentera, the faithful of Ostuni and those of the parish of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina in Rome. I wish for you all that the Lenten journey just begun is rich in fruits of Spirit and rich in good works.

I am somewhat saddened by the news arriving of so many displaced people. So many men, women, and children chased away because of the war, so many migrants that ask for refuge in the world, and help. In these days, it has become very strong. Let us pray for them.

I ask you also to remember in prayer the Roman Curia’s Spiritual Exercises, which begins this evening at Ariccia. Unfortunately, my cold constrains me not to participate this year: I will follow the meditations from here. I unite myself spiritually to the Curia and to all the people that are living moments of prayer, doing the Spiritual Exercises at home.

Have a good Sunday and enjoy your lunch!

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

1st MARCH 2020 15:26ANGELUS/REGINA CAELI

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sacredvein · 5 years ago

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how did you come to join the children of darkness?

send my muse a personal question.

My maker, Péronelle, was the first to single me for the Children of Darkness, and so it was she who first enticed me to join them. She saw that I was a vicious little boy, but a devout one, and a devoted one. I incited a mob born of the Catholic men of Paris against the heretic Calvinist gospel in our streets. We drove them out of their church, for we did not see it as a true house of God, but a perversion in its practice. All these things she saw as traits worth making a demon of me. And yes, yes, all that violent young beauty so lauded many times in those books. I did not know exactly what it was that she had offered - to be honest, I thought her at first a dirty, mad little mendicant, and laughed her off when she had first approached me one night I walked Paris without my usual gang of school friends. I had all that damned arrogant swagger of well-to-do Catholic young men in the city.

For all my faith, you should know that I never did wear the crucifix anywhere upon my person, and if I had refused her, I have no doubt now that she would have struck me down and slain me. But she looked so very dirty at first, so very fragile, like a bird fallen into the muck of the street and too broken to tend to itself. The sight of her intrigued me and repulsed me.

But then she revealed her terrible power, and lifted me clean from the ground, baring her fangs in a hideous rictus. I cannot describe my fright - I can only say that my awe was sudden and immediate. She claimed she was a demon, and why would I have any reason not to believe her? She told me what she saw of me, and she told me what she saw in me, and that she could give her unholy strength to me. She told me that she would preserve my beauty and that I would be as an angel, serving God by serving Satan.

And what else was I but a brash and foolhardy youth? And yes, I had family, and friends, and good prospects as the eldest son. My brother - younger, besides - had died a year before. But I felt things strongly, and loved God above all else, despite living in a greatly ungodly way. And she had seen my sins, she told me. She named them all, and even plucked the thoughts from my head, like an arbiter on Judgment Day, she stripped me raw with her condemnations, and I was flayed by her words, struck dumb and wounded by them to the core.

Péronelle was smart, as I have said, and though she had a poor country accent, I could not but imagine that her filthy appearance, too, was some sort of a test for me, that I should but accept her offer and her form be revealed, the great stretching of heavenly wings and perhaps a glimpse of a flaming sword in her hand.

I was a boy, and swept up in the miracle of His Works; His dark children, His Hand and Judgment set upon the earth to haunt it in their many horrors. I quailed at the comprehension of them, these demons tumbling from the Pit. She offered me visions such as I had never known, revealed in the cosmic matter of her magic blood, droplets reddening my lips from the fang-pricked wound of her thumb. You could not imagine what I saw, the way scales fell from my eyes as the world was conceived in perfect clarity and the conceptualization of its abiding darkness. I then believed that I understood all that could ever be known. And still I did not understand what it was to become one of them, not until the blood itself transmuted my mortal flesh and I rose from the grave they buried me in: a fresh corpse in funerary black, nitrous earth peeling from my death-shroud and trapped beneath the smooth vampiric glass of my fingernails.

The Children were both everything and nothing like I expected, and I was at first in terror of her, and of them. But Péronelle soon taught me to be a terror, myself, and I sank myself into the rites and rituals of the cult, because it was for many years all that I knew that we could be. And to cleave to it gave a purpose, and made real all the mortal beliefs I had ever known, twisted as they had become in their way. Péronelle mentored me at a distance, and ably, though an observer would never have taken me for her fledgling in the way that she dealt with me so sparingly beyond the most essential responsibilities she bore me. I think it was just her way - she had thoughts only for the cult, or for other things I was too young and stupid to discern - and I was just but one way to strengthen the former. They all took me in. I was their brother, their child. And they were mine.

#ic.#asks.#meme response.#anonymous.#(thanks!)#about.#torchbearer.#history.

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confrontingbabble-on · 6 years ago

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“...when I think about mindfucks I think—as a former Evangelical—about Evangelical Christianity, which traffics, wholesale, in mindfuckery...

1. It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship (with your imagination...!). ...it’s one of Evangelicalism’s favorite ways of saying, We’re not like all those other (obviously false) faith-based belief systems. We just love Jesus and Jesus loves us, and he loves you, too. From the inside, this relationship thing feels really real and really good. But from the outside it’s a bunch of transparent hooey. Your born-again Christianity is a love relationship—with a character whose name and history you got from a set of ancient texts that were compiled and handed down by a vast hierarchical organization that once torched dissenting texts (and people). And this not-religion has sacred writings and rituals and leaders and schools of systematic theology, and it dictates what people are supposed to believe and how they’re supposed to behave. And it provides all the same social functions and structures as religions.

2. That’s the OLD Testament. In my childhood Bible, the Old Testament is bound together with the New Testament in a gold-stamped blue leather cover with these words on the title page, “The words of Scripture as originally penned in the Hebrew and Greek . . . are the eternal Word of God.” This statement is followed by a verse from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Is 40:8).To Evangelicals, the Old Testament is the timeless Word of God, except when the vile atrocities described there become inconvenient or when people quote horrible verses—say those that demean women, endorse slavery, condemn homosexuality and shellfish eating, promote the idea of Chosen bloodlines, or make statements that are scientific nonsense. Then it’s just the Old Testament, and Evangelicals pull out all kinds of fancy “supersessionist” language to explain that those verses don’t really count because of the “new covenant” or the “Dispensation of Grace.” But just try suggesting that a Bible believer take the Old Testament out of the Holy Bible.

3. Yes, no, maybe. God answers prayer. Except when he doesn’t. The New Testament says, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24). But everybody knows that in the real world that doesn’t happen. Christians face bankruptcies and bad test scores and death at the same rate as other people. God answers prayer at the margins of statistical significance, if at all—even when parents are asking for their kids to get healed from cancer, or kids are pleading that parents stop hitting them.How does one explain that? The age-old Christian answer has been that when your prayers aren’t answered you should doubt yourself rather than God, assuming that your faith was too weak or you wanted something you shouldn’t. But Evangelicals have come up with something even more clever: God does always answer! It’s just that he sometimes says no, or maybe, instead of yes. That ask anything and it shall be done Bible verse really meant, ask selectively and he might say yes.

4. Be selfless for your own sake. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all, say the lyrics to one Christian song. Got that? “If you want to be great,” not “if you want to do the most good in the world.” Granted, learn to be the servant of all beats some other paths people take when they seek status, but it is a path to status nonetheless, which is why the church is full of self-proclaimed servant leaders who actually aspire to great man or woman status.

5. Christianity is humble. According to Catholic theology, pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Evangelical preachers tell us it was Satan’s original sin. Pride cometh before the fall, so humble yourself before God. Couple this claim about humility with the idea that you should preach [your version of] the gospel to every creature—and things get turned inside out and upside down.Famed Puritan hellfire-and-brimstone minister Jonathan Edwards said, “We must view humility as one of the most essential things that characterizes true Christianity.” Edwards also expounded with righteous certitude about the torments of the wicked in hell—wicked meaning anyone who didn’t share his Puritan beliefs.Anyone who has spent much time in an Evangelical church community knows that superior humility can be a powerful form of one-upmanship. But competitive humility aside, what could possibly be more arrogant than thinking the universe was made for mankind, that only we bipedal primates are made in the image of God, that all other sentient beings are here for us to use, that you happened to be born into the one true faith among the tens of thousands of false ones, and that the force that created the laws of physics wants a personal relationship with you.

6. Christianity isn’t sexist; God just has different intentions and rules for men and women. Just because in the Old Testament God (identified by the male pronoun) makes man first, puts men in charge (male headship), gives men the right to barter women and take them as war booty doesn’t mean they’re unequal. Just because the New Testament forbids women to speak in church, tells them to cover their heads and submit to men, and excludes them from leadership positions doesn’t mean that women are inferior to men!

The Bible may be rife with stories with predominantly male protagonists. It may show women competing to have sons. Genealogies may be determined by paternity. God may convey his word exclusively through male writers and may take the form of a male human. But that doesn’t mean men and women are unequal! They’re just “different.” All of those generations of Patriarchs and Church Fathers and Reformers and Preachers who said vile things about women—they just misunderstood the Bible’s message on this point.

7. Believe and be saved. Right belief, according to Evangelicalism, is the toggle that sends people to heaven or hell—as if we could simply make ourselves believe whatever we want, regardless of the evidence, and as if the ability to do so were a virtue. Right belief makes you one of the Righteous. Wrong belief makes you one of the Wicked. God may have given you the ability to think, but you follow logic and evidence where they lead only at your own eternal peril. If you don’t believe, it’s because you secretly just don’t want to.Granted we all are prone to a greater or lesser degree, to what psychologists call “motivated belief,” meaning we have a tendency to selectively seek evidence for things we either want to be true or, more rarely, fear to be true. But this is hardly a sign of robust character or moral virtue. Quite the opposite.

8. God loves you and he’ll send you to hell. And once you die, it’s all irreversible. George Carlin put it best: Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man … living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.

OK, Carlin didn’t have his theology right, at least not from an Evangelical standpoint. You don’t go to hell for violating the Ten Commandments. You go to hell for not accepting Jesus as your savior. But yeah, he loves you, loves you, loves you, and if you don’t love him back and worship him and accept his gift of forgiveness for your imperfection, he’s going to torture you forever. Wrap your brain around that definition of love.

9. Free choice under duress. Why is the world full of sin and suffering if God is all powerful and all good? Because he wanted us to worship him of our own free will. He loves us too much to force us, so we had to be able to choose—so the story goes.But, if what he wanted was love and adoration, freely given, then why did he entice us with promises of heaven and threaten us with eternal torture? Can someone really love you if you demand their love at gunpoint?

10. Lean not unto your own understanding. Faith is just believing. Trust and obey. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). The fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1).

The idea that your own mind, logic, and the evidence in the world around you is not to be trusted may be Evangelicalism’s biggest mindfuck, because it is subtext in all the others. Any doubts are just evidence that your mind (and basic human decency) are shaky. Since doubt is a sign of weak faith—and sometimes even direct from the devil—you should never ever trust what you think, feel, see or experience over what the Bible says and the Church teaches. Walk by faith, not by sight. Stop asking questions! “

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington.

https://valerietarico.com/2019/02/08/evangelical-christianitys-ten-biggest-mindfucks/

#nonreligious #atheist #agnostic #secular humanist #skeptic #Religion #Christianity #religious insanity

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 5 years ago

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Moon’s Other Gospel of Sex Rituals to “Womb Cleanse”

Author Ruth A. Tucker (PhD, Northern Illinois University) has taught mission studies and church history at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Calvin Theological Seminary. She is the author of dozens of articles and eighteen books. Here is an extract from Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement.

▲ Myung-hee Kim with whom Moon had an illegitimate child (Hee-jin Moon born in Tokyo in August 1955) while he was still married to his first wife, Seon-gil Choi. Choi could not endure Moon’s many sexual relationships and divorced Moon on January 8, 1957. In a 1993 interview Seon-gil Choi said: “My husband made relationships one after another by deceiving those women. I kept thinking that I couldn’t bear such a life any longer – so this was the reason for my divorce.” LINK

▲ Myung-hee Kim with Hee-jin after their return to Korea in late 1959. Moon took him away from his mother.

The Unification Church: Accusations of immorality from pages 249-250 of Ruth A. Tucker’s book:

“From the very beginning the movement was shrouded in controversy.… Moon’s critics argue that Moon’s church activities involved more than developing new doctrine—that according to a newspaper account. “A third jailing in 1955 reportedly was for ‘causing social disorder’ and having bad morals stemming from ritual sex with women in his church.” Followers of Moon strongly deny such allegations, claiming that Moon was arrested for draft evasion and later acquitted of the charges. [The church produced a fake certificate of innocence.] The accusation of practicing the ritual of pikareum (“cleansing of the blood”) was specifically the charge that “Moon purportedly performed intercourse with each female initiate to purify her of the pollution she had inherited from Eve.” So widely believed was the charge that “the Korean National Council of Churches, representing various mainline Christian denominations, condemned the movement and refused it membership.” The accusations of practicing ritual sex rites are the most devastating charges lodged against Moon during his earIy ministry. Are they warranted, or were they simply fabricated by enemies? Sontag rightly points out that “Every strong religious leader has been charged with sexual irregularities. Such stories surround Jesus too and survive in the early literature.” Yet, the accusations against Moon were made in many cases by reputable individuals. A Presbyterian minister in Seoul [Rev. Won Il Chei] gave the following testimony: “If we believe those who have gone into the group and come out, they say that one has to receive Sun Myung Moon’s blood to receive salvation. That blood is ordinarily received by three periods of sexual intercourse. But this fact they themselves keep absolutely secret.”

While such stories may be scurrilous lies, critics argue that they are made more believable within the context of Unification theology. A one-time supporter of Moon made the following observations of the sex allegations: It is entirely possible that those sexual rituals were a part of the early church in Korea. Since original sin came through the woman’s [Eve’s] intercourse with Lucifer through which she received his evil characteristics, it is perfectly logical that the reversal of this, woman’s intercourse with the perfect man through which she could receive his perfect characteristics, would liquidate original sin. Then, as Adam received Satan’s evil characteristics from Eve through intercourse, so man would receive perfect characteristics through intercourse with the woman. In 1960 Moon married again—some say for the fourth time. His new bride was Hak Ja Han, an eighteen-year-old follower who was less than half his age. That marriage is referred to as “the Marriage of the Lamb.” and through it, the couple became the Father and the Mother “of the universe.” Han, according to Moon, had been preparing for this role since the age of four, at which time she was blessed by a Korean mystic. “Being so young at the time, she did not remember the experience. But Moon was aware of it from the moment he met her.” Moon’s own marriage would reverse the sin of Adam and Eve that had infected all mankind.

According to Robert Boettcher: Once the vows of matrimony were exchanged, Moon as Perfect Adam could not let himself fall into the same trap as the first Adam. He “snatched her out of the Satanic world” and taught her to obey. Since Adam fell by being dominated by Eve, he had to reverse the precedent by achieving complete domination over his wife. Obedience training went from formation to growth and perfection, to the point where, after three years, he says, she would sacrifice her life if he so ordered.”

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A letter from the Church of the Nazarene in Seoul, reproduced on pages 9-11 of an October 1975 FBI Report (San Francisco office) gives an interesting summary of the official and the unofficial theology of the Unification Church.

The letter indicates that he has divorced three wives having had one child by each of them. He was accused in 1955 of conducting a group sex orgie… The letter alleges that actually Moon borrowed his doctrines from those taught at the Monastery of Israel [of Kim Baek-moon].

The letter additionally states that the group also secretly observes such other beliefs [besides what was registered with the authorities] and practices as the following:

1) Founder Moon is the Second Advent Jesus.

2) A believer receives a spiritual body by participating in a ceremony known as blood cleansing which is for women to have sexual intercourse with Moon and for men to have intercourse with such a woman. This idea of blood cleansing comes from the teaching that Eve committed immorality with the Serpent and she passes on to all of us serpent blood.

3) Secretly observed doctrines are Holy covenant and are of more value than the Bible.

4) Members who have experienced blood cleansing can produce sinless generation [children].

5) Founder Moon is sinless.

FBI and other reports on Sun Myung Moon

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Newspaper report in the Dong-A Ilbo Seoul daily dated July 7, 1955. Sun Myung Moon had been arrested on July 4, 1955.

HE POSED AS THE SON OF GOD There are many women who have been sexually abused. The behavior of Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, attracts attention.

◊ Indoctrination methods – New recruits have to listen to sermons about the teachings of the religion for 72 hours (three full days). The sermons are given by Church Leader Mr. Moon. The weekly lectures on Mr Moon’s doctrines start at 10 in the morning on a Monday and run until 10 in the morning on a Thursday. If anyone doubts the teachings and wants to leave, Church Leader Mr. Moon stops them from leaving by sternly saying, “If you leave, you will die.” Mr. Moon also says, “Koreans are the people chosen by God and Pyongyang is the Jerusalem of the world.” He preaches that he is the son of God, and if a woman has a sexual relationship with him, she will give birth to a world teacher [a messiah].

◊ The behavior of a man who hunts women (a sexual predator) – Mr. Moon is an eloquent speaker. They say that when he finds women who truly believe in him, he entices them into his abode (a single room inside the said Association building) and violates them. Four victims have been identified and these women are middle-aged (over 30 years of age) with husbands. Their families are above middle class. One of them is a Mrs. Kim Soon-chang (not her real name), aged 36. She was a decent well-to-do upper class housewife, but after she fell prey to Church Leader Mr. Moon’s offerings she experienced the fate of being abandoned by her husband. …

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A news item was broadcast on Japanese national TV in the fall of 1993 at the time The Tragedy of the Six Marys book was launched. The news item was well researched and put together. There of the important contributors to the book were interviewed, and the 1955 sex scandal at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul was also covered. The text below is an extract from a new translation of the full Japanese transcript.

Full transcript: ‘The Tragedy of the Six Marys’ video transcript

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Moon: “A person is born through a man’s seed going into a woman. Where does the way of reversal begin? It is within the woman’s womb. The condition must be established so that history is reversed in the womb. For complete restoration, the starting point is the seed which exists in the body of a male. The condition must be established in which the seed within a male is united with God’s love. Without establishing that condition, complete reversal of the blood lineage cannot be established.” Sun Myung Moon (October 13, 1970, Seoul)

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Taught at a Family Federation for World Peace and Unification workshop:

“The Purpose of God’s Providence of Salvation is to end the journey of God’s sperm.”

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Moon’s Theology of the Fall, Tamar, Jesus and Mary

FBI Report on the Summary of the Official and Unofficial Theology of the UC

Chung-hwa Pak interviewed about Moon’s “SEX relays”

Moon’s theology for his pikareum sex rituals with all the 36 wives

Sun Myung Moon – Restoration through Incest

How “God’s Day” was established on January 1, 1968

Naked dancers join the UC in 1955 by Gil Ja Sa Eu

Sun Myung Moon and the FFWPU is unequivocally not Christian

#Ruth A. Tucker #Sun Myung Moon #original sin

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