#new gods has yet to come out but i like ram v's writing so i thought it would be fun to include since i couldnt really add his tec

[wintersettled]

here's a little guide for some dc comic recs <3 made quickly so its not the highest quality but this should be good for beginners <333

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action Comics #1051 - Fantastic kick off to the Dawn of DC era for Superman. All of the Superfamily had a nice little character moment here, Kara welcoming the twins to the El family, Kon and Kenan have the makings of a great friendship/rivalry, Jon realizing his parents still have sex and feeling conflicted over the twins, the Irons' stepping up to change Metropolis with their genius, and unveilling a new tower bigger than Lexcorp's. Lois gets the article which sets the stage, and Clark of course remains the main character. His speech to the Superfamily in his apartment where he outlines his aim in bringing them together is classic Superman, and I'm usually not one for Superman giving speeches, but I loved that because it's him hyping his team to go out and kick some ass. Sandoval draws it all beautifully, the action scenes, the quiet moments, Lord let him stick around for a while and not get poached like Sampere and Federeci did. Nothing major with Metallo just yet, but his complaining about his skin grafts leaves me optimistic he won't be looking human for long.

Justice Society of America #2 - I'm becoming bored with this title quickly. Johns is seemingly only interested in Helena Wayne rather than the titular team itself, they mostly stand around getting killed off or gaping in astonishment as Helena infodumps. Giving it one more issue but then I'm out. Oh and "Justice Society Dark" is a stupid name, why not use the Sentinels of Magic Johns? You created that name!

Detective Comics #1068 - Ok Ram V you've finally hooked me. I love seeing Two-Face's inner war with himself, and I'm excited what comes next now that Two-Face knows Bruce is Batman.

One Bad Day: Catwoman - As a Catwoman story this was solid, but it failed to live up to brand name. If you're aiming to do a "Killing Joke" story for Selina, she should have been completely evil. For all it's failings, King's Riddler story understood the intent behind this brand, The Killing Joke completely redefined the relationship between Joker and Batman, while simultaneously pushing Joker beyond the pale in terms of what he was willing to do, and what his goals were. King's Riddler likewise showed Riddler tossing his old approach to being a villain, and doing so threw Batman off his game for once. This is just a bog standard Catwoman story. She wants to steal something, turns out she has a sympathetic motive for doing so, Batman says "don't", they flirt and kiss, and at the end Selina is... basically the same as ever. To really do a "Killing Joke" for her, this would need to be a story where Selina embraces being a villain, ruthlessly steals for selfish reasons, and steals in ways that are going to hurt innocents. Ending would be the BatCat romance dissolving for good, and Batman despairing that Gotham managed to finally drag her into the pit.

Human Target #11 - Turns out the femme fatale was the killer all along, who could have seen that coming. Great issue all the same, now we see if Chance actually dies next issue or if there's one last twist to come. He's the man who dies for other people as a living, can't decide whether it's more fitting for him to actually die or to pull one last con on death.

Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods -

Aquaman: Beautiful Manupal art, solid story. Could we maybe see Manupal write the next Aquaman ongoing?

Martian Manhunter: Odd plot but I enjoyed Watters voice for J'onn and I want to see a proper Martian Manhunter book from him.

Wonder Woman: Shocker I'm sure, but I liked the PKJ story. Didn't expect him to reference the clay origin, feels like some of the writers are trying to sneak it back into canon. If Gadot is finished as Wonder Woman perhaps DC might be considering restoring the old origin, since synergy wouldn't be holding them back anymore.

Shazam: Campbell did a good job as expected. What surprised me was that her Malik had a similar voice as Priest's, but minus some of the cringe that Priest gave him. Malik came across as a dweeb without being a cartoon, which makes him much more tolerable.

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #3 - Not the Reach but an offshoot of the Reach called the Horizon are the ones planning to invade Earth? Or they've caught wind of the Reach planning another invasion attempt, and sent their own Beetles in an attempt to thwart them? Must admit to being confused on that point.

Sins of Sinister #1 - Good issue. Brings the focus back on Hickman's plots which has been missing for a while. The Moiras are in the hands of someone else, likely suspects are Destiny/Mystique, one of the other Sinisters, or the Sinisterized Quiet Council. But I'm leaning towards it being Moira XI, who is not shown to die alongside Nimrod. Moira XI using her clones to send knowledge of the future back to her past self - who then exposes the Sinisterized QC in the past and also uses the SoS timeline to get humanity afraid of mutants again - would be a way to make this timeline "matter" in terms of it having an impact on the "present".

Sabretooth & The Exiles #3 - Merely solid rather than transcendent the way the first two issues were. I am intrigued to see the payoff for that cliffhanger since I don't have a clue how that could happen.

[shinglescat]

Alright, so, ram modules that are about 3600Mhz is just enough, esp for 5xxx Ryzens. Then the more ram sticks you have, the better the performance thanks to the channels. God, my head is boiling from all this computer information.

Then Ryzen has something called Infinity Fabric, and it matters the most when it comes to AMD’s CPUs and memory; timings matter too, but seems like IF matters more. Still don’t exactly understand it, but it’ll be something to think about once I actually have the new pc.

Rant goes below.

Then there are PSUs. Man, I wanted a Fractal Design build like a dumbass I am, but... their PSUs are not so good when it comes to oscillations, and that’s a big thing apparently for stability. Looked at all the reviews about ion gold, decided to switch back to the Cougar PSU I bought last year, and then decided to switch to a be quiet! PSU because of the CPU I chose... but something tells me I may actually revert back to my Cougar and buy the second one. AAAAAAA

Then there’s mobo. The first one I picked was ASUS ROG STRIX B550-A, because good VRMs and heatsinks on them. And watercooling compatibility. Then it’s 4 gen PCI-E, but whatever, ‘cause I picked gen 3 SSD, and the video cards don’t utilize gen 4 in full. Also its heatsinks are whitish. And I’m a girl. And I want pretty things. Like an idiot, I chose the mobo based on looks, what a retard, but I can’t make myself get me one of those ugly shroud-less mobos, I’ve had enough with my current one, SO UGLY. Luckily, the mobo doesn’t seem to be faulty. Then I heard people recommend MSI B550A PRO for 5xxx CPUs. Picked one, granted it also costs 7k lower than the strix. And everything would be okay, but turns out this mobo has a lot of failures. So I went back to strix. Also, initially, a year ago or so I wanted an MSI board, something-something ace meg whatever with SLI compatibility. But they’re gone, and SLI’s dead, and games don’t really support SLI anyways. So lucky me here, otherwise I’d spend more on the mobo like an idiot I am.

Anyways. Since my mobo is white, I changed my FD case to white, lmao, it’s also couple rubles cheaper than the black one. Also note - I hate RGB stuff, and there’s not glass panel in the case I picked, it’s just solid block of metal... So why the idiot me needs a pretty motherboard? Logic, but I can’t fight it, I want me a pretty thing.

And I changed my AIO, which is FD Celsius S36 to Noctua NH-15D. Had a fight here with myself, ‘cause the AIO looks nice, and the NH-15D looks ass ugly in Noctua’s brand colors; Celsius performs slightly better than the NH-15D, and... THREE FANS. Wanted to place it in front of the case, but then... evaporation is a thing. Fuck it, went with the Noctua, esp since I found it in stock in black, yay. Then again, watercooling is good for short bursts of temperature spikes, then it equalizes and performs maybe worse than an air cooler. So Noctua it is.

Then come SSDs. Fuck me. That’s just hard to pick, there are so many drives. Initially I planned on a 512 GB Samsung 970 PRO because it’s probably last of the MLC guys when everyone went for TLC and QLC. But it’s pricey as fuck. Reliable, but pricey. With great tears I swapped it to an Aorus SSD. Same capacity, but TLC, similar speeds, similar write span, only almost 4k cheaper. But it’s new, no reviews whatsoever, kinda sus. So I just sat and thought about this all and went for a 512 GB NVMe WD Blue, ‘cause I don’t really need it besides having the OS installed on it and all that. And it’s cheaper. And I’m not going to be writing anything on it myself, it’s all for Windows.

Ha, also found some cheap memory sticks at a retail electronics store, 64 GBs of ram would cost me around 20k. 3000Mhz, low timings, could forgive it having rgb lighting. Next day I open their internet store and... there goes my el-cheapo HyperX. Send everything to hell and opted for four sticks of G.Skill RIPJAWS V 3600Mhz CL18. Gonna be fun making it marry the air cooler.

Damn, HDDs got pricey, thanks to the chia mining. Wanted a WD Gold, had it bookmarked, it was around 12 to 14 grand before, and now it’s just unobtanium with its price. Fuck it. And el-cheapo ones, a-la barracudas and blues got more expensive. But I need me some storage, for went for a 2TB WD Blue anyways... and for a Seagate SkyHawk, 1TB.  

Man, I wish someone else would pick me parts and build the thing, but last time my father bought one (not for me ofc, I’m the devil child, even tho I eventually took over it), it almost fried my new shiny 2080 thanks to a cheapfuck of a PSU.

Do not ever cheap out on PSUs, ever.

Also got me a single high static pressure Noctua fan (but it’s black, ugh, and the case fans are white) for the video card cooling. Dunno if it’s going to fit in between the PSU and HDD cage in the end, but if not - it’ll have to do on the front panel in the middle of two white fans pushing air to the 2080. At least the case doesn’t have a glass panel. And finally no fans with light, I swear I hate my shitty Thermaltake fan with passion - it shines blue through the small window on the side panel of the case like a beacon it is, no way to turn it off (except for smashing it, but I ain’t no barbarian).

Low key regretting I went for the bachelor in civil and industrial engineering instead of electric stuff, would’ve been so much easier for me now, lmao.

Hoping I won’t change my mind yet again about the parts, tho honestly I really want to wait till the DDR5 hits the market, and AMD releases their DDR5 compatible CPUs, but I don’t want to wait a year, and then DDR5 will be a lot more expensive than DDR4... and I just can’t wait, I need me more power and less bottlenecks.

UWU

Fuck I’m excited for it. Also dreading it, never dealt with PGA CPUs, wonder how fragile the pins are.

Also, I’m finally excited for a game, ready to shit-piss my pants. Stalker 2 is coming next year, baby! Gotta get me that retail version of the game to put it in my Stalker collection... 

[nymphixdevelopmentarchive]

What changes will you be making in your Au? I crave the knowledge

Woah hi anon!! Thank you for all the questions so far! I would be really excited to share with you all the lore I can offer (without giving out too much ;) )!  I hope you didn’t mind the long wait as I wanted to get really deep into this so I hope you enjoy it!!

Nymphix: Dragon's End is a canon-divergent au (which for those who don’t know means after a certain point in canon I cut off from there to begin a new point of lore, writing, and story) which cuts off after season 6's midseason finale and completely erases s6.5 (Mythix) to s8 (Cosmix) in order to place Nymphix in an easier time frame. 

This is basically how ill be sectioning off this entire answer, apologies for how long it is I get really encouraged to write when people as me this stuff: 1 will be basic pre-nymphix lore, explaining how the au will break off from canon, 2 will be changes to designs for each girl/guy/and parents (only really the main two ill be using: Oritel and Marion) and finally 3 the new additions to Winx lore and explanations of them. 

Pre-Nymphix Lore

So how will this au break go about? Well in order to implement Nymphix smoothly, I had to do one rewrite which is for the s6 midseason finale. After the entire Vampire invasion of Gardenia, Selina promises the Trix that her best chapter is yet to come. Selina is planning to summon Archeon at last in order to finally get rid of the Winx and maybe even the Trix to absorb their energy into the Legendarium to free her master. So long story short, the Winx confront Selina and the Trix and they fight. The Trix cover for Selina as she reads from the Legendarium and Archeon slowly starts to climb out of it, sucking in magical energy from all except Selina. That is until Bloom talks to Selina and tries to convince her to stop which causes Selina to do a double-take and stop reading and decides to use the magic energy she gathered and sacrifice herself in order to save the others and to hopefully undo all the damage she's done. Yet she can't, as Eldora finally reveals herself and grabs the Legendarium from Selina and uses her Mythix and stored Fairy Godmother energy to seal herself and Archeon back in the Legendarium causing it to be safe. 

Now with Eldora out of the picture (both literally and plot-wise), the Mythix arc cannot happen setting off a chain of events causing s6.5-s8 to not happen and instead causing Nymphix to be slowly rolling into action. After the Battle of Cloudtower v.3, the Winx decide to take some personal time off from saving the universe for almost 6 years straight to focus on themselves. So for a year, the girls have been pursuing either their royal duties or personal dreams. Bloom is learning more about how to be a Dominoian Royal, learning under her mother, Queen Marion. Stella is back in Solaria going under rigorous training to become Queen of Solaria which causes her to be in isolation from Radius as he hones in on her training. Flora is with Helia in Lynphea with her parents planning a wedding while Helia is learning under Flora’s Father to become a medical wizard. Meanwhile, Musa is with Roxy on Earth working at Frutti Music Bar and working on her music career. Aisha is currently ruling over Andros as Interim Queen due to something happening and Tecna is working on a big project for Zenith with Timmy. Sky and Brandon are on Erakylon as good ol’ King Erendor is attempting to retire, making Sky king and Brandon his right-hand man.       2. Design Changes (cause the Dragon knows we need them) First of all: I’m doing more look changes, giving the girl’s different body types and heights as I just feel like that makes each girl a lot more different. I’ve also changed how some hair looks, probably just on how I draw hair but Bloom and Tecna’s are the most different in a sense of length and style. Here’s a height chart for reference (this is an old one so please forgive the shitty anatomy and other things, I haven’t had a chance to make another yet!):

  I’ll go into each girl’s differences stylistically briefly. Bloom has much longer and wilder hair than her canon s6 counterpart, I honestly didn’t like the whole thing she had going with her hair so I brought the old style back and made it a bit longer and crazier with a lot of waves. Stella is a lot shorter and has longer hair, keeping more or less everything the same. Flora is chaotically different, having a much much taller form and making her bangs not look like they can cut you on impact, similar to Bloom’s bangs. Tecna has a lot of changes as well, mostly with her hair, giving it a very unkept manner but longer than the pixie cut we’ve first seen her within S1-s5, making it as long as her Bloomix hair. Musa has the second shortest hair, keeping it tied with Aisha. Musa is also the shortest in the group, but can still kick your ass. Lastly, Aisha is at the same height as Bloom, but I decided to keep her original hairstyle from s2 and s3 as I feel like those are the best representations of her hair but added the salmon highlights into her hair cause I think those look amazing on her. One other thing I have changed for the girls is their Bloomix designs. I honestly didn’t have to redesign them but I couldn’t help myself as they have a lot of problems aesthetically and efficiently, especially for a webcomic. I went for a still-looking good, but less sharp design and got rid of that shitty side ponytail from Stella’s Bloomix. I’m also giving the girls a lot of unique outfits to wear based off of previous transformations so look forward to seeing that and the Bloomix designs!  The guys have a lot more fixes than the girls, giving them a better glow-up than whatever the fuck s4/s5 did to them (rip Sky and Helia’s hair). Sky and Helia get their glorious locks back in full swing and made them longer, while the entire boy group gets new outfits and armor! The parents also have modified designs and personalities, especially Oritel and Marion. Marion, or The Dragon Queen of Domino, is a feared royal to most of her enemies and even some of her allies but a soft mother and kind leader to her subjects from those who know her best. She’s the current guardian of the Dragon Flame, having the “guardian form” of the Flame giving her a special transformation. Marion is also known to have a fiery temper during Alliance debates and talks with other kingdoms. Oritel rules by her side, gifted “The Key of the Flame” (the sword from SOTLK and MA and other times) by Marion when they were first married. Oritel is a lot calmer and much more level-headed during debates than his wife and usually takes care of these affairs as well as ones closer to home. Also no more bucket helmets and weird half-circle hair for them, they get new designs.        3.  Added Lore 

This is gonna be a bit shorter than 1 and 2 since some of the stuff in the added lore section are MAJOR spoilers. However, I can give you somethings that I think you will like anon! First off we have The High Council of Fae which is a council containing guardians of all canon transformations including Nymphix. This council is the main place where Fairy magic is tested, kept safe, fairy-involved history is recorded and stored, and trails of fairies happen. Daphne is apart of the High Council, being Lady Sirenix (Harmonix included). No one except the Council themselves and their close family knows the guardian’s true identities (except for the royals of Andros due to a loophole in sentencing) and are kept secret at all times. Each guardian looks over their respective transformation and guides those who want to gain it in the right direction or protect those who are involved in said transformation (Like Mythix with the Legendarium, Tynix with the Mini Worlds, Butterflix with the Fairy Animals, and Cosmix with the Cosmic star energy that is used by the Queen to bless fairies who are worthy). Another thing added to the lore is a small thing, Fae is used to reference Earth Fairies as its used in common folklore to call fairies of Earth Fae, especially since the Earth Fae have an almost entirely different magic system and way of life. Lastly, the Dragon Flame isn’t just Blooms, it's also been given to Daphne and Marion. Due to Domino’s past, a girl or son born in Dominoian royalty is usually blessed with the Dragon’s Flame as when they become Queen/King, they are seen and trained to be the protectors of the Flame. Queen Marion is one of them, as stated earlier, having a special fairy form of the Dragon Flame especially suited for Queens and Kings. Daphne, however, is very unique. Due to Daphne also being Lady Sirenix (basically having pure sirenix energy straight from the Heart of Sirenix), combining it with her Flame created the Water Flame which is a special type of Dragon Flame that is so enhanced by Sirenix magic that it becomes the Water Dragon’s Flame. Bloom has the purest form of the Dragon Flame, having the chance to basically become God. Each holder of the dragon flame also has a special Dragon that is gifted to them after being blessed with the Flame, coming in different forms that suit the user. Marion has a ram-horned Dragon, Daphne has an Eastern-Dragon-inspired dragon, and Bloom has the dragon we all know and love. Also as a fun little addition, in times of great fury, power or distress a Dragon Flame user can have horns in the shape of their dragon appear on their heads. 

[davidmann95]

This week’s comics?

Ice Cream Man #17: Favorite issue in a good little while, which obviously isn’t particularly surprising given the subject matter - it’s savage, but in service of both the series’ general approach to life in all its horrors, and superheroes in particular while clearly having more to say on the subject than “All-Star Superman is bad and dumb” given obviously Prince himself is a fan and oh my god I just realized that since there’s a TV show in the works this might well end up the first live-action All-Star adaptation.

Olympia #3: I’ve enjoyed bits of the first couple entries and been struck by how slapdash other parts seem, but this issue was definitely the best yet.

Thor #2: Cheap shot, but it works well enough in context I suppose. Anyway, pretty fun, definitely a fine place for Cates’ talents.

Avengers #30: “Just try to relax, ma’am. I’ve done this before” this book rules.

The Immortal Hulk #30: Maybe my least favorite issue to date? Still good mind you, but this is the closest it’s come thus far to feeling like a regular superhero comic (which I suppose is a bit of the point), and the Hulkspeak was overdone where Ewing’s been able to deploy it for maximum impact before.

New Mutants #6: Yeah, I’m checked out once Hickman’s done with his chunk.

X-Men #5: I thought that now that we got past the economic forum issue we’d be back to more relatively traditional superhero material. How wrong I was.

Deadpool: The End: Arguably too cutesy by half but I enjoyed it.

Green Lantern: Blackstars #3: Best issue thus far, and by god if Omega Men was able to get its full 12 issues back in the day so can The Green Lantern: Season 2, no excuse for “but 5G!” when Batman & Catwoman is by all accounts still happening.

Suicide Squad #2: Exactly what’s to be expected from Taylor handling this, which remains a good thing.

Justice League Dark #19: Rushed, but satisfying enough as a conclusion of sorts; I’ll try Ram V’s run, I recently picked up These Savage Shores on the strength of the cover and ended up quite pleasantly surprised so I’ll be curious what he brings to the table.

Action Comics #1019: Pure, uncut “Bendis has characters do Bendisspeak at each other for 20 pages”, but probably his best iteration of that in a little while.

Dial H For Hero #11: This comic rules so hard and I can’t wait to reread it as a whole, it is so specifically my jam.

Justice League #39: So people are complaining on Twitter that this issue whiffed it? I’m forced to conclude this is from the contingent that hasn’t been reading it but assumed from a distance it was dumb once Year of the Villain was announced, and then read about this on CBR. Anyway they’re wrong, this was a gutsy as hell turning point with Stuff To Say about both the cycle of “everything has been terrible since 2004 or thereabouts, but if we beat this one guy the status quo will be restored and surely it won’t immediately revert to being miserable yet again!” event books and how well that parallels our own increasingly frightening real world, and while I’m a little unnerved that the big finale will be Wonder Woman centric given Snyder writes her worst among the Leaguers, I’m sold that on the macro scale he and Capullo will be able to stick whatever landing they have in mind.

[theotakulifechoseme]

Hello! I am new comer to your blog and I love what I have read this far. Please keep up the fabulous work 💖💖💖 Could you potentially write something for V X reader, maybe they are sparring each other and the reader is reciprocating V's playful banter and it escalates to flirting (or however you see fit, the world is your oyster have at it 😘)?

I just see V using poetry of all kinds as a way to flirt, and I’ll be sure to give credit somewhere to the poets, though anything with an * (asterisks) by it is something of my own creation. Though I will try to use William Blake when possible.

-Mama Nidiot

V:

[Name] panted, dodging another of Shadow’s attacks as V watched on, his full lips pulled back into a slight smile as his jade eyes watched her every move, his book opened as his familiars did as he commanded. “This is caught by females bright,/And return’d to its own delight./The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,/Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.”

The female Hunter huffed, bending back to dodge another spike from the deadly cat at the cost of her shirt. “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” She quoted, glaring at the poet.

“Ah, the Devil is but an angel cast from the Heavens for loving God, so is it not just he cites Scripture for his purpose?” he quipped, smirking at the woman.

“Ha-Ha... Are we ever going to get serious here, Pretty Boy?” she questioned, hip cocked out and the barrel of her gun resting on her shoulder.

“Yeah, Pretty Boy, we haven’t even broken a sweat yet against the toots,” complained Griffon as he hovered close by, his wings creating a gentle breeze that ruffled the goth’s ebony hair.

“You asked for it, [Name], but do not fret... I’ll be gentle...” he crooned, tapping the handle of his cane against his palm.

“Haha! Hell yeah!” cackled the demonic avian, sending streaks of lightning at the lone female.

Rolling out of the way, [Name] aimed and fired at the bird. “C’mon, ya overgrown pigeon!”

“Oh, it’s on now, girly!” Griffon sqwaked loudly, sending a shockwave at her, making the young woman roll to the side and into striking range of Shadow.

“Pin them to the wall!” commanded V, using his cane to direct the attack.

Shadow managed to tear off the sleeve of [Name]’s shirt. “Instead of your familiars doing all your dirty work, why don’t you try pinning me to the wall, V?!”

“Ooh, you gonna take that layin’ down, Shakespeare?” chuckled Griffon as he flew overhead.

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.” The poet replied, quoting the very person the bird derived the nickname for the goth.

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. Isn’t that right, V?” [Name] taunted, resting her hands on her knees. “Can’t ever hope to get stronger if you don’t apply yourself more, V...” The goth tilted his head down, his hair shielding his face from view, making it hard for her to see his expression.

V chuckled, amused over their banter as he raised his arm and summoned both animals back to him. “As you wish, m’lady,” V teased, bowing slightly with his right arm held at his waist while his left was outstretched. “May I have this dance?”

“Oh, that’s really cute, V...” [Name] chuckled, holstering her gun and pulling out her daggers and charging at the gothic male. Using his cane, he parried the attack and pushed her back. Smirking, she stooped down and aimed to swipe his feet out from under him.

V jumped back, his jade eyes glittering. “Is it not the other way around, [Name]? Should it not be I trying to sweep you off your feet?”

“Maybe you would be able to, if you didn’t look like some overcooked noodle, V.” She swiped her blade at his face, making him tilt his head back.

“Hmm...” V smirked, ramming his cane’s handle into her stomach, making [Name] cry out in pain. “You are lovely/Oh so sweet/Even as you cry...*” he maneuvered around the young woman, slipping behind her and pressing his cane diagonally across her frame and pinning her against his chest. “Burning heat,/Oh so hot/ Filled to the brim.*”

[Name] struggled against him, her face slowly gaining a pink hue. “V...” she whined, feeling his lips brush against the shell of her ear, his hot breath sending chills down her spine.

“Passion that burned,/Oh so brightly,/That it hurt.*” He continued, ignoring her pleas as he pressed a chaste kiss against her temple. “I was lost./I couldn’t find my way./ I thought I was/About to die./You were my light./Shining oh so brightly./Showing me the way.*”

“Two can play that game, V...” [Name] warned, leaning her head back against his shoulder. “I care for you./Do you care for me?/My heart races,/Does yours for me?*” she began, her knees growing weak as V wrapped a hand around her throat, feeling her pulse pound under the delicate flesh. “My soul is yours,/Is yours mine?/Is your warmth real?/Did you know mine is?*”

“Your tears,/Oh how they burned,/Oh so sweetly./How beautiful you are./Skin so soft,/Lips like wine,/How badly I burn to make you mine.**” V pressed butterfly kisses against [Name]’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her hips to help keep her standing. “Your beauty,/How I crave./Your heart.../Will be mine.*”

[Name] swallowed thickly, her legs trembling as she leaned against his slender form. “A touch,/A sigh,/A smile,/A tear,/A cry./Happiness,/Sadness./I’ve been there,/Through it all.*”

“No other./I shall have you./Your beauty will/Be mine./How scared/You are.*” His voice dropped low, gaining a darker quality that sent a sliver of want coursing through his captive, her daggers falling from her lax grip as she reached back and fisted a handful of his ebony locks.

“My love,/For you is true./Do you,/Care,/Feel,/See,/Love me?/Did you know?/Did you?/Do you?*”

“Covered in crimson,/Oh how beautiful you are.*”

“Know that I,/Care,/See,/Watch over,/Love you.*”

“Embrace the corps./Once lover,/Now dead./You are so lovely,/Covered in liquid red./Now you are mine.*”

“Do you?*”

“My cursed beauty.*” [Name] whimpered as V backed away, missing the contact between the two of them already, only to be spun around. V’s hand with the cane pressed against the small of her back while the other grasped her hand as he proceeded to lead her in a waltz. “Now, wasn’t that exciting, my sweet?” he chuckled, jade eyes glittering as he stared down at her flushed face.

“Sh-shut up, Pretty Boy!”

Leaning down until they were nose to nose, V stared directly into [Name]’s [color] eyes. “Make me, [Name]...”

Note: The poem V is quoting is called “Cursed Beauty” by me, which is actually about a jealous admirer who murdered the object of his affection’s lover in cold blood in front of her just so she will be his and his alone. Where the double ** is is a line that I edited just for this oneshot. While the poem Reader is quoting is called “Do You...” which is also by me and is basically someone who does everything in their power to show their love without outright voicing it, and is left wondering if their feelings are coming across as they intended. The other bits are all William Blake for the most part.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of July 31st, 2019

Best of this Week: Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2 - Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia and Tom Napolitano

The last case Batman will ever solve, might just be his most terrifying.

Beginning with Batman confronting an older Joe Chill in the past over the dead child in Crime Alley that looks eerily similar to Bruce. Our hero kind of surprises and disarms him by removing all of the weapons he’s hidden around his apartment. Chill seems to have been expecting him, preparing what he calls an “end of an era feast” for Bruce, implying he knows his identity. To make matters even more interesting, he insinuates that he didn’t even kill the Waynes for Marth pearls and makes it seem like there was an even larger plan afoot than anyone realized.

Cutting back to the Nightmare future, Batman and Joker’s Head are taken by surprise as a Speed Force Storm tears through the desert. Never let it be said that Greg Capullo hasn’t been improving his skills at body horror because the tornado is terrifying. Consisting of the constantly shifting, twisting and stretched bodies of Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Jay Garrick and possibly others, the faces scream and cry for Bruce to help them. It’s a shocking and unsettling sight as one can almost hear the deafening cries of atom splitting agony that they’re going through. The deep red of the storm doesn’t help as it just makes things FAR more threatening than they need to be. Bruce and Joker sit in a cave for safety while Bruce laments that there is absolutely nothing that he can do to save them.

The pair continue on, hang gliding through the air, crossing over a base named Fort Waller. Joker tells Batman that originally it was the last bastion of hope, where Mr. Terrific, Dr. Sivana, Ivo and others could combine their knowledge with the powers of the new avatars of the Green and Red to repel those incensed by Luthor. Batman asks him what happens and Joker’s narration ends as they watch the battle. Unknown Soldiers fighting abominations of the Red in a hellish battle of blood and fire until a Swamp Thing appears from the crimson dust of their fight, no longer appearing to have any faculties or emotion other than: KILL.

The tone shifts as they reach an area known as the Plains of Solitude, seeming a mass of crystalline structures similar to Superman’s secret base. The cool blues of this area offer something of a safety in a book that has otherwise been overbearingly tense since it began. It doesn’t help that Joker’s been doing variations of “can I be Robin, are we there yet, and knock knock jokes the entire time. Bruce snaps that he could never be Robin because Robin was a good guy and who in this world was still like that? Pods shaped like Superman’s baby rocket start landing close to Bruce and Joker before the pair are saved by… Superman?

Or so we think, this “very talkative” (end sarcasm) Superman leads the pair to a farmhouse in the middle of the plains where a surprisingly alive and potentially insane Lex Luthor greets them. Batman, furious at the state of this world demands to know what happened, what did Luthor do? Luthor answers that he had a debate with Superman. What makes this so interesting is that, Luthor says that he knows that he should have lost. The stakes were such that, the loser would be impaled by spike of Kryptonite and Luthor, having almost crapped himself a speech mostly using platitudes from others in his own words, didn’t hold a candle to Ka-El… but in the end, Superman ends up skewered and the world goes to hell with him.

It begs the question of, what happened? Did all of the people just side with Luthor on impulse? Did something happen to sway them or was someone else manipulating things? Everything is speculation. Things are cut short, however as Bane and Scarecrow show up to punish Luthor and bring Batman to their new God, Omega. Bane appears to be absolutely rotting with venom as his veins are green and his skin is pale. Scarecrow looks absolutely scraggly with long, gnarled fingers with syringes at the end of his fingers. Scarecrow has poisoned the Superman clone and forces him to try and break the Bat.

Suddenly, as Superman lifts Batman above his head, a sword pierces his chest as it’s revealed that Wonder Woman has returned to save the Caped Crusader. The two are told to run away by Luthor, to save the world as he opens a portal for them and is summarily torn apart by other infected Superman Clones. 

We see the full extent of the utter destruction Luthor’s actions have caused as they land on the cloak of The Spectre. Wonder Woman tells Batman that the fighting eventually spilled over and destroyed both Heaven and Hell. It only makes sense, doesn’t it? The forces of magic are very powerful in the DC Universe. How much trouble would it take for a Mordru or Neron to tangle with Doctor Fate or Zatanna, culminating in the ruination of the afterlife, damning everyone to a non-existence at the end of everything?

They enter the cloak and take a ride down the River Styx. Diana tells Bruce that the voices of the dead will be calling out to him for sending them there. Capullo stuns with a double page spread of many of DCs biggest heroes, showing Batman the sheer weight of what his as-of-yet unknown role in Luthor’s scheme was. There are far too many to name, but I will say that I appreciate Capullo putting Kyle Rayner among those in the front. His deaths in many alt-stories will always irk me, but I do like seeing him recognized and put higher than Hal Jordan or even John Stewart.

Things take an even darker turn as Alfred shows up among the dead and Batman almost climbs out of the little boat, knowing that he just saw Alfred not too long ago and he and Wonder Woman make it to the real Gotham City with a cliffhanger and a surprising reveal at the end.

Last Knight on Earth pulls no punches when it comes to depicting a desolate world where Doom wins. I want to say that it’s almost dour to the point of being almost being hopeless and that’s exactly what I love. I adore how much is being packed into this story, how many references to the greater DC universe we’re getting. Capullo’s art is probably the best it has been in years and the quality of the writing is right on part with Dark Knights: Metal. It’s a righteous trip as Batman lugs the annoying head of the Joker around like a planet hopping adventure. It’s really fun and very dark.

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

The world needs more Swamp Thing stories.

Runner Up: Justice League Dark Annual #1 - James Tynion IV, Ram V, Guillem March, Arif Prianto and Rob Leigh

This annual was dark, far darker than most of the Justice League Dark tales so far because of how self contained it was and the sheer weight of the situation therein. Sure, it wasn't a world ending cataclysm like the one they just stopped, but that doesn't make it any less horrible. I'd never heard of Ram V before, but their storytelling, combined with Guillem March's art makes me feel like I've been pulled back into the old days of Vertigo.

Magic is broken. After Wonder Woman and Zatanna used the Ruby of Life to repair the damage they did to magic after defeating the Lords of Order, magic itself is repairing itself, but in a manner that throws the old rules out of the window.

Consequently, the Parliament of Trees has been destroyed and now Swamp Thing has no one to answer to as the new Parliament of Flowers is seeking a new champion. After confronting Constantine about coming on as a consultant for the League, the con-man convinces Swamp Thing to go on the search for the new Avatar before he loses his humanity like Swampy did. Swamp thing tries to act like he doesn't care, but goes off to find the man.

The story descends into something of a tragedy as we're introduced to Oleander Sorrel, a flower botanist, and his wife Natasha. 

What makes this story so great is that, like the best Swamp Thing stories, it focuses on other characters and their own personal situations. The pair suffer in a broken marriage after the death of their son which causes Natasha to leave Oleander and himself delving deeper into his work, later resulting in his death. He becomes the Avatar of Flowers, but refuses to let go of his humanity after Swamp Thing tries to convince him that he is no longer a man.

He seeks out his wife and watches over her until Jason Woodrue, a very old DC villain that really hasn't been seen since the early days of The New 52, whispers in Oleanders ear. Oleander listens and suddenly a boy that looks very close to their son appears at the door. Natasha is happy, then another child appears and another until Natasha is absolutely blind with love for her new kids.

But not all gifts are good. There's no way that Woodrue doesn't get something out of this himself. There's always an underlying plot and Swamp Thing manages to uncover what really happened to Oleander. The fire that killed him was actually a pool of caustic that he laid in his flower bed and kills himself in. Oleander did die in the pool, but his memory lived on in the flowers that he planted. This revelation stuns Oleander and the children he created out of flowers begin to dissipate. He grows weary, knowing that Swamp Thing was right and Woodrue manages to convince him to rest for a while before feasting upon his flower flesh, regaining his own connection to The Green.

This annual definitely fit the title. It was Dark, not only from a storytelling standpoint, but also visually. Natasha’s post crying face was heart wrenching to see and Gullem March squeezed every bit of emotion out of it that he could. Her lips quivered, her eye makeup ran just a bit and there was a hopelessness that could be felt. Oleander’s transformation was a beautiful kind of macabre with his appearance, composed entirely of flowers, looking very sinewy and skeletal at the same time. Colors are very warm, juxtaposed against an ever growing sense of dread that culminated in the most haunting scene of Oleander growing more and more flower children. The shot is perfect as Oleander is shown to be a hapless man whose only intent is to make his wife happy, but his methods are horrifying almost wrong.

When the children begin to disappear following the revelation, light is shown on them while the background remains dark. Their petals waft away with the night winds as Natasha has to watch in horror, likely to be absolutely broken by the experience of losing her kids. Woodrue eating Oleander afterwards, however, is brutal. The color shifts to a deep red and Woodrue furiously munches on the flowers, gnawing and tearing his way into Oleander’s body and emerging as a new creature unto himself.

I haven’t been able to find anything about this Ram V person, but I want to read more of their work. This book was absolutely stunning and I hope that it does well enough to warrant another Swamp Thing mini-series or full run. Amidst the cancellation of the show after just one season, it’s definitely something the world needs more of. This story was chilling, well paced and had a great focus on someone else while keeping it’s main star tangential as he should be in things like these. This is a definite high recommend from me.

[shalebridge-cradle]

Unholy Wrap-Up

I have spent far too much time thinking about this lesbian vampire fanfiction. Here’s several walls of text about it.

I would advise reading the fic if you want any of this to make sense. 

Breakdown

(Rough) Alliteration Count: 185

Least Favourite Chapter to Write: 12 (Do you know how long I spent trying to find a picture of an 80s heart monitor? Too long. That, and it’s hard for a character to wield their new-found confidence and inner strength when they’re stuck in a hospital bed, but that’s on me.)

Favourite Chapter to Write: 8 (It turns into a fucked up Scooby Doo mystery a third of the way through, and that’s great. Also, something fluffy happens to warm the reader’s (and my) heart, because I was going to rip it out next chapter.)

Favourite Line: “Fuck off, Dracula”

Least Favourite Line: “Fuck off, Dracula”

 Notes from Chapters that didn’t get their own post

Chapter 2:

The correct answer to Chandler’s question of “How many people are at that table?” is two, not one. Hi, Betty.

Chapter 4:

Chandler was originally going to put her fist through her mirror as a reference to a scene in the film, but I decided that she’s already broken one glass item of furniture, better not do that again. Besides, why take out your anger on your possessions when there’s a perfectly good person to use instead?

Chapter 6:

Hi, Betty.

Jason Dean is involved in the plot again. Everyone welcome back this well-intentioned murderer.

Chapter 7:

This chapter exists for two reasons: to establish Betty is dead, and for the Fuckbois to disappear. And so Ram’s pick-up line has some payoff. Three reasons, actually.

Duke made Veronica cry, so she takes V’s place in the ‘no-killing’ experiment. Still fucked up, but slightly less fucked up than straight up killing her. Or moreso, depending on your opinion.

Chapter 8:

Duke overheard something about about the expedition, and brought Chandler along with her so she could get V and H.Mac in trouble (and maybe distract everyone from how badly she fucked up).

I left it deliberately vague on what H.Mac and V were being chased by because I hadn’t finalised Kurt and Ram’s look yet.

Hi, Betty.

Chapter 9:

“Heather is done for come 3 P.M.” HA HA HA HA HA.

I chant, I pray, but God’s not there/so Steve, I’m ending our affair

 Meta

There was a conscious effort to blend the worlds of the movie and the musical. Doing that opened up a few more avenues for minor characters and certain elements of characterisation (Duke not being completely unsympathetic, for one). The prime example of this is Schrodinger’s Betty – she either appears for a short time to provide insight into Veronica’s character, or is removed from reality and her personality incorporated into Martha Dunnstock. I had it so she did exist in the world, but wasn’t around for whatever reason.

The fic was originally called ‘Renfield’, with the tagline ‘real life sucks losers dry’. It’s still sort of present in the earlier references to Veronica’s questionable mental stability (“A record of her spiral into insanity”, “Clearly, she was going crazy”), but using either would have given away the first major twist. For this reason, puns on the phrases ‘this sucks’ or ‘this bites’ were also out. I went with ‘Unholy’ instead, and stuck some vague religious references in there to justify the decision to myself.

I was deliberately vague about whether or not this was set in the modern day or in 1989. You would not believe how happy I was when I found out Halloween was on a Tuesday in both 1989 and 2017. Pick whichever time period suits you.

There’s a lot of threes in this work. I have a habit of listing three things (adjectives or events), Veronica is accepted by her third college preference (Harvard, Duke or Brown) and I tried to have it so something significant happened every three chapters (3: HC kills a man, 6: HC and V start their relationship, 9: HC dies, 12: the two are reunited, and Betty appears). 

I am from a country that uses British English. I cannot convince Microsoft Word that this is the case. No matter how many times I change the default language, it switches back to US English when I’m not looking. It doesn’t pick up Grey/Gray, however, and that’s why it’s spelt with an ‘e’ all the time.

 The Curious Case of Heather Chandler

I was picking and choosing different parts of vampire mythos, like many authors do, but I took primary inspiration from Victorian vampire fiction. Ya boi Dracula is certainly there, but most of it was from works that predated Bram Stoker’s.

One of the more important sources is Varney the Vampire, who is one of the first examples of a sympathetic bloodsucker (still the antagonist, though). He isn’t weakened by sunlight, rather, he is strengthened by moonlight. He has no aversion to garlic or religious symbols, and tends not to react well to normal food and drink.

The no sleeping thing was mostly me, though. It’s possible you’ve read or heard the phrase “Sleep is like death without the commitment”. Well, if you can’t die, you can’t sleep either. Them’s the rules.

The next issue was to justify to myself how exactly she was turned in the first place. The most likely culprit, goth boy Jason Dean, was out, because 1) it would mess with the whole vampire hunter vibe I was planning for him later on, and 2) because he has absolutely no reason to. Since Eastern European folklore indicates that anyone who dies an unnatural death is at risk of rising again, so I went with a combination of Romanian ancestry and the fact Heather Chandler technically committed suicide. That keeps that theme of the original work in there. Sort of.

The Players

Colour symbolism is getting its own section.

The key here was character motivation. Since the story is primarily character-driven, knowing why the characters do what they do is paramount. The main motive for everyone is as follows:

Chandler wants to be in control of herself, the school, and everyone in it. This is abandoned after she gets shot, and she suffers an identity crisis for some time afterwards.

Veronica wants to help people. This shifts over time to helping Chandler specifically.

Duke wants to be in Chandler’s position, or at least out from under her thumb.

JD wants to be with Veronica, and for the bad influences in both of their lives to be gone. In his defence, he tries to do this non-fatally after chapter 6, but gives up pretty easily.

McNamara wants everyone she cares about to be safe. Everyone else can go fuck themselves.

Martha wants people to go back to like they were in kindergarten – when everyone was friends with everyone.

Betty wants to help Veronica and Martha. The question with her was how she could achieve that goal, when one of the two couldn’t see or hear her.

Everyone else’s characterisations were taken primarily from the lunchtime poll section of the movie. I love that story device like my firstborn child.

 It is important to remember one thing – ALL of the characters are intended to be sympathetic to some degree. Chandler obviously gets the most attention in this regard, but both JD’s and Duke’s actions are well-intentioned, if nothing else. JD wanted to free people from the influence of a vampire, and Duke wanted an end to Chandler’s bullying. JD’s decision to solve his problems with blackmail and murder, and Duke’s decision to frame Chandler, is what puts them firmly in antagonist territory.

In the same vein, all of the characters have flaws. There is no purity in Heathers – Betty is self-sacrificing to a fault and has a nasty passive-aggressive streak, and Martha is living in a dream for most of the fic. Almost all of them get better (or die), with one notable exception.

 Colour-coding

Tumblr user deanesque has already done a pretty good guide to most of the colours present in the film, so I’m including a link to their post on the matter. Since there are some shades that aren’t included in that list, here’s a comprehensive guide.

 Chandler – Red (passion, confidence, leadership), changes to grey (anonymity, lack of emotion, loss), then purple (nobility, creativity, magic, mystery, red and blue combined).

Veronica – Blue (intelligence, trust, stability, intuition), changes to red.

Duke – Green (wealth, ambition, growth, illness), changes to blue.

Martha – Pink (femininity, naivete, passiveness, tenderness), changes to white (purity, hope, peace, detachment)

JD – Black (secrets, intimidation, power, death).

McNamara – Yellow (happiness, caution, enthusiasm, loyalty).

Betty – White and grey.

That’s probably the last of it. If anyone has any specific questions, you are encouraged to send asks. 

[megacircuit9universe]

Cage Match

FRI SEP 18 2020

I really did want to keep my posting to just once a week or less. Every time I do one, I risk oversleeping and being late for work the next day.

And today, when I woke up and checked my phone, to see that Trump had announced he was going ahead with the TikTok ban, ordering it to be out of the app stores by Sunday... I figured that could wait until next week to talk about.

Users who already have the app installed on their devices will still be able to use it, and a full crackdown (the execution of which is legally murky) isn’t slated to begin until mid November, after the election... and thus might not happen at all, or... might only be a few months long, should Biden win.

But then, just around sunset, I received a notification on my phone that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had died.

We all knew she was 87, and had been in and out of the hospital battling cancer over the past few years... so this shouldn’t have been too big a shock, but... we all prayed to Jesus, Mary, and God that she would make it to 2021 at least.

Trump has already gotten two conservative justices into the Supreme Court... the first thanks to McConnell refusing to hold any hearings for Obama’s last nominee, Garland, in March of 2016, because a general election was happening in just eight short months... and the second, after Justice Kennedy retired unexpectedly, under shady circumstances.*

Even if it’s not true that Kennedy was pressured to retire by Trump, who had dirt on his son... you cannot say that blocking Garland was fair, unless you agree that it’s also fair now, to hold off on any hearings to replace RBG until after the current general election, which is only six weeks away.

But that didn’t stop Mitch McConnell from coming out only ONE HOUR after the death of RBG today, and saying the Senate will definitely hold confirmation hearings for her replacement as soon as possible.

In the second hour after her death, her body still warm, not yet stiff, Republican trolls went out on Twitter and all other social media, like hounds, released to justify the immediate confirmaton of whoever Trump nominates to replace her, calling to bypass hearings altogether... because look what a circus the Democrats made of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, right?

Democrats had to immediately strike back, rolling clip after clip of McConnell, and Graham, from 2016... still in their PRESENT TERMS expounding upon the public’s sacred right to have a say in any Supreme Court nomination, so close to a Presidential election.  My oh me... how could anybody disagree?

These are not clips of young Graham and young McConnell from 1996, arguing for impeachment... against their gray haired selves from 2019 saying impeachment is wrong... this was four years ago Graham and McConnell arguing against themselves from earlier in the self-same six-year term they were last elected to... for which both are up today, for reelection.

But the hypocrisy of the impeachment example only serves to magnify the hypocrisy of the moment for both of them. And in the present political climate... with Trump just having been exposed on Tape admitting to a caronavirus cover up, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives... voters are keenly taking note.

Both of these guys, two of Trumps top sycophants in the Senate, have enjoyed decades of easy congressional races in safely red states against weak, token opponents who stood no chance of beating them.

But in 2020, that’s not been exactly the case. Both these assholes have had to spend some real money, and sweat a little, as, for the first time in their careers, polls have been showing their opponents within striking distance of unseating them.  And that was before today.

I hinted in the last entry that Trumps exposure by Woodward justified his impeachment.  Why?  He was impeached for holding back despirately needed weapons to an ally, unless he got some falsely manufactured dirt for his reelection in exchange, and he did not care how many Ukranian lives were lost as a result.

But, GOP senators failed to remove him and, when Caronavirus came along a few months later, Trump witheld PPE and ventilators from American governors, and left all American citizens hanging out to dry, even on the basic informational level about the threat... again, for the sake of reelection.

They should have removed him, but they couldn’t, because they’d already removed their testacles and handed them up to him in a slavish offering of cult loyalty... and now, here they are... trying to fuck us over again, in the eleveth hour, to replace a Supreme Court Justice who... even as I write... is days away from having a proper wake... much less a burial.

But this is not just because of slave-ball oaths to an authoritarian spank daddy... the GOP has been salivating about overturning Roe V Wade since long before Trump joined their ranks, and now... like Golem, from LOTR, hissing and salivating over the One Ring... they see it within their grasp!

PRECIOUS!!!

This is why, an hour after her eyes went cold, the 2020 election turned into a no-holds-barred political cage match to the death, tonight.

Dust clouds are billowing... people are breaking kitchen sinks over one anothers heads... spitting out teeth after getting punched... then jumping up to go at it some more.

The big questions here are:

1) What happens to the nation if they do replace Ginsberg immediately?

2) How will this affect the voter turnout on November 3rd?

3) How will the shift in the balance of the Supreme Court affect the outcome of the election, should Trump sue to challenge the results when he loses?

4) How are we all not going to die?

The big answer is... it all depends on how big a win Biden gets on election night.  If biden loses... or it’s too close to call... or  only wins by a slim margin in one state... or only wins by a slim margin in two states... we are all royally fucked up the ass.

If that’s the case, then, even if Ginsberg’s replacement wasn’t already rammed through, he will be, and then the election results will go straight to the new Supreme Court, who will rule in favor of Trump, and then he’ll effectively be King.

Because... with the Supreme Court behind him, and with his second term a go, he’ll invalidate the House and Senate election results in the months before the new House and Senate can come in... and once he’s stacked congress in his favor, he’ll be invincible.

On the other hand...

If Biden wins a decisive victory on November 3rd... over 270 in the Electoral College, with all the states that gave him those electoral votes, having done so by large margins that can’t rationally be contested...

Then even if Trump has replaced Ginsberg, the Supreme Court will refuse to hear any challenges to the election results, and the Military will recognize Biden as President Elect.  The House will continue to resist, having potentially grown stronger, and the lame duck Senate... possibly housing a lot of lame duck Republican Senators, will stand down... taking solace that they packed one extra conservative Justice into the court before their ride was over.

And then, when the new Congress comes in, with Democratic majorities in both houses (because this would be the case if enough Democratic voters turned out to give Biden a decisive victory on election night) they’d expand the number of Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 11... or 13... to mitigate the nighmare scenario where Roe V Wade gets overturned, etc.

So...

Which outcome is more likely?  A solid win for Biden on election night?  Or a contestable win / outright loss for Biden?

Presuming that voter suppression, and foreign tampering are turned up to 11, in favor of Trump... can Democrats so overwhelm the polls that Biden still gets that decisive victory?

Well... in some other year, probably not.

But in 2020, probably yes.

Why?

Well, for starters, all the anti-abortion voters already always vote in every election.  You can’t scare up any more of them to get to the polls, because they’re already, always at 100% attendance... primaries, generals, federal, state, gubenertorial, mayoral, dog-catchorial. 

So, the long awaited (from their perspective) death of evil RGB, will not change that base line.

On the other hand, the long dreaded death of RGB, will bring out legions more young women, between 18 and 35, who do not want Roe V Wade overturned.

The banning of TikTok... which Trump also committed to today... will bring out legions of voters, 18 to 35, who are feeling very keenly the threat to their free speech and expression that this move represents.

And this is on top of all the voters, young and old, who normally don’t vote, who were already champing at the bit to defeat Trump and his junta for a thousand other contemporary reasons, from Covid19, to protest crackdowns, to calling all fallen soldiers suckers and losers, and on.

Very few extra right wing votes will be cast on election night, in comparisson, by crackdown supporters, or people who want to see more denigration of war heros.

In short, the cage match atmosphere that the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg has now created for this election... Doesn’t do much to help an anti-abortion turnout that’s already maxed out.  But it does motivate pro-choice turnout like crazy, especially among young women who are facing a life of oppression if they don’t get out there.

And that same dynamic goes for all younger voters, and all armchair liberals of older generations... for related reasons.

And these people are overwhelmingly white, and middle to upper class... meaning that voter suppression techniques, and foreign tampering won’t affect them.  They are a sleeping army, immune to such tactics.

Voter suppression targets minority people of color and the poor.  Foreign social engineering techniques target the poorly educated, and mentally ill.

That worked in 2016, when the electorate was snoozing... didn’t want any part of the drama... when Millenials were apathetic, and Gen Z was too young. 

The world has changed in four years.  A lot!

So, it’s time for bed again, but I do see a clear pathway for dramatic change on November 3rd... and the TikTok ban, and the death of RBG only intensify the potential for a sound smack down of Trumpism, and hyper-conservatism.

*Justice Kennedy’s son Justin, who became the head of real estate capital markets at Deutsche Bank, worked closely with Trump in the years before his presidency, swinging him billion dollar loans at a time when no other bank would loan to Trump.  

Such dealings were almost certainly criminal to some degree, and so it is speculated that Justice Kennedy resigned to avoid a scandal.

Calls were made for the Judiciary Committee to investigate, before the Senate held any hearings to nominate Kavanaugh as his replacement, but they were steamrolled.

[little-writings]

Heyyy!! Loving your blog! Ahh your stories are well done!!! I was wondering whether I could request a RFA story thingy? Where each member of the RFA are a dad. So like different stories on their daily lives as they have to stay home or something and look after their child? Thanks x

Ayeee thank you!!!! That means a ton!!

Also, I don’t really know if this is a shipping prompt in any way but it will be involving shipping of the usual sort I write. But I will still be focusing on all of the other ‘dads’ as well, including how they simply came to be that way! 

If that isn’t what you’re wanting let me know and I’ll be sure to edit it accordingly!!

Thank you and enjoy! Have a spectacular day!!!

———————————————————————————————————–

You woke to an alarm.

It was a blaring sound that dug into your ears as you groggily woke, barely able to reach out and switch it off, far too comfortable in your husband’s arms to move despite it all. 

You sighed, crashing back down as the clock stopped with your slammed palm, groaning as Jumin stirred, his words weary and soft. 

“Good…Good morning love.” He hummed, wrapping a palm around your cheek fondly, pressing a kiss to your nose. “We ought to start getting ready before Mi-sun-” 

“It’s time for school! It’s time!” 

Your daughter burst into the room, launching on the bed with full force, ramming into the two of you with delighted cries.

And if you weren’t awake before, you most certainly were now. 

You felt the air snatched from your lungs, your upper body was thrown up as you met with Mi-sun. 

“H-Hello honey.” You greeted, your voice strained. 

“Hi!” She exclaimed, beaming. “Come on, come on you need to get ready! Eun Ae is going to be here soon! Come on, Come on!” 

“Oh goodness…that’s right.” Jumin sighed, lifting up your daughter and setting her down beside you both. “Just give us a moment dear.” 

“Okay, daddy!” 

You began getting ready tiredly, Jumin’s lids droopy and a small yawn constantly escaping you no matter how hard you tried to withhold it.

“What do you think…?” You had muttered. “You think bedhead is coming into style? Think I could pull if off?” 

“I’m a very biased opinion on that,” He remarked. “I think you look remarkable regardless.” 

“You’re still such a charmer, you know that?” 

He wound his arms around you from behind, pressing a kiss to your temple. 

“SImply speaking the truth.” 

You became ensnared in your chatting as you finished getting ready, only just finishing adjusting the buttons of your shirt as the doorbell bellowed throughout the home, Jumin chuckling at your shock.

“That must be V and Eun Ae.” He murmured, setting up the final bit of the cuffs of his suit. “I’ll go greet them, could you please make sure Mi-sun doesn’t run out the door?”

“I”ll do my best but…she’s a beast.” 

“I believe in you.” 

The two of you made your way to the hall, you holding onto your daughter as Jumin came to the front door, revealing the other parent. 

V. 

V had become a foster parent a little before you had become pregnant, finally finding a family and closeness with his daughter who he doted on more than you thought possible for a person to.

Eun Ae was quiet and shy, yet always seemed to smile no matter her situation.

And she and Mi-sun were attached at the hip. 

“Eun Eun!” Mi-sun rushed after her friend the moment you let go, practically topping the smaller girl in her well-meaning delight. “I missed you so much!” 

“Minny, you saw her yesterday,” V said amusedly, ruffling her hair slightly.

“I know! That’s way too long!” 

“Aren’t you excited to see the other kids?” You asked, smiling lightly. “What about Kyong?” 

“Kyong’s boring, he never wants to do anything all he talks about are these computer games uncle Lucy shows him.”

“They aren’t very fun…” Eun Ae murmured. “There’s always so many numbers…” 

“I’m sure all you need to do is get to know him better,” V insisted, setting a hand on his child’s shoulder comfortingly. “At the very least it’d mean a lot to him.” 

“Okay…” 

“I wish we could see Hyuk more!” Mi-sun puffed out her cheeks indignantly, her voice still sweet and light. “I don’t know why his dad makes him do his school at home!” 

“Hyuk just isn’t ready for that sort of thing,” You helped her put on her backpack, lifting her up as morning rays sprinkled your back more and more. “Come on now, don’t want you to be late.” 

“Do you think it’ll be fun?” 

“Of course I do, don’t you think so too sweetie?” You looked to Jumin, his face still warming at the nickname, almost forgetting to respond. 

“Y-Yes, first days are always a wonderful thing for children.” 

“Kyong says it boring.” 

“Do you think it’s boring?”

“No!” 

“Then I guess that solves that doesn’t it?” 

And you were off. 

You moved into the car, greeting Driver Kim cheerfully, being met with a compassionate dip of his head and a sort of glee as he noticed the children pouring in. 

He snickered and listening to their ridiculous stories, almost sorrowful as he was forced to say goodbye as you pulled into their school, wishing you all a wonderful day.

Even some you hadn’t known were there.

“Oh, be sure to tell Luciel that I hope his son’s first day going well!” 

“Oh, where is-” 

“Howdy hey!” 

You nearly screamed, jerking back and slamming against Jumin as 707 erupted into view. 

“Goodness!” You exclaimed, sinking against Jumin’s chest, feeling gentle laughter emanate from him. “You nearly gave me a heart attack Luciel!” 

“People tend to say that about me yes,” He stifled his giggles, crinkling his nose. “Sorry though, I just couldn’t believe I was seeing you guys!” 

“We’ve wanted to meet with you, you’ve been the one postponing our lunches and what not,” Jumin pointed out, moving out with you, his arm almost instinctively coiling around your waist.

“Well uh…yeah…been kind of busy?” 

“With what?”

“You don’t know true fear until your son starts hacking into the school to change his grades,” He tapped his foot, bothered. “I knew something was wrong when he had a hundred in his science class in the middle of summer.” 

“Wow, Kyong is…certainly like you.” 

“It’s horrifying, that’s actually the last thing I want!” 

“Don’t say that you’re a great person.” 

“First off, wrong, second off, he’s not completely like me.” 

“How so?” 

“Well, I’m sure he wants to see you guys.” 

He gestured to his son, calling him over.

“Kyong, come here! Jumin, MC, and V are here!” 

Kyong, as well, had been a foster child, brought in when V recommended the idea to him, knowing how strong and sturdy Luciel had built his walls.

And while you could’ve only hoped it’d help, it did.

It truly did. 

Luciel adored his son, spreading the chat room with photos and comments of every single thing he did from his moment as a toddler to as he was now, little over thirteen.

“Oh, hey!” 

His son was revealed, clad in a mix of a gray and white hoodie and shirt, smiling at the sight of the two of you, even with the hint of bleakness in his gaze.

“Hi Kyong!” You beamed. “Are you excited for today?”

“Not really, I can’t even rest when I get back home anyways.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“I have to watch over Yun after school, uncle Yoosung said he needed me to watch over with his new job.” 

“Do you know how to take care of a toddler?” Jumin asked. “That is quite a responsibility.” 

“I know, Yun is a pretty neat baby though, I got Soo’s number just in case though.”

“I could drop by If you’d like, see if you need anything this afternoon?”

“Thank you MC, but I’ll make it, if I can do this…then I think I can survive a smaller me.” 

“You know my number?”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

You squeezed his shoulder encouragingly, still remembering what had once been the small, child that once stood before you.

And you missed it.

You found it repeating once again with Yoosung’s daughter Yun, seeing his attachment grow and grow even without it even really being his.

It was his friend’s, Soo’s, caught in the situation of a sudden, unexpected pregnancy and no father to be found.

WIth that stress and worry only piling on Yoosung had stepped in and helped with each part of the way.

And slowly and surely, he became just as much as any family as the mother.

And somehow, the boy you once met as stressed and only enveloped in his games became grown and bright like sunshine.

And you couldn’t have been prouder of him.

Yet you were thrown from your thoughts as Mi-sun rammed into both you and Jumin, clambering onto your legs as she hugged you.

“Bye! I’ll miss you!” She whimpered, burying her head into the two of you as you kneeled down and held her the only thing letting you part being the teacher as they called out for her. 

You left with Jumin, V eager to catch up with 707, and eventually leaving you as Jumin, although forlornly was forced to depart for work.

“I’ll see you tonight darling,” He hummed, squeezing your palm tenderly. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

He grinned from ear to ear as you responded, giving you a chaste kiss before closing the car door behind him. 

Leaving the only thing left for you, to be Zen.

He had been stressed yet happy all the same to see you, scripts lining his home in a flurry of either homework or auditions. 

“H-Hey! How are you?” 

“I’m doing great, do you need some help?” You offered, noticing the bags under his eyes. “Where’s Hyuk?”

“He’s still asleep, god I wish that were me.” He scoffed. “I hear it’s better to let kids sleep in until the late morning rather than getting up at seven or something.” 

“Where have you heard that?”

“Every single mom has told me that the moment they find me with a kid, it’s like they sense my confusion as a parent-h-how do they do that? Do you have a sensor?” He shook his head wildly. “Jahee doesn’t even have a kid and she tells me stuff like that!” 

“I’m sure Jahee doesn’t mean anything by it.” 

“Honestly I would’ve died like four years ago if it wasn’t for her, I love Hyuk you know that but jeez, parenting is hard.” 

“I know.” You sniggered. “Hyuk is pretty laid back though isn’t he?” 

“Yeah but acting and taking care of medical expenses and homeschooling I just…I don’t want any financial aid before you offer but i-” He sighed, unable to even finish. 

“I understand, but you’ll get through it, you know that right?”

“Yeah…I know,” He let out a deep breath. “You know Hyuk is so sweet, he makes me these little gifts and sometimes it’s just like a drawing but it’s so nice.”

He shuffled his feet awkwardly, glancing away.

“But that’s not why I’m stressed…” He mustered up all the courage he could. “Hyuk keeps…he keeps asking about his mother, about where she is.” 

“You haven’t told him?” 

“I don’t think it’d be a good impression of the world for him to know his mom just left the moment he wasn’t stuck in her belly.” He sneered, tears threatening in his eyes. “That she just left me, and-and left all of this!” 

“I’m sorry Zen I know-” 

“No I mean it’s not just something I can ignore is it?” He shoved his hands into his pockets, furling them into fists. “Can’t just act like I don’t miss her or that it doesn’t matter that he’s missing something everyone else says is so important!” 

“A mother is important to some-” 

“You don’t think I don’t know that?” 

“You didn’t let me finish.” 

You came up beside him, offering a smirk. 

“But so is a father, and plenty of people spend their lives without one of them. Hyuk may be confused as to why he doesn’t have one but he doesn’t need you to be something more, you’re doing great as you are, and there’s no one else he’d rather have.” 

“You…you really think so…?” 

“I do.” 

He didn’t break out into sobs, but a tear did spill down his cheek.

But so did a grin.

And a feeling of something better ahead.

For you knew it meant the world.

Every smile.

Every bit of laughter. 

Every ‘I love you.’

It mattered. 

Not just to you.

But to everyone. 

For it made the mornings radiant.

The nights softer.

And the days worthwhile. 

[johnpaceylowrie-blog]

"A Tale of Two Cities (Part Two)" Behind The Scenes Blog | The Ocularist, S1E3

Hello!

Fraser here...again. Did you enjoy episode 3? It was a weird one huh? I’ve got to say that I really dislike episode 3. Mainly because I’m the main component of it but also because the whole situation was extremely stressful. I don’t really need to go on about it anymore which is why it seems very silly that I’m even writing this ‘behind the scenes’ blog… That’s why I’ve asked my brother to do it! So without further ado, take it away Alex.

Hello keen JPL blog readers. 

I’m Alex, John’s middle child (the handsome lanky ginger one in episode 3). Fraser has asked me to write a blog detailing the events which occurred on that summer weekend...

So, me and my little sister Sophie (the not so lanky (and handsome) ginger one) live ‘daan saath’ in the Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire region. We make our way up to Nottingham and stay for weekends at a time but we visit far more sporadically these days due to work and other commitments... it’s a lot harder to find a weekend when everyone is free these days.

When myself, Fraser and Sophie were kids - every second weekend Dad would hop in the whip and drive 2 hours down the A1 to pick us up after school, and then drive another 2 hours back up the A1 to take us to Nottingham! He’d then repeat the procedure when it came to Sunday. He put in some serious hours on that road… it’s nice that we can make our own way up there now as I'm sure he never wants to drive on that road again! It’s just a shame we can’t make it up there as often.

FJ (Fraser) had come up with the idea to throw dad a surprise BBQ party with family, booze and BBQ food! Like most plans, this plan changed several times due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Firstly, we discovered that dad’s flight didn't arrive into East Midlands airport until about 8/9pm! So, it was more of a late Spanish kind of fiesta. 

Secondly, we discovered… we had no BBQ. QUITE AN ASTOUNDING THING TO FORGET, EH?! The giant metal meat monster was missing from the garden, and I believe it had been for quite some time. Perplexed as to how we had forgotten the most essential component to a BBQ party, someone had a lightbulb moment… in SWOOPED a previous birthday present we kids had bought for dad - the infamous Rural Paella Plate... see below for all its beauty:

The three-legged beauty shone so eloquently in the June sunshine. 

She was our hope. 

She was our saviour…….

Two things:

We realised the food would not be ‘BBQ’ food if cooked on this. We wanted smokey goods,

More importantly, we realised we had no gas in the Calor tank...              

Once more we were without an engine room. 

Without an entity in which we could put all our faith and bacon in.

With the plan revised and our tails between our legs we headed to Tesco Extra - Beeston’s metropolis. If you ever think you’re big in something, just know that Tesco’s are well ahead of you, and they will take over the world.

The team of 4 consisted of FJ, Soph, my girlfriend Beth and myself. 

We were left with the task of purchasing enough food and booze to feed nine people... a mixture of vegans, vegetarians and non-beefeaters (cowspiracy changed my life…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV04zyfLyN4). 

With each aisle scoured, we boasted a ram packed trolley filled to the gills with snacks, racks n baps. Two hours deep into the shop we finally felt we could checkout. We used the new Tesco self-scan tool, I think this was the first time I hadn't sneaked a garlic bulb in a bag without scanning/paying for it… yeah that’s right Tesco, what you gonna do about it?! The scanner unveiled that our shop had accumulated to about £110 worth of food, wine and beers!

We rolled up to the checkout, scanned the little barcode, began packing our bags… then we heard that harrowing sound… *APPROVAL NEEDED* which prompted this lady to come up to us...

In unison, the Lowrie kids revealed their mugshots to the gatekeeper. I turned my head to Beth (my aforementioned girlfriend) where she detailed through gritted teeth 

‘I don't have my ID with me’. 

3 out of 4 of us had the ID… yet the gatekeeper declined us, saying she will have to take the alcohol from our grasp. 

Beth was inconsolable... but for good reason. 

She’d ruined everything… 

We ended up going to Sainsbury’s and replacing the alcohol...

With the news that dad wasn't feeling too great, we were all unsure what kind of mood he would be in when he landed. So, we decided to prep all the food and start drinking before he arrived. All that really mattered is that we got to shout “surprise” and welcome him home.

FJ and I sat in the garden playing with Chunk (the chunky collie that features in the episodes) when one of us tabled the idea of possibly using the chiminea to cook some of the food in. 

Now, the chiminea is the home of fag ends, dog hair and seasonal bugs. It was going to require a good ol’ clean, not to mention some fire starters and coal!

We struck a deal - if FJ cleaned the chiminea I would sort the burning essentials; the contract was duly signed and we proceeded (turns out I had all the equipment in the back of my car…big up myself).

Once finished, Fraser removed the marigolds, we filled the chiminea to the brim with coal, wood and fire starter stuff (which I'm sure must be made of horse sh*t) and after several minutes of speculating whether the fire would maintain its heat, the coals turned white… it was time to begin the festivities.

We all had jobs to do: 

- Sophie and Karen were on kitchen cooking and salad prep, (Karen was also on John watch - checking his flight plan to see where in the world he was),

- Fraser was our caveman - cooking varying types of meat on the chiminea whilst trying to preserve the fire! 

- I was the resident DJ for the afternoon. I was held responsible for keeping up staff morale with tune after tune. You know you’ve got a solid music library when your Step-Mum continually asks you “What’s this one called Alex?” “Do you have Spotify playlists I can download?”. 

- Beth’s job was to run spontaneous dance exercises when people were transitioning between jobs, probably the most important job of the evening.

We were later joined by Chantal (FJ’s girlfriend) and our step sisters Amy and Will… 

With the noise rising and the drinks flowing we lost track of time. 

All of a sudden Karen came rushing in telling us Dad had arrived earlier than expected and was on his way from the airport!!! 

PANIC!!! 

We had to be on maximum alert, we needed to maintain the surprise, we’d got so far.

“HE’S HERE HE’S HERE, HIDE!! HIDE!!”

 We all took cover behind the sofa and bookshelf.

Cameras at the ready, we waited for our cue. 

Karen handled the situation extremely well. 

She brushed off Dads comments about the balloons, about her having a drink in her hand and about her looking FAB-U-LOUS 

*click fingers in a Z formation*

And then, well, the footage says it all really. He was shocked! For someone who had been so ill during the week and had just travelled god knows how many hours in a metal tube full of recirculated air, he looked pretty suave.

He told us about his adventures and opinions of Jakarta. He detailed the sheer amount of poverty which riddled the city and how he saw so many children living in poverty. You could see that this affected him emotionally as he spoke with a quiver to his voice. My dad is a very caring man and he’s always been a humanitarian. I'm sure, if he could, he’d give them all a life that every child deserves to live...

I think Dad had a very minimal amount of sleep under his belt, yet he stayed up with us till the wee small hours of the morning. Drinking, dancing and just enjoying the craic. 

In fact, I tapped out before he did! It was about 1am and I couldn’t hack it. I’m pretty sure Dad stayed up till about 3am fueled by sleep deprivation, jet lag and booze - a dangerous concoction.

Morning came with foggy heads and toasted breads. We all sat round the dinner table discussing the night that had been. Reminiscing about the food, alcohol consumption and Dads ‘O brother where art thou’ dancing (see episode 3 for the full experience). Dad was there but decided he needed to go back to bed as he wasn’t feeling too great - which was fair enough all things considered. It was Karen’s brother’s birthday so she shot off to go celebrate yet another day of birth.

Fraser, Sophie, Beth and I sat around watching various YouTube videos, which seems to be a common theme for a Sunday at Dad’s. Watching fails and cute dog videos… we got bored pretty quickly. We decided to watch a film, 

“I’ve heard really good things about this film called ‘Inferno’, please guys can we watch it” 

exclaimed Fraser. We reluctantly agreed. Honestly, I usually trust my brothers taste in films but my goodness… this was a monstrosity. The acting, the screenplay, the confusion! It really was a diabolical film. Please attack Fraser on all forms of social media for making us watch that film.

*Note from Fraser: It was such a bad film. Terrible.

About midway through the film we heard a huge banging sound come from somewhere. We shrugged it off the first couple of times, just thinking it was one of our neighbours. The third time though I thought I better go check on Dad to make sure he was OK. As I ran up the stairs I saw Dad leaning against the wall between his bedroom and the stairs, holding his chest/stomach area. He groaned 

“help, help, please get some help call an ambulance”. 

I bombed down the stairs as fast as I could, I burst into the living room and told the others “it was dad, he needs help, I'm calling an ambulance”. I always thought in these situations I would be calm and collected but in reality I really, really wasn’t. Knowing my Dad’s past heart problems and seeing him in that much pain my thoughts turned to the worst - he’s having a heart attack. 

Fraser dashed up the stairs and sat Dad down. He was the calmer of the 2 of us which I must say I'm surprised about. I only say this because we’ve been to a couple of ‘Escaplogic’ escape rooms in Nottingham (If you have never been go! It’s so much fun) and he’s been the most stressed and panicky of the 3 Lowrie kids…!

Episode 3 explains the rest of the situation pretty well really. I will say this though - one thing really bugged me… 

Dad and Karen still have a wired home telephone! 

The responder was asking me questions about Dad’s physical condition such as what colour he was, what’s his heart rate etc.… I couldn’t check these things because he was upstairs and I, like a dog chained to a post, was stuck within the 1 metre reach of the wired phone! Dad & Karen please get a new phone, many thanks. 

Dad stayed in the hospital for a few days so they could run tests but we never heard what the actual problem was. The main thing is that he is fine, well, he’s better than he was. My Dad will tell you he hasn't been fine since he left the womb - I’ve never known a man to have tennis elbow, tennis knee and tennis ear all at the same time!

To conclude, we had a great family get together to celebrate the big man’s birthday. The aftermath was one of scariest days of my life BUT I am happy and relieved that he is back up and running, working hard, trying to pass on his legacy in Ocularistry.

The video series has been a great watch so far and I’m really looking forward to seeing all the episodes to come. It’s nice to see the guys hard at work - or hardly working. ;) ;) - so, keep it up! 

Much love, Alejandro (@ixardesign)

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

Thanks a lot Alex! I’m glad I didn’t have to write about all that...

If you enjoyed this blog be sure to tune in next week for the behind-the-scenes of episode 4! Next weeks episode is all about the Nottingham Trent University courses that John runs.

Till next time! - Fraser Lowrie (@lowriemusic - Insta, FB, Twitter, Spotify)

[floggingink]

Riverdale: “Chapter Eleven: To Riverdale and Back Again”

the 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie and the Pussycats serenade Riverdale High students like three angels of the Lord appearing to them over the intercom, and the glory of Grade A Dark Amber shown around them, and they were terrified

Josie’s ombre pink braids? good morning

Jughead doesn’t have a homeroom? OR A HOME?

can you believe Cheryl can honestly hike her leg up like that fantastic statue of Venus where she’s busting it all out? meanwhile, Veronica, touching up her lip liner like it’s NOT all happening behind her

What damn high school in America: Principal Weatherbee won’t even let Betty delegate physically putting up the Homecoming decorations? cold

Certified pedigree: Archie’s mom, MOLLY RINGWALD, is staying over for a few days out of concern for her son’s happiness and/or safety in Riverdale. A) they are not showing us the implied scene where she says she doesn’t want to “kick Jughead out of the guest room” only to be told that Jughead isn’t sleeping in the guest room so much as he’s sleeping in Archie’s room. B) THIS is MOLLY RINGWALD’S first outfit? morally questionable. a very strange sweater. it isn’t a crew neck, it isn’t a turtleneck, and the color is this off-peach white-person that bleeds too uncannily into her neck, and she has on a lot of blush...her liner is darker than her lips...maybe she is still experimenting, like in Sixteen Candles

Archie correcting her to say “songwriting” as opposed to just “singing,” like in the pilot when he said he wasn’t writing “poems” but rather “song lyrics”

how do we feel about Veronica’s growing obsession with all things her father? how he’s turned into an omnipresent yet unseen, merciful-cum-wrathful god in her life, giveth and taketh away, betraying and bestowing upon the Lodge women, both the reason they had to flee and the solace they gather around in the evening, charming and infecting all people, places, and things Veronica has in her life? because I love it

speaking of fathers, SKEET ULRICH has shaved

he appears to have some very wholesome travel postcards magnetized to the fridge, and I think a Crock-Pot. and an EXTREMELY RESPONSIBLE bowl of fruit on his little kitchen table

FP…….asked to read Jughead’s WIP…....to see how much Jughead knows…….he is……..COLD!!!!!! bow down, Weatherbee, in the presence of a master!

A) Jughead hasn’t titled it yet, the twit

B) FP does some incredible parenting, for sure, calling it “EXCELLENT” (while wearing his wedding ring on his middle finger? COLD!!!!!), saying Jughead has “A GIFT,” which is par for the course required feedback for your high school child’s creative writing, which always sucks, no matter how good it is, proportionally, it always sucks, but you say it’s excellent because you know one day they’re going to end up in a college workshop and they’ll be torn to pieces and they’ll need to be able to go back in their headspace to a safe place and it’ll be you, their father, telling them two years ago that they had “a gift, thank god you’re not wasting it”

C) FP adds one packet of sugar to his 16-oz., EDGY!!!!! can one packet even sweeten anything??? hahahaha I add like six!!! I have an addiction!!!! just like FP!!!

D) “It’s like he chose me.” SHUT UP JUGHEAD

E) FP is not interested in his son’s choosing a thematic focus on Riverdale over plotting, would like a suspect list from the POV of Jason’s peers, who seem to be making much further headway on his death than the cops

F) “Can I make a suggestion?” “That’s what Betty says. And then it turns into a dozen suggestions.” classic workshop couch-phrasing, “a suggestion,” Betty is the editor we all need

Summer + Blair = Veronica: Veronica calls it “a moment” too, like Jughead! GOD BLESS!!!

okay, they DID NOT have sex, like my eyes told me they did. they “crashed in separate beds.” I PLAYED MYSELF

magenta, again, is a FANTASTIC color on Veronica

Archie is “boyfriend material” now? is Veronica huffing glue?

I use Veronica’s “bandwidth” analogue a lot, mostly in regards to making excuses for not calling my mother back, but I say “RAM.” pros/cons? am I old?

I googled it and it looks like bandwidth is data use and RAM is like the space for data use

Betty’s see-through floral collar is just a little bit of heaven

Alice looks awesome! her lace-lined V-neck sweater, almost-trumpet skirt no one looks good in, pinkest pink cardigan!

“Oh my god, mom.”

Joaquin is a “gay greaser serpent”

“which is why I have prepared a seemingly innocuous list of questions”

the Blossoms appear to have a Turner painting of a forest hanging outside the Wig Room

in any other world, the patriarch wearing wigs to hide his grey hair would be a mildly amusing side-note, but on Riverdale it’s like, CLIFFORD IS WEARING RED WIGS. DID HE FREEZE HIS SON’S BODY? POST YOUR ANSWERS ON BLACKBOARD

“If you want to go after Jughead’s dad, I’m in.” I changed my mind. I love Jughead and Veronica not being friends. I CHANGED MY MIND

Cheryl’s black furry jacket!

Betty deserves “nightmare Smurfette.” she does. it’s okay, it’s just that she does deserve it. it’s okay

Gay?!: “co-queens,” CO-QUEENS!!!!

Archie is like, WHOOOOAA, Betty, no??? you don’t want me to? holy—

Archie can’t believe Veronica led him into this deserted science classroom to talk about...the murder investigation. remember three weeks ago, when he knew nothing? he misses those times

Veronica doesn’t really care about Jughead being collateral damage! she acknowledges it abstractly but doesn’t really care!!! MY SLYTHERIN PRINCESS

MOLLY RINGWALD wears a verrrry interesting pine green bathrobe-robe to “pick up” Fred for some lunch that do a lot better things for her coloring than her sweater

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: subtle dig at Hermione with “working for Fred” as opposed to “with” him? or more likely it’s that Fred used that particular preposition talking about her before

Hermione has brought up being a “mean girl in high school” and this being payback before, I think it was in the interview with Fred in the first episode?

why is Betty PHYSICALLY putting up the decorations? surely she has bureaucratic minions to do the literal heavy lifting

PAUSE to reflect on the fact that Polly gets a DAILY MILKSHAKE

………“sleeping quarters”

like they’re racehorses or something??? or on the Titanic? SLEEPING QUARTERS?

“Damn good coffee”:  surely EVERYONE welcomes back Scheming Alice Cooper, baking a peach pie for her character, information-gathering “date,” information-gathering “date,” all the Cooper girls do this

I would not put it past her to be sprinkling some truth-serum shit ONTO the pie, like Charlotte Charles and her homeopathic mood enhancers on Pushing Daisies

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: Alice uses lonely, family-starved Jughead as a round-faced pawn in her game of Get FP and it takes but the merest flexing of this fact in Betty’s face to get Betty to back off

pepperoni and red pepper pizza IS AMAZING, but you know what is even more amazing? green peppers and mixed Greek olives. check it out, Arch

Mary’s hair in the kitchen lighting is this incredible, almost purple-undertone red

Mary has politely not said anything about A) Jughead still wearing his beanie despite being, now, sixteen B) Jughead SLEEPING ON ARCHIE’S FLOOR

JUGHEAD’S FACE when he nods at Archie to get him to agree to like giving permission for his parents to come to the dance, like, Dude, yeah

Fifth period is AP English: I love whatever “So the worm turns” means, even though it’s possibly the creepiest idiom in English (not sourced), and of course it’s in Jughead’s repertoire

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: Episode 11 has blessed us with the true mystery surrounding Riverdale: Jughead’s hair routine. clearly the boy uses a styling mousse after showering and blow-dries it upside down with a round brush to achieve THAT level of bounce and manageability

the female gaze: Archie sleeps shirtless even in this, the dead of an autumnal winter (October)

CAN YOU BELIEVE??!?!!! HOW QUICK ON THE UPTAKE ARCHIE IS ABOUT FP! damn! like damn!!!! “Maybe you should wait” is good enough, like WHOA!, but he totally knows, from Veronica’s prompting hours before in the back of his mind, when Jughead says FP asked to read what’s basically a parallel investigation of the Jason Blossom murder, it AAALLLLL COMES TOGETHER FOR ARCHIE. Archie has never felt this feeling before!!! I’m so proud!!!

Jughead doubts it: Jughead was right about the rendezvous, but he didn’t know it was A RENDEZVOUS FOR MURDER

Veronica was rich: God, the art around the Lodge apartment is SO bland. PLEASE

Archie is going to DO the same thing as Veronica, the snooping, but from a place of PROTECTING Jughead, the opposite as Veronica, which is a spicy cocktail of trouble

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: of course Cheryl and Polly wear kimonos while putting on makeup

of course Cheryl says “fur-reek”

those red lacquer jewelry boxes!!!!

I KNEW THE RING WOULD BE BACK!!!!!!! NANA ROSE!!!!

“Hands off, Gollum.”

the Blossom corpse: Cheryl moves fast from “Pollykins” to threatening Polly’s bodily safety and the gas pedal is Jason

Betty is wearing a pale blue off-the-shoulder dress and looks calmly stunning, like a Disney princess from the 80’s, Jughead is wearing black-on-black-on-black and looks adorable, a suit that fits

FP is presumably NOT swinging by the dance after dinner, while Alice found some very nice dangling Coldwater Creek earrings

Alice’s nail polish is GREY

Best costume bit: Veronica is dressed like a sparkly vampire with a cropped jacket WITH A FUR COLLAR, WITH her new pearls, and Archie is in red-orange velvet. give thanks to the Lord, for He is good

the mounted bass on FP’s wall baffles me every time

Jason threw the ring back at Clifford the morning he ran away? it wasn’t on Polly’s finger?

you knew some shit was about to happen when Penelope WATCHED Polly drink her “daily milkshake”

God, a DAILY MILKSHAKE? this has shaken me to my core

though she is eating for three

Jughead eats: all Jughead gets this episode is the Cooper dinner! is he just being polite? can it possibly be any good?

Hal manages to drag FP and Alice simultaneously by reminding everyone FP lives in a trailer park and reminding everyone Alice threw a brick at him

HOW FAST does FP take back the reins with his “King and Queen of Hell” story? HOW FAST!!!!!

I still can’t believe Archie put those pieces together about FP and Jughead’s story. like I am so excited he did that

“No, this is a fun story, I promise.”

FP KNOWS ABOUT THE FIRST COOPER PREGNANCY, ERGO, THE “APPOINTMENT”, HOW ON EARTH IS THIS POSSIBLE

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: this scene is YET ANOTHER amazing, AMAZING tone-switch by FP wherein he very quietly scares everyone by speaking at a normal pace and tone about something that makes everyone uncomfortable

Betty and Jughead, honestly, have no idea what anyone is talking about now

...or is it black-on-dark blue-on-black? what color is Jughead’s shirt? I’m second-guessing now

Alice’s left eyebrow is legendary and Betty’s stoneface is legendary

the Blossom parents do a bit of an about-face with Cheryl to bring them back to her camp against Polly

Cheryl’s lipstick and nail polish and dress match perfectly, which scares me

Cheryl’s hair: and her hair of course, in an extremely high ponytail, is perfect

Cheryl’s sheaths: and that RED DRESS!!!!!!!

GOOD GOD, THEY’RE STILL IN THAT TRAILER!!!!

Archie is right on the money AGAIN when he says that Veronica is HOPING to find something incriminating because the uncertainty of who Hiram Lodge is is so nerve-wracking for her that she can’t accept another outcome

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” is always a good one to break out, like for parties. Veronica Lodge and Jed Bartlet would probably get along like gangbusters

These students are legally children: I don’t believe even Betty and Jughead would have the temerity to make out DURING a break-in

Archie > Dawson: I think Archie grabs Veronica’s bag FOR HER on the way out because she forgets! Archie is like, like a SUPERHERO this episode!

the Coopers, presuming Jughead is using Betty’s, both have clear umbrellas

FP telling Jughead to be “a gentleman”; “He always is, Mr. Jones.”

although since FP is pimping out one of his gang members for the collective good, I’d be interested to know what being “a gentleman” means, in Southside context

I’m truly hoping that when Jughead got back into the truck, FP was anticipating Jughead asking him some sort of sex question

OR scolding him for making Betty feel weird at dinner

uh, is there a Toledo I don’t know about that isn’t the Toledo in Ohio? I mean, OHIO? TOLEDO, OHIO? WHAT FRESH HELL?

Sixth period is Intro to Film: mark this day, in the year two thousand and seventeen in the Common Era, on which Jughead began a Worry Montage in his head and gazed out at his girlfriend from behind a rainy window, standing in the rain in a party dress staring into the distance, while a Sad Teen Song began playing in the background

am I crazy or is Betty’s little clutch see-through?

Jughead wants to “figure something out together,” continues to long desperately to be in perfect synch with someone despite himself

Gay.: Cheryl does her cover with Betty EXCELLENTLY, turning it into something she can be mean about

Alice and Mary in the girls’ room doing the thing where they only look at each other’s reflections while insulting each other, reapplying lipstick

“What the hell?”: Veronica falls into her mother’s trap wherein if she had just acted like she and Archie were gaily chatting with Alice about their dresses everything would be fine, but instead her facial expression reads explicitly as “I was in a trailer park tonight”

just as when Kevin told Veronica that Mr. Muggs had like, put a gun in his mouth, so does Betty go into A FUGUE STATE as she puts two and two together and realizes Veronica went snooping behind her back

THE CLOSE-UP OF BETTY’S EYES WITH THE STROBE LIGHTS TURNING BLUE AS SHE GAZES STRAIGHT AT VERONICA, UNABLE TO BELIEVE THIS BETRAYAL, HER HEARTBEAT SLOWING LIKE CHRISTIAN BALE’S IN EQUILIBRIUM, BETTY IS ABOUT TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS

Veronica may or may not be slightly afraid in this moment, as she did witness Betty holding a man’s head under boiling water with her high heel

Archie and Veronica’s duet is adorable, because of course it is

but EVEN BETTER, like when Archie was singing at the talent show AND Betty and Jughead discovered Jason’s car, now Archie and Veronica are singing AND the cops are raiding FP’s trailer!!!

what is Cheryl distracted about? her shady parents? is Cheryl distracted about her shady parents at Homecoming??? I love that Cheryl didn’t bother with a back-up date, but rather stands alone in a sea of dancing young people and stares off to the side, distracted by her shady parents, sort of in the way

God bless Moose: Archie swings his guitar around, and Moose is like, YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!! BRO!!!!!!

Please protect Betty: Betty CANNOT. believe. what she is seeing. or coming to understand, rather. is she getting a premonition that something is about to go wrong? because she DOES believe FP is innocent, or she said she does. maybe she just knows that with her mother involved, something bad is imminent anyway

FP feels the ground shift when that lockbox comes out

IS—THAT—MS—GRUNDY’S—GUN????????????? OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!

I love Mary’s super-calm black dress and I love Hermione’s dangly earrings and I even love Fred’s white suit

you KNOW Archie wore Chucks to the dance, please. I think even Jughead is in dark dress shoes! but I guess if he’s performing, he has to stay lowkey, for his brand

Jughead’s shirt is blue. rest easy

Veronica could have delivered that better

Jughead covers his mouth like, EXTREMELY DRAMATICALLY, and points to Archie and Veronica, “these two” with two fingers, he is so beyond, beyond

Betty has on TINY PURPLE BOW EARRINGS

OBVIOUSLY Betty didn’t KNOW about the snooping, I mean, OBVIOUSLY

Jughead, a word. I would like you to calm down. I know you feel big feelings, and that you feel them .5% more than other people. I know you’re under a lot of stress, even though you have fantastic hair, with or without your hat. I know you’re a “creative type.” a “writer,” you know? listen, okay, I think you’re great. but I would like you to calm down with Betty. I was with you in the garage, you know, even in the garage, most of it! but I would like you to stop acting like Betty is the head of a Betty-conspiracy whose goal is to upend your life. Betty CLEARLY, and she IS TELLING YOU, she didn’t know what Archie and Veronica were doing. and you know, YOU KNEW Alice invited FP over to grill him because—because you were right there too!!! it’s not like she was grilling him secretly, in another room! so maybe we can calm down! maybe we can stop snipping at Betty to her face all the time. remember when you climbed a ladder to her bedroom window to check on her (remember when he was in her bedroom?), just because you love her that much? and got all flustered when she smiled at you? can we go back to feeling #blessed in her presence, Betty, the sweetest girl in the world, unless she is Dark Betty? maybe we can try and do that. get back to me

honestly the news that Jughead’s father has been arrested can only have come from Fred, otherwise it would have been too...too cruel…

YOU KNOW WE GOT A LITTLE SCENE OF JUGHEAD TOSSING HIS FATHER’S RUINED FURNITURE AROUND IN TORMENT

my god, but Jughead looks EXACTLY like his dad when he lifts his head back up. he looks EXACTLY like his dad

I don’t know what to make of “I love Jughead”!!!!! I don’t know!!!! she follows it up immediately with him being “like her family,” so it’s probably more like how she can “love” Archie (now) and “love” Veronica, etc., as a chosen family, friend-family-love, you know, agape

—although if she means it romantically, you know Betty and Jughead as a couple are DOOMED!!!!!!! the ticking clock starts now!!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!!!

Alice sees Dark Betty in Betty’s eyes and wisely steps aside

...so I guess Hal put the gun there…? although Fred also knew Alice had the gun? or did he??? I forget who knows what, exactly. I don’t know if Alice told Hal she found that gun. but Fred was at the dance/wants Jughead to be happy/lowkey adores FP, while Hal doesn’t give a damn about the Joneses, right, so like…..who???????

the Lodges sitting on their couch, shell-shocked

Archie is drinking…...a restorative….glass of milk? with like…...a cinnamon stick or something in it? is this MOLLY RINGWALD’S doing?

Riverdale is truly so fucking bonkers that CHICAGO is ostensibly a safer place for Archie to live

Cheryl’s a psychopath: Cheryl “Perry Mason” Blossom using a hand mirror to check on Polly’s breathing

Penelope has Clifford’s “word” that “he will pay” for killing Jason

Betty’s handbag is a see-through plasticky thing with little sparkles and shinys on it, it zips shut, Betty is a princess

are they ASSUMING this gun is the gun that killed Jason, which wouldn’t make a lot of sense, like FP could just have a gun lying around because he’s FP Jones, but if it’s really the gun, like, isn’t it also Ms. Grundy’s gun, like there can’t be TWO guns, like—DID MS. GRUNDY’S GUN KILL JASON???

the leader of a local biker gang has been framed in the murder of a drug-mule football star, who got shot with a pedophile’s gun, probably over maple syrup

NEXT WEEK: RIGHT NOW: has Cheryl slapped Jughead yet? WHY IS SHE SLAPPING JUGHEAD, IS IT A GOOD REASON? FOR GOD’S SAKE, WHY, LIKE, WHY NOT, BUT WHY?

[segadores-y-soldados]

Reaper: References

Alright so that “The game’s in the refrigerator” full audio came back around on my dash and I realized that not everyone probably recognizes Reaper’s references, so I figured I’d make this post to help pool sources and quotes, and also as a potential resource guide in the future.

Lots more under the cut!

A little bit of context

So as most Reaper/Gabriel Reyes fans know, Gabriel is from Los Angeles, California.  Los Angeles is the second-most-populated city in the United States (second only to New York City).  When the Spanish came, they founded a mission in the region named “Mission San Gabriel Arcángel” (wink wink) for the Archangel Gabriel, messenger of God.  For those of you unaware, the original route connecting for the 21 Californian Missions is called “El Camino Real,” or “The Way of Kings”/ “The Royal Way” - whether intentional or not, Gabriel’s last name of “Reyes” means “Kings” in Spanish.  The route is now historic and marked with bells that denote the way.

There are two major “valleys” in California - the Great Valley or Central Valley which spans the majority of the state, and is where the majority of California’s agriculture is grown, and the San Fernando Valley, which is the smaller valley where Los Angeles is located.  Californians can refer to either as simply “The Valley,” but more often than not when someone says they “went to the Valley,” or are “heading to the Valley,” they are referring to the San Fernando Valley.  Among American pop culture, “going to the Valley” is often a reference to someone heading to Los Angeles or Hollywood to try and become famous.  

Lastly, Blizzard’s headquarters are located in Irvine, California, which is one smaller cities that make up the “Los Angeles metropolitan area.”  This is cheekily referenced in the Numbani map, where a flight from “Irvine, CA” is listed as “delayed” on the Airport’s board.  Meanwhile, the Los Angeles flight is still “on time” on the map’s flight board.

Gabriel’s first reference to his ties to L.A. is on the Hollywood map, where he will say the line “Home sweet home” occasionally.

The Los Angeles Lakers

It’s not surprising then that Gabriel is a fan of the Lakers, one of Los Angeles’ two professional NBA basketball teams.  The Lakers have been known to be a strong team for some time (although we can nitpicks over fluctuations in their status), and regardless of how someone might feel about them (...like me), the team has produced some of the greatest players and basketball games in the sport’s history.

Second Reference: “The game’s in the refrigerator.”

The full line is: “The game's in the refrigerator: the door’s closed, the lights out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O's jigglin'!” (note that this is Reaper’s exact line).  This is a nearly dead-on word-for-word quote from a LA Lakers’ commentator, Chick Hearn, who was known for his unique phrases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_Hearn

You can watch the original quote here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVi98BZ2OwA (against the Sacramento Kings!)

The meaning of the phrase is basically that “the game is pretty much over, we pretty much know who won.”

What’s fucking HILARIOUS about this is that by the time the “game” of Overwatch takes place (roughly 2076-2078) the line is almost NINETY YEARS OLD.  Reaper is making a fucking sports reference that, for him, occurred almost a century ago.  

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

Third reference (that may not be finalized): “Kobe, eat your heart out.”

https://clyp.it/y34uzzv0?token=d18fc817b96d0f98c6fd8b1e461a28a7

About 7 months ago, a user on reddit pulled a bunch of then-unused audio lines from the game ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4sz7o8/i_extracted_some_of_the_audio_files_from_the/ ).  Some of them have been used (the Halloween and CNY lines).  Reaper, Lúcio, and Reinhardt have basketball reference audio lines that may or may not make to the game (March Madness event, maybe?).  Reaper’s line is a reference to one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Kobe Bryant, who just retired in 2016.  Kobe spent all 20 years of his professional basketball career on the Lakers and among most Americans is simply referred to as “Kobe.”  A fairly popular “slang term” among Californians (and other Americans) is to say the phrase “Kobe!” when taking a shot - at the hoop, at the trashcan, at...anything really.  The slang version was first popularized by Dave Chapelle, an American comedian.

http://full-lifeconsequences.tumblr.com/post/152446878702

Here, the McElroy Brothers demonstrate how the term is supposed to be used.

...It does not guarantee skill.

Sports, sports, sports!

And this is the one that got me thinkin’ about writing this, because I have yet to see ANYONE talk about this:

Fourth reference: “Welcome to the black hole.” / “Welcome to the Black Hole.”

I’ve offered an alternate version where the words “black hole” are capitalized because the phrase is almost certainly another sports reference.

Another Californian sports reference.

https://youtu.be/X_2hsVvBPS8?t=391 (time 6:30 - I haven’t actually heard him say this in-game tbh)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8rdZ8wBsr4

The most diehard, intense fans of the Oakland Raiders have been called “The Black Hole” for sometime now, due to the fact that they dress in the team’s dominant color of black, accented with silver and/or grey.  These are the primary colors Reaper dresses in as well.  The phrase “Welcome to the Black Hole” is used by these fans as, well, a greeting or a statement.

Oakland is pretty damn far from Los Angeles, but the LA Rams are...not as notorious as the Oakland Raiders.  Oakland is far closer to San Francisco in Northern California (on the other side of the San Francisco Bay).  It has quite the reputation in the U.S. for being a “rough city,” but recently there’s been quite a bit of changes in the area (the gentrification of Oakland and SF Bay as a whole is really not the point of this post).  The Raiders’ entire aesthetic matches Reaper’s to a tee.

Which comes to the next one:

Fifth Reference: “Just win, baby!”

“Just win, baby!” was the catchphrase of one of the most well-known Raiders’ coach Al Davis, who led the team to a era of success in the 60’s and 70’s.  This makes the quote literally over a century old for Reaper (dude’s a nerd, I’m telling you).

“Under Davis' management, the Raiders became one of the most successful teams in professional sports. His motto for the team was "Just win, baby."[1] Davis was active in civil rights, refusing to allow the Raiders to play in any city where black and white players had to stay in separate hotels. He was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach and a female chief executive. He was also the second NFL owner to hire a Latino head coach. He remains the only executive in NFL history to be an assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner, and owner.” - Wikipedia on Al Davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RAlrzcdfRY

The Raiders are unfortunately currently in the process of trying to move to Las Vegas, Nevada unless the city of Oakland can meet the team’s requirements for staying.

Lights, camera, action

And just to round out the group, I’m gonna cover all my bases and get the easier ones out of the way too.

Sixth Reference: “I’m back in black.”

I kinda assume most people are familiar with this one, but in case you are not, this is a reference to the song “Back in Black” by AC/DC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

(God damn, what a fucking good song)

Another song titled “Hell’s Bells” also came from the same album (“Back in Black”) as the song “Back in Black”...yeah it gets a little confusing at times.  The album “art” is easily among the most iconic albums of all time for both its drama and its simplicity:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/ACDC_Back_in_Black.png

Seventh Reference: “If it lives, I can kill it.”

This one is a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger's line “If it bleeds, we can kill it.” from the movie Predator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNr0WXQ3Ho4

Notably, Schwarzenegger is one of the more recent “Hollywood movie stars” to have become a prominent Californian politician.  (Also notably, the Soldier: 76 skin “Commando” is another reference to another Schwarzenegger film “Commando” - aka the original “Taken”.)

Eighth Reference: Death Blossom

This one was new to me too!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/5ufces/til_death_blossom_is_in_fact_an_actual_military/ddtjbzy/

“Death Blossom” is a reference from the movie “The Last Starfighter” as a “last-minute surprise attack” where all enemies are obliterated in a “guns-blazing” “death spin.”

https://youtu.be/nmPGuMGs8cg?t=125 (time: 2:05)

(Seriously, please watch the link, I’m begging you)

The term has been picked up by American military members as a reference to surprise attacks where someone goes in “guns-blazing” as a final-resort attack.

Ninth Reference: “I’m not a psychopath - I’m a high-functioning psychopath.”

Finally - a reference that isn’t already thirty to forty years old.  This one comes from the BBC series “Sherlock,” in which the modern version of Sherlock Holmes says as a retort to accusations that he’s a “crazy psychopath”: “I’m not a psychopath - I’m a high-functioning sociopath.”  (I believe modern psychology does not differentiate between the two anymore, although really, neither term is particularly medical or scholarly.)

Reaper’s turn-of-phrasing on this one is meant to be cheeky and sarcastic: he’s correcting people by pointing out that he’s not “not just a psychopath” but an “ultra, high-functioning psychopath.”  Interestingly, there’s a concept among the modern theories of psychopathy that there are “successful psychopaths” - people who have low empathy abilities, exhibit ruthless behaviors, and may manipulate others to get what they want, but typically have the social skills to stay out of jail for any crimes they may (or may not) commit.  The hypothesis argues that many CEOs, politicians, lawyers, etc. are possibly “successful psychopaths” who channel their behaviors into economic or social successes.

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/were-only-human/psychopath-successful-psychopath.html

“They found that fearless dominance was significantly associated with overall presidential performance, leadership, public persuasiveness, communication ability and willingness to take risks. Scientists have examined the relation between fearless dominance and “everyday heroism”—that is, altruism entailing social or physical risk, like administering CPR to a stranger in need. Fearless dominance was associated with such everyday heroism, and it was also associated with early wartime heroism among U.S. presidents.

“So are psychopaths and heroes simply “twigs from the same branch”? Perhaps, although the successful psychopath remains something of a scientific enigma. This provisional evidence points to some tantalizing possibilities, but we still do not know for sure why one person with pronounced psychopathic traits ends up as a habitual and cold-blooded criminal, while another ends up as the prototype for Agent 007.”

(Please note that this is not an academic, scholarly, or medical piece - merely a conversation-starter)

And last but not least:

Keith Ferguson, Reaper’s American voice actor, was born and continues to live in Los Angeles.

http://thebageltron.tumblr.com/post/145037436303/i-still-cant-believe-reaper-and-bloo-share-the

So the real question we need to be asking Blizzard is:

WHEN WILL REAPER GET A “It’s hot in Topeka” LINE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_IlsPypwZs

[johnchiarello]

Sunday sermon

SUNDAY SERMON  5-5-19

 Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

 Blog- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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

Site- https://ccoutreach87.com/

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

Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber

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

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

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

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

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

  Sunday sermon- https://youtu.be/dsS4o0gxBkY

http://ccoutreach87.com/10-29-17-sunday-sermon/

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/10-29-17-sunday-sermon.zip 

 ON VIDEO-

.Don’t oppress the stranger/alien

.Local story- young  ‘alien’ at children's hospital

.Poverty mentality?

.From you the word goes forth

.Where was Jesus going?

.Not just a place [heaven]

.But to God [he showed us where he was going- revealed the Father to us- and the way to get there- revealed himself as well- not just how to ‘get to heaven’- but to be with God- now- and later]

.The great commandment

.The book of Job? [about employment?- my short parable]

.What is Wisdom literature?

.Covered lots of history-

.Jerome's Latin Vulgate

.Protestant Reformation

.Erasmus Greek version

.Luther's early days- his guilt complex

.Luther visits Rome

.Crisis of faith

.Then came Romans 1

.Luther debates Rome- John Eck and cardinal Cajetan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Eck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cajetan 

.Tetzel- purgatory and the treasury of merit

.Frederick the Wise

.The Catholic church warned against too many divisions

.They had a point

.Luther's ‘straw epistle’?

.The letter of James

.The works/faith debate

.Politics also played a role

.The rise of the nation state

.Henry the 8th broke away too-

.He had personal reasons

.Thomas Moore wouldn’t go along

.He lost his head

.And much more…

 OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I post every night]

5-2-19  News update https://youtu.be/jnQH7fQp_6g

12-10-17 Sunday sermon  https://youtu.be/qNVuuTMZch4

Story of scripture  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgXDzn9vfJKeRkMxM

Easter star  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n8w58R50xoToGt24HumVgDPJaqjK42qc/view?usp=sharing

Marcus  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhSaQj4TVzf-UlsY_

Acts 21  https://mega.nz/#!WDhChQbT!WXJo8cNQ7AXCU1Q4CC580bbZt5-Xnr3hxj8L2MV-JjM

1st Samuel 14  https://icedrive.net/0/3b9OXDaUjC

11-26-17  Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZpnNURITbiAb3znPLO4x3xPDUbi6-NO/view?usp=sharing

2-25-18  Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgU_L0Bm4CRD7Ybne

5-1-19 Homeless friends- teaching https://youtu.be/i4Z3uqmfmCg

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205603870934308/

Romans 11-13  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhSdOBHOVib2Za3Vx

Jonah 4  https://drive.google.com/file/d/12T8vUW6bbp79UttazqoTmc5NAbs6YZZu/view?usp=sharing

2nd Samuel 24  https://www.dropbox.com/s/rh3fynei6y2p0x8/2-28-17%20Hackensack%20%5B2nd%20Sam.%2024%5D.mp4?dl=0

The Decree of the watchers  https://dai.ly/x753r1r

1-21-18  Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMfCgGdBgwx8elRZM

Romans 1-3  https://www.dropbox.com/s/nubk60eh5h1n1fi/2-3-15%20Romans%201-3.mp4?dl=0

Ephesians 6  https://www.bitchute.com/video/CsVbaNULKyLJ/

Behold my servant https://youtu.be/VbG4OqBaEPE

Mark 2  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVUXX1UMJDz9ziRD

Friends  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vWUYySXMmUGcYBEKWeN05LLjVSY_kOrX/view?usp=sharing

Mark 1  https://www.dropbox.com/s/49b8bh5sprt7lfy/2-27-17%20Jersey%20City%20ride%20%5BMark%201%5D.mp4?dl=0

Sunday night  https://flic.kr/p/2fBvRXo

Mark 11  https://d.tube/v/ccoutreach/xdwcdey2

3-11-18  Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgW6974fH046AmG0i

Mercy Seat  https://www.dropbox.com/s/8cudu26z7zacq3f/2-28-16%20Mercy%20seat%20%5B1cor%2011-%202%20cor%201%5D.mp4?dl=0

Mark 4 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgW3XTqVzIMRFIUb0

1-13-16  Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P6d3ERHcKVV70XIBYv7H3VlEs0iTbhwf/view?usp=sharing

2-25-18  Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/4f7l13sn3l4yink/2-25-18%20Sunday%20sermon.mp4?dl=0

4-16-17 Easter https://dai.ly/x750477

Jesus and Tolstoy  https://www.dropbox.com/s/2sxb9iidhruanlo/2-26-17%20Jesus%20and%20Tolstoy.mp4?dl=0

Rams horn https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhSHZoecW2RA2QzVu

8-27-17 Sunday Mass  https://flic.kr/p/RUYYWg

Moses https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhRtLQTP3ogTjDo30

Jonah- revelation  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OdlzAnSwG2AG3ZmPWzjOj3pP6YwLFVui/view?usp=sharing

Romans 8-10  https://www.dropbox.com/s/533k3rb0c32rzfi/2-24-15%20Romans%208-10.mp4?dl=0

Kings 13  https://mega.nz/#!eOhlRKoJ!GIcrounr9B3H-W-UDxBsgP2vWezpeiwsGug6juJbLOs

Colossians 1  https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZTy9C7Zr7zH5GzREhyl4bczgHwFU5tcwe6V

Real time teaching  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMilouZc8l-KtF-hs4

To God be the glory  https://www.dropbox.com/s/fwn8pwgelgyqd6m/2-25-16%20To%20God%20be%20the%20glory.mp4?dl=0

More than 1 everything? https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhR2Vpr7rhxkiLwQc

Samuel 25  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TKxmeJLFkiFFu_HzpFSdbAHdXIYV3uY_/view?usp=sharing

Kings 20  https://www.dropbox.com/s/feq1brdvfl1x0nh/2-22-18%20Kings%2020.mp4?dl=0

4-15-18  Sunday sermon  https://dai.ly/x750478

Isaiah 53  https://flic.kr/p/2fCbk52

Teaching  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMilxNimhHJ5e9WBqc

11-5-17  Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/qg07nx2u5j76qvq/11-5-17%20Sunday%20Sermon.mp4?dl=0

     I taught way too much on this video- at least too much for me to write a new section- so I simply added all of my past teachings below that relate. I covered lots of church history as well- and decided to just post my whole past teaching on the Reformation.

I talked about the importance of the epistle of James and how it relates to the Catholic/Protestant divide- and posted that too- as well as other stuff I spoke about on this video.

Overall I guess it was meant to be- either way- there is more than enough on this post for those who want to get more in depth on the issues I hit on-

John.

 PAST POSTS- [verses below]

https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/

https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel-links-updated-3-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ 

https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ 

https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/

https://ccoutreach87.com/mark-links/ 

https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ 

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

 PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER

 Okay- let’s start a brief overview of some church history. Over the next few weeks I want to hit on the 16th century Protestant reformation and try and cover some of the key figures of the movement.

 Martin Luther- the German reformer who had the most influence in the movement was born and raised in Germany.

 As a boy his parents were peasant farmers and eventually his dad became a miner and became a very successful businessman- he would go on and eventually own 6 foundries.

 He sent his son to law school- and young Luther excelled. At the age of 21 he accomplished more than many of his peers. One day on his way home from the university a thunderstorm broke out and Luther was almost struck by a bolt of lightning.

 In fear he cried out to Saint Ann [the mother of Mary] and said ‘Saint Ann- if you save me I will become a monk’ [Ann was the patron Saint for miners- thus Luther was familiar with her].

 He was spared and off to the monastery he went. Luther eventually became an ordained priest and even though his dad initially was upset that his son became a priest- yet he was proud of his boy later on.

 Luther would eventually make a Pilgrimage to Rome- on foot [a few month walk from Germany to Rome!] and what he saw devastated him. Rome- and the Vatican- were in bad shape. Many of the priests lived in open sin- and the city that he saw as his headquarters for the faith- well it was a mess.

 Luther made the famous penitent walk/crawl up the stairs of the Lateran church [this church was the most famous church before the construction of St. Peters. The actual stairs of the church are the same stairs that Christ walked up during his trial under Pontius Pilate. Yes- you hear many ‘stories’ while studying church history- things like the relics or left over pieces of the Cross- well these stories are usually fake. But the stairs of the Lateran church are indeed the same stairs that Christ walked on- the early ‘church’ builders dismantled the stairs at Pilate’s court in Jerusalem and installed them at this church building in Rome].

 When Luther got to the top of the stairs- it is reported that he questioned the faith- he had a crisis of faith and thought that maybe the whole thing was a sham.

 Okay- as we do a few more posts over the coming weeks- I want you guys to see that the main players of the Reformation were sincere Catholic men who had many questions about what they saw as corrupt in their own church. These men did not want to start a breakaway church- they simply wanted to reform the church they loved.

 Keep in mind that Luther excelled during his legal studies- he had a keen legal mind- this will be important later on when we see the debates he has with Rome over the doctrine of Justification by faith- the letters of the apostle Paul [Romans- Galatians] use lots of legal language- and his early education will help him in these debates.

 Okay- that’s it for today. Maybe do a Google search on Luther and familiarize yourself a little with the history.

 The ‘readings’ for this week are 2nd Samuel 6-7 and Psalms 89. See what they have in common.

   [1768] LUTHER- THE TOWER EXPERIENCE

  Let’s start with some church history. In the last post I covered the early years of Martin Luther- probably the most significant figure of the Protestant Reformation.

 Luther studied for the priesthood in Erfurt, Germany. He would eventually wind up in Wittenberg- one of the major university cities of the Reformation. Wittenberg was actually a small insignificant town- but the political leader over the region- Frederick the Wise- sought to put it on the map.

 He wanted to turn Wittenberg into a German ‘Rome’. He wanted it to become a major Pilgrimage city where Christians would see Wittenberg as a destination- just like they saw Rome.

 So Frederick embarked on this plan and he searched thru all the Catholic learning centers of the time and finally recruited 3 top scholars to teach out of the university at Wittenberg- Luther was one of the 3.

 Just as a side note- Frederick would succeed at making Wittenberg a major catholic center. He would eventually obtain over 19,000 Relics for the Cathedral church there [Relics were used in the ancient system of buying indulgences and making special pilgrimage trips to important Churches. If the church/city that your making the Pilgrimage to has a lot of Relics- bones or other famous material objects from church history- then the value of the Pilgrimage was high. In theory Frederick collected so many that if you added up all the ‘time off’ from Purgatory- you would get 1 million, 900 thousand years off! Some of the famous relics at Wittenberg were a hair from the beard of Jesus- straw from the manger Jesus was born in- and even a branch from the famous burning bush of Moses! As you can see- there was a lot of commercializing going on- even back then].

 When Luther arrived in Wittenberg- he made a name for himself as a top scholar. Many protestants- who revere Luther- usually are not aware that he was a master Linguist [sort of like Rick Perry!]

 Yes Luther mastered language- and he showed it in his teaching on the book of Psalms.

 In 1515 he began his famous study on the book of Romans and as he went thru the very first chapter- something shook him. He came across the passage that says the Just shall live by faith. This verse first appears in the O.T. book of Habakkuk- and is quoted 3 more times in the N.T.

 Luther was very aware of the concept of the righteousness of God- he struggled for many years trying to reconcile his own sinful nature with Gods holiness- but he never really ‘saw’ the biblical concept of righteousness as a free gift that God ‘imputes’ to the sinner.

 Yes- for the 1st time in Luther’s life- after his years training for the priesthood- the pilgrimage he made to Rome- the thousands of hours he spent confessing his sins while a monk in Erfurt- he never really understood that the righteousness of God was a free gift given to those who have faith.

 It was a giant weight lifted from his shoulders- Luther did not need to try any more to live up to the standards of God- in  a way that would earn for him forgiveness- but he would simply believe- and the righteousness of God would be counted to him as a gift.

 Luther would go on to call this an Alien Righteousness- that is it is not found within the person who tries to do all the church works he can- or buying all the indulgences- or any other of the many religious actions he was practicing- but this free gift of being right with God- it came to those who had faith- the Just shall live by Faith- this was indeed good news for the scholar.

 As time went on- Germany would get embroiled in the political machinations of the day- Luther’s top political cover was Frederick the Wise- hardly a Protestant Reformer! He spent lots of time trying to make Wittenberg the major Catholic center in Germany.

 But at the time there was a political fight raging between Rome and some of the other nation/states. There was a figure head office called the Holy Roman Emperor. This office was really in name only- but it rose up during the first Millennium of Christian history and sought to replace the influence that Rome was losing.

 So you had France, Spain and England all vying for the title. Eventually it would go to King Charles of Spain- but the Pope- who played a major role in nominating the person- he did not want any of these top 3 to get the position. Henry the Eighth was the king of England at the time- and these ‘3 kings’ were sort of in competition with Rome- so the Pope tried to get Fredrick the Wise to throw his hat into the ring.

 Frederick just happened to be one of the Electors of this position.

 His actual title was The Elector of Saxony.

 So Fredrick had lots of influence- and as Rome would eventually but heads with the stubborn bull of Wittenberg [Luther] Frederick would become the major protector of Luther.

 Okay- I think we’ll stop here for today. The experience that Luther had- the enlightenment that came to him while teaching the book of Romans- this is often called The Tower experience of Luther- it took place in the year 1515.

  [1770] TREASURY OF MERIT

 Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation.

 In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.

 In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.

 The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role.

 It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes.

 If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region.

 Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church.

 At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church.

 Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.

 It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them.

 So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time.

 So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.

 Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.

 So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences.

 What’s an Indulgence?

 Okay- this is where it gets tricky.

 The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years.

 You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.

 The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.

 The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession].

 When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance.

 One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.

 In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.

 So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful.

 Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.

 It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.

 But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account].

 The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.

 It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them.

 But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement.

 As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine.

 There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change.

 Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process.

 Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God.

 The idea- applied to Christ- is good.

 But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.

     www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com 

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John

 [1773] LUTHER CLASHES WITH ROME

   Let’s do another post on the Protestant Reformation. I’ll probably only do a few more before I transition into another study.

 By the way- all the studies I do thru out the year are posted in the February posts of the following year.

 Okay- last we left off Luther was just beginning to butt heads with the church [Tetzel] over the abuse of the sale of indulgences that was going on in Germany.

 In a previous post I mentioned how the priest- Tetzel- was selling these ‘get out of Purgatory’ type coupons in the area where Luther operated out- Saxony.

 Actually- Tetzel never entered Saxony itself- but was selling these out of a bordering city- and many of Luther’s students/parishioners were being hoodwinked into spending their money to rescue a loved one out of Purgatory.

 Tetzel is known for a jingle he started in connection with the sale of the indulgence- it goes ‘as soon as a coin in the coffer rings- a soul in Purgatory springs’- ouch!

 Like I said before- the church never taught this- they did teach the Treasury of Merit [previous post] but the way Tetzel used it was a real abuse of the teaching of the church at the time.

 Now- Luther responds to the abuse by writing the famous 95 thesis. This is the act that is often associated with the launching of the Reformation- the act that got the ball rolling.

 The 95 thesis were simply 95 questions challenging the whole practice of the sale of indulgences- there was no mention of the doctrine of Justification by Faith- which will become the trumpet sound that springs out of the Protestant Reformation.

 Luther takes these questions- written in Latin- and nails them to the university church door at Wittenberg. Sometimes while reading church history this ‘nailing to the door’ is seen as a sort of vandalism - you know- ‘he nailed them to the door!’

 In actuality Luther was simply using the system of the day that one scholar would use in order to bring up an official point of contention with the church- Luther wrote the Thesis in Latin- which was the scholars language- not the language of the common man.

 But Luther’s students quickly translated the Thesis into the vernacular [German] and it was said that in 2 weeks the paper made it into every village of Germany.

 The challenge was a spark in the lives of many Christians who also believed the church was off track and that someone needed to rebuke her- and they picked Luther as the man for the job.

 Now- the Catholic church wanted Luther to go to Rome and discuss the situation there- Luther’s friends warned him not to go- so they agreed to meet- a few times- in Germany.

 The first meeting was in 1518 at Heidelberg- Luther actually gave a great defense of his argument and convinced some other top Catholic scholars that he was right [as a side note- the church had already scheduled this meeting because of a controversy that rose up between the Augustinian order of monks and the Dominicans. They were debating over which philosophy was more consistent with church teaching- Nominalism or Realism- for those of you who have read the posts this past year- I taught this when doing our posts on philosophy].

 One man- Martin Bucer- wrote a stirring account of Luther- Bucer would later influence another young Swiss priest with  Reformation teachings- his name is John Calvin.

 As a side not Calvin will become one of the 3 big heavy hitters of the 16th century Reformation [Ulrich Zwingli is the 3rd].

 Luther will meet again in Augsburg- and debate the leading Catholic scholar of the day- Cardinal Cajetan.

 Then he goes to the city of Leipzig- and debates the leading German scholar- Johann Eck.

 And his last meeting with the church will be at the famous Diet of Worms [pronounced- Vurmtz] and it will be here that Luther makes his last stand and officially will break with the church and launch the Protestant Reformation.

 It should be noted that Luther held what we call a High Church position for most of this time- he still saw the church at Rome- and the Pope- as a legitimate expression of true Christianity- his beef was what he saw as an abuse of the system- by the priest Tetzel.

 As time progressed- the other beliefs of Luther- founded upon the bible- did come into contention with Rome.

 The main disagreement eventually became the teaching in the bible called Justification by faith. I have written a study on the topic on the blog- I have also written a bible study on the book of Romans and Galatians.

 For those of you who can- try and read Romans chapters 2-4 and Galatians 2-3- these are the key chapters that cover the teaching.

 Down the road I will cover the official teaching of both the Protestants and the Catholics on the doctrine of justification- the Catholic Council of Trent- referred to as the Counter Reformation- spells out the official teaching of Rome- and there are a few papers put out by the Reformers that explain their belief.

 Since the 16th century Reformation there have been efforts made by Protestants and Catholics to bridge the gap as much as possible- to try to come to some common language since the historic split.

 I like some of the efforts that have been made- and recently both groups put out a statement that jointly said we all believe that we are saved by Gods grace thru Christ- that’s good.

 But as we get into some of the actual discussion- you will see the points at which the 2 sides disagreed- and the main one was on the act- the actual thing that happens- when a person is declared just- the Reformers said it takes place when a person has faith- believes- the Catholic church said it takes place at baptism- water baptism.

 This- as well as a few other things- will be a defining distinction between the 2.

     www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com 

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John

  1775- WHAT DID HE SAY?

  Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying church history.

 But I have found over the years that a lot of independent type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good church folk back on the balanced course.

 A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt God wanted.

 At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using.

 After a while I realized that some of the stuff was so off course- that if they didn’t make some major course corrections at the time- that they were going  to end up spending their entire Pastorate teaching stuff that is out right false.

 I have talked a lot about this over the years- and the examples are too numerous to cover them all- but a good example is the ‘Camel going thru the eye of a Needle’ verse.

 One time Jesus and his men were going thru town and a young  rich guy asks Jesus what he must do to be saved.

 A pretty straight forward question- right to the point.

 Jesus tells the guy to keep the law- the guy asks which ones.

 Ah- now you’re digging yourself in brother.

 So Jesus says to love God and his neighbor- these are the top ones.

 He asks ‘and who is my neighbor’?

 Jesus goes on and gives an explanation- and he also tells the guy to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor- and follow him.

 The guy goes away sad  because he was rich.

 Then Jesus says ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a Camel to go thru the Eye of a Needle’.

 What?

 The disciples [I think Peter?] say ‘then who can be saved’?

 Jesus says with men it is impossible- but not with God- with God all things are possible.

 [just a quick side note- I haven’t read all these stories in a while- trust me- they are all in the bible- but I might have mixed a few together- but the main point stays the same]

 Okay- in context- what could Jesus be saying about the camel and the needle?

 It sure seems like he’s using a figure of speech  that would mean ‘look- the guy is too attached to his money to fully give himself over to being a follower of me- maybe down the road he will change- but he’s not ready yet’.

 Seems reasonable to me- don’t you think?

 But wait- in the group of pastors/teachers that were popular at the time- one of the main teachings was how to get rich- and they saw financial increase as the main thing- I mean that’s what they focused on  all the time.

 So what do you do with verses like these?

 You simply change them- you make them say what you want.

 So the ‘true’ explanation for the Camel and the Needle became ‘the Eye of the Needle is the name of a low passage way thru the wall into the city- and the merchants- if they have lots of stuff- well the Camel has to stoop low to get thru’.

 Aha- so what seems to mean ‘rich folk will have a hard time making the kingdom’ really means something else- as a matter of fact- it means the opposite- because the Camels that have to ‘scooch’ belong to the owners who have a lot of goods- thus the Camel has to get low.

 Okay- maybe as rank amateurs this stuff was not the unpardonable sin- but many of these men are still teaching this type of stuff- and this one example is the tip of the iceberg- I could go on for a long time quoting all them but that’s not the point for now.

 The main point is- if Christians separate themselves from the broader church- not just talking about ‘going to church’ but talking about the broad understanding that the people of God have- the books and teachings of those who have gone before us- not just one small group- but the whole community- then we will avoid these kinds of pitfalls.

 As we do a few more posts in the coming weeks on church history- we will see this was one of the things restored by the Protestants Reformers during the 16th century.

 Luther restored what’s referred to as the Literal Sense- that when you read the bible- you should be able to take it at face value- as much as possible.

 Sure- you also want to ‘hear God’ speak in a personal way- but if what your hearing is the exact opposite of what the text is saying- well then we do have a problem.

     www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com 

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John

  1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION

  Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith?

 Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!] both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works.

 Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest- named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to obey Gods law and become saved that way.

 He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the Grace of God.  The official Catholic position was to reject Pelagius and accept Augustine.

 Okay- then where’s the difference?

 The church council that spells it out is the Council of Trent [named after the Italian city where the council took place in the 1500’s- Trento].

 This council is often referred to as the Counter Reformation. The church rejected the Protestant line- but also acknowledged the need for reform and made some changes.

 This is the council where the church rejects Pelagianism- and also says the position of Luther [Justification by Faith ALONE] was flawed.

 The church appealed to the New Testament letter of Saint James- where James uses an example from the life of Abraham [found in Genesis 22] where Abraham obeys God and is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar.

 Of course this never happens- God was simply testing Abraham- but James says this act of obedience justified him in Gods sight.

 James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not by faith ALONE’.

 The argument from Rome was Faith played THE major role in justification- but was not sufficient by itself- there had to be righteous works eventually associated with it in order for God to say ‘you are just’ [saved].

 Luther disagreed and said God justified Abraham before he had good works- we find this in Genesis 15. God says to Abraham ‘look- count all the stars- so shall your offspring be’ and Walla- the bible also says Abraham was justified in God's eyes the moment he believed the promise.

 Who’s right?

 Actually they both are.

 I have taught this a few times over the years- and it would take too much time to re-do right now.

 But I believe James and Paul [the 2 who debate this in the bible] are simply looking at different aspects of salvation/justification.

 Paul emphasized faith- and James showed us how true faith always has works with it.

 When you read the statements that came out from the council of Trent- some of them do seem to indicate that both sides might have been talking past each other at some points.

 In the heat of the day they were too quick to condemn the other side- without really trying hard to achieve unity [like politics!].

 The 6th session of Trent was the one where the church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight].

 Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that justifies.

 Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the ‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a state of Grace.

 This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance [confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference between Mortal and Venial sin.

 Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin.  If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat drunk- mortal.

 This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up.

 Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the Mortal/Venial sins.

 Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin.

 I just threw this in to show you the debates that take place.

 The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine.

 The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide- severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the Saints.

 But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this.

 Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as much- if not more- than John Calvin.

 But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear every so often.

  Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject.

 Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one].

 Why is it important that we study this?

 In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are commonly misunderstood on both sides.

 It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’.

 The original Reformers did not have a problem with confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion.

 And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than Paul [who the protestants focus on].

 So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the day God does desire unity for all his people.

 The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK. In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in the church.

 He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids.

 I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin- and Jesus.

 Amen.

    www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com 

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John

 (901)SAMUEL 18- David is accepted by Saul and seen as a hero. Upon his victory over the giant all the women begin praising and worshipping in the streets with tambourines and musical instruments. Why this exuberant awakening of the women of Israel? It seems to me that David’s skill as a warrior/worshiper brought a degree of respect to the ministry of praise and music that might have been lacking up until this time. Even though the Lord instilled worship as an intricate part of warfare [Judah=praise], yet it seems likely that being a musician during a time in Israel’s history where violence and war were respected might have been seen as a less than noble pursuit. So David restored a sort of freedom and respectability to praise. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, becomes ‘linked’ to David in a strong way. Some advocates of the gay lifestyle have actually tried to use this scripture to defend the gay lifestyle, but it seems to simply be saying that Jonathan and David became best of friends. What might have caused this initial bonding? Don’t forget Jonathan himself was a warrior who was willing to lay it all on the line against great odds. He already confronted the enemy single-handedly and won! It’s possible that during Goliaths 40 days of mocking and tempting Israel that Jonathan said ‘I’ll do it dad’ and Saul would have never allowed his own son to face the giant. If so then the victory of David was even sweeter to Jonathan than the others. David begins receiving praise from the people because of his wisdom and skill on the battlefield. Jealousy arises in Saul and he tries to kill David with a spear. This begins the history of Saul trying to kill David on various occasions and David’s noble responses. Never trying to hurt Saul himself. Let’s end this chapter with a re-cap of the open type worship that is happening with the women under David’s ministry. It is much like the taboo that Jesus broke in the gospels. Jesus ministry was revolutionary in the way he welcomed and allowed women to be an open part of his ministry. The other written works of the day did not see women from this open standpoint. This is one of the proofs used to defend the canonicity of the scripture. If the stories were all being made up, then you would never include women in this way. Because it would tend to discourage others from believing the story! Jesus broke barriers, David’s ministry and rule will be a picture of the restoration of the dignity and usefulness of women in society. David’s Psalms were actually the song book of the nation. These songs were written during the time of David’s ministry in Jerusalem when the tent of David was the only thing containing the retrieved Ark of the Covenant. A type of the open access that would come to all people under the future ministry of Jesus. David was not only a great warrior, he was a passionate worshipper of his God.

Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru out Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits ‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’ for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading it].  Those who grasped onto this false idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys preaching’?  If you by pass the difficult road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us, that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans? The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together in the same verse, it is not saying ‘saved’ in the sense of some sinner’s prayer. It is speaking of the ongoing, promised deliverance [from many things, not just wrath!] to the ‘justified caller’. We have access ‘by faith into this grace wherein we stand’. Wow! That's some good stuff, Jesus ever lives so that those who come to him are ‘being saved’ to the uttermost. This grace we are in is available to us all of the time, are we availing ourselves of it?

 ROMANS 5:10-21 ‘For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son… much more we shall be saved by his life’. Now, some have ‘divided’ the role of Jesus death and resurrection in salvation. I heard a radio preacher teach that all the people who think they are ‘saved’ because Jesus died for them were deceived. He used this verse to say they need to believe in his ‘life’ [resurrection] to ‘be saved by his life’. Well I get the point, but he was missing the meaning of the verse. Why? Because once again we see ‘saved’ as initially ‘getting saved’ while here it is in a continual sense. Paul is saying ‘if God reconciled us [justification] while we were deadly enemies, how much more shall the actual ministry and life of Jesus at Gods right hand do for us!’ The New Testament teachers that we have actually entered into an eternal covenant with God thru his Son. Jesus ‘ever lives’ to make intercession for us [Hebrews]. Therefore he is able to ‘save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’. The bible teaches an ongoing ‘saving’ relationship that believers have with the Messiah. This ‘relationship’ would not be possible if he were dead. Now we ‘joy in God thru Jesus Christ from whom we have received the atonement’ good stuff! Isaiah says God will meet with those who ‘rejoice and do what is right’. We have both of these ‘abilities’ because of the atonement. The rest of the chapter teaches the Pauline doctrine of original sin. That because Adam sinned, death and sin passed to all men. So likewise the ‘righteousness’ of one man [Jesus- the last Adam] has passed upon all men [those who receive of the abundance of grace and the gift of life]. This is an interesting angle that Paul uses to teach redemption. He shows the reality that there are only 2 ‘federal heads’ of mankind. You are either in the first or last Adam. The ‘righteous act’ is speaking of the Cross [Philippians says Jesus was ‘obedient unto death’. The singular act of obedience that allows this righteousness to pass to all who believe is the Cross. Some have misunderstood this chapter to teach that the obedient life of Christ, his sinless life, saves us. I feel this is a wrong reading of the chapter. The sinless life of Jesus, pre Cross, made him the true candidate to be the substitute for man. He was able to die in our place [obedience unto death] because he was the sinless Son of God. We are now ‘saved by his life’ because he ever lives to make intercession for us]. All who believe in Jesus can now trace their lineage to the ‘last Adam’ [Jesus] and be free from ‘original sin’.

JAMES-2015-VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED

JAMES 1

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-28-15-james-intro-chapter-1.zip

 Try and watch this video- I cover lots of stuff that place this letter in context for this study. [ Read acts 10,11,15, Galatians 1-2]

Intro-

This letter was written by James- the brother of Jesus.

He was one of the main church leaders at the church in Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15.

This [Acts 15] was the first church council in the history of Christianity.

I already taught the book of Romans written by the apostle Paul.

And as we read the New Testament in context- we can see the reason why James penned this letter- and addressed it to Jewish believers.

Paul was the most influential missionary in the early church- he established most of the gentile churches we read about in the bible [Rome being the exception].

He also wrote most of the letters that make up our New Testament.

His main teaching was Justification by faith.

There was a division we read about in the bible- between some of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem- and the churches Paul was planting [the church council mentioned above- was convened over this issue].

This division was based on the teaching of Paul- and some Jewish believers in Jerusalem accused Paul of rejecting the Mosaic Law.

Paul defended himself in the letters of the New Testament [Romans/Galatians] and even talks about his visits to the leaders at the church in Jerusalem.

Now- in this context- it seems fitting for James- the main church leader of the Jewish brothers- to ‘set the record straight’.

And to write his own letter- showing the importance of GOOD WORKS- and even saying ‘see how a man is justified/saved by works- and not by faith alone’.

The higher critics of Christianity [who you have heard me talk about in recent videos] will teach that James and Paul ‘taught different theologies’.

 I do not agree with them.

But- our bibles are an early collection of the Real Time things that were taking place in the early church.

At the time these men were writing these letters- they were not writing them as a complete canon [book] - but were writing them as you or I would write a letter to another person.

In the wisdom of God- I think it is possible for these men to have seen different aspects of the manifold wisdom of God- and maybe they were not fully seeing the other writer’s point of view.

To me- this would not be a criticism of the canon of scripture- but it would show us that God used these men- thru their experiences- and yes- even disagreements- to write the letters that make up our bibles-

And in time- they would indeed become the official teaching of the church-

Embracing a broad range of Divine Revelation- that in the end- does NOT CONTRADICT itself- but instead makes a complete work- which we call the bible.

This letter is short- and packed with short verses of great wisdom.

It is the only New Testament letter that falls into the category of Wisdom Literature-

Meaning a particular genre’ of writing- like Proverbs in the Old Testament.

Because of this- I am going to post each chapter of the letter during this teaching- for those of you who have never read the bible all the way thru-

I want to challenge you to read these short chapters over the next few weeks.

I will comment and add historical stuff in this teaching- like I did in the other recent studies.

But most of all- read each chapter for yourself- ask God to give you wisdom- and apply the instruction of this letter to your life.

It is a very practical- straight forward teaching that comes to us from the brother of Jesus himself.

As I have been commenting on the other writings that did not make it into our bibles- like the Gnostic gospels-

One of the reasons these extra biblical writings have so much appeal-

Is because they claim to have other teachings- from/about Jesus- that are not in the bible.

For those of us who reject these other writings- as canon-

The letter of James kind of fills the void of ‘we want to know more about what Jesus taught’.

This would be the letter to read- because James grew up with Jesus- in the same home.

He was the oldest sibling of the Holy Family-

And he was not a follower of Jesus until after the resurrection of Christ.

He was one of the witnesses Jesus appeared to after his resurrection [Paul told us this in Corinthians].

So- if anyone has any ‘secret insight’ into the other stuff Jesus taught- it would be James.

END NOTES-

ACTS 10,11,15.

GALATIANS 1,2.

   James 1-

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

James 1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

James 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

James 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

James 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

END NOTES-

ACTS 10,11,15.

GALATIANS 1,2.

Acts 10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

Acts 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Acts 10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

Acts 10:4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

Acts 10:5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

Acts 10:6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

Acts 10:7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;

Acts 10:8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

Acts 10:9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:

Acts 10:10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,

Acts 10:11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

Acts 10:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

Acts 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

Acts 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

Acts 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

Acts 10:16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

Acts 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

Acts 10:18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.

Acts 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.

Acts 10:20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

Acts 10:21 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?

Acts 10:22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

Acts 10:23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Acts 10:24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and he had called together his kinsmen and near friends.

Acts 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.

Acts 10:26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

Acts 10:27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.

Acts 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Acts 10:29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?

Acts 10:30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

Acts 10:31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

Acts 10:32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.

Acts 10:33 Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

Acts 10:37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

Acts 10:41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

Acts 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

Acts 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Acts 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

Acts 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

Acts 10:48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

 Acts 11:1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

Acts 11:2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,

Acts 11:3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

Acts 11:4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

Acts 11:5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

Acts 11:6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

Acts 11:7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

Acts 11:8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.

Acts 11:9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

Acts 11:10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

Acts 11:11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

Acts 11:12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:

Acts 11:13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

Acts 11:14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

Acts 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

Acts 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Acts 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Acts 15:3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

Acts 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

Acts 15:6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

Acts 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

Acts 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Acts 15:12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.

Acts 15:13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:

Acts 15:14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Acts 15:15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

Acts 15:16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

Acts 15:17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Acts 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:

Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

Acts 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Acts 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.

Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

Acts 15:25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

 Acts 15:26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.

Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Acts 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Acts 15:30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:

Acts 15:31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Galatians 1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Galatians 1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

Galatians 1:14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

Galatians 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Galatians 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

Galatians 1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

Galatians 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

Galatians 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

Galatians 1:21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

Galatians 1:22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

Galatians 1:23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

Galatians 1:24 And they glorified God in me.

 Galatians 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

Galatians 2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

Galatians 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

Galatians 2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

Galatians 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Galatians 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

Galatians 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Galatians 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

Galatians 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Galatians 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Galatians 2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

Galatians 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

 JAMES 2-

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-29-15-james-2.zip

END NOTES

Genesis 15, 22.

Romans 4.

Galatians 3.

My view on Justification by Works.

  James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

James 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

James 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

James 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

James 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

James 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 END NOTES

Genesis 15, 22.

Romans 4.

Galatians 3.

My view on Justification by Works.

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Genesis 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

Genesis 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

Genesis 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Galatians 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

MY VIEW ON JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS-

 Understand that the letters of Paul were circulating among the early believers- and without a doubt his writings were the most influential in the early church.

Both critics of Paul- as well as other believers [including Peter] were reading his stuff.

Now- seeing the controversy that was taking place- especially that the people Paul was writing against- these were believing Jews- under the ministry of James [he was the leader at the church of Jerusalem- where the Judiazers worshipped].

With this in mind- knowing how Paul was using the story of Abraham [quoted above- Romans and Galatians] to teach Justification by Faith.

When James finally enters the fray with his own letter- to the Jewish believers.

And reading James saying ‘do you not see how Abraham was JUSTIFIED BY WORKS when he offered his son on the altar’!

It’s in a way a strong rebuke- not of the reality of what Paul taught- per se- but of the confusion going on between the Jewish believers and the gentile ones.

In the first 2 chapters of Galatians- which I posted last-

We see Paul rebuking Peter- and saying ‘when some came- FROM JAMES- Peter stopped eating with the gentiles’.

These guys are not teaching different theologies [Paul and James]-

But it’s easy to see that James is making a bold statement- and setting the record straight [for those who were misreading Paul].

Because he uses the same person- Father Abraham- to teach Justification by works.

Now- Many attempts have been made to harmonize James’ statement ‘see how a man is JUSITFIED BY WORKS’ and Paul ‘A man is justified by faith- not works’.

These attempts are noble and have a degree of truth to them.

But when they are done trying to reconcile these verses- they say ‘works does not justify- only faith’.

The problem with that explanation is the actual verse says ‘see how a man is justified by works’.

I think the best way to explain it is like this-

Paul uses- primarily- the example from Genesis 15- when Abraham simply believed God- and God declared him righteous.

James uses the example from Genesis 22- many years after Abraham was ‘initially justified’ by faith.

And James says when Abraham obeyed- did a work of obedience- God then ‘justified him’.

James says ‘see how the scripture was fulfilled- which said he believed God and was justified’ [Genesis 15].

You can say the actual obedient deeds we do- after the initial act of Justification by faith- can be looked upon as works being produced in the believer- as a result of the initial justification by faith.

Now- I’m not saying ‘we get saved by faith- then sanctified by works’.

Paul refuted this in Galatians 3.

But- James is indeed saying this act of obedience- in Genesis 22- is the fulfillment of the act of believing- in Genesis 15.

And he does describe this as being JUSTIFIED BY WORKS.

The terms ‘Justification- Salvation- Born of God’.

All these words are both static [they describe one time events- like the initial salvation of a believer].

And fluent- they also describe the progressive Acts of God thru out the life of the believer.

So- in short- When God looks down from heaven- and sees us doing a just act- he can say ‘good job- I’m pleased with you’.

And James simply applies the term ‘Justification’ to this response of God.

It’s the same term [in the Greek] that Paul uses when speaking about the initial act of justification upon belief.

But it’s the context that shows us the difference.

James is not saying that Abraham was not justified by faith in Genesis 15- but he is saying that he ‘too’ was declared just- by God- when he did the work of obedience in offering up his son.

And this work- in the bible- is called ‘justification by works’.

The language is in there- and James also uses it to describe Rahab receiving the spies with peace.

So- instead of rejecting the letter of James- like the Reformer Martin Luther did in a way when he called it ‘an epistle of straw’.

We simply need to see that the debate revolves around the use of language-

When James says Abraham- and Rahab- were justified by works- he is simply saying that God was pleased with the acts they did [by faith mind you- Hebrews 11].

And when he saw them do these acts of obedience- he ‘justified them’- meaning- he said ‘you are righteous- you are doing a right act- I still continue to make decrees of acceptance over you- many years after I made the initial decree- when you first believed’-

See?

NOTE- Remember a few things-

James actually uses the phrase ‘justified by works’.

Over the years I have read many good scholars try and explain this verse- and some of their ideas have merit- like ‘James is saying the faith that saves is a real faith’.

All of these things are true- and James even says that in this chapter.

Problem?

These explanations are referring to the initial act of justification- like saying ‘when Abraham believed God [Genesis 15] he had real/ working faith’.

Ok- I get it.

But- these explanations – in the end- still leave the ‘justified by works’ verse without a clear understanding.

In these other explanations [by Protestants] they are ‘stuck’ on the initial act of justification- and are unable to see that this term- like salvation- and righteousness- can- and does speak not only to the initial ‘getting saved’ but also speaks about things that we do- and ways God responds to those things- thru out our lives.

And God himself is not ‘limited’ to the ‘original Greek’- meaning if he wants to declare us righteous- or just- all thru out our lives- yes- even when we ‘do right things’ he can!

After all- he is God.

TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT THE ACTUAL WORDS-

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Note- It’s important to understand when Paul says ‘the works of the law do not save’-

He is not saying we can break the 10 commandments- live a sinful life- and still be saved.

The works of the law entail circumcision- and coming under the Old Covenant.

This was the big debate we read about in these chapters I have been posting.

You’ll notice that James himself- at the Jerusalem council- agreed that the gentiles did not need to ‘become Jews’- that is- to convert into Judaism to become saved.

So part of the problem is we read Paul say ‘you are not saved by works’- and we tend to associate that with ‘all good works’.

Then we read James say ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not faith only’.

And this too [not understanding Paul’s full meaning of ‘works/law’] adds to the confusion.

NOTE- If you carefully read the letters of Paul- even some of the above quotes- you will see that he also taught a ‘justification’ - that was sort of an ongoing process.

The words ‘salvation- righteousness- justification’ are also used by Paul to describe things God is doing in us- in a progressive way.

It’s funny- but when you come across these verses- and read the various study notes in good reference bibles- you see a sort of preoccupation in trying- at times- to make them fit the reductionist idea that focuses too much on the initial conversion experience- to the point where believers [yes- even scholars who wrote the notes!] try to make the verses that show a sort of progressive salvation- they try to ‘explain’ them away.

In scripture- justification is God’s declaration over us- ‘not guilty’- that does indeed take place when we believe in Jesus.

But it is also a progressive work [often called sanctification- but not limited to this word].

So- when we read Paul saying ‘while we seek to be justified’. Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

 Or- Philipians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Philipians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Philipians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

We tend to want to make these verses fit the one time act of justification that took place upon belief [initial conversion- yes this word too is fluent!]

So- some of the problems with interpreting these verses are actually a language problem [down the road I will discuss the philosophy of Gilbert Ryle- an Ordinary language philosopher from the 20th century- he thought the whole field of philosophy and the debates were simply a problem of language! I don’t agree with him by the way].

Note verse 13- Paul said this in the letter to the Romans. Here he is talking about a future justification that comes to those who DO THE LAW- see- he and James agree.

Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

Romans 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law SHALL BE JUSTIFIED.

Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

Romans 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

By the way- did you notice the view of James about money? How he speaks about the poor and the rich? I did not comment on all the good verses in this chapter- I want you guys to simply read thru the chapter- it’s really self-explanatory.

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Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John..#

JAMES 3-5 [I’ll be in New Jersey June 19th-21- with my daughters- won’t have enough time to see my friends on this trip- but I’ll be back after that- see you then. Flying in on the 19th- out on the 21st- only have one day in town].

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/james-3-5-cut-short-on-the-boat.zip 

James 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

James 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

James 3:3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

James 3:4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

James 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

James 3:11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

James 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

James 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

James 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

James 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

NOTES-

 In the tradition of wisdom literature [Proverbs- etc.] James gives practical advice about what we say.

Proverbs says wise men spare their words- fools don’t.

James tells us not to seek after a big audience- or any for that matter.

Teachers will give an account- they hold special responsibility for what they teach.

   James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

James 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

James 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

James 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

NOTES- War is never a noble thing- it comes from the heart of sinful men.

Life is short- like smoke- it’s here for a short time- then gone.

The Christian life is one of discipline ‘resist the devil- draw near to God’.

  James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

James 5:2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

James 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

James 5:4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

James 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

James 5:6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

James 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

James 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

James 5:18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

James 5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

 NOTES-

Last night I read Luke 6- Jesus says-

 ‘Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

Luke 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Luke 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Luke 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

Luke 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

I mentioned earlier in this study that James was the brother of Jesus- and that the letter of James is the only New Testament book that fits the category of wisdom Literature- besides the teachings of Jesus in the gospels- The Sermon on the Mount/ beatitudes.

Look at the similarity of James and Jesus-

James rebuked the rich- said if we hear the Word- but don’t do it- we are in trouble.

James said to not judge- to show no partiality-

All of these teachings are short- pithy- and get straight to the point.

We live in a day where much of the popular preaching is very ‘flashy’- we desire great audiences- for people to sit- and hear.

Many see this act- ‘going to church- and hearing’ as their main responsibility as Christians.

Yet the bible puts a huge emphasis on being ‘doer’s’- seeking justice in society- James warned the upper class- Jesus too.

They said ‘woe to you that have it all- that hold the seats of power- and yet take no thought of the plight of the suffering and afflicted- your day is coming!’

We read this theme all thru out the Prophets of the Old Testament-

We see it in the life of John the Baptist-

And we read it in the prophetic praise of Mary- Jesus Mom!

 Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Luke 1:49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Luke 1:50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Luke 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Luke 1:52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

Luke 1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

  Affliction- difficulty- these are ways God forms our character- not things to be ‘rebuked’.

Pray during times of testing-

Pray for one another- God heals us.

Have you been treated unjustly?

Don’t hold a grudge-

Know that God is a just God-

He sees-

Confess your mistakes- faults- to each other- don’t live a hidden life of sin.

If people are straying from truth- and you recognize it- then help them see this.

Proverbs says the wounds of a friend are better than false flattery.

   END NOTES- As we go thru the letters of the New Testament- I want you to follow the underlying theme about riches/money- how both leaders in the church as well as church members are to view the ‘wealth of this world’.

Over the years- I have heard/seen many of the verses-  even from this letter [chapter 1 ‘Don’t be double minded- don’t listen to people who are against a wealth building mindset- or you won’t get your harvest of money’] and use them to focus believers on the actual thing the verses teach against.

When we read the bible- it’s important to understand that even though we believe the bible is the Word of God- ‘Every Word is True’- yet- it’s the ‘Word of God’- in context.

So- if we read warnings against riches [like in this letter] you don’t take those actual warnings- out of context- and then teach the opposite.

I didn’t comment much on these last 3 chapters- because I wanted you to simply read them.

We can stay balanced as Christians if we regularly read thru the bible.

In chapter one James said if we lack wisdom- we should ask God- and he will give us wisdom.

James is a very practical book- and in ways [like the way you saw me teach chapter 2] it can lead to unity in the church.

I encourage you guys to copy these studies- download the videos from my WordPress site- use these things for yourself- and those who you teach.

 I re posted these verses below- just to remind us- get ‘the feel’ of the letter again.

James was one of the main church leaders at the church of Jerusalem- there were a lot of poor saints residing in this city.

In today’s popular Christianity you could accuse James of ‘preaching a poverty gospel’.

I mean look at what he was teaching!

Yet- this book of the bible is part of the canon of scripture- meaning we should form our views about God and our role as believers- from the bible- not from the popular writings of our day- no matter how well meaning- or ‘attractive’ they are.

 James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted.

James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

James 1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

James 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

James 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

James 5:2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

James 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

James 5:4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

James 5:5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

James 5:6 Ye have condemned and killed the just…

[parts]

A few months back as I was sitting in my lawyer’s office- I noticed he had a painting of the great Christian martyr- Thomas Moore. I mentioned ‘Oh- Thomas Moore’ and I went on to overview his great life- and his convictions to not deny what he believed to be true- even at the point of death.

 I figured my lawyer- who was a former JAG officer- would at least have some idea who the man was- he did have an expensive painting of the man on his wall- but to my surprise he had no idea who/what I was talking about.

 Moore got caught up in the English reformation fights- King Henry would break with Rome and there was lots of political maneuvering going back and forth. Ultimately Thomas would get caught in the thing and he was executed because he would not deny Papal authority and accept the Kings new belief that he was the head of the English church.

 Moore was also famous for his book- Utopia. It was a fictional account of this land where everyone shared and they did not live for gain- a kind of Marxist idea- centuries before Marx.

 [parts]

(611) JOHN 14 [radio # 597] - Jesus says he is going away to prepare a place for us. He tells the disciples they know where he is going and how to get there. Thomas says ‘we have no idea where you are going, how can we know the way’. Jesus wasn’t talking ‘location’ as much as communion with the Trinity. He was saying I am going to THE FATHER and you now know the Father, because I have revealed him to you. You have seen me, you have seen him. Also, the way to the father is thru the Son, so you not only know where I am going [Father] but the way [Son]. Now I get it! You can take this 2 ways [not three!] you can look at it as Jesus speaking of the sending of the Spirit as his ‘coming again’, in verse 18 he does say this. He says ‘I will come to you’ and he is speaking of the Spirits coming. Thru this chapter the comforter is one just like him. Also you can read this as the literal second coming. We believe Jesus will come again! Some have said this chapter is speaking of something else besides these 2 options, they think this ‘coming’ is the rapture. A separate event from the 2nd coming. I don’t see how you can believe it this way. Also in this chapter Jesus is showing the intent of redemption. He didn’t just come to take us to heaven. In chapter 17 we will read that he prays to the father for us not to be taken out of the world, but to keep us from the evil in it. Thomas seems to be thinking ‘location and how to get there’ when he says ‘we have no idea where you are going, how can you think we know how to get there’? But Jesus is really speaking the language of fellowship in the Trinity/Unity that he has with the father and the Spirit. He is telling Thomas ‘my purpose is to bring you into this oneness that I have with the father, to invite you to partake in this fellowship’ in essence ‘I am not talking about getting you to a location [heaven] in as much as bringing you into a state of being with me and my father’ true ‘HOLY COMMUNION’! You do see this concept thru out the chapter. The disciples seem to be struggling ‘how will you come back and reveal yourself to us and not to the world’ Jesus says ‘if a man loves me he will keep my words, the Spirit will then come and indwell him and we will all have community together’ [Father, Son, Spirit and all believers]. They are grappling with these ideas. They were like us, always thinking in terms of being saved to go to heaven when we die. Now, I thank God for this benefit. I am very happy that I am not going to Hell! Don’t underestimate this blessing. But Jesus is speaking on a much higher plane. He even says ‘the words I am speaking are not mine, but the Fathers’. A few practical things. Jesus says when I leave you will do greater works because I am leaving and the Spirit will come and indwell you. The ‘non Charismatics’ say this is evangelism. Jesus will give us the Spirit and we will evangelize on a mass scale, greater works. The Charismatics say this is doing more miracles, raising the dead and healing the sick and casting out devils. Who is right? Take them all! Just be sure and bring people into the Kingdom. The gifts are not for you to get famous or gain a following, they are for the purpose of evangelism and expanding the Kingdom. In this chapter we see Jesus great promises of peace and his dwelling with us forever. The promise of the Spirit showing us the things of the father. We are invited into this wonderful communion with him. Let’s allow the work of the Spirit to use us to bring others into this community. The 2 great commandments Jesus gives us is to love God and others. The ‘others’ speaks of his desire to bring people into this community. NOTE; on the radio when I spoke on this entry I mentioned some stuff on the historic creeds and the language that the early church used to define the Trinity. In the world today the 3 main religions are Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Islam and Judaism claim to be Monotheistic. Christians also claim this, but Islam and Judaism don’t agree. The reason for this is in the way the historic church came to define the Trinity. There have been Jewish converts to Christianity who accept Jesus as Messiah but do not accept the classic language of the Trinity. The verse that says ‘the Lord our God is one’ is a main text for both Muslims and Jews in their understanding of Gods oneness. Some of the Trinitarian language has been an obstacle to Muslims and Jews converting. Now, like I said before, I do believe in the Trinity. But if you notice the language that Jesus will use in our study in John, it seems more in line with ‘Unity’ then ‘Trinity’. The truth of the Trinity is there, but the explanations that Jesus gives sound better than the way the creeds say it. One of the creeds says Jesus was begotten eternally. That there was never a time where he was begotten. He was always ‘begotten’. They came to this language by trying to defend Christ’s deity. The problem is scripture teaches us that there was a definite point in time when Jesus ‘was begotten’. The fact that Jesus existed always with the father is different from saying ‘he was always born as a man’ which is what begotten refers to. So to be honest about it, the language in this creed is an obstacle. In my recent conversations with my Muslim friend I stood strong for the deity of Christ and God becoming man thru the incarnation, but I also tried to use the actual language of scripture when explaining it. This is going to be important for the future of the church as she tries to bring both Muslims and Jews into the church. We don’t want to compromise on the historic truths of Christianity, but we also want to express our belief in Monotheism in ways that are in keeping with scripture. Also when I say ‘into the church’ I mean bringing them to God thru Christ, not into some ‘culture of Christianity’ that the world sees as ‘church’. NOTE; I also spoke on the second coming and Preterism. Preterism is a way of interpreting the Second coming as having happened in A.D. 70. This belief arose out of a well intentioned answer to the critics of Christianity. Some critics have brought out the idea that the early church were all expecting an imminent return of Jesus, that they took the obvious scriptures that speak of Jesus coming quickly and stuff like that and were let down when Jesus did not come for the first few centuries. So some scholars developed the idea that Jesus did come in ‘judgment’ and fulfilled all the verses of the second coming in A.D. 70. Others have taught how the early church had to later adjust it’s theology around the ‘obvious’ mistaken teachings of Jesus. Some of these guys are believers, but they fall into the liberal camp. My belief is Jesus will literally come again. A Protestant scholar actually made an argument for the ‘literalness’ of Jesus return thru the Catholic teaching on Transubstantiation. He defended our Catholic brother’s ideas on the Real Presence in the Eucharist. He said the church has been faithful to the literal return of Jesus and his immediate presence by the reality of Jesus being present in Communion. Good effort, but a little too much spiritualizing for me. I believe the best argument that can be made, if you were going to go down this road, would be this chapter. Jesus says he will come again and also says the comforter will be the fulfillment of this coming. Now, I also believe in the future literal return of Jesus, because later on in the New testament you see Paul teaching a future return after the initial outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. I was watching an end time teacher using the verse where Jesus spoke on the destruction of the Temple and he was applying it to a future Temple. He was wrong. I also believe the Preterists are wrong. I believe the rapture as a separate event from the second coming is ‘extra biblical’. But in all of our seeking for truth, I don’t throw out the historic belief of Christ’s return. I believe the best way to explain the supposed delay of his return is to look at the character of God. The New Testament says the longsuffering of God is because he wants to bring as many people into the church as possible. That which seems to be a delay is really mercy. No need to try and find ways to explain this to the critics, Jesus is delaying his return for their benefit!

 · 1ST, 2ND CORINTHIANS

· 1ST- 2ND SAMUEL

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

· 1ST-2ND KINGS

· ABOUT

· ACTS

· ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [LINKS ADDED]

· CHRISTIAN RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION [LONG VERSION]

· CLASSICS OF WESTERN LITERATURE

· DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA

· EPHESIANS [HIGHLIGHTS]

· FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY

· GALATIANS [LINKS]

· GALATIANS- JOHN’S GOSPEL

· GENESIS

· HAGGAI

· HEBREWS- UPDATED 2015

· HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM CHURCH HISTORY

· HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES

· HURRICANE HARVEY

· INSIGHTS FROM A REVOLUTION

· ISLAM

· JAMES- 2015

· JOHN [COMPLETE- LINKS ADDED]

· JONAH [LINKS]

· JUDGES- RUTH [VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED]

· JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

· MARK [LINKS]

· MY BIBLE COMMENTARIES [OTHER LINKS]

· MY OTHER SITES

· N.J./NYC- 2017

· NEHEMIAH, ISAIAH

· NYC-NEW JERSEY TRIP- 2015

· OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY

· OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE

· PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER

· QM

· RADIO CATALOG

· RAPTURE- 2ND COMING- 2 EVENTS?

· ROMANS-UPDATED 2015

· RUSSIA- U.S.- WORLD EVENTS

· THE GREAT BUILDING OF GOD

· WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

//

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Mark 12

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yet the others were rich- and giving.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And thus the chapter ends.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But at the end of the day- Jesus never took the earthly crown- he did not see the solution to be a political one- he brought Simon and Matthew together on the same team- and he showed them what it means to lay your life down for others- to live without the praise of men- the earthly standard of success- he chose another way- and he left that path for us.

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[1622] ARE THE JAPANESE DISPROVING FREUD? One of the narratives coming from the Japan disaster is the response of the Japanese people. In contrast to our Katrina tragedy the Japanese are very self reliant. Jack Cafferty [CNN] read an email from some elderly lady who contrasted the 2 responses. She called the Louisiana residents who looted, killed, complained and wined- she said ‘those scumbags’ [ouch!] What are we seeing in the Japanese people? The media are referring to them as Stoic’s- the philosophy [ancient Greek- one of only 2 philosophies mentioned by name in the bible- Acts chapter 17 mentions the Stoic’s and Epicureanism] that said the secret to life is living on an even plane. Don’t get too ‘up’ or too down- just ride the wave of life as moderately as you can. The other side of the coin is Hedonism- the philosophy of men like Freud- who taught that the problem with man is that he is taught to restrain himself [by religion] and that this restraint is itself a product of neurosis. Freud was a strange fellow, the father of modern Psychoanalysis; his ideas were actually quite weird. As a Jew [non practicing] he embraced the higher criticism of his day [a way of interpreting the bible as not being actually true- just good stories] and he sought to come up with an explanation for mans religious bent. So he came up with the idea of the Oedipal Complex- a strange view of man that said the real problems of man are they have this view of love and hate for the father figure- and the ‘real’ story of Moses and the children of Israel was the Jews killed Moses in the wilderness [hatred for the father figure] they then felt guilty about it- and out of this guilt they would eventually develop a ‘religion of the Son’ [Christianity] and Walla- that’s the real story. You would be surprised how many people hear silly stuff like this in life [or college!] and they never give it a second thought. Like Pope Benedict says in ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ [1st book of a trilogy on the life of Christ] he mentions the theories of the critics [men like Bultmann] and he then responds ‘and how do you know this’? Bultmann [one of the famous liberal theologians of the day] would come up with ideas like this- and he would just espouse them. The funny thing about these critics was they were trying to challenge the historical accuracy of the bible- are the gospels true- stuff like that. And in their challenge they would ‘make up’ their own stuff [Oedipal complex] and simply expect everyone to believe it. So Freud taught that we need to free man from this neurosis of religion- this thing in society that says ‘restrain yourself’ and if we teach man to do and be all that he feels like doing- then we will have healed him of this destructive religious belief that developed out of a secret love/hate relationship of father. Wow. I can think of no greater philosophy to not live your life by than that. How did the Freudian experiment turn out? It was/is a disaster- I’m not just saying this as a Christian who rejects Freud’s atheism- but many of his ideas have also been roundly rejected by the psychologists of the modern day. Freud actually taught that when you counsel a person [yes- he was the originator of the idea of the patient lying on the couch while the counselor listens] that the patient is ‘transmitting’ psychic energy from himself to the doctor- and that’s what makes him better. Freud wrote Moses and Monotheism [his fictional account of the origins of Judaism/Christianity] Totem and Taboo- the fictional idea of the primitive religion of man- and Civilization and it’s Discontents, his explanation of the conflict between mans psychic life and the demands of society. The basic view of Freud [Hedonism] is a failed system that does not work in the real world. To live your life based on the philosophy of ‘if it feels good- do it’ does not work in any area of life- for the long term. In food, shopping, family life, marriage, sexual expression- the basic principle of self restraint and discipline [the Japanese response] is in great contrast to the ‘unrestrained’ view of life [as seen in some of the Katrina response- many of the looters and rioters were raised with a welfare mentality- they were dependant on the state/govt. to do things for them. When things went bad- they blamed the govt. for it]. In the end of the day- the society that practices self discipline- that teaches their children to be self reliant- those are the ones who have the most successful lives. Those who practice Hedonism blame stuff on everyone else.

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(901)SAMUEL 18- David is accepted by Saul and seen as a hero. Upon his victory over the giant all the women begin praising and worshipping in the streets with tambourines and musical instruments. Why this exuberant awakening of the women of Israel? It seems to me that David’s skill as a warrior/worshiper brought a degree of respect to the ministry of praise and music that might have been lacking up until this time. Even though the Lord instilled worship as an intricate part of warfare [Judah=praise], yet it seems likely that being a musician during a time in Israel’s history where violence and war were respected might have been seen as a less than noble pursuit. So David restored a sort of freedom and respectability to praise. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, becomes ‘linked’ to David in a strong way. Some advocates of the gay lifestyle have actually tried to use this scripture to defend the gay lifestyle, but it seems to simply be saying that Jonathan and David became best of friends. What might have caused this initial bonding? Don’t forget Jonathan himself was a warrior who was willing to lay it all on the line against great odds. He already confronted the enemy single-handedly and won! It’s possible that during Goliaths 40 days of mocking and tempting Israel that Jonathan said ‘I’ll do it dad’ and Saul would have never allowed his own son to face the giant. If so then the victory of David was even sweeter to Jonathan than the others. David begins receiving praise from the people because of his wisdom and skill on the battlefield. Jealousy arises in Saul and he tries to kill David with a spear. This begins the history of Saul trying to kill David on various occasions and David’s noble responses. Never trying to hurt Saul himself. Let’s end this chapter with a re-cap of the open type worship that is happening with the women under David’s ministry. It is much like the taboo that Jesus broke in the gospels. Jesus ministry was revolutionary in the way he welcomed and allowed women to be an open part of his ministry. The other written works of the day did not see women from this open standpoint. This is one of the proofs used to defend the canonicity of the scripture. If the stories were all being made up, then you would never include women in this way. Because it would tend to discourage others from believing the story! Jesus broke barriers, David’s ministry and rule will be a picture of the restoration of the dignity and usefulness of women in society. David’s Psalms were actually the song book of the nation. These songs were written during the time of David’s ministry in Jerusalem when the tent of David was the only thing containing the retrieved Ark of the Covenant. A type of the open access that would come to all people under the future ministry of Jesus. David was not only a great warrior, he was a passionate worshipper of his God.

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(820) Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits ‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’ for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading it].  Those who grasped onto this false idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys preaching’?  If you by pass the difficult road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us, that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans? The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together in the same verse, it is not saying ‘saved’ in the sense of some sinner’s prayer. It is speaking of the ongoing, promised deliverance [from many things, not just wrath!] to the ‘justified caller’. We have access ‘by faith into this grace wherein we stand’. Wow! That's some good stuff, Jesus ever lives so that those who come to him are ‘being saved’ to the uttermost. This grace we are in is available to us all of the time, are we availing ourselves of it?

 (821) ROMANS 5:10-21 ‘For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son… much more we shall be saved by his life’. Now, some have ‘divided’ the role of Jesus death and resurrection in salvation. I heard a radio preacher teach that all the people who think they are ‘saved’ because Jesus died for them were deceived. He used this verse to say they need to believe in his ‘life’ [resurrection] to ‘be saved by his life’. Well I get the point, but he was missing the meaning of the verse. Why? Because once again we see ‘saved’ as initially ‘getting saved’ while here it is in a continual sense. Paul is saying ‘if God reconciled us [justification] while we were deadly enemies, how much more shall the actual ministry and life of Jesus at Gods right hand do for us!’ The New Testament teachers that we have actually entered into an eternal covenant with God thru his Son. Jesus ‘ever lives’ to make intercession for us [Hebrews]. Therefore he is able to ‘save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’. The bible teaches an ongoing ‘saving’ relationship that believers have with the Messiah. This ‘relationship’ would not be possible if he were dead. Now we ‘joy in God thru Jesus Christ from whom we have received the atonement’ good stuff! Isaiah says God will meet with those who ‘rejoice and do what is right’. We have both of these ‘abilities’ because of the atonement. The rest of the chapter teaches the Pauline doctrine of original sin. That because Adam sinned, death and sin passed to all men. So likewise the ‘righteousness’ of one man [Jesus- the last Adam] has passed upon all men [those who receive of the abundance of grace and the gift of life]. This is an interesting angle that Paul uses to teach redemption. He shows the reality that there are only 2 ‘federal heads’ of mankind. You are either in the first or last Adam. The ‘righteous act’ is speaking of the Cross [Philippians says Jesus was ‘obedient unto death’. The singular act of obedience that allows this righteousness to pass to all who believe is the Cross. Some have misunderstood this chapter to teach that the obedient life of Christ, his sinless life, saves us. I feel this is a wrong reading of the chapter. The sinless life of Jesus, pre Cross, made him the true candidate to be the substitute for man. He was able to die in our place [obedience unto death] because he was the sinless Son of God. We are now ‘saved by his life’ because he ever lives to make intercession for us]. All who believe in Jesus can now trace their lineage to the ‘last Adam’ [Jesus] and be free from ‘original sin’.

 (822) ROMANS 6- Lets talk about baptism. To start off I believe that the baptism spoken about in this chapter is primarily referring to ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, that is the work of the Holy Spirit placing a believer in the Body of Christ. The Catholic and Orthodox [and Reformed!] brothers believe that Paul is speaking about water baptism. The MAJORITY VIEW of Christians today believe this chapter is referring to water baptism. Why? First, the text itself does not indicate either way. You could take this baptism and see it either way! You are not a heretic if you believe in it referring to Spirit or water. You are not a heretic if you believe in Paedo baptism [infant baptism]. ‘What are you saying? Now you lost me.’ Infant baptism developed as a Christian rite over the course of church history. The church struggled with how to ‘dedicate’ new babies to Christ. Though the scriptures give no examples of infant baptism, some felt that the reason was because the scriptures primarily show us the conversion of the first century believers. There really aren’t a whole lot of stories of ‘generations’ of believers passing on the faith to other generations. So some felt that the idea of dedicating babies to the Lord through infant baptism was all right. The examples they used were the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament. Infants were circumcised [a rite that placed you under the terms of the Old Covenant] though they weren’t old enough to really understand what they were doing! This example was carried over into the Christian church and applied to infant baptism. Now, I do not believe in infant baptism. But I can certainly understand this line of reasoning. As Christian theology developed thru the early centuries, particularly thru the patristic period, you had very intellectual scholars grapple with many different themes and ideas. Some that we just studied in chapter 5. Some theologians came to see infant baptism as dealing with original sin. They applied the concept of infant baptism as a rite that washes away original sin. The church did not teach that this meant you did not have to later believe and follow Christ. They simply developed a way of seeing baptism as ‘sanctifying’ the new members of Christian households. This basic belief made it all the way to the Reformation. The Reformers themselves still practiced infant baptism. It was the Anabaptists [re-baptizers] who saw the truth of adult baptism and suffered for it, at the hands of the reformers! Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, would have them drowned for their belief. Some Protestants stuck with the infant rite, while others [the Restorationists] would reject it. Today most Evangelicals do not practice infant baptism, the majority of Christians world wide do. Now, the reason I did a little history is because Evangelicals [of which I am one] have a tendency to simply look at other believers who practice this rite as ‘deceived’. Many are unaware of the history I just showed you. The reasons the historic church developed this doctrine are not heretical! They used scripture and tradition to pass it down to future generations. I do not believe or practice infant baptism, many good believers do.

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Eventually Rome would conquer the Greek kingdom and the Jewish people were allowed to keep their culture and temple- yet they were still a people oppressed. Hassidism [getting back to the beginning] developed during this attempt to not lose their Jewish roots- the Pharisees of Jesus day came from this movement.

 Alexander was pretty successful in his attempt to unify language- even though the bible [New Testament] was written by Jewish writers- living under Roman rule- yet the original bible is written in the Greek language.

 Bible scholars till this day study the Greek language to find the truest meaning of the actual words in the bible [I have a Greek Lexicon sitting right in front of me].

 It would take a few centuries before a Latin version appeared on the scene [the great church father- Jerome- would produce the Latin Vulgate].

 Yet it would be the re- discovery and learning of the Greek texts [under men like Erasmus- and the Protestant Reformers] that would lead to the Reformation [16th century] and other movements in church history.

 Of course the tragedy of the little boy lost is very sad- and the roots of Jewish culture are noble and good- Pope Benedict refers to the Jewish people as ‘our elder brother’ because of the Jewish roots of Christianity. The original church was made up of Jewish believers- people who were waiting for the Messiah for centuries [actually Millennia] and they were convinced that this Jesus- this Jewish itinerant prophet- was indeed the one that was to come.

 When you read the sermons in the book of Acts- you hear Peter, Paul- and especially Stephen [ Acts 7] relating the person of Jesus to the prophecies that were spoken about the Messiah in the Old Testament- these early Jewish believers were convinced- in no uncertain terms- that Jesus was the Messiah who was foretold to come.

 At the Jewish trial of Jesus- the high priest asks ‘are you claiming to be God’s Son’ Jesus- one of the few times he did this- said ‘you said it’. The priest throws up his hands and says ‘what more need do we have of witnesses- he himself has said he claims deity’.

 In John’s gospel we read when Jesus said ‘Abraham saw my day- and was gad’. They asked him ‘how could Abraham see your day- you’re not even 50 years old’ Jesus replied ‘BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS- I AM’ They were incensed- the words I AM were the words used to describe God. The bible says they took up stones to kill him.

 The great Christian writer- C.S. Lewis- spent many years as an atheist- yet as an intellectual he read all the great writings of history- and he said that no matter how hard he [and other atheists] tried to reject God- that history was filled with writings- both pro and con- about God.

 As a matter of fact- there was no other underlying theme- some scarlet thread- woven thru out the entire history of man- that even came close to this testimony of the reality of God.

 Many agnostics of Lewis’ day said ‘we believe Jesus was a good person- even a Rabbi- Prophet- great messenger of God’ Lewis said Jesus did not leave this option open to us. Jesus said he was indeed the Son of God- Deity come down- born from a virgin- crucified- died and was buried. On the 3dr day he rose again- according to the scriptures- he is seated at the right hand of God and will come again- to judge the living and the dead.

 Yes kingdoms have come and gone- great men and despots have either honored this Jesus- or despised him- but today we still talk about Jesus- King of Kings and Lord of Lords- we have only one option- either we confess him as Lord- or we call him a madman- which one will you choose?

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(942)1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot.

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(977)1ST CORINTHIANS 10:15-17 ‘The cup that we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of Christ's Body? We are all one bread, we all partake equally of Christ’s Body and Blood. We exist as a community because of him’ [my paraphrase]. Here in my study I have various volumes on church history. I own catholic volumes, protestant ones, and even some from ‘the out of the institutional  church’ perspective. Over the years I have learned that most believers tell their story from their perspective. This is not a wrong thing, nor is it a purposeful act to distort history. It’s just natural to see ‘your world’ thru your lens of past experiences. Around the 17th century the Jesuit priests were some of the first Christians to write systematic church histories. Though you had many scholars who were informed on the subject, the Jesuits were the first to try and bring all the previous centuries together and present them in an orderly way that could be understood and read by the average student. There is some debate on how accurate some of these first ‘tellings’ of history were. For instance, some classic church histories [both catholic and protestant] show an early 2nd century development of belief in the Eucharist as being the literal Body and Blood of Jesus. Also most volumes focus on church figures such as Iraneus , Tertullian, Augustine [4th- 5th  centuries] and many other good men [I know I spelled these names wrong!]. There seems to have been a basic belief that this history is the only ‘history’ of the first few centuries. The problem with this approach is we now have archealogical evidence from the first few centuries that would support the idea that the early church might not have been as ‘institutional’ as previously thought. For instance, most histories say the development of the monarchial episcopacy [single bishop over ‘a church/region’] was early. But the evidence discovered shows that as late as the 2nd, possibly early 3rd centuries you had bishops who were simply elders/overseers in the early church. Burial places were uncovered that showed multiple ‘bishops’ all buried in one spot. The evidence seems to indicate that these were all men who served at the same time. Not one bishop dieing off while others took his place. This would mean that some practicing Christians never fully accepted the institutional idea of the single bishop. But you really couldn’t find this out from a wide reading of all the different church histories. Why? Were the Jesuits who put together the first cohesive history trying to deceive people? Of course not! They were seeing church history thru ‘their lens’. Now, what in the world does this have to do with the verse on communion? The word for communion here is a translation from the Greek word ‘koinonia’, which simply means ‘fellowship’. The church at Corinth practiced ‘communion’ as a love feast. The early believers had their ‘communion service’ as a type of buffet type fellowship where they all shared and came together in real friendship. Now in the next chapter we will deal with some of the problems that arose out of this practice, but the point today is I want you to see that when Paul says ‘we are all one bread who are partaking from one loaf’ he is simply saying ‘just like when we all get together and share in the communal meal, this is the same way we all spiritually live off of the Body and Blood of Christ. We are ‘one bread’ [people/communion] because we all derive our life from Jesus, the true bread that came down from heaven’ [John 6]. I simply want to give you the flavor of what Paul is saying. It’s easy to read these verse’s from the sacramental perspective. To see the focus being on the actual bread and wine of the meal. I think it’s better understood from the broader communal idea that I just espoused. Our entire New Testament is the most verifiable collection of first century documents ever to be found. Though we as believers take them as Gods word, they also show us the most accurate historical picture of what the early church believed and practiced. I think the reformers of the 16th century were right in stating that the final authority should be the word of God. They did not reject church tradition, but they said the final arbiter in controversial issues was Gods word. Even the great Catholic humanist, Erasmus, was known for his desire to ‘get back to the original sources’. He was helpful in urging the Catholic Church towards reform by going back to the Greek New Testament [most scholars were using the vulgate version, which was the Latin translation. The Latin did not do justice to the Greek!] Well today’s point is our New Testaments are accurate first century documents on early church belief and practice. I think Erasmus cry to ‘get back to the sources’ would do us all some good.

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     VERSES-

 October 29, 2017

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 148

Reading 1

EX 22:20-26

Thus says the LORD: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.  You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.  If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.  My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.  If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.  What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."

Responsorial Psalm

PS 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength. I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. R. I love you, Lord, my strength. My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the LORD, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies. R. I love you, Lord, my strength. The LORD lives and blessed be my rock! Extolled be God my savior. You who gave great victories to your king and showed kindness to your anointed. R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Reading 2

1 THES 1:5C-10

Brothers and sisters: You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.  And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.  For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Alleluia

JN 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia. Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him and we will come to him. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"  He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

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[anothertruesentence]

55

1. tenderness 2. anticipation 3. optimism 4. intimacy 5. apprehension 6. wonder 7. awe 8. adoration 9. affection 10. delight 11. passion 12. love 13. certitude 14. reminiscence 15. adequacy 16. peace 17. belonging 18. turmoil 19. grief 20. restraint 21. loss 22. discomfort 23. uncanniness 24. ennui 25. defeat 26. puzzlement 27. fatigue 28. anguish 29. yearning 30. despair 31. indifference 32. apathy 33. relief 34. weariness 35. foreboding 36. emptiness 37. inconsequentiality 38. dread 39. pain 40. panic 41. fear 42. terror 43. horror 44. agony 45. vigilance 46. uncertainty 47. torment 48. hope 49. restlessness 50. calm 51. clarity 52. pride 53. power 54. worthiness 55. strength

1

tenderness

/ˈtɛndənəs/

noun

Feelings of deep affection.

Sensitivity to pain; soreness.

We come together, we leave. Between the opening and the closing door, we exist. What is lost in an impossible eternity stays in the infinite unknown. Yet when the lock clicks, there is a new real—in kisses that end, touches never to be repeated and truths incomprehensible in the realm of possibility and fiction.

2

anticipation

/antɪsɪˈpeɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

The feeling of expectation or prediction.

Music. The introduction in a composition of part of a chord which is about to follow in full.

To know someone, her past, present, future, fears and hopes: this is the terror of the blank page. You can’t write that much again, you say—know, feel and be that much again.

But her words will form yours and all else will follow. This is the start. And therein lies the fear and hope.

3

optimism

/ˈɒptɪmɪz(ə)m/

noun

Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.

Philosophy. The doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

Philosophy. The belief that good must ultimately prevail over evil in the universe.

The whisper of your voice, your touch, your warmth, and you, heard again after the sound. Again, then again, unexpected. And in its echo, I hear in me a whisper too.

Soft is the sound, like the strings starting a symphony.

4

intimacy

/ˈɪntɪməsi/

noun

Close familiarity or friendship.

Euphemistic. Sexual intercourse.

Closeness of observation or knowledge of a subject.

The voices in your head only ever speak to you, encasing vistas in your mind alone.

But we translate the voices and describe the vistas with every last word we know; we listen and imagine the very best we can. That is our bravest endeavour and greatest privilege, for as we sit alone, we touch.

5

apprehension

/aprɪˈhɛnʃ(ə)n/

noun

Anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.

Understanding; grasp.

Give her the blade.

It might become the axe that splinters your chest, the dagger twisted in your back. Or it might be the machete through the caging forests, the sickle of your future harvests, the sword that’ll finally slay the fiery dragons.

Give her your blade, for then she might unsheath hers for you.

6

wonder

/ˈwʌndə/

noun

A feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar.

A person or thing regarded as very good or remarkable.

It’s strange to feel each moment burst with so much but tally the little time there’s been.

It’s strange that worlds can meet so soon when demons are driven into introductions and a foot’s put in the door of the heart.

It’s strange how quickly shared secrets can bring a boundless future into clear view.

7

awe

/ɔː/

noun

A feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.

Each day shared, each smile and tear and touch. Each is a flare fired into the void above. The first makes the first star. The rest follow. Unnoticed, a universe roars into being—giants and dwarves, comets and supernovae ablaze. Constellations connect them all, narrating your own cosmological tale of how something came from nothing.

8

adoration

/adəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

Deep love and respect.

Worship; veneration.

Look at her as she’s happy, her eyes smiling before her lips catch up. Look at her as she’s sad, her eyes empty of all but fear or fatigue. Look at her and see exactly how precious a person can be. Look more closely and see she sees the same when she looks at you.

9

affection

/əˈfɛkʃ(ə)n/

noun

A gentle feeling of fondness or liking.

Archaic. A condition or disease.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘What’s up?’

‘What do you want?’

These sounds get lost in the air between. I make them anyway, playing make-belief with meaning, hoping for some leap or leak.

In this difficulty lies a greater simplicity: I’ll never know all her world nor she mine and, so, our world is essence, distilled and pure.

10

delight

/dɪˈlʌɪt/

noun

Great pleasure.

A cause or source of great pleasure.

But do you know the corporeal soul?

It is in the smiles sparked by true joy, the eyes with innumerable tales to tell, the body that is home to the person. The beauty of the abstract is reflected in that of the material—neither masked by nor transcending.

Few have the chance to see it.

11

passion

/ˈpaʃ(ə)n/

noun

Strong and barely controllable emotion.

Intense sexual love.

(the Passion) The suffering and death of Jesus.

This is the energy that keeps the stars apart. We try to contain it—kindling kisses, cooling cigarettes, transforming it into songs and words on napkins. But from our bodies so finite it leaks out and up. Look hard into the telescope and you might just see it between the stars—fragile, eternal and infinite.

12

love

/lʌv/

noun

An intense feeling of deep affection.

A formula for ending an affectionate letter.

(in tennis, squash, and some other sports) a score of zero; nil.

We send starships, ramming galaxies to dust as separate worlds collide. We shove ourselves back together, one writhing body in defiance of raging gods. We make love to explosions in the sky, throbbing to the accompanying orchestra. We are word, myth and song. We say we’re specks, but in some moments we’re an everyday epic.

13

certitude

/ˈsəːtɪtjuːd/

noun

Absolute certainty or conviction that something is the case.

Something that someone firmly believes is true.

I don’t believe in past and future lives. I speak of neither ancient fate nor eternal destiny.

But I touch with the only body I own; my every thought’s the noblest human endeavour. If my stories stretch to infancy, that’s all of me. If I pledge you my life, I give you all I have.

14

reminiscence

/rɛmɪˈnɪs(ə)ns/

noun

The enjoyable recollection of past events.

A characteristic of one thing that is suggestive of another.

Paths cross, worlds blur,

glances roam, questions linger,

stories begin, pasts appear,

impressions unfold, interest stirs,

night falls, time meanders,

moments pass, resolve wavers,

distance holds, desire hovers,

courage sparks, walls shatter,

lips caress, fingers wander,

eyes meet, bodies shudder,

hope arises, minds wonder,

possibilities beckon, a future nears:

it all begins in the beginning.

15

adequacy

/ˈadɪkwəsi/

noun

The state of being satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity

Once in a blue moon, there comes a rare sort of person who makes you feel bigger than you’ve ever felt, that life could be bigger than it’s ever been, yet you’d give it all up for a single moment in which they would look at themselves and be able to see their own size.

16

peace

/piːs/

noun

Mental or emotional calm.

Freedom from disturbance; tranquillity.

A state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.

I met a girl who showed me the centre of the universe—a place of almost complete stillness, where all noise quietened to a hum. She did it again, and then again, each time with just the memory of her face. Someday, perhaps, the path there’ll be so well-trodden we might even call it home.

17

belonging

/bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ/

noun

An affinity for a place or situation.

From the sea she came and to the sea she will return. Meanwhile, the oceans call her by name and the rain whispers secrets. Beneath the glistening ripples, she dances with mermaids only she can see, breathing more deeply than she ever had in air, sinking into a world at once strange and intimately familiar.

18

turmoil

/ˈtəːmɔɪl/

noun

A state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty.

They say love is hard work, but fighting’s easy, really.

Can you watch grenades go without diving on them though? Can you drop the lost limbs knowing they’re not the last to go? Can you reconcile the fragility and strength of what you defend, or your powerlessness and significance?

Now, these are the true battles.

19

grief

/ɡriːf/

noun

Intense sorrow, especially caused by someone's death.

Informal. Trouble or annoyance.

Some people are good at poker. They fold when they should, work for their wins. Each time they stand they leave nothing of themselves behind.

Some are no good at all. Each night they’re dragged off the table screaming from the crushing debt of all they’d bet but never once had been able to lose.

20

restraint

/rɪˈstreɪnt/

noun

Lack of emotion; self-control.

Understatement, especially of artistic expression.

A device which limits or prevents freedom of movement.

My words are measured, my voice steadied, my hands chained to myself.

But my mind—oh, my mind—runs free, with every bit of you my lips would ravage, with every word I would scream until you heard loud and clear everything I felt for you with every last bit of my stifled, beating heart.

21

loss

/lɒs/

noun

The feeling of grief after losing someone or something of value.

A person or thing that is badly missed when lost.

An amount of money lost by a business or organisation.

There is an ether of lost memories hanging thick around our world. In it are the blurred faces, the forgotten words, the life-changing events we can’t put in order. Each one we’d thought we would never forget; each one detaches and floats to join the rest. The ether binds us in and keeps us whole.

22

discomfort

/dɪsˈkʌmfət/

noun

Slight pain.

Worry or embarrassment.

My lipstick smiles at the lens, trying to reflect some of the joy in the smiles shone on me. I graduated when the cab pulled off and I fell apart; I’d got my distinctions in bed, my honours in words said true. But now, the mortarboard sits squarely on. And as they smile, I smile.

23

uncanniness

/ʌnˈkani/

noun

A feeling of strangeness or mystery, especially in an unsettling way.

(uncanny valley) the phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the viewer.

I fear the uncanniness of memory.

Digital records resurrect a simulacrum of the past, at once real and not. People I’d been, lives I’d had—in abstract they’re mine. But there isn’t enough me to own the myriad detail at once, to expand my identity, extend my history to such bounds.

Herein lies the valley.

24

ennui

/ɒnˈwiː/

noun

A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

I trod the path without an end, with a beginning I couldn’t remember. Stretches of sand swept towards the horizon—an unbroken line, a full circle. If I lay down I would forget which way was up, but I hadn’t bothered to try. Grain on grain, one by one, the world was made as such.

25

defeat

/dɪˈfiːt/

noun

A state of being overcome by adversity; demoralised.

Things fall apart, the centre holds slant. Between the glue and the trashcan lies the uncanny shipwreck in a bottle. A strange death fills the void with a million little pieces, expunging grief as they soak in it, full. The last cigarette is stubbed. Perhaps the tea leaves can only be read in the ashes.

26

puzzlement

/ˈpʌz(ə)lm(ə)nt/

noun

A feeling of confusion through lack of understanding.

A wonderful illusion: see the displacement in oscillating distance, and believe the hope in steady alternation. The part misdirects from the whole. This is magic, ancient and pure. The secret—hush—lies in the infinite infinitesimals in that empty hat. Suspend your disbelief.

Odd trick though, isn’t it, when the con and mark are one?

27

fatigue

/fəˈtiːɡ/

noun

Extreme tiredness resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness.

A lessening in one's response to or enthusiasm for something, caused by overexposure.

(Fatigues) Menial non-military tasks performed by a soldier, sometimes as a punishment.

We can’t go on; we will go on. Tears dry at the recollection of a smile. A pin in the calendar fuels the intervening hours. Pushed by memory, pulled by hope, we are immortal. For the speck of hope looms into view and transforms into a new memory, leaving yet another fresh horizon of possibility.

28

anguish

/ˈaŋɡwɪʃ/

noun

Severe mental or physical pain or suffering.

Dreams get us through the days; dreams make them unbearable. From the radiance of hope, we must readjust our eyes to a darkness we once could navigate. Our heads are swollen with promise; now nothing fits. Our bodies have felt the possible; now nothing is enough. Dreams—they keep you afloat to burn you alive.

29

yearning

/ˈjəːnɪŋ/

noun

A feeling of intense longing for something.

Take me there where the sun shines hard and the snow falls soft, where mountains far too far to see fit on the map in hand, where each night falls completely asleep and each day wakes fully alive, where everything is just as it should be.

Take me there where I never have to leave.

30

despair

/dɪˈspɛː/

noun

The complete loss or absence of hope.

There’s another life I see, in which my mind is mine and I look myself in the eye, in which cigarettes and coffee taste of more than death, in which pain passes and I laugh more loudly than I scream, in which I am still and free.

Sometimes it seems it’s exactly that: another life.

31

indifference

/ɪnˈdɪf(ə)r(ə)ns/

noun

Lack of interest, concern, or sympathy.

Unimportance.

The art of losing is hard to master.

The art of replacing, though—

Going, walking. Being, sitting. Meals, food—drop the wordplay. An open heart, open eyes. What’s happiness but a smile? Love, faith, hope, life—how big are your words? How full is the glass?

The art of replacing—nothing to it.

32

apathy

/ˈapəθi/

noun

Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.

Cheers to the infinite glass when everything else ends.

Cheers to the headaches and the relativity of pain.

Cheers to the words set free and the ones shut in.

Cheers to the darkness when every second’s one too many.

And cheers to allowing me a hand in the undoing of this life crumbling around me.

33

relief

/rɪˈliːf/

noun

A feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress.

Assistance given to those in special need or difficulty.

We spend hours and hours in days and days keeping in line, keeping things in check, keeping calm and carrying on.

And on and on until perhaps it’s no surprise we give it all up to the white flag of surrender—a pure and peaceful whiteness that expects, at last, nothing from us but defeat.

34

weariness

/ˈwɪərɪnɪs/

noun

Extreme tiredness; fatigue.

Reluctance to see or experience any more of something.

I walk along with my eyes half-shut, for the sun is too bright and the days too long. There is life with my lids at half-mast. Time softens, leaving just enough—not too much. I watch the vastness blur into a singular path, laughing at how I walked into this with my eyes wide open.

35

foreboding

/fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ/

noun

A feeling that something bad will happen; fearful apprehension.

There is a fire in her. The more it burns, the darker it gets. For this flame takes and never gives, feeding its shadows with the surrounding glimmers. She fears its hunger; it grows nonetheless. Eyes open and blind, she watches every spark as the fire burns on in this new night, strong and black.

36

emptiness

/ˈɛm(p)tɪnəs/

noun

The feeling of having no value or purpose; futility.

The state of containing nothing.

There is nothing here tonight—nothing around me, nothing in me. To fill the space, the darkness takes shape, at once overwhelming and inviting. With it the silence sounds, an incessant piercing scream in one ear, a softly seductive whisper in the other.

They beckon me towards something.

Something is better than nothing, they say.

37

inconsequentiality

/ˌɪnkɒnsɪkwɛnʃɪˈalɪti/

noun

the feeling of being unimportant or insignificant.

Sometimes the bears do not wake up when the seasons warm; sometimes the salmon float bloated the wrong way downstream. We fight, we endure, we try, we persist—but for some in vain amidst the crimson teeth and claws of nature. One could lose one’s all, but life lives on immortal, the dead few insignificant.

38

dread

/drɛd/

noun

Great fear or apprehension.

Predators omnipresent, prey immortal, that same knife, that old kiss—dreams dance in the shadow of sense. Light flashes; worlds crack apart. The fear, the relief, the desire, the loss—they stand still in the middle, laughing at the borders you desperately draw between reality and fiction.

The clock ticks until your eyes shut again.

39

pain

/peɪn/

noun

Mental suffering or distress.

Highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury.

(pains) Great care or trouble.

There often comes a day that is just an endless night, when the dry air chokes you and the emptiness inside races. You can’t quite remember who you are, much less who you want to be—the present is all there is. And so you wait, in the terrible now, until the endless night ends.

40

panic

/ˈpanɪk/

noun

Sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour.

Informal. A frenzied hurry to do something.

You put it in; you take it out. It’s silly, you concur, but the true absurdity is that you’re scrambling to fill a void that’ll never take shape while gasping to erase a mess that cannot leave, wanting it all in but all out, wanting to be in it yet always, always, always wanting out.

41

fear

/fɪə/

noun

An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

Archaic. A mixed feeling of dread and reverence.

Your greatest fear isn’t spiders, clowns or heights, but to lose control of your mind—if its thoughts are not just your own, if it speaks both to and as yourself. Divided, what do you defend?

This, more than anything, will feast on your insides, screeching with laughter as you plummet all the way down.

42

terror

/ˈtɛrə/

noun

Extreme fear.

The use of extreme fear to intimidate people; terrorism.

The nights are too long for a single mind. The lights are too bright, but the dark is too dark when you shut your eyes. There is nowhere to go but here, nothing to do but be. When all else sleeps, it is just you alone—with, in and against the entirety of your self.

43

horror

/ˈhɒrə/

noun

An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.

A literary or film genre concerned with arousing feelings of horror.

We light candles to breach the night; it rouses instead, refreshed. We sing and dance because we’re told it’s what scares off the beast; it purrs along with every note. We hide; it finds. We run; it waits for our return.

We look it in the eye, and all it does is smile right back.

44

agony

/ˈaɡəni/

noun

Extreme physical or mental suffering.

The final stages of a difficult or painful death.

It’s still a surprise when it appears, although you’ve never forgotten it’s never gone. Its eyes gleam in the darkest nights. Its scent makes up the air. Its claws draw stale blood. It pins you down. It lets you up. Battles are lost and battles are won but the war is the circle of life.

45

vigilance

/ˈvɪdʒɪl(ə)ns/

noun

The state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.

You know it’s following you—no need to look. You can see the darkening shadows, hear each solid step. At times limping, at times charging, but never is it left behind. When it does catch up, stop and fight. Give it all you’ve got, for in this game, in its world, they play for keeps.

46

uncertainty

/ʌnˈsəːt(ə)nti/

noun

The feeling of not being completely sure of something.

I learn that things get better. I learn that dreams come true. I do what I am taught, I look down the rabbit hole, across the valley and through the sands of time, and I put one foot in front of another as I remember to remember to believe.

But what if they are wrong?

47

torment

/ˈtɔːmɛnt/

noun

Severe physical or mental suffering.

All around you are voices on voices, words after words, noise in noise. Air is sound. Each breath chokes, but each breath is followed by another. This is the unending sound of life, a scream that ends only at the end of time itself.

All we need, at times, is simply a moment of silence.

48

hope

/həʊp/

noun

A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.

Grounds for believing that something good may happen.

A person or thing that may help or save someone.

They teach us about the immutable, indivisible soul. We learn to shave ours down to size, or lose chunks of them on impact. But we gather every last fragment, for one day there will be enough space for souls like those in the legends, and we will reconstruct the ruins with our pocketfuls of sawdust.

49

restlessness

/ˈrɛstləsnəs/

noun

The inability to rest or relax as a result of anxiety or boredom.

I am the quivering singularity before the bang. I am the very last point before the tipping. I am ready, ready for everything. I get closer, closer, and closer still.

I never reach it.

And so here I am—straining, bursting, trembling on the edge of all I can see, but absolutely, absolutely cannot touch.

50

calm

/kɑːm/

noun

The absence of strong emotions.

The absence of violent activity in a place.

The absence of wind.

Around and around I spin, a toppling ellipse of neon sounds and blaring lights. It’s too loud, far too loud. Faster and faster I spin, brighter and louder, higher and bigger, on and on until—finally—I take in a breath. The air comes, dragging, slowing, stopping.

And then, at last, I let it out.

51

clarity

/ˈklarɪti/

noun

The quality of being coherent and intelligible.

The quality of transparency or purity.

The quality of being easy to see or hear; sharpness of image or sound.

In some moments, everything dawns into clarity.

The leaves startlingly green, greener than the grey I had seen as green. The song playing again, but sound has become music, thumping and soaring. Each taste dancing on my tongue, with the revelation that food has more than form.

In these moments, I feel—and am—alive.

52

pride

/prʌɪd/

noun

A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from achievement, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

Literary. The best state of something; the prime.

Look at any Roman ruin. Your eyes will see past the crumbling pillars, for you’ll see Rome, glorious and whole.

Where is the shame, then, in the ruined?

Everything that has broken, spoiled and vanished once had been. And as long as you see them—truly see them—they are and always proudly will be.

53

power

/ˈpaʊə/

noun

Great strength.

The ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way.

She bristles her mane. She bares her teeth. She is lion, she says. But she doesn’t see her tracks indelible, her eyes gleaming square against the dark, her spine straight amidst others crouching, her bloody wounds more triumphant than spotless pelts. Yet, this is the true roar of her spirit—brave, strong and forever pure.

54

worthiness

/əˈstaʊndmənt/

noun

The quality of being good enough.

The quality of deserving attention or respect.

How many memories do I have? The ones remembered, the ones forgotten?

The things I have done, places I have been, people I have known—they are assembled from every thought I have carried, every image I have held, every sensation I have felt.

In infinitesimal detail, they create the stunning singularity of the “I”.

55

strength

/strɛŋkθ/

noun

The capacity to withstand great force or pressure.

A good or beneficial quality or attribute of a person or thing.

The number of people comprising a group, typically a team or army.

No, I will not bend, or yield, or disappear.

For while I am but a speck in the universe, my world revolves around me, and from there, it begins. When all else is broken or lost, what is left is inviolable: what I choose, what I believe, what I think—and therefore, who I am.

[newfreakintown-blog]

Rosalind Robertson (the DIY Couturier) Lots of fashion, too many cats, some mental health and occasionally politics. I've got a rare genetic disease (EDS - Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) that makes me a medical hot mess of severe pain and joint instability. I spend my sick-time DIYing accessories... ABOUT ASK ME ANYTHING ARCHIVE 21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed. A while ago, I penned a fairly angry response to something circulating on the internet – the 21 Habits of Happy People. It pissed me off beyond belief, that there was an inference that if you weren’t Happy, you simply weren’t doing the right things. I’ve had depression for as long as I can remember. It’s manifested in different ways. I did therapy. I did prozac. I did more therapy. My baseline is melancholic. I’d just made peace with it when I moved, unintentionally, to a place that had markedly less sunshine in the winter. I got seasonal depression. I got that under control. Then I got really, really sick. Turns out it’s a permanent, painful genetic disorder. My last pain-free day was four years ago. So, this Cult of Happy article just set me off. Just… anger. Rage. Depression is serious – debilitating, often dangerous, and it’s got an enormous stigma. It leaves people to fend for themselves. It’s bad enough without people ramming Happy Tips at you through facebook. There is no miracle behaviour change that will flip that switch for you. I know, I’ve tried. A friend of mine suggested that I write something from my point of view because, surprisingly, I manage to give an outwards impression of having my shit together. I was shocked to hear this. And I find this comical, but I see her point. I’m functioning. I’ve adapted. I’m surprisingly okay. I think the medical term is “resilient”. So, here it is. My 21 Tips on Keeping Your Shit Together During Depression 1) Know that you’re not alone. Know that we are a silent legion, who, every day face the solipsism and judgement of Happy People Who Think We Just Aren’t Trying. There are people who are depressed, people who have been depressed, and people who just haven’t been hit with it yet. 2) Understand that the Happy People are usually acting out of some genuine (albeit misguided) concern for you, that it’s coming from a good place, even if the advice feels like you’re being blamed for your disease. Telling you these things makes them feel better, even if it makes you feel like shit. (If they insist on keeping it up, see #12.) 3) Enlist the help of a professional. See your doctor. You need to talk about the ugly shit, and there are people paid to listen and help you find your way to the light at the end of the tunnel. 4) Understand that antidepressants will only do so much. They’re useful, they’ll level you out and give you the time you need to figure out your own path to getting well. They can be helpful. There are lots to choose from. They may not be for you, and even if they are, they take some time to kick in. Conversely, they may not be for you. Work with your doctor. 5) Pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, an activity you got joy from in the past and re-explore that. Or, sign up for the thing you always wanted to try. There is a long history and link between depression and creativity. It’s a bright light of this condition, so utilize it to your best advantage. 6) Eat nutritionally sound, regular small meals. If you’re having trouble eating, try to focus on what you’d like to eat. I went through a whole six week episode of tomatoes and cream cheese on a bagel twice a day. Not great, but it was something – helpful context, I’m a recovered anorexic. Conversely, if all you want to do is scarf down crap, try to off-ramp it by downing a V-8 and doing #9 for 15 minutes, and see how you feel. Chucking your blood sugar all over hell’s half acre is going to make you feel worse. 7) While you’re doing #3, get some bloodwork done. If you’re low on iron or vitamin D, or if your hormone levels are doing the Macarena… these can all contribute to zapping your energy or switching your mood to Bleak As Hell. 8) If you’re in bed and the “insomnia hamsters”, as I like to call them, are on the wheel of your head, watch Nightly Business News on PBS. This has the effect of Nyquil. Swap out your coffee for herbal tea. If you just cannot sleep, try the next tip…. 9) Learn how to meditate. Start by focusing on your breathing. Not sleep, not thoughts. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Meditation is focusing on being present in your body, not careening around in your brain. It may not be as good as sleep but it will give you some rest and recharge you. 10) Face a window as often as you can – at work, at home. Look out into the world. Watch. Observe. Try to find something you find pretty or interesting to focus on. And, handily remember that one in five of those people out there feel the way you do. 11) Cry. Better out than in. Sometimes it’s not convenient or career-enhancing to cry, so find a private place as best you can and let the tears go. Carry Kleenex and face wipes and extra concealer if you wear makeup. You can always claim allergies. 12) Any “friend” who resolutely believes that your depression is because you’re lazy, because you’re not trying hard enough, who blames you for not bootstrapping out of it- that friend needs to be cut off. Polite (#2) is one thing, but there is a limit. You don’t have to explain, you can just not respond. You feel badly enough, you don’t need their “assistance”. 13) Limit your time with people who drain you. You know who they are. Often you don’t have a choice- but you can put the meter on. And, subsequently, be aware of what you’re asking of those close to you. 14) Everyone has shit they’ve got to deal with. What you have been saddled with is your shit. Recognize, just as you’re not alone, you’re also not unique. The grass may look greener, you may be jealous or envious of others who don’t have to deal with depression, but you likely do not know everything that’s going on with them. 15) Let go or be dragged. This is an old Buddhist saying. It’s a very useful way to frame aspects of depression. Betrayal, anger, fear… letting go is a process – often a painful and difficult process - but it’s ultimately going to show you the path out of this terrible place. Repeating the mantra can help when you’re feeling gripped by these feelings. 16) Wear clothes that make you feel confident. It takes as much time to put on nice clothes as it does to put on sweatpants. You will want to wear the sweatpants. Fight the urge. The whole “look good/feel better” campaign isn’t limited to cancer and chemotherapy. Or women. 17) Avoid fictional drama and tragedy like the plague. No Grey’s Anatomy, no to The Notebook, or anything that won a Pulitzer prize. You’ve got enough going on In Real Life. Comedy only. Or trashy stuff. Old episodes of WonderWoman? I’ve got the box set. Mindless drivel, like the latest CGI blockbuster. Or clever, funny books. David Sedaris. Jenny Lawson. Fiction exists to elicit emotion, and the emotion you need to express most right now is laughter. 18) Simple exercise, if you can. It can be something as simple as taking the stairs up a flight, or walking around the block. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it doesn’t have to involve climbing a mountain or running a marathon. Baby steps. 19) Depression will lie to you. Depression will try to tell you what others are thinking. That you are unloved and unworthy, that others think little of you or don’t care – or even wish you harm. You are not a psychic. Keep repeating that. “I am not a psychic”. Repeat. The only way to know what another person is thinking is to up and ask them. 20) If you are well and truly losing this battle, reach out to someone. I’ve been the random friendly-but-not-close person who has fielded the occasional outreach. I like to think I’m not judgemental and generally resourceful, and others have thought the same, so they called and asked. You know someone like me. And they will help you. 21) Forgive yourself. I’m writing out all these tips, and I can’t always muster the strength to even stick my nose outside, or walk up the stairs, or eat my vegetables. Today, I got outside for ten minutes. I will try again tomorrow. And I will try again the day after that. This list will not cure you. This list will not flip on the happy switch. God, I wish it were that easy. The theme here is to not to unknowingly sabotage yourself. All these little things? Like your blood sugar, or watching nonstop episodes of House, or endless Try Harder lectures from your Perpetually Perky sister? They all make dealing with depression just a tiny bit harder than it needs to be. And it’s hard enough, all on its own. (New: Downloadable, printable, nonsweary version of the 21 tips here.) UPDATE: Wow, guys. Thank you. The feedback has been wonderful - all I wanted to set out to do was something helpful. For those of you who want to see the original rant, Here it is.. www.diycouturier.com/post/41923259437/to-the-person-who-wrote-21-habits-… And here’s the response to my response (?) - basically, after posting my retort, the happy people came at me with torches all over the interwebs. www.diycouturier.com/post/42465364887/trollin-trollin-trollin#_=_ Also, a few people have mentioned that having a critter is a great thing to keep you on track, that taking care of something and having something rely on you keeps you going. I went back and forth on including that, but for some, it’s just not feasible to have a cat or a dog… but my cat is my Prozac. And, I wrote this in Canada, where we have universal health care. It breaks my heart that people don’t have access to professional support. You can sometimes find a community health centre, or sometimes your work benefits will have an employee support or assistance plan as part of your insurance. If you’re without benefits and hitting desperation, phone someone. Friend, family - even your local distress centre. Stay well, my melancholic interweb friends…xoRR ANOTHER UPDATE six weeks or so later… This - um, wow. I dropped off for a while - stuff, life, illness management boring blah blah - and this sucker is *still* flying around. I googled this, and it’s all over hell’s half acre, which is amazing, and I still can’t quite believe it… I’m STILL getting lovely emails and messages - thank you so much. I’m just awed by your response. On the Funny Note - a lot of people reposting this seem to think I’m male, which is wildly entertaining… because I work in sex and gender health policy issues… but I don’t really care how you gender me, so long as we’re talking. Nov 15 2013 - Update again. THANK YOU. NOTE: This work is under a creative common copyright. Feel free to discuss, but someone recently blogged her own “words” to each point without crediting me. I’ve put them out there under this type of copyright so they can be shared because I want to help, but please, don’t alter my work.