#this is actually specifically about posts saying the disciples of the witness are like a family

[taxus-fraud]

i love seeing those posts where people are talking excitedly about how their blorbos would hang out and joke around and have a fun relationship dynamic and every single one of their headcanons is almost entirely divorced from how the characters actually are. like, i’m glad you’re having fun with these guys, but i am also confident you are not consuming the same piece of media that i am.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

the text of the novel does not support any of this, but it specifically does not support jin guangyao grooming anyone. I'm going to get to that later because even speculating that he 'is not above' that made me feel some kind of way, but I'm not going to start there. I'm going to start at the beginning.

this is wrong. mo xuanyu's reputation for being a lunatic doesn't develop until after he's left jinlintai, and the mo family are the source of these rumours. prior to leaving mo manor at age 14, there is no indication whatsoever of his mental state. whatever he was like, however, the text makes it clear that he changed dramatically upon returning to mo manor.

this is from chapter 1. pre-jinlintai, mo xuanyu's fortunes were as in flux as his mother's, yes, but what kind of person was he? what was his personality like? we don't know, because after this chapter, mo xuanyu does not have a voice in the story anymore. that makes it all the more significant and crucial and essential, imo, to listen to what he says about himself in his own words. and this is what mo xuanyu says: he confesses in his own handwriting to sexually harassing a fellow disciple, which resulted in him being kicked out of jinlintai.

OP, this logic only holds if we know for sure that the harassment happened in private, and the novel does not say one way or the other. if this harassment happened in public with witnesses, then there is very little that a master spin artist (which I do not believe jin guangyao actually is) could do about it. the text does not tell us anything about the circumstances of this harassment, only that it occurred, and that lots of other people know about it. that means it is entirely plausible that the harassment occurred in such a way that either pretending it did not happen, or preventing the rumour mill from doing what it does best, just were not options. which does, tragically, mean that jin guangyao likely was highly triggered by this experience for the reasons you mention!

...yeah, everyone knows that it happened, including the maid who is serving wei wuxian during their jinlintai visit:

maybe everyone, including the staff who do not mingle socially with the gentry, know about this because they saw it happen. there's nothing in the text that asserts this incident occurred in private. I'm kicking this horse's fierce corpse over and over again just to drill home the point that jin guangyao does not have to be the source of these rumours.

okay, now I'm going to talk about the stuff that really upset me about your post:

good!! I am glad we are in agreement that /gestures @ this, all of that makes no sense, because it doesn't. so why, why, why say any of this:

stop. ✋ we are going to stop the car right here because when you make an assertion like this, that you don't "think jgy is necessarily above that kind of creepy grooming behaviour," this is the kind of assertion that you need to back up with evidence from the text. so where is it? the onus is on you to show the excerpts from the novel that lead you to feel like this is something jin guangyao is capable of. if you can't, then why are you stating that he could be capable of this? what is compelling you to Go There with this specific character, if you can't present evidence to support the claim from the text?

/exhale, okay. moving on.

this is absolutely the kind of story where that would be true, because this is also the kind of story where a man who grew up the impoverished son of a sex worker, who saw firsthand what the life of a sex worker was like (see wwx's empathy flashback of little meng yao throwing himself between meng shi and a john who is abusing her), who loves and respects and works doggedly to remain filial to her even after her death, nevertheless turns around and forces a bunch of sex workers to literally rape his father to death. mxtx will absolutely write characters who are victims of circumstance who still turn around and do bad things.

mo xuanyu said he sexually harassed a disciple, in one of the only opportunities he gets in the novel to actually express himself in his own words. you do raise an interesting point further down that I think is worth exploring, but I also think it is extremely important that we not just... disregard mo xuanyu's ownership over his actions. he believes he did this.

you haven't demonstrated jin guangyao did anything to mo xuanyu's credibility because you haven't provided anything grounded in the text. everything so far has been speculation, and much of that speculation is grounded in an inaccurate read of when mo xuanyu's reputation for lunacy begins.

how has jin guangyao demonstrated an MO for willingly associating himself with scandal, ever? he goes to great lengths to cover up any sign of his involvement with anything that could potentially make him for the jin sect look bad especially after he becomes chief cultivator. somewhat infamously, and I'm paraphrasing here, he tells xue yang in the villainous friends extra that he's free to wreck as many shopping stalls in lanling city as he likes, but he'd better not do it while wearing the jin sect colours. his MO is the opposite of courting scandal.

again, from chapter 1 as wei wuxian is making his way through the written notes that mo xuanyu left behind. there is no reason for jin guangyao to fabricate any rumours about mo xuanyu's mental state, because mo xuanyu's mental state is patently obvious to his entire family.

so now we're getting to the questions you pose near the end of your post and I honestly just... think the most straight-forward answer is the obvious one.

idk, maybe because jin guangyao didn't deliberately ruin mo xuanyu's life, and mo xuanyu knows it?

So like, I'm pretty darn sure Mo Xuanyu did not actually make a pass at Jin Guangyao.

For several reasons, like for one thing hitting on your own actual brother who is also your boss is genuinely insane behavior, in a way nothing else we know about the guy actually matches, other than his reputation for being crazy which mostly seems to originate from the same point as the sexual harassment allegations. which tracks because even with rampant societal homophobia, that's such a crazy thing to do people would question it if it didn't come paired with the information that he's insane.

Then there's the fact that if that had actually happened, there's basically no way master spin artist jgy would have let it get out, because actually experiencing that would trigger his sense-of-uncleanliness issues so hard.

But what we see is that somehow Everyone Knows that it happened, but also that Jin Guangyao totally didn't tell anyone, because he's too merciful and kind and respectable. It just mysteriously leaked somehow that this private scandal happened.

(Also, to step up a meta level, the gay goth kid who was never quite accepted into his own family and wound up self-destructing was in fact guilty of the homophobic allegations spread by the powerful man who manipulates reputation for personal advantage? This is not the kind of story where that would be true. The thematic dissonance is too much.)

The only way it's believable that mxy made a move on jgy is if jgy spent a long time maneuvering him into it, hinting and deniably flirting and just generally being maximum skeeze, just a huge elaborate incestuous honeypot, just to bait a 'ruined reputation' trap. Which makes no sense at all.

I don't think jgy is necessarily above that kind of creepy grooming behavior but I do think he would hate it, and definitely wouldn't resort to it when sowing rumors would work just as well. and expose him to less risk.

So Mo Xuanyu didn't do it.

So what we've got is that Jin Guangyao systematically obliterated this kid's credibility.

No one would listen to anything he said after being expelled in that sort of context, especially anything against Jin Guangyao, whom he now has obvious motive to smear. This was a preemptive strike against some kind of leak.

It's exactly the kind of thing jgy would do--it targets individual vulnerability, leverages the weak points in Mo Xuanyu's reputation into gaping chasms, in a way that associates jgy with scandal but makes him personally look better. also shows signs of jgy projecting his own issues onto others. The MO fits.

And his motive is easy to construct: Mo Xuanyu had had access to his secrets, such as Wei Wuxian's manuscripts and probably a lot of the other ugly shit. And Jin Guangyao needed him silenced, due to some thing or other, but as with SiSi didn't want to have to kill him.

(A fascinating thing about jgy as a villain is the moments where he yields to sentiment pretty consistently contribute to his destruction.)

But then we come around to: so why didn't Mo Xuanyu sic Wei Wuxian on Jin Guangyao, then?

In cql wwx does have a curse cut for jgy, to keep him in the plot and create an additional open storyline to resolve, since viewers are gonna be denied romantic catharsis, but in cql the homophobia plotline isn't there because all the gay is censored, and mxy allegedly hit on qin su instead. which is less utterly unhinged to do though still big wtf.

In the book, mxy summoned the Yiling Patriarch just to kill the Mos. (Which he didn't even do lmao.)

So I've always been sort of poking at that, like if you're destroying your own soul to get revenge, why spare the person who deliberately ruined your life?

Even if he had done the thing, it was weird! Maybe even weirder; if you're in a headspace where making sexual advances anyone should be able to predict are unwelcome seems like a good idea in the first place, there's a pretty good chance getting punished for them isn't going to make you think you were in the wrong. Otoh there is a zone where he could have done it, gotten the backlash, cleared his head a bit, realized it was fucked up to do, and therefore not held a grudge in that particular direction, but it's still weird. (And also he definitely didn't do the thing.)

But if he was so angry, why was he not angry at Jin Guangyao? Who definitely kicked him out of the Sect, all else aside?

And then I looked at the passage in Jin sect where we swap to Jin Ling's pov and he tells us one of the few first-hand things we hear about Mo Xuanyu: He thought Jin Guanyao was the most amazing person in the whole world. He adored him.

And being betrayed and rejected by him didn't turn that into resentment. Even though he resented the other side of his family enough to want them gratuitously murdered.

So you know what I think happened?

I think Mo Xuanyu thinks it was an honest misunderstanding. That Jin Guangyao, his idol, falsely concluded that his gay little brother was creeping on him based on a misinterpretation of his admiring behavior, and was appropriately revolted. And that Mo Xuanyu doesn't blame him for it. He blames himself.

He went back to his mother's family to rot genuinely feeling like the ruination of his life was his own fault for being creepy. And died like that.

Because of that, to a considerable extent. How can you bend any of your will to saving yourself, to getting out of an abusive situation and seeking a better one, when you don't think you deserve to be saved?

Fucks me up.

[vrishchikawrites]

Does the new meta about the Wen Remnants affect your portrayal of Lan Qiren in any way? While I really like the idea of an actual Elder protecting WWX, if he was right there and leading an army and witnessed 50 civilians being thrown in a Blood Pool AND STILL poke against WWX post-resurrection. Because at that point he could've at least ruminated in those 13 years that WWX was protecting innocents or played enough Clarity to get clarity over his actions and being controlled by anger.

Not to mention the rule that the Disciples weren't allowed to talk to him because WWX would 'corrupt' them.... I think Lan Qiren in canon verse can't really work out. Not that wwx would ever say or do anything because he doesn't want to upset the person who raised Lan Zhan. He understands those debts very well.

I've always been aware of LQR's culpability in the situation. He was specifically mentioned to be present. He is also someone who stands against WWX until the very end of the novel.

I choose to portray LQR in a slightly softer light because I feel, as expressed before, some discomfort about WWX not having any adult outside of LWJ and WN in his corner. Ideally, in my fics, I want things to be in WWX's favor because I'm biased like that, lol.

But, on the point of self-reflection.

I am uncertain. The thing about elders in Asian societies is that they rarely look back on their actions with any sort of critical eye. Their belief in their authority is absolute. I've had elders becoming angry for correcting them on even the smallest mistakes. If they do make mistakes that are too obvious to deny, you're essentially just expected to ignore them out of respect for the elder. This doesn't necessarily mean the elders are bad or malicious. It is just something you... accept.

With LQR, I believe that it is unlikely he reflected on the siege after it was done and the menace that was WWX was out of their lives. I bet he had the 'out of sight - out of mind' or 'what's done is done' approach to it.

I'm saying, good or bad, it is very unlikely that LQR would ever acknowledge what they did was absolutely unrighteous. Even if he is privately remorseful, which he could be because of all the revelations in the Guanyin Temple arc, I don't think he would ever apologize for it. He'll shrug it off and expect the same level of respect from the younger people of his family, including LSZ and WWX.

So, if WWX and LSZ are forced to deal with him and his past actions, I want them to be rewarded with a slighter softer and kinder LQR in mu headcanon/fics.

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Please please do write the post about wwx not being dumb/oblivious. Those posts were just funny at first but somehow it's now become accepted fact. Meanwhile whether cql or mdzs wwx is a very competent, savvy protagonist who's actually pretty observant! It's getting pretty tiring to see him reduced to genki oblivous magical girl (not that I don't like those, it's just wwx is not one).

Hey anon! 

I do plan on writing a more elaborate meta post exploring what arguments there are in the novel to support my wwx is not dumb/oblivious agenda.

But for now I just want to address one factor I think plays a big part in shaping the fandom’s perception of wwx as oblivious/dumb, regardless of how wwx was actually written in the novel. That is, the creative liberties taken by (or forced onto) the cql production team, which have had in my opinion two consequences: 1) cql does not manage to establish how quick-witted and savvy wwx is, which is compounded by the fact that it chose to play the troublemaker persona straight  2) the fact that wwx and lwj’s relationship is entirely subtext actually ends up making wwx look oblivious (at least to people applying a queer reading/bl-danmei reading to their interactions--people who are obvious to or choose to ignore the subtext certainly wouldn’t come to the same conclusions). 

So, the first issue. In the novel, wwx’s intelligence is more of a focal point in the narrative because it is a crucial part of the dramatic irony/tragedy of his death: as a result it cannot help being more important to the themes of the novel. After all, he is ultimately hunted down because of and killed by his inventions. The man created an entirely new field of cultivation! In cql, this is somewhat lost due to the fact that he does not invent modao nor does he create the yin hufu, and his death is more of a suicide than a sacrifice (i am still not over the fact that he throws the yin hufu at the crowd to let them wage war over it? that’s the complete thematic opposite of his death in the novel...). 

The novel, as well, is better at establishing that wwx’s antics are generally not because he’s just being a troublemaker, but that they are a way in which he garners information, gets people to act the way he needs them to or misdirect them. For instance, in cql, when lwj destroys wwx’s (well, nhs’s) spring book in the library, wwx looks genuinely pained and affronted--in the novel, it is clearly shown that, when wwx realized lwj intended to bring the spring book to lqr, he intentionally made him angry so that he would destroy the evidence himself. the point of the prank was also to not only get a reaction out of lwj, but also (reading btw the lines) wwx’s way of trying to leave a lasting impression on lwj now that his punishment was over. Differently put, while wwx can do directionless pranks,  more often than not, they have an underlying meaning/goal instead of just being for Attention(TM) in general. In contrast, the web series is full of missed opportunities in terms of characterisation, and is so from the very beginning (I find extremely disappointing how they decided to adapt the mo mansion and dafan mountain arcs because of how important they are to establishing wwx’s character for the readers/viewers. Through these arcs, we get acquainted with the way he thinks and deduces information, and how he uses people’s perceptions of him and others to his advantage. If you can only read English, @pumpkinpaix‘s translation of the first few chapters might help get a better sense of the nuances). 

I’m not saying that wwx is portrayed as dumb in cql: but that his characterization is a lot more fuzzy and inconsistent, and that his intelligence is utilized mostly when wwx goes into his detective mode. As a result, I do feel like it undermines how analytical wwx is in all aspects of his life, making it easy to see him as, you know, someone who’s, like, half-smart, half-super-dumb. 

As for issue #2, part of it boils down to the fact that most of the obstacles to wangxian’s relationship had to be erased due to censorship. There no longer is homophobia/internalized homophobia to motivate moments of denial or internal conflict; there is no longer the phoenix mountain kiss to explain lwj’s reluctance to respond to wwx’s flirting after his rebirth (as I explored in one of my other meta post); there is no longer lwj’s failed confession and lwj’s mistaken belief that wwx knows of his feelings, etc. These vectors of tension help contextualise and explain why it takes so long for wwx to realize lwj’s feelings towards him (but let’s not forget that he does: after jinlintai, he starts to realize that lwj treats him especially well, which becomes a certainty after the second siege). the cql production team had no choice but to take these elements away. 

that being said, by adding new or by changing moments to support the subtext and to please (bl-danmei) fans, the show actually takes away even more vectors of tension/misunderstanding between wwx and lwj, and makes wwx’s crush seem even more obvious and straight-forward. Take for instance the mo mansion arc. In the novel, wwx sees the Lan disciples’ white robes and has this moment of reflection that he recognizes the robes, and sees danger in the fact that the Lan sect is involved, thinking he should leave but knowing he can’t until he resolves the curse. in cql, we get a slow-pan flash-back of wwx’s first encounter with lwj, leaving him clearly emotional. The novel sets up the association as: white robes -> Lan Sect (subtext, Lan Zhan) -> orthodox/sticklers to rules/people i’ve met in my previous life who disapproved of modao -> danger! In cql, we have instead: whites robes -> Lan Zhan -> emotional reaction/I miss him. That fact is further driven home when wwx starts playing wuji on a blade of grass, ending with a soulfully whispered “lan zhan”. In terms of subtext, it sure lays it on thick: wwx does look like he has a big crush on lwj! But that destroys a big source of tension between them at the beginning: when wwx is summoned into mxy’s body, he thinks lwj hates him and disapproves of his methods and wants to bring him to gusu to punish him. That’s why he wants to run away at first, why he doesn’t disclose his identity to him and why it takes him a moment to understand lwj’s intentions. cql does not do a great job of setting that up. And the changes they make to the events of wwx’s first life, including changes to the timeline through which we are introduced to what happened in the past, makes it even more difficult to see how wwx could have misunderstood lwj’s intentions or his own feelings (again, in a queer or danmei-bl reading of the subtext). They go on a mission together! Spend a lot of time working together toward a similar goal!Lwj calls him his zhiji (”soulmate” as is often translated)! Lwj literally tries to save him from dying! The last thing wwx would remember when he wakes up in mxy’s body would be lwj holding onto his hand and screaming his name when he let go! Again, it does great for the subtext--but it makes it really difficult to understand why wwx would misunderstand lwj’s intentions and feelings, and it makes his own feelings toward lwj seem quite obvious. 

Overall, the changes in the themes, genre, events, narrative timeline, characterisation and much more in adapting mdzs into cql have been an important influence explaining why the fandom has this vision of wwx as dumb/oblivious. It reminds me of the way some people on tumblr like to talk about Mr. Darcy as “shy” and “awkward” based on the movie pride and prejudice 2005, which totally misses the point of Mr Darcy and his character as portrayed by Jane Austen--but, if people have only or mainly engaged with this specific adaptation, it is not necessarily surprising that they hold this frankly misguided interpretation due to the choices made by the film production team. 

In contrast, in the novel, we are shown a lot to help us understand why wwx comes to the wrong conclusions or might not understand his own feelings and reactions. But that’s for all for another post!

[katukutataka]

KH Theory: Kairi’s Grandparents

So last night Square Enix released the 4 new characters for Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road and everyone is flipping out. So am I since we’re all waiting for Dark Road to come out as well as other Kingdom Hearts games.

There’s already people throwing their theories and ideas that I thought I should tell mine as well before June 10, when we’ll be given a little more information. 

Based on the title of this post, I won’t be just talking about Kairi’s grandmother. 

Since the release of the photos and names of the new characters in the photograph, a lot of people are speculating that Kairi’s Grandmother could be Vor

[image provided by the Dark Road Twitter page]]

Now, Vor appears to be the youngest of the group in the photo. I say “appear” because if anime has taught me one thing, it’s that the seemingly young looking person is actually the oldest...But for this case, it could that Vor really is the youngest. 

Let’s just go with the latter for now. 

A lot of people on Twitter, Tumbr, Reddit, kh13.com and Youtube are theorizing that Vor could be Kairi’s grandmother. 

YouTuber HMK, ProdigyxCD, SHARKTANK, VTNVIVI, and others also agree with that theory, or at least point it out from their observations. Specifically because of the Norse meaning of Vor’s name.

[Name Information provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

So that would make sense as to how Kairi’s Grandma knew about the story of Light and Darkness that’s mention three times throughout the franchise:

1) Birth by Sleep: Kairi asked her grandmother to retell the story of Light and Darkness

2)Kingdom Hearts: Sora witnesses a flashback to Kairi and her grandma sitting in the Radiant Garden Library

3)Kingdom Hearts Unchained X: when you first download the game, a pop-up book version of Radiant Garden appears. Kairi and her grandmother are shown while the story of Light and Darkness appears in white text above.

If Nomura intends to use the meanings of the Norse names literally, then Vor has vast knowledge of not only Darkness, but also about Light. Maybe more so than Master Xehanort? 

“The gift of Providence” is interesting to me as the latter means “the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power”, “God or nature as providing protective or spiritual care”, “timely preparation for future eventualities” [Google Dictionary]. 

Could it be that Vor was preparing for what was to come around 75 to 85 years into the future? Could it be that she was going to prepare Kairi for the events that took place before KH1? 

Another thing that people are using as “evidence” is the similarity of Vor’s face to Kairi’s grandmother. More so about the smile and the eyes. 

People are saying that the smile between the two are very similar.

(i’m sorry about the small image. Literally just cropped it from the image provided by Dark Road Twitter page. Pic of Kairi’s grandma found on Google Images)

I suppose the smiles do look very alike, but it could be a trick of the eye and the inner desire of wanting this to somehow work is affecting us. 

The other thing that people are saying are similar are the eye colors:

On Vor’s image, her eyes are more green while Kairi’s grandmother is more blue. Indigo,if you’re picky. 

Now I know that sometimes the color of one’s eyes may “change” colors depending on how light hits it. For example, dark brown eyes can appear light brown in direct light or black in the shade. Green eyes tend to have to accent colors like a light brown, which is hazel-green eyes. Sometimes people will have a blue tint in them, blue-green eyes. Yellow is also seen in the mix. Sometimes when a baby has either green or blue eyes, it changes colors as they get older. It’s rare in those cases but still can happen. And yes, there are people with completely green eyes only even in adulthood. 

Given that this Tetsuya Nomura’s concept as well as the meaning of eye colors, the affiliation of Light and Darkness present in one’s heart can change their eye colors (and hair).

The main example of this is Young Xehanort, where he had silver eyes. But because of the Darkness, his eyes became more amber yellow. This has become a trend for fans to distinguish who are “good” and “bad”.

I will add in that that’s not the best way to tell if a person is good or bad as there are characters who have amber, yellow, light brown eyes.

So let’s break down the possibilities of the eyes between the 2 characters:

1) Vor’s eyes are green from a young age. However, if her eyes changed as she grew up, they became more blue, indigo colored, which is what Kairi’s grandmother has. 

2) If Light and Darkness are affiliated to the change of eye colors, then it’s possible that Vor’s eyes changed to more blue-indigo colored because of the abundance of Light (assuming).

3) It’s very possible that Vor and Kairi’s grandmother are TWO DIFFERENT women. Therefore, the color of the eyes mean nothing for the relation. 

The 3rd possibility would lead to “Master Ava is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory” and/or one of the many “Dandelions is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory”. 

Like, there’s so much that we don’t know about Kairi’s family and their backstory that many people, myself included, created fan-theories that relate to the Foretellers or the Dandelions somehow. Especially since the grandmother knows the story of Light and Darkness. 

I have an idea that I’m not sure if anyone else has spoken about on a media platform. If there are people out there that has a similar idea, please let me know so I can give credit! 

My idea banks off of Kairi’s GRANDFATHER. 

I know. A real stretch, but it could still be possible. Let me humor you. 

Let’s say the 3rd possibility is true: Vor and the grandmother are two different women. So, what of the grandfather? Who was he? Where was he? Did he pass of age or after The Fall of Radiant Garden? Who knows. Maybe Nomura didn’t think that far for Kairi or anyone’s family background...or did he? 

Anyway, if the grandfather is one of the Dandelions who avoided the war or is a disciple of the Dandelions, then he met the grandmother at some point, fell in love, married, had kids, then had a grandchild. During all that, it’s likely that the grandfather told the grandmother the story of Light and Darkness as a legend that will be passed down through the generations. 

Perhaps some of you thought of another person who’s also featured in the photograph:

Yup. I went there. I’m putting my idea that Bragi is potentially Kairi’s grandfather. 

I mean, his Norse meaning of the name is:

[Name definition provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

His name means “Poet”. Creative with his words with the knowledge of poems and songs, it’s likely he told told of the story of Light and Darkness the same way that Kairi’s grandmother told before. 

[Kairi’s grandmother story dialogue provided by u/blackdragoon747 on a reddit thread, “Kairi’s grandmother story (KH3 Theory) [Discussion]]

The story is told in a vague yet meaningful way. Something easy to tell the generations to come of what happened. Yes, I realize it ‘s not a poem so the relation between this and Bragi is small. But what if Bragi told the grandmother this version of the story because of how it was told to him by his Keyblade Master? Possibly the same Master who taught all 6 of them? 

I will admit that the Bragi’s orange hair is giving some “evidence” that he’s related to Kairi. It’s a stretch since the grandparents don’t have to have red hair to be related to Kairi. It’s likely that one of the Kairi’s birth parents had the same red hair color as her. I just wanted to throw that idea out there. 

I remember seeing an idea with art by laizy-boy (one of my favorite KH fanartist) where what if Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather? Laizy-boy created Masako, an O.C. portrayed as Kairi’s grandmother, where she met Xehanort and Eraques when they were young. It’s hinted that Young(er) Xehanort had a crush on Masako in Laizy-boy’s artwork. If that was the case, then Master Xehanort was a fucked up grandfather to do what he did to Kairi in KH3. 

(I’m still salty that happened even if Kairi got her sweet revenge in Re:Mind!)

I wanted to mention that because I just remembered that and thought that if some people thought the possibility that Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather, what about Bragi if not the former? 

There is notion that Hermod could also be a candidate, but I personally don’t think so? if you do, let me know! I’m always happy to hear what others think otherwise! 

There may be people who think that Urd is Kairi’s grandmother too, but I’m not sure. 

Anyways! This post is rather long as it is so i’ll end it here. Let me know what you all think! Send me your questions and I might make another post tomorrow after getting more info. 

[thisbibliomaniac]

I’m scared I’ll go to hell if I die from the coronavirus. Ima. Christian but I’m scared if I liked games or tv or stuff and don’t know the whole bible or always be doing something scripture related I’ll be damned that’s what I see so many saying. “ Christians should never do anything with tv and games and they will damn everyone, lukewarm Christians play games and watch tv! “

They're wrong. It's that simple. The Bible never says you're not allowed to participate in fun things. You'll notice the people saying these things are nearly always anonymous. That's because they're trolls trying to spread uncertainty amongst believers who are vulnerable to it. Let's ignore what trolls are saying a focus instead on what Jesus says.

Throughout the Bible, old testament and new, God has set up a standard of perfection among believers. It's literally impossible for any fallen human to follow the entire Law set up by God through Moses in the old testament. The only person in all of history who has followed the Law perfectly is Jesus Christ himself. There's a reason for this! There's a reason the Law is impossible to keep! Theres a reason it's impossible for man to follow the commands of Jesus 100%!

Paul often talks about how the law is used to illuminate how impossible it is for us to reach God's standard of perfection, and that's why we need Jesus to cover us.

"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." "

Romans 7:7 ESV

"And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

Matthew 19:16‭-‬22 ESV

Jesus knows this man's weakness, and highlights where he is deficient. The disciples respond;

"When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.""

Matthew 19:25‭-‬26 ESV

You're not good enough anon. You can't be good enough. You won't be good enough. That's why you have a Savior!

Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the Hall of Faith, but if you're familiar with the stories of any of the people mentioned there, you know the list is full of liars, murderers, adulterers, and drunkards. That's because it was grace through faith that redeemed them, not their own righteousness.

If there are specific things that you think perhaps the Holy Spirit has been convicting you of (a particular show, or game, or music), pray on those things. But I don't think we have any reason to think there's condemnation for enjoying fiction as a rule.

If you think the Holy Spirit might be convicting you of spending your time on those things rather than the things of God, then you may have made an idol out of those things, and you definitely need to pray and meditate on that.

Finally, one can never spend too much time meditating on the things of God. Have a set Bible reading time everyday if you don't already. If you need a schedule (I did) I have one posted at @livingandactive which won't link, but you can search the name. Dedicate a certain amount of time a day to prayer, at least until you get in the habit of "praying without ceasing". Find some theology to read. Grace To You is always giving away free books. I posted a link to one a couple days ago on @thisbibliophiile .

Take some time to think about how much of what you're feeling is actually conviction from the Holy Spirit versus guilt and fear heaped on by the world.

Sorry this turned into a novel, but I hope it makes sense and answers your question!

[lazulimaya]

French Canadian Witchcraft: Symbols, Guardians and Divination

(forgive the long post, but this is information I’ve been collecting through personal experience and Beltane Lowen’s book, along with lectures and other scholarly articles I’ve read.)

Symbols

Le fleur-de-lys: Can be used as a symbol for the Trinity, the triple worlds. The flower, the lily, is a symbol of purity and was often placed with the Virgin Mary (hence, a Goddess symbol). It of course also displays the sacred number 3. 

(Oh, this is my favourite painting done of Madeleine by Georges de la Tour, she just looks so pensive and looks like she’s learning lots of things, and the skull is just such a nice touch, a very witchy painting for me. ooh and fun fact: this painting was the one Ariel had in the Little Mermaid!)

Deities and Spirits

Saint Anne: The mother of the Virgin Mary, this saint was very popular among the French Canadians and Acadians living near the sea. Her feast day is July 26. She is matron saint of carpenters, single women, orphans, children, equestrians, grand-parents, housewives, lace workers, lost things, seamstresses, miners, clothes sellers, poverty, pregnancy, birthing, people who work in stables, teachers, sterility, and sailors (she protected against sea storms). I look up to her when I sew and keep my home clean and fresh. Her symbols are the threshold or a door, and books. She’s the matron saint of Brittany, and therefore, has Celtic connections. Her colours are green and red. 

Saint Marie Magdeleine: She is the matron saint of the Magdalen Islands (where my great-grandma came from). She was one of the female disciples of Jesus. She’s matron saint of women, spiritual revelations, of those that love to ponder and study, and discoverers of sacred mysteries, visions, apothecaries, jewellers, perfume makers, and pharmacists. I look up to her for vision quests and when I study witchcraft. She’s also someone I associate with sex, love, and the true meaning of loving someone for who they are. She’s been in religious debates among scholars if she was Jesus’s wife or not, but the mere implications that she could be are very appealing to me Pagan-wise, so there). I know, she’s been written as a repentent prostitute, but that was an addition made to the Bible long ago by a Pope so she’s not that for me. She’s witnessed Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and ressurection, so for me, she is a figure with which to work with spirits and death and rebirth. So I call on her for scrying and divination.

Virgin Mary: One of the prominent mother goddess figures, her symbols are cerulean blue, white and the lily, She protects women and children. I look up to her for learning love and compassion. 

The Devil: while the Church has painted a horrid image of the Devil in their structures, the Devil appears a lot in French Canadian folklore. He’s often there as a figure of temptation and getting seduced to act out of socially accepted norms (Church, right?), but, one could argue that there’s a primal wildness to this figure, as the French Canadian habitants were often very fearful of the forests when they came here. Some stories have heroes meet him in the forest, sometimes accompanied by little spirits and elves. He can transform into different beings, and sometimes, he appears as a fellow Voyageur (hence the liminal and sometimes dangerous aspects of the wilderness). He brings young women to dance wildly (something the Church frowned upon heavily, so let’s dance!!) In some stories, he helps build churches (I know, what the heck?) but the structure never ends up finished or it gets destroyed repeatedly. He’s basically a figure of mischief and wildness, of total chaos in the natural landscape, much like the Horned God. 

The Fée (from the Lecture: Erik Lacharity and Morrigane Feu “Les Dames Fées: Ladies Fae in French-Canadian Traditional Witchcraft”, Raven’s Knoll Workshop, 2018.) There were rules of engagement with dealing with the Fée. Stories of the Fée were roadmaps for people. When someone meets them, it’s because they’re embarking on a life-changing journey. Stories with “Ti-Jean” are like this. Crossing a road, stream, forest, or taking a right turn at the crossroads, they meet a Fée. In French Canadian tradition, Fée doesn’t mean belle fée. Fée meant something that is enchanted with the means of affecting fate. This is no ordinary stick, it can do something. The Fée would give them something to help them, usually in sets of three. The exchange that took place, the hero had a quest but usually, there’s something in it for the Fée. An example of this is a talking horse previously being a stable boy, and at the completion of the journey, they turn back to their forms. Depending on the setting of the storyteller, ex: Acadia, there were lots of stories with the ocean, boats, nets etc. In the interior, there’d be forests and valleys, barley and cakes. The geographical context matters. The Raconteur makes it so that you yourself are in the myth because of your geographical location. Trou des Fées: a little cave or a little crack in a rock and leave an offering of cream or milk. Normandy, Gasgogne, Picardie, Belgians, they came here, and they had fairies called les lutins. Little red-bonneted fairies, really good blacksmiths, more dwarf-like. They’d sharpen tools too. When Ti-Jean is on his quest, the Fée can give him a knife to defend himself or to deliver someone from imprisonment. Three main classes and areas of affinity for the Fée: those that take on aspects of the woodlands (the Queen of all the Animals/Birds etc) they were very straight-to-the-point peoples. The Fée as protectors, about 30-40 stories of those. Others were sorcerers or magicians. Some Fée would give advice and help the hero. Stories where lost loved ones were some of those. Many of these stories featured Princes and Princesses, kingdoms, etc. because the settlers came here before the Revolution, so it was still important to them. French Canadians, almost all their divination and magic was centred around their love, sex and family life. These are reflected in the stories. For magical objects that the hero would have, sometimes it’s a stick, sometimes a napkin (when you set it on the table a whole feast would show up), little pieces of iron, and if you set it down it becomes a cookstove. Animals of the Fée would help you: Eagles and Horses, they were the big deal. Eagles and Horses were passenger animals in and out of the Fée land. Hero is coming out of subterranean kingdom and there’s this giant Eagle there and offers him passage out of the Fée lands, but he needs sustenance. Use your magical knife and cut off a chunk of your thigh and feed it to me. Ok… but he got a passage. It’s about sacrifice. Little lessons are all hidden in there. Formulas came with using these implements. Ex: This stick can beat people up. If robbers come and take my stuff, I’d take my stick and say “Joue mon gourdin!” and the stick would beat everybody up. “Napkin, give me food!” and poof, food. It’s not about the big magical words, you already have a tool that you know is Fée and it’s a simple command. Every animal that is white is Fée. “Adieu Aigle” and you’d turn into the Eagle. Whoops. The French Canadians were super practical people, just do the thing. They had no time for frilly stuff. Archetypes are super fluid in this tradition. Never pigeon-hole the Fée. Ladies Fée is a type of Fée. Dames Amorphosées: shape shifters, ex: The White Cat, usually very very beautiful, the cat hops into the pail with four toads and she turns into a Princess. Another form of transformation is the whole aspect of going from the pauper to the Prince/Princess. Sometimes it was a curse, but other times it was to disguise themselves. Woodland Ladies Fée: you’d encounter them in the forest, and they had dominion over something, like Birds (super connected to the Fée). With the male aspect, there were beings like the Eagle King or the Ant King (they’d be more specific with their animal dominions). Elemental Ladies: personifying fire and water. Both those elements were big deals. Blue Bonnet Lady: she’s frustrating for the hero, sometimes blowing out his match when he’s cooking pea soup. The Lady comes in on a cloud in the fog. Fog is a big deal. There are Courtly Ladies, like Fée Princesses, and lots of items she offers are scissors, twine, thread, things that are tied to female weaving magic. Sometimes the pauper and the princess switch roles, sometimes they’re the same person. The Witch is another figure. They can have Fée Witches. These were not the type of witches you want to meet. Some stories have the hero stumbling over this thatched hut, and you can stay for lodging, just feed the good oats to the black horse, and beat the white horse to a pulp. The white horse is actually a Prince that she transformed. So he takes the white horse away. The Three Sisters, they come up often in French Canadian folklore and healing traditions. In stories with giants that want to eat humans, replace them with pork and barley bouillon, make a type of beer with raw dough makes the water boil without it boiling. When superintendents of New France were coming here, wine became less available, so French Canadians often made spruce beer, given the lack of hops. There’s a reason why in France they go “We love our wine!” and we go like “we love our beer”. A year and a day and forgetfulness is a big motif in stories. Gifts: magic weapons, animals, objects, transportation, social status (pauper to princess), riches, love (gets a bit non-consent, but in those days there was not a whole lot of consent in marriage, that’s why they were so preoccupied about who they’re going to marry, so they can psychologically prepare).Go to the threshold of the woods, where the Fée usually are, sit down, and offer your offerings. Clearings are good too, the beings you encounter can surprise you. White animals, characters from stories, etc. Following the steps of the story can allow you to write your own story with that formulaic narrative of the old tales. If you read the tales and use them as guides and embark on the hero’s journey, lots of wisdom can be attained. Stories became mixed with Irish folklore, because when the Catholic Irish came over, we bonded with them and created new stories. 

Historical Archetypes and Associations

The Voyageur: The liminal figure in its own right, voyageurs were known to shift and adapt endlessly to their environment and cultures they found themselves in, whether in French Canada or among Indigenous peoples. Can be linked to the Wild Man. They combined their Catholic rituals with the mythologies and cosmologies of Indigenous cultures. They’re temperamental figures, but knowledgeable off the beaten path to keep you alive.

The Raconteur: The storyteller had an important place in French Canada, telling stories as old as the first settlers in North America and sometimes from the old country. Some of them were itinerant, asking for food and lodging in exchange for a story. They were known to stretch stories for multiple nights, ending on cliff-hangers. They weaved tales together, and had vast repertoires. They’re learned figures, with silver tongues and enchanting qualities.

The Violoneux: The violinist or fiddler, a key figure in French Canadian culture. They had an innate sense of rhythm and song, and could bring a whole room to dance. The jigs and reels are also inspired from traditional Irish and Scottish music, as the two cultures mingled. 

The Bewitched Canoe: It’s a popular story of French Canada. It’s a variant of the Wild Hunt. One version, written by Honoré Beaugrand in 1892, tells it like this: some loggers get lonely in their winter camp on New Year’s Eve, and wish to go home to visit their families. The Devil appears to them to offer them an easy and fast way to go back to their homes through a flying canoe, as long as they get back before dawn, otherwise, their souls would belong to him and they’d go to Hell. The embark, and they arrive home, partying the night away. They almost arrive to the camp by the skin of their teeth, but the Devil lets them go, mysteriously. This legend comes from the Poitou region of France, where an english nobleman named Gallery loved hunting. He loved it so much, he skipped mass. As punishment, he was cursed to ride in the skies for eternity, chased by horses and wolves, like a Wild Hunt. When the French arrived in North America, they combined this Wild Hunt variation with the Indigenous realities of using canoes as modes of transportation. Some stories have the voyageurs or loggers ride the skies every New Year’s Eve for all eternity, and in some versions they escape Hell. Consequently, New Year’s Eve is an important day for French Canadians, and is very liminal in its aspects. 

Divination

Most French Canadian divination traditions revolve around the family, love, and sex. Back in the day, they were very concerned with whom they’d end up marrying, if their child would carry through an illness, or how their family and love life was fairing.

Lowen described some divination methods that can be applicable to a French Canadian practice, namely: playing cards, dice, reading tea leaves, mirrors and crystal balls, dream interpretation. 

[dfroza]

people fight their wars, vying for control of earth

but earth belongs to its Creator who has promised to right every wrong done here. Love will cleanse all the evil that exists, wiping it clean.

this will be A grand end of time when life begins Anew

and so in the meantime we have the inspiration of the Spirit here with us to illuminate through the Body of the Lord, the Church, the Bride (A great mystery unveiled)

and we have the Scriptures to guide, to reveal the sacred Heart of our heavenly Father and of the Son.

Paul has written of this in his letters, continuing with Today’s reading from the New Testament in the Letter of 1st Timothy:

If any of you aspires to be an overseer in the church; you have set your heart toward a noble ambition, for the word is true! Yet an elder needs to be one who is without blame before others.

He should be one whose heart is for his wife alone and not another woman. He should be recognized as one who is sensible, and well-behaved, and living a disciplined life. He should be a “spiritual shepherd” who has the gift of teaching, and is known for his hospitality.

He cannot be a drunkard, or someone who lashes out at others, or argumentative, or someone who simply craves more money, but instead, recognized by his gentleness.

His heart should be set on guiding his household with wisdom and dignity; bringing up his children to worship with devotion and purity. For if he’s unable to properly lead his own household well, how could he properly lead God’s household?

He should not be a new disciple who would be vulnerable to living in the clouds of conceit and fall into pride, making him easy prey for Satan. He should be respected by those who are unbelievers, having a beautiful testimony among them so that he will not fall into the traps of Satan and be disgraced.

And in the same way the deacons must be those who are pure and true to their word, not addicted to wine, or with greedy eyes on the contributions. Instead, they must faithfully embrace the mysteries of faith while keeping a clean conscience. And each of them must be found trustworthy according to these standards before they are given the responsibility to minister as servant-leaders without blame.

And the women also who serve the church should be dignified, faithful in all things, having their thoughts set on truth, and not known as those who gossip.

A deacon’s heart must be toward his wife alone, leading his children and household with excellence. For those who serve in this way will obtain an honorable reputation for themselves and a greater right to speak boldly in the faith that comes from Jesus Christ!

I’m writing all this with the expectation of seeing you soon. But if I’m delayed in coming, you’ll already have these instructions on how to conduct the affairs of the church of the living God, his very household and the supporting pillar and firm foundation of the truth.

For the mystery of righteousness is beyond all question!

He was revealed as a human being,

and as our great High Priest in the Spirit!

Angels gazed upon him as a man

and the glorious message of his kingly rulership

is being preached to the nations!

Many have believed in him

and he has been taken back to heaven,

and has ascended into the place of exalted glory

in the heavenly realm.

Yes, great is this mystery of righteousness!

The Letter of 1st Timothy, Chapter 3 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 29th chapter of the book of Jeremiah that shares a letter he wrote that both instructs the people and warns against the spread of lies:

The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the rest who had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. (This was after King Jeconiah of Judah and his mother had been taken into exile, along with servants of the court, officials of Judah and Jerusalem, and many of the craftsmen and artisans.) The letter was hand-carried by Elasah (son of Shaphan) and Gemariah (son of Hilkiah), whom Zedekiah king of Judah dispatched to Babylon on a diplomatic mission to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Jeremiah’s Letter: This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says to those He exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses—make homes for your families because you are not coming back to Judah anytime soon. Plant gardens, and eat the food you grow there. Marry and have children; find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, so that they can have children. During these years of captivity, let your families grow and not die out. Pursue the peace and welfare of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to Me, the Eternal, for Babylon because if it has peace, you will live in peace.”

This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says to you: “Do not be fooled by the false prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not listen to dreamers or their interpretations of dreams, for I did not send them to you. They are prophesying lies in My name!” So says the Eternal. If you want the truth, this is what the Eternal has to say: “You will remain in Babylon for 70 years. When that time is over, I will come to you, and I will keep My promise of bringing you back home. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope—never forget that. At that time, you will call out for Me, and I will hear. You will pray, and I will listen. You will look for Me intently, and you will find Me. Yes, I will be found by you,” says the Eternal, “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations where you’ve been scattered—all the places where I have driven you. I will bring you back to the land that is your rightful home.”

Now you might say, “The Eternal has raised up prophets here in Babylon who tell us other things.” This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say about the king who currently sits on David’s throne and all those who remain in Jerusalem and were not taken into exile: “Watch, for I will send war, famine, and disease on them. I will make them like figs so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease. I will make them a horror to the watching world, an object of cursing and terror, of scorn and blame wherever I scatter them because they have not listened to Me,” says the Eternal. “They ignored the warnings I sent to them again and again through My servants, the prophets. And you who are in exile are no better, for you have not listened either.” Therefore, hear now the word of the Eternal, all you who have been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says about your so-called prophets, Ahab (son of Kolaiah) and Zedekiah (son of Maaseiah), who are telling lies in My name: “Watch, for I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will execute them right in front of you. Even their names will be used as a curse by those in exile from Judah when they say, ‘May the Eternal treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab who were burned alive by Babylon’s king.’ These men have engaged in disgraceful acts among My people Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and told lies in My name, prophesying when I never gave them a message. I know this because I am a witness to all they have done,” so says the Eternal.

Say this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite:

Jeremiah’s Letter: This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says about you: “I know that you sent letters on your own authority to the people in Jerusalem, to the priests, and specifically to the priest Zephaniah (son of Maaseiah). In that letter to Zephaniah, you said, ‘The Eternal has appointed you as the priest in charge of the temple to replace Jehoiada. When a madman tries to speak like a prophet, you must take action by putting him in shackles and in the stocks. So why haven’t you put a stop to Jeremiah of Anathoth who poses among you as a prophet of God? He sent a letter to those of us in Babylon predicting that our exile will be a long one. He actually said we should settle in this place—building homes and planting gardens of food that we can enjoy for many years.’”

When Zephaniah the priest received this letter, he read it to Jeremiah the prophet. It was then that a message came to Jeremiah from the Eternal concerning all of this.

Eternal One: Write back to all the exiles and tell them, “This is what the Eternal says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: ‘Because Shemaiah has acted like a prophet when I did not send him, and because he has misled you with lies, watch! I will now punish him and his descendants. None of his family will live here long enough to see the good I will do for My people in the coming years because his words stirred rebellion against Me,’ so says the Eternal.”

The Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 29 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Saturday, September 11 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that reflects upon this time right here, & now:

The ten days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur are known as Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (עֲשֶׂרֶת יְמֵי תְּשׁוּבָה), "the Ten Days of repentance," otherwise called the "Days of Awe" (yamim nora’im) in Jewish tradition. Since man was created for the sake of teshuvah, Yom Kippur, or the Day of “at-one-ment,” is considered the holiest day of the year, called “Yom ha-kadosh” (יוֹם הַקָּדוֹשׁ). It is the climax of the 40 day “Season of Teshuvah.”

As I’ve mentioned before, the "Day of Atonement," or Yom Kippur, is actually written in the plural, that is, as Yom Ha-Kippurim (יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים), perhaps because the purification process cleansed from a multitude of transgressions, iniquities, and sins. However, the name also alludes to the two great atonements given by the LORD God of Israel - the first for those among all of the nations who turn to Yeshua for cleansing and forgiveness, and the second for the purification of ethnic Israel during Yom Adonai, the great Day of the LORD (יוֹם־יְהוָה הַגָּדוֹל) at the end of days. There is a connection with the holiday of Purim, too, since Kippurim can be read as Yom Ke-Purim, a "day like Purim." Thus the day on which Yeshua sacrificed Himself on the cross is the greatest Purim of all, since through His loving intervention we are eternally delivered from the hands of our enemies...

The Torah refers to Yom Kippur as “shabbat shabbaton” (שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן), a time when all profane work is set aside so the soul could focus on the holiness of the LORD. The first occurrence of this phrase is found in Exodus 16:23, regarding the restriction of collecting manna in the desert during the seventh day. This restriction was later incorporated into the law code for the Sabbath day (Exod. 31:15; 35:2). The phrase also occurs regarding Rosh Hashanah (Lev. 23:24), Yom Kippur (Lev. 16:31; 23:32), two days of Sukkot (Lev. 23:39; Num. 25:35), two days of Passover (Lev. 23:7-8), and the day of Shavuot (Num. 28:26).

If you add up these days, you will find there are seven prescribed days of “complete rest” before the LORD, and the sages identified Yom Kippur as the Sabbath of these other special Sabbath days, that is, “Yom ha-kadosh” (יוֹם הַקָּדוֹשׁ), which occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Torah’s holiday calendar. Indeed, the Talmud notes that "seven days before Yom Kippur, we separate the High Priest," corresponding to the seven-day seclusion of Aaron and his sons before the inauguration of the Tabernacle (Lev. 8:33).

All of the Jewish holidays find their origin in the events of the Exodus, which were later commemorated as rituals at the Tabernacle. On the first of Nisan, two weeks before the Exodus, the LORD showed Moses the new moon and commenced the divine lunar calendar. This is called Rosh Chodashim. Two weeks later, God was ready to deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. Earlier that evening the Israelites kept the Passover Seder and sprinkled the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. At the stroke of midnight of Nisan 15 the LORD sent the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. On the 6th of Sivan, exactly seven weeks after the Exodus (49 days), Moses first ascended Sinai to receive the Torah (Shavuot). Just forty days later, on the 17th of Tammuz, the tablets were broken. Moses then interceded for Israel for another forty days until he was called back up to Sinai on Elul 1 and received the revelation of Name YHVH (Exod. 34:4-8). After this, he was given the Second Tablets and returned to the camp on Tishri 10, which later was called Yom Kippur. Moses' face was shining with radiance in wonder of the coming New Covenant which was prefigured in the rituals of the Day of Atonement (Exod. 34:10).

Recall that there were two revelations of the Name YHVH, first as "I AM WHO I AM" (a play on the Hebrew verb hayah [הָיָה] given to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15 which was later "incarnated" during the intervention of the Exodus (Exod. 6:1-8)), and the later revelation of YHVH’s mercy disclosed after the sin of the Golden Calf (Exod. 34:6-7). It is the later revelation that foretold God's Name of the new covenant, just as the second tablets took the place of the former tablets that were shattered. Ultimately Yeshua is the "wonder" of the covenant of the LORD (Exod. 34:10), the manifestation of the attributes of God's mercy (middot rachamim). For more on this topic see the article, “Yom Kippur and Chesed" on the Hebrew for Christians website. [Hebrew for Christians]

9.10.21 • Facebook

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

September 11, 2021

Evil Men

“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.” (Proverbs 24:19-20)

Many of us remember the horror of September 11, 2001. The United States had not been attacked on its continental soil since the Civil War, and the whole country stood glued to their TV sets in stunned agony at the evil atrocity of the terrorists’ hostility.

Loud and often have been the vows of retribution since then, but “wars and rumours of wars” continue unabated (Mark 13:7). Nothing (according to the Scriptures) will stop the hatred of evil men against that which represents the name and lifestyle of the Lord Jesus (John 15:18), but the vengeance belongs to God alone (Hebrews 10:30).

The challenge for most of us is that we forget that the Enemy is not merely this or that terrorist group (there have been countless such groups over the millennia), but “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If we are constantly in turmoil over the latest iteration of evil displayed in living color every day on our evening news, our souls will never gain peace.

It is the “joy of the LORD” that brings us strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It is the delight of being “rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” (1 Timothy 6:18) that allows us to sense something of the unilateral love of the Lord Jesus. Seeking “the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” first (Matthew 6:33) is what brings our heavenly Father’s steadfast supply of all that we may need (Philippians 4:19).

Perhaps when evil days creep into our lives or our memory, we would do well to focus our “affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). HMM III

[ajcrocker]

Making Space

I knew this day would come at some point but I didn’t expect to be so happy about it.

Last week I officially handed off leadership of Youth Quake to Kaitlin Giddings. This was my dream job and I loved every minute of the ten years I got to lead YQ. It's been 14 years in a row that I've been apart of the YQ leadership team, which seems like… a long time.

You know what is pretty cool? As we are faithful with tasks God gives us, He uses those times to shape us and prepare us for the next chapter.  We are usually not ready to let go of the tasks that we love. However, in my experience new dreams emerge slowly but surely as life moves along.

Two years ago a conversation started with my boss at the time, Ellery Pullman, about how long I could keep this up. I had young kids at home, I was directing the recruitment efforts for our three schools, I was travelling as a speaker, and was still directing most aspects of Youth Quake each year. This conversation ended up including people inside and outside of Briercrest, but aligned in message: "Are you sure you can handle all of this? Should you be trying to handle all of this?".

On a specific flight to Kelowna I remember the Lord meeting me in a major way. The memory is sharp. The moment was significant to me. It was so heavy on my heart that it was time for an exit strategy from my dream job and I had been resisting. As I opened up to the thought, more things came to mind. It’s not just that it was the right time for me, but the primary word was that my role now was to make space for my young leaders to actually lead. To make space. AKA, Quit taking up so much space, and start multiplying leaders. Quit taking up all that space AJ. 

Working with young leaders is one of the best parts of my job. I think I've been a healthy safety net for those young leaders in my departments, but we were entering a season where I needed to do more coaching from the sidelines and play a little less quarterback.  God was also helping me see I needed to make space for the next chapter here at Briercrest.

A few tears may have rolled out of my eyes on that flight. I apologize to the person in my row who witnessed this large man with inexplicably long hair, bright shoes and very loud headphones fighting back tears for a half hour. Would have been a confusing sight.

These were healthy tears though. A little bit of mourning, a little bit of submission, but a whole lot of realization that God's ways were going to be better than me protecting what I wanted. It was once again time to trust Him and follow.

The path to hand-off was clear. So clear that it if I could just get my stubborn hands off the ball and pass it to my very capable sidekick that this thing could grow much wider then my decade-old vision for the event.

Years earlier the Lord had brought a young woman to Briercrest who also went by her initials, KG. As she walked by our YQ team sign-up table in her first week she stopped and said "What's this?" with a brazen confidence and what some might consider a strong personality. I simply said "I think you should be on our team". Now reading that back, it sounds like the cheesiest thing in the world…but that is literally how I met Kait. She joined the team in the fall of 2015.

Kait quickly became a YQ intern, then leader of our interns and jumped on stage to co-host with me. It was at that point I said "We cant be AJ and KG on stage at YQ… that’s too many initials. I'll use your real name and call you Kait.". It's worked out quite well ever since, in my opinion.

Against most of my assumptions (read: fears), Kait accepted a role on my staff after graduation. As that first year went along, it was clear that the Lord had brought someone into our team with an unwavering confidence, incredible creativity and a work ethic to be proud of. She clearly loved Jesus, cared deeply about helping youth see Jesus and could care less about titles or roles. She was natural on stage and even better in the planning and execution stages.

The only thing in the way of an obvious hand-off was myself hanging onto the dream for too long. That and some time to change my mentoring approach with Kaith from the "Help AJ" program to the "Your time to shine" track.

The last two years have been a pretty intentional mentorship to get here.

The Lord wasted no time showing me why letting go was so important. Shortly after that flight my wife Cheryl and I were very surprised with news that we were pregnant with our third child. I was also asked to take on oversight to our marketing office as well as join the Executive Leadership Team as a Vice-President here at Briercrest. We thought, "hey why not add something more?" and I started doing my MBA in the evenings. This season has reshaped my brain, my heart and God's given fresh vision for what is possible at Briercrest in the future. 

I honestly wonder sometimes what would have happened if I didn’t reluctantly say "Fine" to the Lord's leading on that flight. Would my stubbornness and attachment to a previous dream have kept me from some of these new, exciting things? Would my pride and ego have corroded the integrity of the event, or worse, my heart? Would YQ have had to shut right down during Covid? Would it even have a chance at bouncing back?

I don't love my assumed answers to those questions.

With Kait in the mix, and Covid-19 wreaking havoc, Youth Quake has changed and diversified a great deal for 20-21. I am so excited for this plan Kait has. Those details drop on October 1st but none of them, literally none of them, would be happening if the Lord hadn't orchestrated this hand-off.  

YQ is in great hands to continue the 57 year long legacy of helping teenagers in the prairies learn how to follow Jesus with their whole lives, to connect with their Christian friends and youth leaders and to consider Briercrest as a place to pursue an education that disciples.  

And one day, post-covid, Kait will lead us back to once again throwing down a party that students will never forget.

A great joy in this is that I'm still at Briercrest and I love it here. Kait is a key leader on my team and I'll be cheering from the sidelines. It's just that I might make it home on time to play with my kids after work more often. 

I'll co-host a few things with Kait but she's got the ball now and I couldn't be more excited for Her, for YQ and what this all means for the Kingdom.

-AJ

[emekrus]

The Christian Cross

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me”—Matthew 10: 37-38 The word translated as cross in the above quoted scripture, is from the Greek word, “stauros” meaning a stake or post (as set upright). It means a pole or cross used as instrument of capital punishment… It figuratively means exposure to death. It also means self-denial. In some other scriptural context, it is used to connote the atonement of Christ on the cross.  Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and successfully bore his cross. But then in our opening text and other scriptural texts, the Lord admonishes us to take our cross and follow him. He says, anyone who does not take up his cross and follow him, is not worthy of him. With such a grave statement as this, coming from our Lord; it becomes very important to get a good understanding of this instruction of the Lord.  Because many people are deluded on the true meaning of the cross, the Lord says believers should carry and follow him. What many Christians call cross is not actually part of the cross the Lord says we should carry…  Many suffer afflictions that are common to all men; and they call it cross. Many other believers suffer because of unbelief and their sinful lifestyle; and they also refer to it as the cross. Several others suffer for their outright stupidity and foolishness; and they also hypocritically call it a cross for Christ. And this is why we want to critically study the true meaning of the cross the Lord says we should carry and follow him. The Meaning of the Christian Cross As we can see from the opening text, the Lord did not say we should carry his (Jesus’) cross and follow him. Rather, he says we should carry our own cross and follow him. And when the Lord says we should carry our cross and follow him: He means we should put our lives at stake for his sake and his gospel’s. He means we should give up on all things in our hearts (including our personal ambitions and honour) For Christ and the Gospel’s sake.He means we should put Christ and his gospel above all else… Including our lives, our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, children; and every other person or thing that matters in our lives. He means we should be ready to go through inconveniences and persecutions for the sake of Christ and his gospel. The above list is what the Christian cross is all about. Furthermore, the encounter of the Lord Jesus with the rich fellow that ran to him; to ask him how he may inherit eternal life; will buttress the true meaning of the Christian cross we are discussing here. Let us see the scripture below: “And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not still, Do not bear  false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy  Father and Mother. And he answered and said unto him Master, all these have I observed from my youth.  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, one thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possession”—Mark 10: 17-22 As this rich fellow came to ask the Lord how he may inherit eternal life, the Lord told him to keep the commandments. And he answered that he had been keeping all the commandments from his youth.  The Bible says, as he told Jesus that, Jesus loved him. Then Jesus told him, the only thing left for him to do, was to sell all he had. That he should sell them and give the proceeds to the poor. And after that, he should take up his cross and follow him. In verse 22, the word of God says, the man was sad at the saying and went away grieved; for he had great possession. So like Jesus said to that man, if we must follow him as true disciples, we must also give up on everything we own in our heart…  We must detach our hearts from everything that matter to us—including our lives, to follow Jesus. When we truly detach ourselves from everything in our heart to follow Jesus, we won’t have any problem with letting go of them for the sake of Christ and his gospel. However, this does not in any way mean; every believer must practically give away everything they possess; except God specifically instructs them to do so. It means every true believer in Christ, should detach himself from every possession for Christ and the gospel’s sake… Such that, anytime the Lord or the gospel demands those things, we are ready to let them go willingly. Such was the case of our father, Abraham. God promised him a son. And he had to wait for 25 years before getting that son, Isaac. But as God demanded for Isaac, his only son that he loved, he willingly took him for sacrifice to God. This exactly what the Christian cross is all about. The Rewards of The Christian Cross “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life”—Mark 10: 28-30 From this scripture, the Lord clearly tells us that if we deny or give up everything to follow him, we will receive hundredfold reward now with persecutions. And that in the world to come, we will receive eternal life. So this is what the Christian cross is all about. And we have also clearly seen the eternal rewards that go along with it. If you have any question or comment, you can drop it at the comment section below this post… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you would love to learn the Biblical secrets for unparalleled success in life: Both here on earth, and in eternity; Click Here For a Free Download of my just released E-book  titled: “ Keys to The Kingdom Success—The  Biblical  Secrets for Unparalleled Success in Life: Here and In eternity”  If you prefer to get the paperback version; Click Here to Get Your Copy From Amazon Now! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Read the full article

[itsinsideyou3]

7 Practical Things Every Christian Should Do!

So much of Christianity and religion in general is theoretical that many strain to see its practical relevance. Talk of heaven, hell, and life after death may sound good in principle. But if it doesn’t affect the way we live on this earth – right here, and right now – many just don’t see the value in it.

Along those lines, in this article we just want to look at seven practical things every Christian can do now to move their life in Christ away from theory and theology, and on to practicalities that really make a difference. So along those lines, let’s get started!

1. Be thankful

They say that gratitude is the best attitude, and while there are many secular sources which espouse the benefits of thankfulness, many Christians fail to realize that this theme was also touched on by Jesus Himself. In the gospels He tells a story of ten lepers who were healed, and yet only one of the ten returned to give Him thanks for such a miraculous gift. (Luke 17:11-19) This story is significant; it highlights the need for us to be thankful for all that God has done for us.

Jesus paid the ultimate price in dying on the cross for our sins. He gave up His body for our healing… not just physical healing, but spiritual healing, and the ability to be reconciled to the Father. If for no other reason this should be cause for thankfulness and gratitude in our lives, as we praise God for this wonderful gift made possible through His Son. How thankful are we really for such an amazing gift of love from the Son?

2. Read the Bible

Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) In other words, in the same way that our bodies need food in order to give us the strength to continue physically, we need to consume the Word of God regularly for the spiritual strength we need in this life. And, according to the Bible, that Word of God is none other than Jesus Himself. (Revelation 19:13)

And so while Jesus is the Word of God – capital ‘W’ – it’s also true that God has spoken through other parts of the Bible as well. In fact, the Bible tells us that all scripture is inspired, and useful for teaching, correction, instruction, etc. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) If we’re ever looking for instruction or inspiration, or just some solid, sound teaching, I know of no better book to turn to than the Bible itself.

3. Pray Daily

It’s noteworthy that, in the Gospels, Jesus doesn’t say “if” you pray, but rather ‘when’ you pray. This highlights for us the need for prayer in the life of every believer if they wish to stay connected “to the Vine”. (John 15:1-7)

There’s an excellent story in the Gospels about a ‘persistent’ widow who couldn’t get justice initially, though through her persistent requests, was able to finally get justice in the end. The lesson from this story is for us to never stop praying, rather having faith that if we persist (which takes faith in itself), God will hear our prayers. (Luke 18:1-8)

The apostle Paul actually taught for us to “pray without ceasing”. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) And if we really want to do all things “to the glory of God”, as in to the absolute best of our ability, then it pays to pray while we do them. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

4. Teach Others

The significant part of the Great Commission was for us to teachpeople to obey all the things Jesus Himself taught. (Matthew 28:20) That is the ultimate job of every true follower of Christ.

In today’s world, there are many ways to accomplish this task… from “street-witnessing”, to making videos to be posted on the web and various social media platforms, to engaging with online (and in-person!) communities. To get the best results from our efforts, it pays to seek guidance from God about exactly how He wants us to go about accomplishing this task. Others may have good ideas and suggestions. But you can only get the best possible results for you personally by tuning in to what the Spirit is saying to you personally!

5. Do Good Works

The Bible tells us that we have been called to do good works in Christ. (Ephesians 2:10) And while it is ultimately only the grace of God that saves us, the reality is that if we are not actively working to express our faith, then any faith we claim to have is, at best, dead – useless – ineffectual.

Furthermore, the kind of good works that Jesus is most looking for are practical, and not just theoretical or theological. We should seek to meet the needs where they are greatest, which is often in developing world countries.

That said, we also shouldn’t underestimate the power of charity done in our own ‘backyard’. Buying a cup of coffee for a homeless man, doing a free job for an elderly neighbor, or even just visiting a friend you know is sick are all practical ways to show people you care, and bring the love of God to them in a practical way. If we are not doing such good works, we need to seriously question how much fruit we are actually bearing for God and the kingdom of heaven.

Also, let’s not forget about the importance of reaching out to those imprisoned. Jesus mentions them specifically in His parable about the sheep and the goats, and I think He does so for good reason. When we reach out to them, we are reaching out to Jesus Himself. So we must never fail to remember them or consider their needs under their circumstances. (One resource readers may want to consider along these lines is here: https://writeaprisoner.com/)

6. Give to the Poor

The Bible tells us that true religion before God is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. (James 1:27) And again, where the needs of orphans and widows is often greatest is in the developing world. So those of us living in rich, affluent western countries really do need to put some thought and prayer into how to reach out to more people living there, even if it is difficult for us to get there physically due to whatever circumstances we may be working under.

World Vision is one example of an international charity that can help many people in need. They have their overheads, to be sure, though they are lower than most other charities currently operating in the world today. So that is one option to consider if you want to make a difference abroad, but are not physically able to go there yourself.

That said, it’s also wise not to underestimate the power of a simple step like donating to your local homeless shelter. Remember that Jesus said we must forsake all we own to be His disciple (Luke 14:33), and that our life does not consist in the abundance of things we possess. (Luke 12:15) And so while letting go of everything may be the ultimate goal, sometimes just forsaking even a small amount of things can be a good step in that overall direction.

7. Help With Your Time

Finally, let’s not lose sight of the impact we can make by simply giving of our time. So often we think money is all we have to share with others – and certainly, that is something – but it’s not the only thing. In fact, time is probably the most important gift we can ever give anyone, since money can be replaced – time cannot.

So along those lines, as you go about your day, keep an eye out for people you can help. Consider doing free work for people, e.g. painting a fence or cleaning the house for an elderly neighbor. These little acts of love where we share our time freely with others can really go a long way. So let’s never overlook them in our efforts to bear fruit and be effective for Christ in the world.

It’s also noteworthy that in today’s digital age, you can reach out to people in far away countries without having to physically go there yourself. Through platforms like Google Hangouts, or Zoom, or Skype, for example, it’s possible for someone living in America to literally teach a class for kids in Africa, so long as they have access to the Internet. (And the Internet connection is actually quite good in a lot of developing countries, e.g. Kenya, so long as the people there have the funds to pay for the Internet.)

The options and possibilities are quite plentiful these days. Just use your imagination, and ask God to guide you on where you can make the greatest impact.

Conclusion

So there you have it… 7 practical things you can do today to start living out your faith as a believer in Christ. Experiment with implementing one or all of them as you feel led, and feel the vitality it brings to your spiritual walk as a result.

And if you’d like any support as you try to step out in faith, don’t hesitate to drop us a line: itsinsideyou@gmail.com

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Worship from Home: April 14, Good Friday

[Image description: detail from a wooden image of Jesus on the cross. The Beloved Disciple kisses one of Jesus’s chest wounds.]  

This series aims to provide folks who can’t make it to church for any variety of reasons with prayers, songs, and sermons. My hope is that these posts will help you worship from home, knowing that others are using the same content and thus, though we may be miles and miles apart, we worship together. See this post for more information.

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus’s journey to and death on the cross. This is generally a day of fasting and penance. Traditionally, 3pm is considered the time of Jesus’s last breaths, so you might choose to worship then; 12pm and 7pm are also common times for Good Friday services.

Let us worship together. 

Option One for Good Friday: Stations of the Cross

On Good Friday, many choose to go through the stations of the cross -- a way of tracing the journey of Jesus from his arrest to his crucifixion and burial. 

-- A traditional stations of the cross in textual form (with images) that includes only scripture/prayers and no commentary (so it’s shorter) can be found here.

-- A traditional stations of the cross in textual form with images and longer prayers (so it’s longer) can be found here.

-- A traditional 22 minute stations as a video with images can be found here. 

-- For an LGBT-specific type of stations, see this link to the powerful paintings that belong to a series called The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision by Douglas Blanchard and Kittredge Cherry.

I am not including them directly in the post because they need content warnings: violent homophobia, both religious and from police; partial nudity; scars and injury and blood; knives and other weapons; death. Please proceed with caution; select a different way to celebrate Good Friday if you need to. 

Meditate on each image. Pray -- feel close to Jesus in his pain, feel close to those who go through such pain of oppression and hate and systemic power. What was Jesus feeling in each step of his journey? Would you have rushed to help him? or fled like most of his male disciples? watched in pain like the women who loved him? helped cause his suffering, or helped carry his cross?

One image from the Gay Vision series is below; content warning for hateful homophobic religious language. [Image description: the character who represents Jesus in modern times stands with his back to us, his hands in handcuffs behind his back and his shirt torn. He stands before a crowd of angry people with signs bearing homophobic messages such as “God hates __” while officers hold some aggressive men back.]

A song option to go with your stations: “Crown of Thorns” by Danielle Rose, video with lyrics

Option Two For Good Friday: The Passion Service

Gathering

Prepare your mind to worship the God who took on human form, who lived and laughed and wept and loved among us...and who took up a cross and trudged to his death for our sakes -- for your sake. 

Music options, if you like:

A repetitive Taize, “Stay with Me”; video with lyrics or A contemporary piece with no lyrics African American spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord”, link to lyrics

Call to Worship

Scripture said the servant would be exalted and lifted high. We never thought that he would be lifted high onto a cross. Scripture also said that upon him is the punishment that made us whole. But how can we become whole when the anointed one is being brought so low? It is getting darker. The night is upon us. We are here with our Savior. Let us accompany him this night into the darkness.

(source)

You might also read this poem prayer about Good Friday

Confession

Call to Confession: Why are we here tonight? We come to remind ourselves how much God loves us – even to the point of giving the Son. Let us come humbly before our Savior confessing our sins and getting out of our own way.

Prayer of Confession: Oh Lord, on this darkest of nights we sit with your disciples who abandoned you. We denied you three times, sat in the darkness afraid to show our faces much less do your will. We are frozen from living much less doing your righteousness and justice. As we listen to your story told again we hear once more how costly it was to you for us to be able to say “in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.” Help us in our unbelief – our inaction.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness: Hear anew what it means.  Hear anew how much our Lord loves all of us.  Hear with deeper understanding what it cost this man so that I can declare to you that in Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Now go forth and live.

(source)

Song option: “Every time I think about Jesus,” traditional (my fave), link to lyrics

Readings

A powerful video that goes through a dramatic reading of the passion scriptures, if you prefer to listen (it also has text). 4 minutes.

Another option, one that is dear to my heart because it’s what my Catholic church growing up did, is to hear the Passion of Our Lord sung by various people, as a sort of drama. If you choose this option, there often is no sermon afterwards, so you can “skip” the sermon. This video of the sung Gospel is 24 minutes.

If you prefer to read without audio, links to the day’s readings are below. (See here for the Catholic readings if you favor those)

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

Psalm 22 (note that Jesus cries out the first line of this psalm, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” from the cross to describe his suffering)

John 18:1 - 19:42

Sermon

Many services do not include a sermon on Good Friday, but there are still many available. 

Option One: a video of a sermon with captions on the Betrayal of Jesus

This is actually a sermon from Maundy Thursday but it is very timely, as it was just recorded yesterday (April 13, 2017) and brings current events into it. 

“There are thousands upon thousands of pains, all discrete points on the constellation of human pain. And one of them is betrayal. The shock of betrayal can leave us gasping for air...”

Option Two: “The Blues Moan in the Gospel Shout,” text only 

“Good Friday reminds us that we have a blues-note gospel. That Christ’s death and resurrection may have saved us from sin and death, but we still sin and we still die. As we kneel at the foot of the cross, mourning our sin and the evil that we witness around us, we are forced to reckon with these facts – facts we would much rather forget.”

Option Three: “Let Your Idols Fall,” text only

“The idolatry of faith is when we begin to use the story and beliefs of God to judge and separate others. ...The idolatry of God means that we have set ideas of exactly what God is and can do. If I were to use an everyday word for the idolatry of God I suppose it would be expectation.”

Benediction

Jesus, Never can human words express, never can human heart imagine, the incredible gift of love you offered with your blood. We set out now into a world where crowns of thorns are set by cruel hands onto the brows of too many people -- for loving “wrong,” for thinking “wrong,” for being “wrong.” We pray that our hands will never shove thorns onto another’s head. We pray that our hands instead will lift those thorns and wipe slick brows.

You walk with us always, O Jesus. Today, as we remember your journey to the cross, We will return the favor. We will walk with you --  not only in silent contemplation but out in the world into which you call us.

We will carry your cross. We will suffer with your people, serve your people, love your people. 

Amen.

Closing hymn: “Jesus Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom” (the words of the man crucified beside Jesus) 

[Image description: from paintings of the Stations of the Cross in Lodwar Cathederal, Kenya; Jesus is taken down from the cross by his mother Mary and by the Beloved Disciple. All have deep brown skin. Mary lowers his shoulders to the ground, while the Disciple, his face heavy with grief, appears to be holding one of Jesus’s hands as well as one leg.] 

[dylanmaystk]

My top 10 Music Artists of All Time

I’ve thought about doing a post like this for a while but always held off because I felt like it would be an impossible feat that would eventually remain unfinished due to my inability to commit to just ten, nevertheless... here we go.  The idea kinda came from a conversation I had with one of my friends on his top five bands of all time. This was something I always thought would be easy to decide on, until I’d ultimately remember a band pivotal to my very existence that would cause me to reshape my whole list in entirety an hour later.  When looking at the subject of top ten artists of all time, I thought about it in the simplest of terms: What artists, by any means, would I not be able to live without? Doing it this way kinda helped, but I’m sure to raise a few eyebrows especially to those that don’t really know me. Even after reworking the list a few times, this was the one that stayed the most consistent. So fuck it, my top ten music artists of all time:

10. The Smiths  

What could you say about The Smiths? Other than being the soundtrack for every brooding and emo teen since the groups first album in 1984, The Smiths are just great.  Complex to the point where it’s welcomed, fans of the group have praised them for their songs of love, loss, and just about everything in between.  Ofcourse, the band really isn’t much without one of the most recognizable voices in alternative music, Morrissey (what I’d kill to have that ‘preme shirt). The don that is Morrissey gave us so much content throughout the years, but maybe what he’s best known for is his vividly descriptive, weird, yet endearing chorus on “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” that’s been known to show up on countless TV shows and movies.

“If a double decker bus, crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die/and if a ten ton truck, kills the both of us, to die by your side, the pleasure, the privilege is mine.”

Yup, gotta love The Smiths. 

Recommended Listens: The Smiths, Meat is Murder 

9. Lauryn Hill

From the Fugees to her flawless The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, L-Boogie has always been a revered and ominous presence in Hip Hop. Having the smallest body of work on this list, people have pleaded to get her back in the studio in hopes of creating something with even remotely as much magic as her solo and only studio album. What’s amazing about Lauryn is she seems to be great without even trying.  Her only album nabbed a Grammy for Album of The Year and is one of only two Hip Hop based albums to ever have that honor.  Not only that, her verses are so eloquent and deep you really can’t capture everything in one listen. With layers beyond belief, Lauryn Hill embodies the saying “quality over quantity” to perfection.

Recommended Listens: The Fugees’ The Score, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

8. Paramore 

Holy fuck they’re finally back.  After about a four year hiatus, Paramore is slated to release their fifth studio album this month and it couldn’t be more overdue. Their longest break between albums to date, Paramore’s sound is forever evolving and their new singles Hard Times and Told You So are proof. Although vintage Paramore will always my favorite, their new 80′s/poppy inspired sound is something they’ve hinted at for a while and fans like myself are curious to see what surprises they have coming.��

At their core, Paramore is angsty yet refined. Their early grunge inspired sound led by Hayley Williams is alot of what I remember about the early 2000′s and is done well enough that I find it worthy of commendation. Something I always revert back to, Paramore is the pinnacle of the Warped Tour collection of bands and continue to prove why they’re one of the best collectives of the last decade.    

Recommended Listens: Riot!, Brand New Eyes

7. Drake 

Champagne Papi or Coquito Papi (shout out J.Lo) is the biggest hip hop pop artist on the planet, that’s a fact.  I honestly don’t know if there’s anything he can’t do.  Since 2009 and the debut of So Far Gone, a mixtape that’s changed what mixtapes are by their standard, Drake has reigned supreme and has dominated commercially as well as in the barbershop conversations for best rapper of today (you’re there too Kendrick, don’t worry).  What makes him so universally loved is his appeal and his ability to identify with both the male and female demographic.  His vulnerability has spawned a new wave of what many call “emotional rap” that has since been replicated by many but none with the sheer bravado and lasting brilliance quite like Drake’s. He’s calculated almost to the point where its scary and shows a grit that 90′s rappers can be proud of. With his ability to give you an emotional and heartfelt ballad one minute, then talks of “crushing some ass even if it ain’t too big” the next, Drake is certified platinum and a legend in his own right. 

Some chunes for your headtop: Take Care, So Far Gone 

6. Nas 

The Street’s Disciple had to have a place on my list.  Nas is arguably one of the greatest rappers of all time and has inspired so many people I listen to today. His wit, cadence, and knowledge was unheard of for his age and at the time of his now enshrined Illmatic. Out of all of the golden age rappers, Nas seemed to stick out to me the most because he knew exactly what he wanted to be/was straight from the beginning.  A few mediocre albums aside, Nas’ return with Life is Good in 2012 was so reassuring that he hadn’t lost his touch, I myself even exhaled. Flashy with the wordplay and a knack for stealing the show- even at the age of 40- Nas’ brilliance can’t be met. We need the new album Nas..... like seriously.

Recommended Listens: Illmatic, It Was Written 

5. Taylor Swift 

Remember how I said Drake was the biggest pop star in the world? Taylor Swift might just rival that. I don’t care what anyone says, Taylor is the greatest songwriter of this generation. I say it all the time because I think it’s something she hasn’t received enough credit for.  Granted, country Taylor just seemed to flow more, but that could be because Speak Now is one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard.  Although sometimes she can tatter on the line of whiny, Taylor’s honesty and storytelling are what makes her connect and continue to sell out arenas worldwide.  Translating seamlessly to pop and still conveying that same sort of style and message are the reasons why her fans haven’t left her. I’ve been a fan since she was crying about that nigga Drew on “Teardrops On My Guitar”, and that was in ‘07.  

Recommended Listens: Speak Now, Fearless 

4. Michael Jackson 

Any music list that contains the words like “top ten” and “all time” should include the King of Pop.  Michael Jackson is literally the GOAT, like his name is synonymous with a four legged petting zoo animal. His music and overall presence in pop culture cannot be overstated and his influence is shown in many of the top 40 artists of today and I’m sure years to come.  I once asked why Thriller was the best selling album of all time (I was like 11) and my dad played it for me and said “just listen.” Yea I never heard anything so amazing in my life. Michaels just one of a kind and they’ll never be another, enough said.

Recommended Listens: Thriller (even though you’ve definitely heard it), Bad, Off The Wall 

3. Kanye West 

From one GOAT to another, Kanye might not have the lasting legacy Michael has now, but I think he definitely will.  Kanye seemed to come out of nowhere breathing fresh air into a genre that was predominantly still in the sex, drugs, and money era.  The College Dropout was huge in that it showed everyone what direction hip hop could go in, that sort of elegant and glamorous atmosphere that only Kanye himself could propel it to.  He has the most Grammys by any Hip Hop artist and for good reason, he’s been a pioneer in pushing the culture forward ever since he came on the scene.  Forever ahead of the curve and meticulous to the point where it frustrates his peers, Mr. West is the only artist where I can say my favorite album from him changes any time you ask me (even though the majority of the time I’ll say Graduation).  With what continues to be a privilege to hear anytime he releases new music, Kanye will probably agree.  I don’t have the answers Kanye, but I’m sure you do.

Recommended Listens: Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

2. Queen 

I have a tattoo of Freddie Mercury as a skeleton dressed in his drag outfit from the “I Want To Break Free” video on my leg.  That was a mouthful, and incase you don’t think you read that right, you did. I’ve loved Queen for as long as I could remember and I’m not really sure as to why specifically. The obvious reason would ofcourse be the frontman Freddie, but the band was so much more than its star. What’s crazy even to me is just how much I love this band even though I wasn’t even alive during their reign at the top of British and American music charts.  Queen signifies a universal acceptance and the idea that you shouldn’t give a fuck what anyone says and just produce dope shit, because at the end of the day that’s all that matters. With countless hits and some of the most widely recognized songs, the argument can be made that they could be in the top five bands ever to grace a stage.  If you tell me you listened to Bohemian Rhapsody in the car and didn’t go full Wayne’s World I’d call you a liar, simple as that.  

Oh also, their Live Aid performance may have been the greatest performance of all time, just ask Watchmojo.

Recommended Listens: A Night At The Opera, The Game, Hot Space (fuck what you heard it’s actually fire)

Honorable Mentions    

Kendrick Lamar

Chvrches 

Daft Punk 

Wu-Tang Clan 

A Tribe Called Quest 

Shania Twain 

Lana Del Rey 

Nirvana 

1. J. Cole 

J. Cole will always be my favorite artist and I credit alot of who I am today to his music.  He is the soul personified and his takes on life and personal growth add to his ability to make the human struggle seem beautiful in just about every way. Overshadowed at times by both Kendrick and Drake, Cole fans would attest that his openness and relatability range far beyond his contemporaries and put him in a category all his own. He’s responsible for creating my favorite body of work by anyone ever, Friday Night Lights. This mixtape (or album) changed my life in more ways than one and it’s sentimental value holds Cole at the top of my list for good reason.   I think what’s great is that although we don’t hear the hunger in his voice like we did on early tracks - especially those when he was seeking to ink a deal with Jay - we still get his energy and thought provoking lyrics in the form of a streaming social consciousness and a never ending want for social justice.  What some may find boring, I find incredible. “Cole world no snuggie” was a pretty questionable bar though...oh well, you get the pass fam.

Recommended Listens: Friday Night Lights, The Warm Up, 2014 Forest Hills Drive   

[pluckyredhead]

Daredevil 101: Born Again, Part 1

And we’re back!

Now I tried, guys. I really tried to condense this down as much as possible. But Born Again is the most famous Daredevil story - and one of the most famous comics - of all time. There’s so much to talk about: the plot itself, the craft, the impact, the character analysis, the religious symbolism. Parts of it really are That Good, while others are...less so (there are plot holes, and it pretty much falls apart at the end).

I had to break it up into two posts, and they’re gonna be long ones, but please stick with me - it’s worth it. (And of course, the comic itself is worth a read, for its landmark status if for nothing else.)

So. When last we left our hero, Nelson and Murdock had gone under and things were tense between Matt and his nearest and dearest - Foggy and Glori at this point, basically. It’s at this point that Frank Miller comes back to the book, teaming up with David Mazzucchelli, who frankly doesn’t get enough credit for the sheer beauty of his work.

We start in Mexico, where we see...Karen Page, who has been AWOL for nearly a decade at this point. When we last saw her, her Hollywood career was taking off, but...things have changed:

Karen is now a junkie, eking out a meager living by making really low rent porn, because in Frank Miller’s world, all women eventually become sex workers. It’s less the sex work that bothers me - though it’s part of a gross pattern for Miller - and more how low Karen’s morals have sunk here, and the abuse she suffers in this storyline. She’ll turn it around, though! (P.S. Deborah Ann Woll’s absolute disdain for this plotline brings me so much joy.)

Back in New York, Matt is blissfully unaware that his life has just been destroyed:

These opening splash pages of the first four issues, all of Matt asleep, are famous and with good reason. If you took out the rest of the comics, they’d still tell a story. Anyway, even though his full bed is oddly narrow, please take note of how sprawled out he is. He’s still twisted in the sheets, but he’s taking up horizontal space as well as vertical.

(Also, this is just gorgeous. Look at that lighting!)

But Matt wakes up to a very bad day:

Those last two panels are, of course, the machinations of Fisk, who is using his knowledge of Matt’s secret identity - and his enormous behind-the-scenes pull - to systematically destroy Matthew Murdock’s finances, credibility, and life.

To add insult to injury, that cassette tape is Glori breaking up with Matt for being flaky and emotionally unavailable, which...legit, honestly.

And the hits keep coming:

Matt’s never really had financial problems as an adult - even when first the Storefront and then Nelson and Murdock were struggling, Foggy insulated him from that by taking on all the bookkeeping responsibility himself. (Whether or not Foggy wanted to do that, or whether either of them ever acknowledge that that’s not fair, is never addressed.) Even though he’s unemployed at the start of this story, you can see how cocky he is about how quickly he’ll bounce back in the first panel of the page above this. Born Again never really delves into the class issues at play here - nor do any Daredevil comics, really - but for someone who has been tremendously well off for his entire adult life but who grew up in poverty, this must be even more of a nightmare.

Meanwhile, Glori’s apartment gets broken into and trashed. Uncomfortable calling Matt, who she just dumped, she calls Foggy instead (remember, he’s an ex-in-law as well as a friend). He rushes over, helps her file the police report, and gives her a place to stay when she’s too freaked out to sleep at home. And, well...

This is a little fast, yes - and it’s a rebound for the recently-divorced Foggy as well as for Glori - but hey, they’re both free agents and she’s not Matt’s property. (Foggy is a perfect gentleman and sleeps on the couch while Glori takes the bedroom, btw.) But as far as I’m concerned, Glori has the right idea: ride the Murdock train as long as it’s fun, then hop off and let Foggy comfort you and ply you with coffee in front of a cozy fire.

Meanwhile, the cruelest blow of all strikes Matt: a cop named Manolis, a former witness in one of Matt’s trials, comes forward and says Matt bribed him to lie on the stand. Matt stands in very real danger of losing his freedom, let along his legal license. Fisk is gleeful:

Please note Fisk fanboying over Foggy in that last panel. Please also note how gorgeous that last panel is. I want to see a whole comic in grayscale from Mazzucchelli (and colorist Christie Scheele).

Foggy manages to get Matt’s sentence reduced to being disbarred and not fined or jailed. And, well, I could’ve probably cut this next page but I’m always gonna include avocado hugs:

Aw. P.S. Foggy why do you look like you’re going to the opera right now.

Devastated, ruined, and barely clinging to sanity, Matt returns home - but here’s where Fisk screws up. He can’t resist that final grandstand play, even though he knows he shouldn’t do it:

He blows up Matt’s house.

Despite having someone to blame, Matt’s sanity is fraying even faster, especially since he’s effectively cash poor and homeless. (SWEETIE. GO STAY WITH FOGGY.) And so we get the opening of issue #2 (yeah, that was all one issue up there!):

Compare this to the first issue splash and you can see how much more twisted and compressed Matt is, how tangled around himself he’s become. (This pose in particular is homaged again and again, especially by Samnee.) When he wakes, his thoughts are equally tangled:

In his rambling, broken thoughts you can see that he’s losing it - struggling to follow the thread of what’s happened to him and what his plan is. I love the way Mazzucchelli draws his arms up like that, held up for a block but also like he’s trying to figure out a way to fit into those compressed, claustrophobic vertical panels.

And then:

This is the very next page, and I honestly gasped aloud the first time I saw it. It’s such a brilliant visual contrast - Matt in tight, twisted red verticals; Fisk in these expansive blue horizontals. Fisk fits perfectly in his panel. He has plenty of breathing room. He owns the whole city. It’s so wonderfully, masterfully done.

Matt pulls it together enough to call Foggy for help, but Glori answers at 7 am - remember, she spent a chaste night at Foggy’s - and Matt, already paranoid to the point of irrationality, snaps further. He starts calling over and over again, veering between threatening them and begging Foggy for help because there’s definitely something wrong with him:

He makes his way outside, vaguely on his way to kill the Kingpin, but goes into another paranoid funk on the subway and attacks a cop. He leaves more pleading messages for Foggy from a pay phone - but without putting any money in, so he’s hallucinating a lengthy conversation with the operator - and finally makes it to Fisk’s.

(Side note: Matt’s “insanity” is never specifically diagnosed as any particular condition and comes on very fast (though believably, in context). Take the depiction of mental illness in this story with a thirty-year-old grain of salt, please.)

Meanwhile, what’s up with Karen? Well, she’s still strung out, and now Fisk’s assassins are trying to kill her, so that he’s the only one alive who knows Matt’s secret. All Karen knows is that she needs to get to New York, where Matt can protect her.

Simultaneously, Matt makes it to Fisk’s:

It doesn’t go well for him. (And yes, Fisk wears a speedo a LOT in the comics.)

Fisk kicks his ass, then has his underlings douse Matt’s unconscious body with whiskey, stick him in a stolen cab, and push it into the river, so that the cops will assume Matt got drunk in the aftermath of his ruined life and drove blindly off the docks.

But.

Now in these panels Fisk’s blues are giving way to red, and though they’re still horizontal, they no longer have the peaceful majesty of the ones above. He’s too big in the second and too small in the third; he doesn’t fit comfortably in his space anymore. His control is crumbling. #VISUALSTORYTELLING

Anyway, Matt survived! He makes it from the East River to Hell’s Kitchen (which is on the Hudson, but whatever), where he is promptly hit by a cab, then passes out in the garbage, because he is Matt Murdock.

In his little garbage nest, he dreams of a mysterious woman who came to him in the hospital, right after he was blinded:

And so we begin issue #3:

IN THE LITERAL GARBAGE. #trashpigeon Curled tighter and tighter because he’s still on his downward spiral. In fact, he is promptly stabbed after this. Because why not, at this point?

Meanwhile, Ben has started to investigate Matt’s disbarment, because he knows Matt wouldn’t bribe a witness. He goes to talk to Officer Manolis, the witness in question, and discovers that Manolis has a sick child and that Fisk is paying for his medical care...conditionally. But the son dies, so Manolis agrees to spill to Ben:

Matt collapses at Fogwell’s.

Meanwhile, that nurse, Lois, is actually one of Fisk’s enforcers:

Ben is effectively silenced for a few terrified issues, and the Manolis lead is dead in the water (and literally).

But salvation is coming! Literally, because Matt is found by a nun who brings him back to her church and nurses him back to health:

This is the start of issue #4. I’ll get into the rest of the issue in the next post, but I wanted to include this with the three splash pages above (and the last page of #3 ends with an equally religious pose, with Maggie holding Matt Pieta-style. Here we see Matt almost-but-not-quite in the crucifixion pose - his arms are down but held awkwardly out, his legs together in a way no one would ever sleep, a wound in his side. He’s even got a Jesus beard.

[EDIT: @lifted-nevermore helpfully pointed out to me that "the pose in the last splash reads a lot more as Jesus rising from his tomb to his disciples after his three days of death. Less crucifixion and more resurrection” which of course is a far more logical interpretation, given the story context. Whoops!]

This is the heaviest religious imagery we’d get in Daredevil until “Guardian Devil” 25 years later, and honestly the show hits that note harder than the comics ever have. But here’s where Catholicism and Matt Murdock become inextricably linked. (Obviously there have been religious themes throughout the story, they didn’t start with this page.)

But who is Maggie, and why did she come looking for him? How does Matt get his life back together? What will happen to Karen, and Ben, and Foggy and Glori? STAY TUNED.

[epistolizer]

Hit & Run Commentary #130

Democrats obsessed with race to the point that their primary principle of social organization is preferential pandering to specific demographics are outraged that Trump utilized the term “lynching” in reference to the President’s impeachment travails abandoning the rudiments of habeas corpus. It is argued that the term ought only be articulated in reference to a solemn historical remembrance. As such, do these linguistic marms also intend to surrender usage of the term “witch hunt” as well? For a significant number had their own rights tragically violated during such inquisitions to stamp out occult activity. One must suppose that the majority of such apparently weren’t Black enough to bring the English language to a screeching halt.  

New York has changed state law so it can still prosecute those that have been granted a presidential pardon. So how is this appreciably different than Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio enforcing immigration law when the federal government refused to? Do progressives intend to speak out as forcefully in regards to this New York development? 

Some people really need to think through the implications of the things they advocate.  Apparently an associate is outraged that a student could be denied the opportunity to attend prom because of an unpaid lunch tab. Yet the same individual stated he is actively praying for the conditions to come about where that very same student could very easily end up being a trafficked sex slave or summarily executed on the streets. Civil wars are not the photographic tourist monuments of the Gettysburg fields. Just what exactly does this person think will come about if his prayer is granted that God judges American through a civil war? God promises things will be well afterwards for those that place faith in Him once the person is dead. However, history proves that He allows overwhelming horrors to take place in regions gripped by such conflict. Such a naive thinker apparently epitomizes Stalin's remark that one death is a tragedy but a million are just a statistic.  

It is often argued that Halloween used to be OK but no longer is because “times have changed”. If one holds the celebration is wrong, isn’t that essentially the same as saying that it used to be acceptable for grandpa to go to the strip club but Junior had better not do it?

On the 8/14/19 edition of Fox and Friends, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas in part blamed video games for the El Paso massacre because the gunman allegedly mentioned in his manifesto wanting to live out the super soldier scenarios found in video games. If this is the route we are to head down as a culture, will Marvel Comics also be blamed since Captain America is also a super soldier? While we are at it, why not lay a bit of the blame offices within the Pentagon such as DARPA constantly speculating about tinkering on the genetic, psychological or biochemical levels to create actual super soldiers and whose surreptitious machinations might actually have some shady role behind these acts of violence.  

In light of a series of mass shootings across the United States, it is repeatedly admonished that people need to come together in unity. Apart from not shooting people, just how close are people obligated to come together?  Relatedly, do those insisting that these incidents are failures in tolerance intend to compromise on the incessant demands those advocating progressive revolution constantly make under threat of upheaval?  For it is usually those holding to traditionalist conceptions of morality and social organization that are expected to alter their fundamental beliefs or be penalized with a variety of punitive sanctions.

Obama is now jacked out of shape about the ideological purity of cancel culture. But didn’t he in part get that particular ball rolling when he urged supporters to get in the faces of those that dared articulate criticism of his policies and when he threatened to punish his electoral enemies?  

Cambridge University Press has published a book titled “Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit and Authoritarian Populism”. So the people of the United Kingdom governing their own affairs is to be feared but arbitrary bureaucratic intervention into their lives on the part of transnational technocrats as epitomized by the European Union is the ideal to which they are expected to aspire?  

A Florida church is accusing the 18% that did not vote in favor of a Black pastoral candidate of racism. But if the congregational leadership is going to take the allegations online, shouldn’t the rest of us be provided with some idea what was actually said to determine if it actually was racist or merely what passes as such in the circles of contemporary Southern Baptist elites? Often that can be as little as disagreeing with a Black person or, perhaps more importantly, with the White leaders metaphorically using Black people as human shields to keep their hold on power.  

The Southern Baptist Convention is considering disfellowshipping a Florida church where a Black pastoral candidate did not receive the percentage of affirmations necessary to be granted the position. In all fairness, it was remarked in the Religious News Service coverage of the development that things were so split in the church that it’s doubtful Billy Graham in his prime could have mustered the necessary votes. Getting  booted from the Convention like that at this time could end up being the best thing that could happen to such a congregation. For is that really a spirit of diversity and inclusion if a mere 15% of a congregation fails to bend to dictates from a level of hierarchy technically derived nowhere from the pages of Scripture?  

Media and political elites are outraged that Trump announced that he is switching his official residence from New York to Florida. Commentator Juan Williams remarked that greed was behind this as part of a scheme to take advantage of Florida’s more favorable tax rates. So why isn’t it greed for governments to demand an increasing percentage of what individuals have prudently accumulated? Golfer Phil Mickelson was essentially accused of being a tax cheat in the press for making a similar move from California. But shouldn’t this mobility instead be praised as one of the inherent strengths of the federal system where the individual is free to ideally select from the fifty jurisdictions most in accord with their particular values or in which one can maximize individual well being?  

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary provost Matthew Hall laments that he views reality through a racialized lens, that that has given him undeserved power, but being called a racist is not the worst thing that one can be called. If so, why do those ranking among this faction of Southern Baptist functionaries spend so much time peddling White guilt and (along with what even Obama criticized as cancel culture) invoke that label with little evidence as a way to frighten opponents into silence? Most importantly, Hall seemingly does not feel so guilty as to be compelled by his conscience to relinquish his posh lifestyle to someone of their preferred demographic. But he does apparently feel guilty enough that you as a mere pewfiller in his estimation should be called upon to surrender what you have earned by the sweat of your own toil to be redistributed to or at least seized from you in the name of those that have not really lifted a finger of their own.  

Theologian Kyle J. Howard claims that the rise of homeschooling is linked to racism. Where in the Constitution does it say that the exercise of a right is predicated upon a socially acceptable justification? And what exactly does he define as “racism”? To many of these woke Southern Baptists, that consists of little more than disagreeing with a minority or, more importantly, with White elites claiming to speak for minorities.  

In a podcast on racial reconciliation, the theologian that denounced the founding of the homeschool movement as racist said that it is his desire to plant a multiethnic, minority led church. If he is to be praised for being so race conscious as to exclude Whites apriori from leadership positions, why would any Whites other than the self-loathing variety be willing to attend such a venue of subversion and leftist cognitive conditioning? For what if a minister spoke of his desire to plant a multiethnic yet Caucasian-led congregation where it was insinuated that all that minorities are wanted for is what they can drop funds in the collection plate?

The cover story of the Oct 2019 issue of Harper’s Magazine is titled “Do We Need The Constitution: Has The Nation���s Founding Document Become The Nation’s Undoing?” Usually when such questions are asked, it is not to consider provisions such as those regarding the establishment of post offices or forbidding the issuance of a title of nobility. Rather such grandiose inquires are enunciated as a pretext to justify the elimination of the Bill of Rights, particularly the fundamental guarantees of the First and Second Amendments.  

So if Chick-Fil-A is on record as not being an explicitly Christian company, perhaps we can at least do away with having to justify if one is a believer why one has never been to one or for feeling sleazy over picking an outright heathen establishment such as McDonald’s for a fast food outing.

Doesn’t the altering of a corporation’s philanthropy policy to placate an agitated faction indicate which side in that debate is most likely to engage in acts of violence or sabotage in the so-called “culture war”?

After a call to the CEO, Franklin Graham assures the faithful that Chick-Fil-A remains committed to Christian values. So does that mean celebrity Christians will stop upbraiding the mere pewfillers that don’t make themselves religious nuisances in the workplace but instead model their witness more along the lines of Joseph of Arimathea who Scripture references as a secret disciple?

In a world where the Salvation Army is looked upon with more contempt than outright subversive front groups such as C.A.I.R, Planned Parenthood, and La Raza, how long will it be before it becomes a crime to drop spare change in the Christmas kettle or parents charged with child abuse for letting their little ones do it?

Hugh Ross as an Old Earth Creationist believes that the days of the Genesis creation account are not to be understood as literal but rather as lengthy epochs of time. Now it seems his ministry has uploaded a podcast insinuating that the global flood was likely not quite as global as many Christians have come to believe. The astrophysicist assures that, by making this concession, the skeptic might be more inclined to consider other more important miraculous claims of Scripture. So how long until Ross starts insisting that it does not matter so much whether or not Jesus really did rise from the dead or that believers go to Heaven when they die?  Instead what really matters are the moral teachings of Jesus. Think this is an allegation a step too far? Ross’ conclusions were arrived at through a form of linguistic analysis not all that different than that resulting in the RSV substituting “young woman” for “virgin” in its translation of Isaiah.  

If as the commercial suggests it is Jimmy Dean sausage that lifts your spirits this time of year, you must be having one really miserable and pathetic Christmas.

Those sneering down their noses over Trump’s remarks about the effort to undermine Thanksgiving are the same ones that pitch a fit about the Pilgrim’s being White European Christians and over romanticize American Indians as the embodiment of Rousseau's noble savage hooey.

Apparently the KFC fire log is  something to burn in your fireplace and not what emerges from the other end of the digestive tract once that culinary treat is consumed.  

In a SermonAudio homily, a pastor confessed that, in terms of paganism, Christmas is as inherently evil as Halloween.   As such, he weaned his family off the celebration over the span of three years. But if Christmas is as evil as he insists and given that a holiday cannot produce biophysical dependency like a narcotic or alcohol, isn’t his way of renouncing the practice akin to saying one should quit the strip club over time rather than suddenly? Perhaps having a lapdance only once every other week followed by a time where one just goes to watch with no physical interaction?

If Hillary Clinton was really shocked at the way Donald Trump speaks about woman, wouldn’t she have not gone on the Howard Stern program?

By Frederick Meekins

[petewright]

Can I Have a Future Worth Getting Excited About?

Can I have a future with getting excited about? Perhaps you find yourself thinking about the future every so often at the moment - dreaming about life post COVID-19? We all have hopes for the future and by the same token we all have fears and anxieties.

How would you fill in the blank in this sentence: The future is _____________? 

Perhaps some of the common responses would be ‘uncertain, scary, unknown, in God's hands…or even the future is what you make it.’ The truth is that thinking about the future can be a little bit depressing - we live in precarious and fragile times and it often feels like no-one really knows what is going to happen next; everyone is groping for the wall and so the future can feel very much up in the air. 

Against that backdrop, I want to suggest that if you are a Christian then your future is incredibly bright. The hope of Christianity is that you DO have a future worth getting excited about. Specifically, the Bible teaches that if you have Jesus, then your future is your own resurrection like His.

One of the amazing truths of the gospel is that God holds out before us a future that only Jesus deserves. In the gospel - you don’t have to deserve your future - Jesus has done all of the deserving FOR you. And so Jesus offers us a future that nothing in this world can destroy; He offers us a future both that this world cannot give us and one that this world cannot take away from us. The Christian life, then, is as big, glorious, rugged, durable and immortal as the resurrection of Jesus. 

In Luke 24 we get a glimpse into what our future, resurrected selves will be like and as such gives us the hope of an exciting future.  

Context here - this is after the resurrection of Jesus. The 11 disciples remaining are in Jerusalem and they are terrified - their leader has been brutally and publicly executed and they’re worried that they might be next. Some of them have seen the empty tomb at this point but none of them have seen the risen Jesus and so they don’t really know exactly what is going on. Jesus meanwhile has appeared to two of his wider group of followers on the Emmaus Road - and they in turn have now told the 11 that Jesus really has risen from the dead. 

So put yourself for a moment in the shoes of these 11 men. Just over a week earlier they entered Jerusalem as a group of 13 - Jesus was very much alive, Judas was still part of the group - all eating together, joking together, praying together. A week later, you have witnessed the death of your master and you have become aware of the death of Judas. It makes you wonder how these guys would finish that sentence: The future is __________ (pretty bleak here it seems). 

A few things to observe from these verses. Notice first of all the reality of the resurrection. In v36 Luke very clearly points out that it is the real Jesus standing there in their midst. They are not hallucinating - it is Jesus HIMSELF who is there. Luke, the one who records all of this for us, is a doctor by trade - he has researched these things meticulously for us, he is not just making it all up. There is no sense in the text that the disciples are imagining things here - Jesus really had been dead and now he really is alive and standing before them. If you’re not yet a Christian then this is one of the key truths about the Christian faith that you have to come to terms with - the central claim of the New Testament is that resurrection of Jesus is the foundation upon which Christianity stands or falls. Luke here is absolutely clear about the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.   

Also - notice that Jesus isn’t mad at his disciples. What’s his greeting in v36? It’s ‘Peace be with you.’ So here is the resurrected Christ standing before them - He is not physically harmed, nor is he psychologically damaged at the emotional betrayal he has experienced. HE is at peace. He doesn’t come to give them an earful, He doesn’t come to give them their comeuppance, He doesn’t even come to give them feedback on their performance as disciples! He comes to bring them HIS peace. Maybe you believe that Jesus would despise you or reject you or at the very least be disappointed in you; give you some areas for improvement, perhaps. That isn’t what we see here. Rather, the real, risen Jesus comes to you and He offers you His peace. He is not out to make you feel guilty about your past; He is not out to deal with you reluctantly, He is not out to scold you. He is here offering you His peace.

If we are in Christ - if we have accepted the peace that He offers to us - then we can have a future worth getting excited about.

// His newness is your future

The New Testament writers are at great pains to show us the magnitude and importance of the resurrection of Jesus - it is the crescendo to which the gospels are all building and it is the central focus of the ministry of the early Church. And the NT writers want us to think about and understand the significance of the resurrection because it is THE HOPE of the Christian life. 

As we read the NT we are meant to see that Jesus is the prototype of a new humanity. In 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul talks about Him as being the first fruits of a new creation. He is nothing less than a new Adam, heading up a new human race that God is recreating out of our deadness; and this new human race will live and work and play and rule in a new creation forever. 

So here is the resurrected Jesus - immortal, sinless, full of glory, completely indestructible. If we are in Christ and if He is the prototype of a new humanity - if He is the first fruits of a new creation - then what we see to be true of him will also one day be true of us. The bible says elsewhere in 1 John 3:2: 

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

What an incredible thought - we will see the risen Jesus but not only will we see Him we will be like Him. Now we will not be divine - we won’t be like Him in that sense - but we will become immortal, sinless, glorious and indestructible. 

His newness is YOUR FUTURE. Imagine an immortal, sinless, glorious and indestructible you. If you’re in Christ then this is what God has in store for your future - He has not made you for mediocrity. However, in the new creation, nothing about you will be mediocre. You will be magnificent; because God has created you for eternal, resurrected magnificence. 

Lets think of some of the implications of this; about why this means we can have a future worth getting excited about… 

Imagine a future you where you are sinless; a future you with all of the sin and selfishness completely rinsed out of you. Imagine a future you that is never angry or short tempered. Imagine a future you that is never rude or insensitive. Imagine a future you without any sexual lusts; a future you that is never greedy for more money and more stuff; a future you that is never lazy; a future you that never lies; a future you that is never paralysed by guilt and shame.  

Or what about a future without pain and suffering. Imagine a world in which you are incapable of suffering. Imagine a future you with no pain when you go to bed at night or wake up in the morning. Imagine a future you with no pandemics, no cancerous cells, no more having to organise your life around hospital appointments, no more counting out the tablets every meal time. Imagine a world with no more death - no more unexpected phone calls or messages at all hours of the night, no more long goodbyes, no more funerals to go to and no more graves to visit. Imagine a future you that never struggles with your mental health; no more trips to the GP or counselling sessions, no more battles with depression, no more having to cover up the scars on your arms, no more of the darkness of just wrestling with your own thoughts.

 Imagine a future where your relationships are completely perfect. No tension when you walk into the office or staff room. No sick to your stomach feeling when you know you’re going to see a certain person. No more sleepless nights worrying about what you have said or what was left unsaid. No more arguments, no more fights, no more abuse, no more awkwardness and perhaps best of all no more loneliness. 

Imagine a future you free from anxiety. It’s interesting in the gospel accounts Jesus feels the anxiety and stress of this world before his death. He weeps at the tomb of Lazarus, he sweats blood in the garden of Gethsemane - his soul is trouble to the point of death. He feels the intensity of life in this fallen world. But after the resurrection there is no hint of any such anxiety. He is stress free, poised and calm even in the midst of ongoing volatility and uncertainty.

The point is that because of Jesus’ resurrection we have a future that is absolutely worth getting excited about. 

Perhaps you’re really struggling at the moment. Life is hard and there might be any number of reasons as to why you are feeling the brunt of that in these days. If you’re a Christian then please be encouraged by this picture in Luke 24 - know that your current troubles are momentary and that because of Jesus your future is incredibly bright. And if you’re struggling and you’re not a Christian - then the risen Jesus says to you that this future can actually be your future. 

So how do we attain it?

// How to have this future

Again Luke 24 gives us the answer to this question. I find it striking here what Jesus is eager to show the disciples. They are startled and frightened and v38 Jesus says to them: 

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

  We need to see that Jesus is not asking us to follow his example so that we can enjoy the new creation. He is not waiting for us to prove to him that we are good followers before telling us that we have a future worth getting excited about. He shows us his scars. And in doing so he shows us that He has made a way for us to have this future we have been thinking about. He bore in his body on the cross the punishment that we deserve for our sins and betrayal and those scars prove to us that He really does love us at our absolute worst. And so he invites us to look at his hands and then to reach out with the empty hands of faith and lay hold of Him and have him for ourselves. As we do that, we can have with the hope of a glorious and amazing exciting future that is very much worth getting excited about.