#why am i mentioning it? because the wife of the singles bible study talked to me after and more or less said the church really pushes

[ofpolitics]

me desiring to be a smol menace on the dash vs the fear of accidentally being mean instead of funny: a constant battle.

[somedaywithflyingcolors]

Tymee Thoughts Tuesday #1

February 25, 2020

1. EDSA Revolution and Imelda Marcos

Today, the Filipino people celebrates the 34th year  that we were able to overthrow a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos through collective action. And this was not a single dictatorship, it was conjugal. Ferdinand Marcos ruled hand in hand with her wife, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. The “beautiful” and extravagant Imelda.

Under the Marcos Regime, they were able to stay in power for as long as 21 years. They declared Martial Law which lasted a good eight years with the excuse of extinguishing rising communist threats (exaggerated to extend and increase their power). During the regime, 70,000 were jailed as political prisoners. 35,000 were tortured. Almost 3,000 were killed. Human rights were violated.

Luckily, this week, I have had the chance to watch two documentaries featuring the iconic First Lady. Ramona Diaz’ Imelda (2003) and Lauren Greenfield’s The Kingmaker (2019). 

While Ferdinand Marcos seems to be very predictable and lawyerly-like, Imelda, with her beauty, wits, and charm, is very spontaneous. The narcissistic woman and her edifice complex seems to make her appear someone not to be taken seriously. This was all part of the act. The 3,000 pairs of shoes, the lavish dresses, the terno, the hair, it was part of her brand. She wants to appear as someone laughable but she does that with the intent to manipulate us.

In the Ramona Diaz documentary, she goes on explaining her absurd theories of life from apple to apple and here obsession with beauty as part of the Circle of Life -- how beauty is love applied. It was funny at first and would make you believe that she needs psychological help (fun fact: in the kingmaker it was revealed that she was actually brought in a psychological hospital in New York where the doctor aid that she’s okay, she just could not take politics, so Ferdinand said that he will give up politics for her, which obviously didn’t happen, but after that incident, Imelda is a new person). Afterwards, it starts becoming horrifying.

This quote from the documentary reveals how out of touch Imelda was with the reality of the situation. Truly, the best villains in a story are those that think they're the hero.

Let’s now jump to the Kingmaker!!! This one talks more about the rise authoritarianism, how the Marcoses are going back power. It acknowledges that Imelda is an unreliable narrator but is a very instinctive and powerful political animal.

A great point that hits home is when a footage jumped on the kids in a high school asking what their thoughts were on martial law. All they said were positive (but untrue) accounts of the Marcos regime. The history was revised. The memory of tortured heroes, forgotten. The children had a Utopian view of the Martial Law Era, seeing it as a time of economic progress and discipline, when it fact it is very far from the truth.

That said, it show the importance of writing our histories, sharing them with the world, because with the rise of authoritarianism, the strong-man narrative of Rodrigo Duterte (our current president), one the only ways that we do not fall to the same mistakes of history is to study it, remember it, and learn from it. It is scary to imagine another Martial Law, but seeing the political climate now, the future is not very far. We need to educate more, be vigilant. Hold our line and contribute in our nation-building. Contribute in defending our freedom.

 Another feature of the film that I didn’t know before was how Imelda displaced 254 families, a community in Calauit, an inhabited island, just to house the animals coming from Kenya. Now, the safari and its animals, with no budget, no veterinarians, are suffering. The community in there were suffering as well. This is a metaphor for the Regime’s way of using their power as well as their priorities once in power.

Some key takeaways:

- The EDSA Revolution was not bloodless. The revolution began 14 years ago. Saying that it is peaceful and bloodless disregards the unsung heroes that were killed in the process.

- The Filipinos are very forgiving. What we Filipinos should learn is that while we can forgive, it is also important that we hold those that wronged us accountable. It is almost unthinkable how a family of someone that plundered an estimate of half a trillion peso can still return to power.

- As much we can, we must also continue to speak of the people that were against this dictatorship as someone to emulate. One person from the panel said that for every time we are angry and mention the Marcoses name, we must spread the names of the people who toppled the dictatorship ten times so as to have someone to emulate and be known. People like Edgar Jopson, Archimedes Trajano, Primitivo Mijares, Pete Lacaba, Emmanuel Lacaba, Lorena Barros. They are the heroes that need to be broadcasted more in this narrative. Less of the narcissism of Imelda and more of the injustice and violations of democracies during that time.

-Duterte and Marcos are experts of the Filipino Psychology. While we academics tend to be very rational and logical, these politicians know how to tickle the minds of the Filipinos to allure them into believing that they are someone that they could trust. Now, they not only use the media. They also use weaponize the Internet in a way that would benefit their narrative. Their propaganda continues with all the lies and the fake news.

Sorry this was mostly me talking about Imelda and their injustices during their time in power. I still have so many words and I really can’t help but be outraged. It was just so outrageous to think that (1) they are slowly going back in power, (2) they have no remorse nor guilt over what they did, (3) they have single (double??)handedly affected the influenced major key factors of today’s time, mostly relating to the economic status of the country.

ANYWAY, here are some of the other thoughts that have passed through and plagued my mind through the week!!

2. Valentines Day Podcasts

Because it is still February, go on and check some of the cool podcasts about it!

Here’s Usapang Econ Podcast that discusses the economics of love and valentines!! (In Filipino, sorry international audience :( ) 

And this episode of Debatable by Nina and Kyle that discussed some debate motions about love and valentines. I really enjoyed their chaotic energy there. I ship the two too, so that’s a plus! (Seriously Kyle, why would you leave Nina hanging on your Valentines Dinner for a Bumble Date??)

3. You will be judged not by what you do but by what you did not do. Some musing on where best to spend my time.

I have been thinking about the organizations that I need to join and the things I need to do to be able to land a good job once I graduate. I want to do an internship. In the my course, an internship is voluntary. In the Philippines, unlike in the US or other Western Countries, becoming an Intern just because you want exposure on something is not the fad. Internships are a mandatory thing needed before you graduate. However, I don’t want to just go with the flow.  I want to gain real life experience on real things, especially on the work that I am most interested in. This was triggered by this Rappler Article regarding internship, wherein, apparently, aside from a CV, I also need to pin a portfolio of a work that I’ve done. I am beginning to become convinced that for me to land a good job someday, I need to begin looking for connections related to the job that I want to do. A thick CV won’t cut it. I want to maximize my skills and opportunities here in college while I still can.

Tomorrow, I will be awarded as one of the University Scholars of my University. It can be assumed that I am a good student, I get good grades, pass my work on time. But am I really limited just by the grades that I earned inside the classroom? Should I rush into looking for a workplace or should I just continue doing the things that I’m currently doing (because it seems to be working). Should I dare to be more than what I am now?

Because that entails sacrifice. It may mean less time for family, less sleep, less time for myself. God knows how much I value my time alone. But God also knows how much time I waste for resting and sanity breaks (a little bit too much break tbh). Another fear that I have is going against the harmonious relationship that I think I have now with my family. Saying that I want to do an Internship, which is not included in the curriculum, may raise some eyebrows from the people in my family. I think I need more courage to explain to them the value of doing such things. I remember a saying that I don’t know where I remember from (maybe in the Bible, but I can’t find it): You are judged not by the good that you do, but by the good that you choose not to do. What am I not doing? How can I be better? 

[crxwnedbarbie]

LOCATION: Saint-Petersburg, Russia. (Winter Palace) TIME:  in 2011, around 14:30   TRIGGERS: Drowning, violence, domestic abuse, homicide thoughts 

TITLE: THAT ONE MOMENT WHEN ANTON WASN'T AN ACTUAL PRICK TO HIS FIANCE.

                       ( * ANTON:  Nikita’s betrothed, their engagement announced since she was 17.

ANTON: He was growing impatient, the tic-tac from the watch on the wall was giving him somewhat kind of anxiety. He was ready for an important meeting, with his fiance... Politics. And think of her, now he just realized he hasn't seen her... Since the last night. Nikita can be a lot of things, but there's something he couldn't deny she is NEVER LATE for an important meeting, especially if it was a diplomatic one. The meeting is about to happen within 30 minutes. Maybe it is just him... Something is WRONG. This is when he stood up from the sofa and walking those long corridors of the winter Palace. First place? Nikki's room.

Everything was very TIDY. He did see her last night, so where the fuck she had gone? He asked the security of her bedroom's door. 'No, your highness, no sign of your highness.' Then the chaperones. 'No'. Her sister, Vasilia. ‘No’

The chapel... To ask for his future mother in law, the whereabouts of his fiance. But all he got was...

OLGA ORLOV: ❛ What am I? Nikita Svetlana keeper? ❜ Her irritated tone did not pass unnoticed. ❛ No! ❜ Then she closed the chapel, door holding a Holy Bible on her hand. Noticing that her future son in law wouldn't get out of her side. ❛ No! Why are you staring at me? As if I knew what she is doing. That girl is wild, hard to be tamed. Isn't she at an inappropriate party? ❜ But he kept insisting he hasn't seen Nikki and claimed to be too early for a party. However, Anton got a point. Nikita was never late for important meetings. A small part of her got worried. But then the HUGE part of her, said it 'fuck it', is another shenanigans of Nikita. And she will be punished for that. It doesn't matter how old is Nikita, she would always hurt her to teach her a lesson.

14:45

KONSTANTIN ORLOV:  On the phone talking about business, on the office of the palace, and his foot rested on the desk, he was even laughing louder, with a cigar hanging on his mouth and a silver bottle with vodka in it. He heard a door knocked. AREN'T THESE MOTHERFUCKERS DOING THE JOB RIGHT? In regards to the securities on his door. But somebody bargain and it was Anton, and Konstantin had to straight-up his position to hear out the NEWS. ------  Ah... Nikita is missing. Why he wasn't surprised about that news?! Anton got a point, he knew how responsible is Nikita for her duties. CORRECTION, the important and the MOST relevant meetings. He put away his cigar, as he stood up from the desk, walking as a falcon about to attack its prey (Anton). With a single impulse, he pulled the man against the wall.  ❛ My dear, I gave my daughter's hand to you, and the MINIMUM you should do is keep up the TRACKS of her whereabouts! ❜ Then he pulled his arm against Anton's neck. ❛ If you have NO idea where Grey-Eyes is right now, IMAGINE me? I am her father. But she's the blood of my blood. But even WORST. She is THE WORST. ❜ Then he freed the man, there's an irritation on tone. God forbid this is not another shenanigans of Nikita Svetlana. ---- He'll punish this time (in case it is this), and Nikita knows... The Russian way to things. ❛ Nikita is very enigmatic, and the girl lacks self-preservation.❜ Asking for the guard looking after Nikita in the palace. What he meant by that she is very dangerous to let her alone by herself in God knows where.

14: 57

ANTON: Anton already talked to the people that take care of her felines with Nikki, and they hadn't seen her.

14:59

The guards of the entrance of the palace came running to warn where is Nikita. She went out for fresh air and ice skating somewhere and never back ever since. It did not take so long to find her, the driver was distracted when the accident happened with Nikita. He brought her to one of the frozen lakes, but it WASN'T frozen enough to endure ice-skating. But Nikita wanted to challenge mother nature anyway. And then she went ice skating there, swirling and jumping... But the ice cracked, and she sank, and she began to fussing, the blonde DOES NOT KNOW how to swim. And the panic came over her because she was afraid of what is inside the water if there are sharks, crocodiles, snakes, they are very poisoning in Russia. Her hands sliding through the ice, and she couldn't come up, not to mention the flowing water getting its peak. She tried to hit the ice from the other side when the driver brought her fiance to shows where is his future wife. At first, he thought that was a perfect opportunity to let her go. But then, if her father knew that he could've saved Nikita, he wouldn't dare to see the wrath of an Orlov. He stood one minute to see her struggles on the other side of the ice, and giving up and being a little shit and actually going to help her.❛ Help her! Goddamnit!  ❜ Anton yelled, as he and the guards he brought with him to find her where studying where to step, the ice was somewhat too thin.  But he saw where Nikki was being pulled and starts to break the ice with his bare hands, actually cutting his own hands because of the ice. He wasn't the only one doing that, the guard was helping him as well. He picked one the guns and shot the ice until it breaks, and he dove and picked her unconscious body to the surface. The guards helped take both of them from the water.

   -----  ------------  -------

Moments later he was rushing inside of the Winter Palace with her unconscious body, but on the way back home, they had called the emergency, they just tried mouth to mouth resuscitation. Nothing. Then the doctors started the cardiopulmonary resurrection, ripping her shirt, until she opens her eyes, in confusion, and putting out all the water she swallowed. ---- Sooner, she was taken by the hospital to stay in observation.

And the...

                                          MEETING NATURALLY CANCELLED.

[pinelife3]

The Silence of the Girls

Pat Barker’s newish (August 2018) book The Silence of the Girls (TSOTG) recounts the final months of the Trojan War, as told by a slave woman. The obvious companion piece to TSOTG, and the key text Barker is responding to, is The Iliad, but Barker doesn’t pull out the way Homer did:

The Iliad only covers a few weeks in the last year of the war and does not include the famous Trojan horse or the actual defeat of Troy: at a high level, The Iliad covers Agamemnon’s lady troubles, the plague, Achilles’ sulking and decision not to fight, the death of Patroclus, Achilles’ return to battle, the death of Hector, the abuse of Hector’s body and Priam’s visit to Achilles.

TSOTG covers these events (also starting in media res - more on that later) from the perspective of Briseis. Our protagonist, formerly the wife of a king, was taken during the sacking of a city neighbouring Troy and was given to Achilles as a prize - like all of the women in the Greek camp, she is a slave. Barker and Briseis continue on after the burial of Hector to include the fall of Troy (no mention of the horse though...) and the rape and destruction which followed including the fate of Astyanax, the Trojan women being handed out as prizes, and the Greeks eventually setting off to return home.

I mention the famous events from the Trojan War above, but in TSOTG most of these happen off screen (out of our protagonist’s line of sight) and are reported to us as gossip spreading around the Greek camp. The reader is stuck in the camp with the women and doesn’t see any of the excitement and action on the battlefield (except for when Briseis climbs on the Myrmidon ships to see the battlefield in the distance). The reader is also privy to a lot of ‘girl talk’ amongst the women as they discus their experiences with the Greek soldiers: who’s pregnant, who’s beloved, who’s in favour. So despite hitting the same broad plot points, we are kept away from the iconic set pieces of the war, and instead get a tour through the backrooms where women do laundry, pray, and heal the injured soldiers. 

When we studied Wide Sargasso Sea in high school, it became part of an interesting conversation on high-lit fan fiction: Jeans Rhys reveals the mysterious mad woman in Rochester’s attic, and she shows us how he drove her mad. More than a hundred years after Jane Eyre was published, Rhys, a Dominican author, chose to get into it with one of the stodgiest pieces of English literature out there. She introduced new themes of colonialism and undermined Rochester as the Byronic hero. I don’t think anyone will read Barker’s text that way - Homer’s works and the Bible are so canonical that referencing or interacting with them feels like it doesn’t count as fan fiction (has anyone ever argued that Paradise Lost was fan fic?). Because Barker is a serious author with a Booker Prize on her shelf, they call TSOTG a ‘retelling’ rather than fan fic, but what is more fan fic than recounting a famous story from another character’s perspective? 

For reference: Stephanie Meyer has done this twice to her own novels. She retold Twilight from Edward’s POV in Midnight Sun and wrote a gender flipped version of Twilight called Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined. From Wikipedia, it seems like a pretty straight-forward find and replace job: Life and Death tells the story of 16 year old Beaufort Swan who moves from Arizona to Washington to live with his dad - on his first day at school, he meets the beautiful and mysterious Edythe Cullen... 

^^ It’s fun to laugh at Twilight but remember this: Bon Iver recorded a song for the soundtrack. The New Moon soundtrack also featured Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear and a bunch of other bands with legitimate indie credibility (Pitchfork still gave it a 5.4) - why did they agree to be on this soundtrack? They must be getting approached for this kind of work all the time and New Moon’s budget was not huge - only $50 million so it’s not like they would have been offering obscene cash. Probably a mystery for another time...

Most of Barker’s works deal with war in some capacity. The only other book of hers which I’ve read is Regeneration. In that book, Barker riffs on historical figures, places, events, and literary works as she explores the impacts of WWI on returning English soldiers suffering PTSD. There are a lot of complicated ideas moving around and bumping up against each other - it’s like she’s playing a 20 string guitar or jamming out on a 40 piece drum kit or something: she’s just super masterful and it’s a good read but also interesting to look at how she achieved it technically. It’s a super satisfying book to explore and think about and probably my favourite war book (maybe tied with Slaughterhouse 5).

In TSOTG, she’s still interested in war, but now she’s looking more closely at the impacts of war on women. In a way, TSOTG seems kind of blunt and stupid in its handling of war compared to Regeneration. Barker is so focused on proving that women had it bad during the war and trying to deromanticise the Greek warriors, that she depicts all the men (except Patroclus and Achilles) as childish brutes: they’re capricious and proud, they’re rough and inconsiderate, they take offence easily, they eat messily and they drink too much. We never see them in action on the battlefield, so the one thing they’re good at is hidden from us: we don’t get to admire their magnificence but when they die, the women make fun of their shriveled cocks. Of course, we see this through Briseis’ biased eyes (fair enough given her situation), but what she reports of their behaviour is pretty bleak. No one has a rich interiority: they just fuck, shit and fight. It seems like Barker’s argument is that the men must be assholes because they rape their slaves. But we know that’s not how it works: the men raped their slave women because that was the cultural norm but beyond the raping they were average guys. In fact, the raping and slaving made them average. Not heroes, not assholes. Just 1100BC guys.* 

(*This isn’t ‘boys will be boys’ - if anything it’s historical relativism. I’m not saying it’s average because they were guys, I’m saying it’s average because it was a long time ago. Remember, Jesus was a radical thinker with all his wacky ideas about compassion and love - and he was still more than a 1000 years away. The Greeks were very advanced in some ways, but their culture relied on slavery - at a point you need to accept that that was their normal (bad by our standards, yes) and engage with them on their own terms otherwise you’ll never get anywhere in a conversation about their values.)

Barker retells this astonishing passage from The Iliad about three quarters of the way through TSOTG - just to set it up, Achilles killed Prince Hector and has been desecrating his corpse (dragging it behind his chariot) as vengeance for the death of Patroclus (Achilles’ closest friend). In ancient Greece, it was believed that you couldn’t pass on to the underworld until you’d had a proper burial. Beyond being disrespectful, the abuse of Hector’s body torments his family because it means Hector cannot pass peacefully to the afterlife. Growing desperate, Hector’s father King Priam has snuck out of Troy and come to the Greek camp to beg Achilles to return Hector’s body:

Priam found the warrior there inside ... many captains sitting some way off, but two, veteran Automedon and the fine fighter Alcimus were busy serving him. He had just finished dinner, eating, drinking, and the table still stood near. The majestic king of Troy slipped past the rest and kneeling down beside Achilles, clasped his knees and kissed his hands, those terrible, man-killing hands that had slaughtered Priam's many sons in battle. Awesome - as when the grip of madness seizes one who murders a man in his own fatherland and flees abroad to foreign shores, to a wealthy, noble host, and a sense of marvel runs through all who see him so Achilles marveled, beholding majestic Priam. His men marveled too, trading startled glances. But Priam prayed his heart out to Achilles: "Remember your own father, great godlike Achilles - as old as I am, past the threshold of deadly old age! No doubt the countrymen round about him plague him now, with no one there to defend him, beat away disaster. No one - but at least he hears you're still alive and his old heart rejoices, hopes rising, day by day, to see his beloved son come sailing home from Troy. But l - dear god, my life so cursed by fate ... I fathered hero sons in the wide realm of Troy and now not a single one is left, I tell you. Fifty sons I had when the sons of Achaea came, nineteen born to me from a single mother's womb and the rest by other women in the palace. Many, most of them violent Ares cut the knees from under. But one, one was left me, to guard my walls, my people  the one you killed the other day, defending his fatherland, my Hector! It's all for him I've come to the ships now, to win him back from you - I bring a priceless ransom. Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right, remember your own father! I deserve more pity ... I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before - I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son." Those words stirred within Achilles a deep desire to grieve for his own father. Taking the old man's hand he gently moved him back. And overpowered by memory both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely for man-killing Hector, throbbing, crouching before Achilles' feet as Achilles wept himself, now for his father, now for Patroclus once again, and their sobbing rose and fell throughout the house.

(Not sure about this translation but it’s the best I could find online)

So this scene plays out beat for beat in TSOTG, and it’s very moving and well done (well done by Homer originally - and Barker renders it well too), but Barker wants to make it about the women so in response to Priam’s famous line ‘I kiss the hands of the man who killed my son’, Briseis thinks: "And I do what countless women before me have been forced to do. I spread my legs for the man who killed my husband and my brothers.” Is she an asshole for thinking about herself in this moment? I understand what Barker is trying to do: elevate the suffering of the women to the same platform that the men have always had. But this is graceless. It’s not a competition. 

Another element I found frustrating was the suggestion in TSOTG that the Greeks regarded Achilles’ close bond with Patroclus as unusual - characters are scornful of Achilles’ relationship with Patroclus and make snickering jokes about them being gay. This is disappointing because I am sure Barker did her research and therefore she must know that ancient Greece was probably more accepting of homosexuality (at least between men) than society is today. The only whisper of controversy around their relationship was the ancient equivalent of the ‘who’s the bottom?’ question: the Greeks would have been curious about who was dominant and who was passive, but wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow at Patroclus and Achilles being together.

Frank Miller also choose to make his ancient Greeks homophobic in 300 and Alan Moore, always happy to play the expert, was quick to point out the mistake:

There was just one particular line in it where one of the Spartan soldiers—I'll remind you, this is Spartans that we're talking about—one of them was talking disparagingly about the Athenians, and said, ‘Those boy-lovers.' You know, I mean, read a book, Frank. The Spartans were famous for something other than holding the bridge at Thermopylae, they were quite famous for actually enforcing man-boy love amongst the ranks as a way of military bonding. That specific example probably says more about Frank's grasp of history than it does about his grasp of homosexuality, so I'm not impugning his moral situation there. I'm not saying it was homophobic; just wasn't very well researched.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of ancient Greece would be familiar with their permissive attitudes toward homosexuality. Why did she choose to do this? I know she’s not homophobic because Regeneration sensitively observed the suffering of gay men, for example that minor speech impediments (lisps, stutters) manifested in men who were repressing their homosexuality. I don’t understand this choice from a woman who wrote maybe the best war book of all time.

TSOTG wraps up with a reflection on memory and the stories people want to hear:

I thought: Suppose, suppose just once, once, in all these centuries, the slippery gods keep their word and Achilles is granted eternal glory in return for his early death under the walls of Troy...? What will they make of us, the people of those unimaginably distant times? One thing I do know: they won’t want the brutal reality of conquest and slavery. They won’t want to be told about the massacres of men and boys, the enslavement of women and girls. They won’t want to know we were living in a rape camp. No, they’ll go for something altogether softer. A love story, perhaps? I just hope they manage to work out who the lovers were. His story. His, not mine. It ends at his grave... Once, not so long ago, I tried to walk out of Achilles’ story - and failed. Now, my own story can begin.

Through the sickening dramatic irony, I can pick out three points Barker is trying to make:

Achilles looms large, but Briseis is her own person and deserves her own story

This is the untold true story of what really went down during the Trojan War - the people aren’t ready for this heat but I, Pat Barker, will bring it to them regardless

This isn’t a love story, but if it were, it would be the authoritative and definitive Trojan War love story

Point 1: Briseis deserves her own story

As I mentioned earlier, TSOTG begins in media res - meaning unlike in Troy, we don’t see what the gang was doing before the fighting kicked off, the catalysts of the war, the journey from Greece, etc. The action begins mid-way through the war, mid-way through a day, mid-way through a battle as our protagonist, mid-way through her life, peers over the parapets watching the Greeks disembowel her countrymen. So TSOTG begins as Achilles enters Briseis’ life and ends just as he leaves it - it begins in media res because no one would want to hear about her boring ass life before incandescent Achilles walked into it. Briseis is most interesting when she’s talking about Achilles, watching him from afar, describing their awkward encounters, analysing his behaviour - sure, the story is from Briseis’ perspective, but she’s always looking at Achilles. Is Barker arguing that we should care about Briseis outside of Achilles? She can’t have it both ways! She can’t complain that no one cares about anything but Achilles and then tell a story centered around Achilles, make Achilles the most interesting character and - in a particularly weird move - allow him to narrate some chapters in the second half of the book. 

Point 2: This is the grittiest telling of the Trojan War that readers have ever had to grit their teeth through

The suggestion that this is ‘the untold true story of the women of Troy’ is totally bogus - exploring what the Trojan War cost women has been done. Euripides wrote the The Trojan Women in ~415BC, some 600+ years after when the Trojan War is estimated to have taken place (if it took place at all). It’s a tragedy which focuses on the Trojan women (Hecuba, Andromache and co.) as they process the death of their husbands, and learn what their fate will be (i.e. which Greek they will be gifted to). As with TSOTG, the action happens off-stage, out of the women’s line of sight and is reported to them by men as they come and go from the stage. It is a relentlessly horrible play: the centerpiece is the murder of Hector’s baby son Astyanax (Odysseus throws him from the walls of Troy) and the women’s response to this terrible news. 

It seems like Barker also takes issue with modern narratives glossing over the rape, slaughter and slavery that occurred during the war - but even Troy (by no means an unromantic movie) makes these elements pretty explicit:

In the clip above, the Myrmidons have brought Achilles the newly enslaved Briseis in case he would like to rape her. The slavery and rape threat elements are there. Is Barker saying that she wants to see the rape? Does this scene somehow read as romantic because he chooses not to rape her? Rape is being used more and more, especially in TV, as a way of creating realism in fantasy shows - and people do seem to have an appetite for it (see: Game of Thrones, Outlander). So her suggestion that modern audiences want a sanitised version of the war doesn’t work for me. 

Point 3: This isn’t a love story. It’s about rape. But also... don’t you just love Achilles?

Quoting from Briseis’ final words again:

No, they’ll go for something altogether softer. A love story, perhaps? I just hope they manage to work out who the lovers were.

Sounds pointed. Barker is implying someone out there got the lovers wrong. It can’t be Troy because they went with the Achilles/Briseis angle too, so is she referring to Madeline Miller? Miller’s 2011 novel The Song of Achilles is a love story focused on Patroclus and Achilles (disclosure: I haven’t read it). As I mentioned earlier, Barker, going against all evidence we have about ancient Greece, chose to make her Greeks homophobic. She does touch on Achilles and Patroclus’ famous intimacy, but frames it more as some kind of preternatural closeness which goes beyond brothers or lovers. In Barker’s defence, Homer never explicitly said that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, but the suggestion of it is certainly part of the canon. I had a high school Classics teacher who scoffed at Troy because she thought Achilles should have been banging Patroclus instead of Briseis. 

Also: since we’re talking about a ‘rape camp’, were there really many lovers?

For a feminist take on The Iliad, this book has some weird gender politics. Achilles rapes our protagonist - a lot. He’s childish, he has mummy issues, he’s abrasive and fussy - but we want Briseis to win him over! We want Achilles to notice her. He’s so magnetic, even if you write him as a spoiled pig, he’s still Achilles. He’s the coolest guy in school. He’s the rower with big shoulders. He wears his hat backwards. He comes to school on Monday with a black eye. He doesn’t know anything about computers. He says he likes Hemingway. He smells good without deodorant. His socks never stay up. If you walk beside him in a hallway, you can feel heat radiating from his body. His pouting and brattiness play into his magnetism somehow. I honestly think Barker might have fallen into the same trap as high school girls throughout history: we just love a bad boy. Want a glimpse into the terrifying mind of teenage girl? When I was 17, I dumped my high school boyfriend because he wasn’t enough like Achilles or Hector. People are romantic about the Trojan War, but that doesn’t mean they want a love story. 

[whattoreadinsteadofdrinking]

fuck the patriarchy

The title is self explanatory, but I’m going to explain anyways

I feel like I am deep in a forest of rage and the path that brought me here, to the middle of this angry angry forest, where the trees are screaming with frustration and I am simply adding my sympathetic screech to their general cacophony, is the patriarchy.

My thesis statement here is, that toxic masculinity make it so that men in general are allowed to be, if not bad, then very mediocre, with no consequence and no expectation to change.  And it is agonizing to be a woman in a world of mediocre men.  Agonizing.  It is painful to watch my female friends settle for men who contribute nothing to their household, nothing to their relationship, and they are happy because “he doesn’t cheat and he doesn’t hit me” (in more or less words.)  I had a conversation with two of my female coworkers today and this was what they were saying about their husbands.  I cannot.  I cannnnnnoooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

I wrote above that men are allowed to be “very mediocre.”  That seems like a weird word choice because isn’t mediocrity by its very nature, not something that can be described with a qualitative adjective/adverb?? Something that is mediocre just....is.  It shouldn’t be able to be VERY average, right?  Well you’re wrong.  I mean VERY mediocre.  I mean that toxic masculinity has normalized male-on-female violence and oppression to the point that a man can have the actual personality of tapioca pudding and little-to-no emotional intimacy, and still find a wife.  A wife who will do the vast majority of all household chores and be expected to rear his offspring and do so for free, or if she works, make less than him.  Literally men do not even have to be attractive to get women because society has conditioned us to expect women to be beautiful, and to value us based on patriarchal racist fat-phobic beauty standards, and has conditioned women to value men based on....what?? Their ability to earn money?? I don’t know.  But I do know it’s not physical attractiveness-- or rather, if it is, the expectation for being physically attractive as a male is much more attainable.  That’s part of what I mean by “very mediocre.”  The bar is SO LOW, y’all. 

 My two friends today talked and talked about their lazy husbands who literally do nothing at home despite them both working full times and doing 90% of the child rearing, and their husbands are not conventionally attractive but like everyone has their own standard for that so who am I to say, and so I asked “what made you know that he was the one you wanted to marry??” and they both said “Oh he was really a family man.  I could tell right away.  He always talked about how he wanted a family.”  I just sat there aghast because both these men have 1) cheated on their wives 2) not contributed to the family emotionally and 3) one of them, who is expecting their first child, told his wife he was not excited to have a baby once they finally got pregnant after trying for years.  When she told me that I didn’t even know what to say and I tried to comfort her.  She wasn’t worried.  She didn’t want my comfort.  She replied, “Oh, he’s just being a guy.”  And that reply is what I mean. That’s what I mean by “Very mediocre.”  That is the most mediocre thing I can think of and it hurts to see that she thinks this is fine. I don’t think that guys are that way in general-- but I think toxic masculinity has made it so that when they are this way, we expect it, we excuse it, and by doing that we really condone it.

My coworkers then went on to pity me openly for being single and to make fun of me for having so many dating stories.  I wanted to say, the reason I have so many dating stories is because I am still looking for a man who I can be with and have some sense of equality.  what I did not say to them is, “I’d be embarassed as FUCK to be seen with the men you have chosen and I would never allow myself to stay with someone who contributed so little to our relationship.”  But I didn’t say that because I felt sad for them.  They think I’m lonely and sad being on my own.  I’m not.  It does not occur to them that I love having my own life, with friends and dogs and an apartment decorated how I love it and time to pursue my interests and time to date men who truly interest me until they no longer do or I no longer interest them.  That life seems sad to them.  I wanted to say, “I’m free, and I know my worth, and I wish I could show you yours and that it’s so much more than being an unpaid Babysitter to grown men who are like another child in your household” but you can’t say that.  So I didn’t.

“I wanted to say something but I didn’t”  is another way of saying “I wanted to say something but I felt like I couldn’t,” which is how I feel when it comes to stuff like this.  One of my friends basically just always tries to hook me up with his friends on dates.  Sometimes he tries to set me up with our mutual male friends, while they are in the same room.  I’ve said a lot of times that this makes me uncomfortable and asked him to stop doing it and he hasn’t.  Last night at Bible study he tried to tell me he knew that this summer when I go to Spain I’m going to come back with a husband.  I said I wasn’t interested in marriage and he just kept going on.  This is literally days after reprimanding me for turning down our mutual friend for a date.  

Said mutual friend, let’s call him Joe, asked me out almost a year ago now.  We had gone to dinner in a big friend group and someone had asked me about online dating, and I had shared openly that I was not interested in dating right then. Then the next day, at Bible study with the same group of friends, I shared (in what I felt was a safe, confidential setting) that I was not dating because I was in a season of really working on my relationship with myself and with God.  Joe heard me say those things, then waited til we left the building and called me aside “to talk real quick.”  He proceeded to ask me out.  I laughed out loud and said “you must not have heard me.”  But then I demurred because I didn’t-- surprise surprise!!-- feel like I could say anything about how wildly inappropriate it was for him to ask me out after I had just shared what I had shared. 

 He said he heard what I said and respected it (FALSE) but that he felt he “had to ask me out anyway or else he’d miss a great opportunity.”  OPPORTUNITY FOR WHAT?  An opportunity to show that you respect none of the words coming out of my mouth or the boundaries I’m setting?  An opportunity to make me feel like I can’t share openly in my faith-based community without having it be seen as a challenge to change my mind about romantic relationships?  I said no and explained why again (this is the third time he had heard my explanation now.)  He said we could get coffee as friends instead and I said that is fine, but it would be just friends, like if I got coffee with a woman from the group (I am not bisexual so implying that it would be totally platonic.)  Even after saying the phrase “totally platonic” he said “great.  We can meet at Starbucks.  It will be good to get a drink and talk and just explore if there could be something between us.”  HE STILL DID NOT UNDERSTAND.  I could not believe it.  It’s worth mentioning at this point that it was 20 degrees outside with an even lower windchill and I was freezing my ass off trying to explain in words this man could understand that while I was uninterested in dating in general, I was specifically uninterested in dating him, when he had just shown me he would never listen to me or take my words seriously the first, second, or third times.  You think I’m going to put myself in situations alone with you when you won’t hear me say “no” on something as innocent as a coffee date?? Hell nah bro.  I said no coffee date even as friends and now it’s been a year, and his friend in the group is reprimanding me for not going out with him and telling me to give him a chance.  No.  No. No

So now I feel really uncomfortable at Bible study which is a big deal because that’s supposed to be a safe space.  That’s supposed to be a place, and a people, that help me connect with God.  And it is-- but it’s harder now.  I know what I have to do-- I have to make this guy, who won’t leave me alone about dating and keeps trying to hook me up with his friend, really uncomfortable.  I have to say in a clear firm voice in front of everyone that I don’t want these comments being made anymore.  And I know already that everyone is going to think I’ am being a bitch.  Just for saying my feelings.  Just for speaking up.  I’m the one who will end up looking like the bad guy even though this will be the 5th time I’ve asked him to stop doing this and he has never respected it.  OH, and Joe?? A year later, almost to the day of my rejecting him initially, he asked our friend group to one of those Painting with a Twist nights.  I said no and he asked why so I said the truth which is 1) I don’t want to pay money to have someone tell me what to paint and 2) I don’t drink, so the whole thing is a waste of 30 bucks for me.  He said he understood and then immediately followed up by saying we could hang out some other time-- maybe go salsa dancing together.  I just can’t.  What do I have to do to  be understood?? 

In conclusion, here’s this short story, which is beautiful and sad and poignant and tells all of how I am feeling, so much better than I just did. Men are being cheated out of the ability to function in a way that is healthy and leads to mutually edifying relationships-- and that is tragic.  It’s tragic for them and for us.  It makes me sad.  Maybe my anger forest is really just so sad and being angry is safer.  Sadness slows you down but anger keeps you warm.  I don’t know where to go from here but I’ll tend to these feelings and see what happens.  I’ll feel the feelings til I don’t anymore, or til I still do but they are manageable.  In the meantime, read this.

“Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

[johnchiarello]

Sunday sermon

Sunday sermon  7-1-18  [video made 6-24-18]

 Sunday sermon videos- [filmed at Cole Park amphitheater]

https://youtu.be/0caw5o3CgX4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15FGYgXdxJGeaZrAv9hN_rsZiJQYOx4OD/view?usp=sharing

 NOTE- To my friends on Medium- you will see this post today- Sunday 7-1-18- being I just re-joined Medium again- I will be posting my past studies the next few days. So that’s why there have been so many new posts the past few days- as soon as I get those studies up- I will be only posting about 3- 4 times a week- Later today I will try and post the video I make today ‘Real Time’- always look for the date- because eventually I will ‘re-post’ videos that will say ‘Real Time’- but the date says it all-  Thanks, John.

 VAN UPDATE- https://youtu.be/2Be__VAlfb8

UPDATE ON WHTIE VAN- All is ok- the vehicle was being used for a legitimate reason. I will remove the pictures from facebook- but it is impossible to take all the other posts down. John.

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

.Here’s the video I mentioned on today’s video https://youtu.be/glNc1nASC88

Sadly- this is my most popular video- 1.7 K views! I think the title had something to do with it

.John the Baptist

.What is the single best bible chapter that covers the whole history of the bible?

.Paul preaches Christ

.Fulfilling your course

.Then comes the break thru

.Silent until the time of the promise

.Don’t seek a venue to speak until your prepared for the task

.Learn to serve in silence first

.Magnificat

.Web site stuff too

.The boy who was shot dead- by his wife on youtube

.He was trying to go viral as a stunt person

.Should this even be allowed?

.Be disciplined in fulfilling your mission

 NEW [Other videos below]

 This Sunday I spoke on the verses from the Mass- I didn’t realize that it was the Catholic [Orthodox?] Sunday where they recognize the birth of John the Baptist- and the other post I ‘posted’ earlier in the day had that as the top verses- [see here- https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/06/24/sunday-sermon-6-24-18/ ]

 From Isaiah we read-

Isaiah 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me FROM THE WOMB; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

Isaiah 49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Isaiah 49:3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Isaiah 49:4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

Isaiah 49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

The first verse speaks about a calling- from birth- named from the mothers womb.

 There are other prophets who had this type of calling as well [Jeremiah] and in the birth of John the Baptist the angel named John before he was born-

Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

In the next reading from the gospel [it’s long I’ll past the whole passage below- or just read Luke 1]

we saw how the angel Gabriel appeared to John’s father when he was serving the Lord as a priest-

He told Zechariah that his wife would have a son- and that his prayers were answered-

Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy PRAYER is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Luke 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

 Yet something strange happens- even though Zechariah was praying for a child- he still doubted the word- from an angel!

Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Luke 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

Luke 1:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Because of his doubt- he will not be able to speak until the word comes to pass.

Then Elizabeth has the child- and names him John- as the angel spoke-

Luke 1:57 Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

Luke 1:58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

Luke 1:60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

 John was indeed called and named from the womb- a name that God put on the child.

I also taught how Jesus said John was the greatest of the prophets- and there are multiple prophecies that speak of John as the forerunner.

 The reading from Acts 13 also mentioned John-

Acts 13:24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled HIS COURSE, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

I taught mostly from Luke 1- and spoke about being faithful to the calling of God on your life.

Some times we as believers are waiting for the miracle moment- and yes- there are indeed times when God comes thru in a clutch- the ‘miracle breakthrough’ if you will.

 But in the case of Zechariah- his miracle happened as he was already fulfilling the purpose of God for his life- he was ‘on course’- just like the above speaks about his son- being ON COURSE-

Luke 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of HIS COURSE,

 .As a matter of fact- he was so determined to do the will of God- whether or not his prayer was answered- that when the angel himself brought the word about the ‘breakthrough’- Zechariah doubted it!

 I think we can learn a lesson about being faithful- even when we don’t get the miracle.

Most ministry- service- is actually a labour of love.

 But love is indeed defined as action in the bible-

 John 15:13 [Full Chapter]

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 If we love God- we will love our brother- and in doing so- we keep the commandment of God-

John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.- 1st John

To love- to serve- is something all of us can do- all the time.

It might not be in the public sphere- often it is not- yet if we are dedicated to the calling- we will simply serve the Lord in ‘our course’.

 And then yes- maybe the thing you have prayed for will happen one day- maybe it will come to you in a way you never expected-

 Just remember- when the Gabriel moment occurs- don’t doubt the word-

Because you will indeed have something to proclaim- as long as you still have your voice.

 [I think I quoted this verse on the video [Haven’t reviewed the video yet]

 Psalm 50:23

Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

  [it speaks about order- the theme I mentioned above]

   OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- links to those sites are at the bottom of this post- PAST POSTS below]

 6-26-18 Real Time teaching- Bible, God, Church history- Jerome- Latin Vulgate- Trent [o]- Dead Sea scrolls- Canon- https://youtu.be/6sASGxM30tc

6-27-18 Real time update- teaching too https://youtu.be/epjp0F_o7TA

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204507902975794/

 Teaching in San Antonio https://youtu.be/vggHyWfH9dA

Did cop kill himself? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JQwNbjepgqVGmXS-VUpz7PLkQ-30PP2B/view?usp=sharing

Sunday sermon https://youtu.be/i-AKdBI0W14

Homeless Vet- Bil Hagan talks about his father- a vet too https://flic.kr/p/JSJQEH

The man of sin https://youtu.be/Xf9hAQ_PmCE

Christian- Muslim dialogue https://youtu.be/1ksSWXUCYXU

Sunday sermon https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgWNZTm6FVQM1tu5l

Teaching- real Time https://flic.kr/p/JUCD7n

Teaching- https://youtu.be/HTDjNzEXUJA

Galatians 5 https://youtu.be/fQPd3_3lc9k

Acts 1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/10R6Xs6DfskAaE2w5niqSp6twiOX1iCnm/view?usp=sharing

Sunday sermon https://flic.kr/p/28AnuNg

Snake on a pole https://youtu.be/uxWcr1WcRcw

Ephesians 4 https://youtu.be/xBL-TFowy-Q

Sunday sermon 2 https://flic.kr/p/JYHokK

Plane take off from Newark- New Jersey back to Texas https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgWSAqQap21v8iYUS

Texas friends- Burger King in Corpus Christi https://youtu.be/R0ZNzDkvphc

Acts 2 https://youtu.be/pATGG_kk42g

Jonah 4 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204515533806560/

Caller Times- teaching too https://flic.kr/p/28ErktH

    PAST POSTS [These are links and parts of my past teachings that relate in some way to today’s post- Verses below]

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

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

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

 ROMANS 10 [On the video I give a broad overview of the doctrine ‘the salvation of the righteous’. I cover many verses not in the post].

.DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ‘A SINNERS PRAYER”?

.DOES THIS CHAPTER SAY ‘THOSE WHO CALLED/ASKED- DID NOT GET IT?

.IS THEIR A ‘RIGHTEOUS MAN’S PRAYER’ THAT BRINGS SALVATION?

. PLEASE- LETS STOP DIVIDING OVER SMALL STUFF-

 (854)ROMANS 10: 1-13 Many years ago I referenced all the back up scriptures for this chapter [and book!]. The study was intense because I saw a fundamental ‘fault line’ that ran thru many in the Evangelical church [the revivalist tradition]. The ‘fault line’ was reading this chapter as in if it were saying ‘ask Jesus into your heart, or you won’t be saved’. Now, I have no problem with those who trace their conversion to an experience like this. But I want to give you my understanding of this chapter, based on the exhaustive study I did years ago. Also, I will probably quote some verses and you will have to find them later [I forget where they all are]. Paul begins with his desire for ‘all Israel to be saved’. I taught in chapter one how come the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Because all who believe ‘become righteous’. After 9 chapters of Romans, we have seen that when Paul refers to ‘justification by faith’ this is synonymous with ‘believing with the heart unto righteousness’. Here Paul’s desire is for Israel to experience ‘all facets of salvation’ [present and future] to ‘be saved’. Now, he will say ‘Christ is the end of the law to all who believe’ Israel did not attain unto ‘righteousness’ because they sought after it by trying to keep the law. But it comes only by faith. Then Paul quotes a kind of obscure verse from Deuteronomy saying ‘Moses says the righteousness which is by faith’ [note- this whole description that follows is describing ‘the righteousness that comes by faith’] and says ‘the word is near thee, in thy mouth and heart’. Paul then says ‘whoever calls on the Lord will be saved, with the heart a man believes and becomes righteous [which according to Paul means ‘justified’] and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’. In this text, Paul once again is ‘dividing’ the common understanding of ‘salvation’ meaning ‘getting initially saved’- which is ‘believing and being justified’. And simply saying ‘believers will inevitably call and be saved’ [in a generic sense]. Why would he do this? In the context of his argument, he is simply showing the ‘righteousness which is from the law’ [the man under the law is described as ‘doing something’ continuing under the load and strain of law] versus the ‘righteousness which is by faith’ [described as a person who believes and speaks, as opposed to ‘does stuff’]. It is not inconsistent for Paul to use the term ‘confessing and being saved’ as speaking of something different than meaning ‘accepting Christ into your heart’. Paul is simply giving a description of those who believe ‘all who believe will call’. And yes, they will and do experience ‘salvation’. It’s just in this example Paul is not saying ‘they are saved initially upon confession, calling’. At least not ‘saved’ in the sense of ‘getting justified by faith’. Why? Because the rest of the chapter doesn’t make a whole lotta sense if he were saying this. ‘How can they call on him in whom they have not believed’? He already showed us that ‘believers are justified’. The very argument Paul makes distinguishes between ‘believing unto righteousness, and calling unto salvation’. You can see it like this, there is a verse I stumbled across years ago. It is in one of the prophets [Old Testament] and it says ‘Gods wrath will come upon all them WHO HAVE NOT CALLED UPON HIM’. In this context Paul can be saying ‘whoever calls upon God will never enter judgment/wrath’ [a description of a particular lifestyle, remember Paul said Gods Spirit makes us cry ‘Abba Father’] in this light Paul can be saying ‘all who call [both Jew and Gentile- simply making an argument for inclusion. God accepts ‘all who call’] will not come under future [or present!] wrath’. This would be in keeping with Peters scathing sermon in Act’s where he quotes the Prophet Joel and says ‘whosoever calls upon the Lord shall be saved’. If you go back and read Joel you will see that in context he is saying ‘at the future time of God’s revealed judgment, those who cry for deliverance will be spared’. Peter quotes it in this context as well. He shows Gods future time of judgment and ends with ‘all who call will be saved’. How do we know that Peter was not quoting Joel for some type of ‘sinner’s prayer’ thing? Because after the Jews say ‘what should we do’? He doesn’t lead them in a sinners Prayer! I don’t want to be picky, I simply want you to see context. Paul has already established multiple times thru out this letter how righteousness comes to those who believe. One of the descriptions of ‘those who believe’ are they ‘call upon God’. They even call upon God ‘to save them’. In this chapter the reason Paul uses ‘whosoever calls upon the lord will be saved’ is to simply show God will deliver both Jews and Gentiles. His promise of salvation is ‘to all’. When he uses ‘believing and being made righteous’ along with ‘calling and being saved’ he obviously can not be speaking about the same thing! He even states it this way in his argument. ‘How can they call unless they already believe’? He was simply giving a description of ‘those who believe’. This ‘calling for salvation’ that ‘all who believe’ partake of can speak both of a ‘present tense’ being saved, that is from any and all types of bad things, and a ‘future tense’ deliverance from wrath. Even when Paul quoted David in Roman’s 4, he is ‘describing the blessedness of the man unto whom God will not impute sin’ [Psalms 32] if you go back and read that psalm David says ‘for this shall EVERY ONE THAT IS GODLY PRAY UNTO THEE’. David uses this in the context of his confession of his sin. So the ‘everyone that is Godly’ describes ‘the righteous’ and they WILL CALL! Also in 2nd Corinthians Paul quotes Isaiah ‘now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation’ in the context of ‘God heard you and saved you’. Why would Paul use this in 2nd Corinthians? They need not be told ‘pray and get saved’. In context he used it to encourage them to return back into full communion and fellowship after their restoration and reproof he gave them in the first letter. He is saying ‘I rebuked you guys harshly, you repented and asked for forgiveness. God ‘heard you’ in his acceptable time, now get over it and ‘be restored’. Salvation to them came by ‘calling’ but it was not describing an initial conversion experience. Well, I didn’t realize I would go so long, but this is a good example of having a ‘holistic view’ of scripture. You try and take all the quotes the writers are using, put them in context of the broad themes of scripture. Add that to the immediate context of the letter [Romans] and then come to a deeper understanding of truth. I am not against those who see this chapter thru an evangelistic lens, I just think the way I taught it is more faithful to the text. [NOTE- Thru out this site I have taught the doctrine of ‘the salvation of the righteous’. I mentioned it earlier in Romans and have spoken on it before. If you can find these entries they will add some insight to this chapter. NOTE- verse 20 actually has Paul quoting Isaiah ‘I was found by them who did not ask for me’. This would sure seem strange to say in the same chapter that taught a concept of ‘all who ask for me will enter the kingdom’. It is quite possible to ask and pray and confess everything ‘just right’ and still not find him. And according to this verse, the ones who did ‘find him’ [Gentiles] did not ask! After years of coming to the above understanding I read a church council [Council of Orange?] and I was surprised to see how they actually dealt with the issue of believing versus ‘calling upon God’. They quoted some of these texts to show that before a person could call upon the Lord, he first needed faith. They used this example to show Gods sovereignty in salvation. I though it interesting that they came to the very same conclusions that I did. They even used the same examples! This shows you how the corporate mind of the church is manifestly expressed thru out the ages. I think the council was in the 8thor 9th century?

 (855)ROMANS 10:14-21 [Just a note for the previous entry. In the conversions recorded in scripture [Acts] do you know how many times there is a reference to ‘calling upon the Lord’ during the conversion? Surprisingly one time. The conversion of Saul [Paul]! During one of the ‘re-tellings’ of his own story he says ‘I was told to arise, and be baptized. Washing away my sins while calling upon the Lord’. Wow, could we have arguments over this one! Do you identify the ‘washing away of sins’ with baptism or the ‘prayer’? I actually previously taught [somewhere on this long blog!] how in the 1st century Jewish mindset ‘washing from uncleanness’ and water were related. I taught it in a way that did not teach ‘baptismal regeneration’ but more along the lines of ‘discipleship’ you might find the entry under ‘my statement of faith’. The point I want to make here is Paul spent 3 days after the Lord appeared to him before he actually got baptized and made an open confession of faith. Paul’s reputation was so bad [he killed Christians!] that his conversion and confession needed to have all the weight possible. Others needed to know that he now ‘confessed Christ’. Most commentators will look to the appearance of Jesus to Paul on the Damascus road as his conversion. The point I want to make is in the book of Acts, the main ‘altar call’ was actually baptism. This was the normal means to identify with the believing community. We also see the fact that once people believed, they then were baptized. The same distinction can be made with ‘confessing’. Neither can take place until one believes. I would assume that Paul said something like this at his baptism ‘O Jesus, please forgive me for what I have done. I killed your people and have committed a terrible crime’. There obviously were some serious things he needed to confess! But the overall view of conversion in Acts does not show a ‘sinner’s prayer’ type conversion.] Paul indicts Israel ‘The word did come to you, you didn’t believe’. He also quotes Moses ‘God said he would provoke you to jealousy by a nation who were “no people”’. We are beginning a portion of Romans where Paul will try and explain the dynamic of Gods purpose for Israel, and his ‘use’ of the Gentile nations to ‘make them jealous’. When we studied the parables we saw this dynamic at work. Israel was offended that God [Messiah] was offering equal access to the promises of Israel thru Jesus. Israel was jealous of this free grace. Paul shows them that Moses prophesied that this day would come. You also see this in Stephens sermon in Acts chapter 7 ‘Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like me [Jesus!]’ and then Stephen shows how Israel also did not recognize that Moses was the intended deliverer of the people. So likewise 1stcentury Israel also did not recognize their Messiah [the first time around!]. God’s acceptance of the Gentiles was difficult for Israel to embrace. It took a divine vision for Peter, and he still ‘fell back’ into a caste system mentality. God is not finished with these dealings [Paul will say in the next few chapters] and he will make every effort to show both Jews and Gentiles that they are both important pieces to this ‘divine puzzle’. He will even warn the Gentiles ‘don’t get proud, if God cut off the true branches to graft you in, watch out! He might do the same with you.’ Paul is striving for both Jew and Gentile to live in harmony as much as possible, he did not want to come off as a defender of the Gentiles only. He was ‘defending the gospel’.

 (857)ROMANS- Let me overview a little. This entry goes along with the last one [#856- those of you reading this straight from the Romans study will need to find it under one of the ‘teaching’ sections]. Paul deals with the issue of ‘being provoked by/to jealousy’. Many times believers remain divided because of pride and jealousy. We often do not want to accept the fact that God actually is working thru other camps, groups of Christians who are ‘not like us’. It challenges our very identity at times! We feel like ‘well, my whole experience with God has been one of coming out of [name the group- for many it’s Catholicism] and I KNOW that I have found and experienced God by leaving mistaken concepts about God. Therefore any other ‘defender’ of Catholics is challenging my core experience’. I myself attribute my conversion to ‘leaving religious ideas’ and reading the bible for the first time. Though I had various believers witnessing to me, it was the actual reading of Johns gospel [and the whole New Testament] that clinched it for me. The reality of ‘whoever believes’ as opposed to religion. But my own experience should not limit [in my mind] the reality of others who also embraced the Cross without ‘leaving’ their former church. It is quite possible that other ‘Catholics’ arrived at a serious level of commitment to the Cross, while remaining faithful to their church. Now I realize this in itself can become an issue of contention, all I want to show you is we should not limit the power of the gospel to our own personal experience. During the recent controversy [2008] over certain Pentecostal expressions of ‘revival’ some old time churches simply made a case against all the Charisms [gifts] of the Spirit. The fact is most theologians accept the gifts of the Spirit as being for all ages of the church. Sure, there have been problems with them, even early on [the Montanists] but the fact is there has always been some type of Charismatic expression of Christianity thru out the church age. But the more Reformed brother’s sound [and are often!] more ‘biblical’ than some of the crazy stuff that happens under the banner of ‘Pentecostal/Charismatic’. So the divisions exist. In this chapter [Romans 11] Paul is dealing with a very real dynamic that says ‘I find my whole identity in the way God has worked with me for centuries [Judaism]. The fact that he began a new thing with other groups who I detest [Gentiles] has offended me to the point where I can’t even experience God any more’. Israel could not see past her own experience with God. The fact that God was ‘being experienced’ by other groups in ways that seemed highly ‘unorthodox’ did not mean that their former experience was illegitimate. It simply meant that Gods experience with them was always intended to ‘break out’ into the broader community of mankind. They lost this original intent and used their ‘orthodoxy’ as a means of self identification. An ‘elite’ religious class, if you will. I find many of these same dynamics being present in the modern church. We should stand strong for orthodoxy, we also need to expose and correct error when it gets to a point where many believers are being led astray. But we also need to be able to see God at work in other groups, we should not use our own experience with God [no matter how legitimate it is!] as the criterion of what’s right or wrong.

CATECHISM of the Catholic Church-

1963    According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good,14 yet still imperfect. Like a tutor15 it shows what must be done, but does not of itself give the strength, the grace of the Spirit, to fulfill it. Because of sin, which it cannot remove, it remains a law of bondage. According to St. Paul, its special function is to denounce and disclose sin, which constitutes a “law of concupiscence” in the human heart.16 However, the Law remains the first stage on the way to the kingdom. It prepares and disposes the chosen people and each Christian for conversion and faith in the Savior God. It provides a teaching which endures for ever, like the Word of God. (1610, 2542, 2515)

1964    The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. “The Law is a pedagogy and a prophecy of things to come.”17 It prophesies and presages the work of liberation from sin which will be fulfilled in Christ: it provides the New Testament with images, “types,” and symbols for expressing the life according to the Spirit. Finally, the Law is completed by the teaching of the sapiential books and the prophets which set its course toward the New Covenant and the Kingdom of heaven. (122, 1828)

 1977    Christ is the end of the law (cf. Rom 10:4); only he teaches and bestows the justice of God.

1982    The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel.

1983    The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity. It finds expression above all in the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount and uses the sacraments to communicate grace to us.

 I TALKED ABOUT THESE VIRTUES ON THE VIDEO-

I. The Human Virtues

1804    Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. (2500, 1827)

The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.

The cardinal virtues

1805    Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called “cardinal”; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. “If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom’s] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage.”64 These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.

1806    Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; “the prudent man looks where he is going.”65 “Keep sane and sober for your prayers.”66 Prudence is “right reason in action,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle.67 It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid. (1788, 1780)

1807    Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the “virtue of religion.” Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”68 “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”69 (2095, 2401)

1808    Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.”70 “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”71 (2848, 2473)

1809    Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: “Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart.”72Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: “Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites.”73 In the New Testament it is called “moderation” or “sobriety.” We ought “to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.”74 (2341, 2517)

Down the road I hope to teach a bit more about the Catholic teaching of ‘the working of the work’- meaning the Church teaches that the Sacraments ‘work’ regardless of the holiness/faith of those administering them. It’s a controversy that dates back to the early centuries of the Church [the Donatist controversy]. The point I want to make here is the bible teaches that there are things we can train ourselves to do- acts of prayer- fasting- etc.- that over time will train the mind to think Godly thoughts [these practices of discipline work over time- regardless of the way you feel]. I think one of the drawbacks from the Protestant Reformation was the neglect of ‘works’- the role that good works play in the Christian life. Paul [in Romans] says ‘as you have yielded your parts as instruments of unrighteousness to sin- so now yield them as instruments of righteousness unto God’. I added this section about Virtues because I felt it covered this theme well.

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

Proverbs 9:2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.

Proverbs 9:3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

Proverbs 9:4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

Proverbs 9:5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

Proverbs 9:6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

 POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ JUNE 21, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

THE FLOOD- Amos 9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. https://youtu.be/BLELo-v0rRc The flood https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-18-16-the-flood.zip MY LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/brief-history-of-egypt/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/church-unlimited-outline/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ ON VIDEO- .Russia bombs ‘our fighters’- while we stand by and watch .50 diplomats rebuke Obama .Cyber influence is just as real as ‘going to the building’ [Harvard- Cambridge- etc.] .The U.S. govt. still uses Floppy disks to save info .Maybe we are behind the times when we say ‘The radicals are not ‘REALLY’ terrorists- because there is no connection’. In Today’s world [one without floppy disks] you can be trained by the top universities in the world- without actually ‘being there’. .Syria- Russia .Ukraine .Guccifer .They even hacked Hillary’s campaign! .Crimea voted to go back to Russia- by over 90 % of the vote- John Kerry and the U.S. said ‘we will not honor it’. Hmm? I thought we were for Democracy? .Hillary ‘Trumps a birther’ [meaning- he questioned if Obama was born in the U.S.] .The media found out who actually started the birther movement. http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/09/26/washington-post-confirms-hillary-clinton-started-the-birther-movement/ [see note below- BIRTHER?] .The Hillary Clinton campaign- when she was running against Obama the first time- were the ones who floated that actual story- yes folks- no lie .Who said ‘Obama is the biggest joke going- he should be serving us coffee instead of running for president- he is playing the race card on us’? Bill Clinton .Whose starting the wildfires? .ISIS .Personification of wisdom .Proverbs and John’s gospel .How much money did it take? .Pastors- don’t be ‘building centric’ .Is a hurricane on the way to Corpus Christi- this year? BIRTHER? As an avid news reader- I remember when the newspaper [Washington Post? Or Times?] Did the full story on how IT WAS INDEED the political campaign of Hillary- around 2007-8- that spread the rumor that Obama ‘might’ not have been born in the USA. As I looked earlier for the link- ahh- there’s about 20 google searches for ‘did Hillary start the birther movement’ [SHE DID] But- they link to actual articles- and admit- as they researched it- IT CAME FROM HER PEOPLE. But you know the media- as they progress thru the story- they conclude that ‘it’s not true’! Huh? They admit that it started with her campaign- and then say ‘but we could not trace a direct link to Hillary’. In the famous words of Bill Clinton ‘I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN- Miss Lewinsky’ I mean he was very believable. That’s if you don’t count oral sex in the Oval office- as sex. As you see- I’m not political- and to all my readers who are voting for Hillary- I love you all. I even pray for you daily- that you will be delivered from a spirit of delusion! [I still love you anyway]

https://youtu.be/BLELo-v0rRc The flood Ok- on today’s video- once you get past my political ranting- there is actually some stuff of value- here it is in short. Remember when Jesus told Nicodemus- unless you are born from above- ‘you cannot see the kingdom’? Then he tells him ‘the Son of man [Jesus] is in heaven’ [verses below] How was Jesus ‘in heaven’ and yet- on earth? You could say it this way ‘I am walking in the kingdom of heaven right now- but only those who follow me can see this kingdom and function in its mysteries’. I also talk about the principle in Proverbs- how a wise man builds the house [structure] he prepares the table- and sends out the food- thru the maidens. In a nutshell- this is how Jesus built the church- he wasn’t about building temples or synagogues- though he preached there at times. But he was building his community of men- he shared the bread- word of God with them- and he sent them out with the great message. The whole process was repeated in the book of Acts- and it took no huge funding campaign. It was the wisdom of God that accomplished the establishing of the church- simple and organic in nature- and indebted to no man. We too can follow this simple pattern- if we operate in the gift of wisdom. Remember- the people you are communicating to- are the house. The word of God is the bread on the table. And the maidens are the tools of spreading the word- thru the people themselves- running with the message- thru their writings as well- or in our day- their Re-tweets and stuff like that. The power of kingdom building is in the word- but not just in the speaking of it- but in power. It being demonstrated with signs and wonders. But you must walk in holiness- free from the lust of the flesh- or your words will simply be that- just words. BREXIT- I talk about media manipulation a lot. It matters in the ‘big things’ more than some of the little stuff. In a few days Britain will vote on whether or not to leave the E.U. The markets are rising and falling on this- like other things [whether the fed will raise interest rates]. What would happen if Britain did the ‘Brexit’? They might have financial waves- that would spread from Europe- around the globe. What kind of waves? Maybe regional countries facing near bankruptcy- or even Asian economies slowing down. And that eventually will come to the U.S. Yet- ALL OF THAT- and more- has been happening for the past 2 years [Greece- China and Japan- etc.] So the game is ‘let’s look for any reason to pump billions into the over ‘pumped’ world economies’. If the Brexit never happened- or did happen. It really makes no difference- the real dangers have been going on already- Germany having to bail out other struggling economies in the E.U- Greece still never solving its ongoing crisis- and that’s not to mention Syria and other real global instability. Our jobs numbers for the previous month were around 38 thousand- a real sign that the current global slowdown is indeed already happening. But because of the Casino mindset that I’ve spoken about- it takes one possible ‘good’ note- and millions- billions of dollars go up or down. Whether or not the Brexit happens- makes absolutely no difference- we are in a global downturn already- and we have not been able to stop it- whether you realize it or not.

VERSES- John 1:50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. John 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Amos 9:1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. Amos 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: Amos 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: Amos 9:4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. Amos 9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. Amos 9:6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. Amos 9:7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. Amos 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. Amos 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: Amos 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. Amos 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. Amos 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Amos 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. ________________________________________ Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: Proverbs 9:2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. Proverbs 9:3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,

NOTE- As I make this note [6-20-16] the White House changed course- and will release the entire 911 transcript from the Orlando shooter. So- you see how at first they did not want to- then there was pressure [they initially said it was dangerous to release it] – but more than likely it’s because of what I said- politically motivated. Proof? Then why release it now- See?

NEWS LINKS- http://www.kztv10.com/story/32264030/man-shot-while-selling-key-chains-in-parking-lot http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263633/ccpd-felon-found-with-loaded-gun-and-brass-knuckles http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263196/fathers-day-celebration-leads-to-stabbing http://www.kiiitv.com/story/32257817/westside-party-leads-to-stabbing-victim-in-critical http://www.kztv10.com/story/32262037/high-ranking-nyc-police-officials-charged-in-corruption-case http://www.kztv10.com/story/32258888/recovery-schools-for-addicted-teens-on-the-rise http://www.caller.com/news/national/383640491.xhtml http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/20/asia/us-military-base-protests-okinawa/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/19/us/oakland-police-scandals/index.html Notice in this story [above] she can’t- BY LAW- tell you about the actual crimes the cops committed. The average person has no idea how civilian departments cover up every crime under the book- by their own guys- it’s utterly amazing. http://www.kristv.com/story/32267579/911-transcript-orlando-gunman-said-he-was-islamic-soldier http://www.kristv.com/story/32267328/apnewsbreak-report-assails-nyc-jails-sex-abuse-response http://www.kztv10.com/story/32265588/driscoll-police-chief-placed-on-administrative-leave http://www.kztv10.com/story/32265161/cops-investigating-a-possible-homicide-at-an-apartment-complex http://www.kztv10.com/story/32264030/man-shot-while-selling-key-chains-in-parking-lot http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263633/ccpd-felon-found-with-loaded-gun-and-brass-knuckles

http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg

https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the past. Thanks- John.#

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  ACTS 7 Before I teach ‘the bible’ later- you know- the book that tells us about justice- and how to do it. I want to make a brief note. The past 2 weeks I mentioned on video how I was going to get sworn testimony from 3 friends about cop abuse. I got a text last night- they just found one of them- dead. https://youtu.be/r4cPQHcshCI Acts 7 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/3-30-17-acts-7.zip Acts 7:6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. Acts 7:7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. News link- http://www.caller.com/story/news/crime/2017/04/04/taft-police-chief-indicted-oppression-charge/100021574/ ON VIDEO .Local and Federal court .Temple served as ‘county court’ also [1st Century Rome] .Abraham homeless? .Refugio case .Abrahamic covenant- People and land .Joseph’s story .Moses fled .Bush burns .Stephen quotes Oral Tradition [which words of Jesus did he remember?] .Saul saw the whole thing

PAST TEACHING [Verses below] These are my past teachings that relate in some way to today’s post ‘Acts 7’- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/genesis/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/another-day-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/30/keepers-of-the-law/ (739) ACTS 7- At the end of chapter 6 we saw the accusation against Stephen ‘he teaches the temple will be torn down and that Jesus will change the laws and customs of Moses’. There are a few key chapters In Acts, this is one of them! Up until this point we have seen Peters message of the Messiah thru the lens of repentance and baptism. You will notice Peter is very strong on ‘you guys need to repent and show it’. Strong word indeed! Peter also introduced the scripture ‘the Lord your God will raise up a prophet like unto me [Moses speaking of Christ] whoever doesn’t listen to him will be destroyed’. But Stephen is the first one to teach publicly the passing away of the law and the temple and the new ‘house of God’ to be the people. It’s the beginnings of Pauline theology. Now I have read how this chapter was questioned and doubted as to why Stephen was teaching this. Some theologians thought the chapter was questionable as canon because of it’s seeming to be so out of context. These are the times where I do agree with the ‘seminary as being a cemetery’! This chapter is absolutely brilliant! I don’t want you to miss the main point. Stephen traces the history of Israel and uses the verse from Moses ‘the Lord will raise up a PROPHET LIKE ME’. Stephen explains that when Moses first showed up on the scene to deliver his people, that the people said ‘man, who do you think you are! Who made you the boss’? Then Stephen says ‘yet this Moses, who the people refused. He was actually the ruler and deliverer that they refused’. Stephen is showing them that the prophets actually prophesied of the first century reality of Israel rejecting Jesus because Moses said they would! Don’t miss this point. This is the main point of Stephens message. He is telling the religious leaders ‘you simply fulfilled prophecy by rejecting the Messiah’. He even compares the miracles and great works that were done by Moses to the great miracles Jesus did. Stephen ends the chapter by also tracing Jewish history to David’s son Solomon and how the future temple that he would build was simply a shadow of the New Testament house of God. He quotes David in Psalms ‘God will not dwell in temples made with hands’. Now, this has nothing to do with ‘church buildings’. This has everything to do with Stephen’s insight into the theological truths contained in Jesus teachings about the destruction of the temple. In today’s ‘church world’ we have a very unbalanced view of temple rebuilding and the significance of the passages in Matthew that prophesy of its destruction. In Stephen’s mind the future destruction [that is future from his time. A.D. 70!] showed the passing away of the old law and its entire system of worship. The first century Apostles and teachers saw the eschatological portions of scripture from a redemptive lens. Peter earlier said ‘repent and be baptized… so your sins will be blotted out at the return of the Lord’ ‘whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things’. He couched individual salvation in with Gods ‘full world’ purpose of redemption [Romans]. They saw it from a wider angle than just ‘me and Jesus’. Now Stephen is doing the same. The whole Apostolic tradition concerning the destruction of the temple showed the purpose of God in ending the old concept of law and ‘limited kingship’ [from Jerusalem’s throne] and how God raised up his Son and placed him at his right hand and made him Lord and Christ. The passing away of the temple and Stephens preaching on ‘the customs being changed’ was right on! When I taught Hebrews I tried to bring this out. I realize that some teachers say Paul didn’t write Hebrews. I attribute it to him simply because no one else had the revelation he had in these areas. But I wouldn’t argue with saying Stephen might have penned it [depending on the dates!] Now we end the chapter with Stephens’s famous martyrdom and him saying ‘lay not this sin to their charge’. Saul [Paul] is a witness to this killing, he will become the greatest advocate for grace versus law that the church will ever know. NOTE- I forgot to mention that Stephen even compares the mass killing of babies at the time of Moses with the mass killing done under Herod during Jesus time. He shows how Moses and Jesus were alike in many ways.

VERSES- Acts 7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? Acts 7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, Acts 7:3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Acts 7:4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. Acts 7:5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. Acts 7:6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. Acts 7:7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. Acts 7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. Acts 7:9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, Acts 7:10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Acts 7:11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. Acts 7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. Acts 7:13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Acts 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. Acts 7:15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, Acts 7:16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. Acts 7:17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Acts 7:18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. Acts 7:19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. Acts 7:20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: Acts 7:21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. Acts 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. Acts 7:23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. Acts 7:24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: Acts 7:25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. Acts 7:26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? Acts 7:27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Acts 7:28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Acts 7:29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. Acts 7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. Acts 7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him, Acts 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Acts 7:33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. Acts 7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. Acts 7:35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. Acts 7:36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: Acts 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Acts 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Acts 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Acts 7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Acts 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Acts 7:47 But Solomon built him an house. Acts 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Acts 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Acts 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things? Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Acts 7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. Acts 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, Acts 7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, Acts 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

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https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#

ACTS 13 Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. https://youtu.be/qwLxk3nbTYQ Acts 13 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/5-25-17-acts-13.zip https://ccoutreach87.com/5-25-17-acts-13/ ON VIDEO- .Gentile church .Apostles sent out [Missionaries] .5- fold operating .Land and Sea .Demonic showdown .Son of Jesus? .Now your blind! .God’s power= doctrine .Paul’s sermon .Justification by faith- not law .Grace and sovereignty message .Predestination .Son of David .God raised him

PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relates to today’s post- Acts 13- Verses below] https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/28/isaiah-42/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ https://ccoutreach87.com/judges-ruth-video-links-included/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ ACTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/06/acts-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/acts-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/07/acts-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/16/acts-11/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/22/acts-12/

(739)ACTS 13- The believers at Antioch were praying and fasting and the Holy Spirit said ‘separate me Paul and Barnabas unto the work which I have called them’. Then the whole group laid their hands on them and sent them out. Notice, there was not a singular authority figure who was the overseer of this church [community of believers]. It is important to see this, because when you share the oversight of a body of people with a plural team [Elders/Pastors- the title you use is insignificant] then there is less of a chance of one person becoming too elevated in the minds of the group. There is also a dynamic of the group coming to maturity as they see themselves as being able to ‘ordain-lay hands’ and send out. Now Paul and Barnabas begin their missionary journeys. At Paphos Paul casts blindness on a sorcerer and the chief deputy believes. At Antioch [Pisidia] they preach in the synagogue. Paul does a good Old Testament survey and mentions ‘Saul from the tribe of Benjamin’ as being part of Gods plan. I always wondered if Paul saw himself in this image [Saul from Benjamin]. Jesus did tell Ananias that Paul was a chosen vessel to bear his name. Notice also that Paul’s message saw the promise to David in Psalms ‘the sure mercies of David’ as being fulfilled thru Christ’s resurrection. The theme of the message was not ‘Jesus rule is delayed’ [dispensational teaching] but that thru Jesus the promises to the fathers have come to fruition. While it is true that the Jewish hearers will reject their Messiah as a people, yet this did not mean that the Kingdom was delayed or that the ‘church age’ was a parenthetical time until the ‘Kingdom age’ reconvenes. The whole tenor of Paul’s message is the reality that Jesus resurrection and being seated at Gods right hand is the promise being fulfilled that God made to the fathers. It is important to see his theme all thru out the Apostolic writings. The following week after Paul delivers his message, many gentiles come back to hear the word again. The leaders get jealous and Paul rebukes them. He tells them it was necessary for the Jews to have heard the word first, but then in fulfillment of the prophets, Jesus will be a light to the gentiles also. Paul and Barnabas sail off to Iconium next. An important theme in all the sermons in Acts is how the main message is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Prophets. Paul tells them that they heard the readings from the prophets [Old Testament] every Sabbath day, but they also fulfilled the prophetic word by not being able to understand what the prophets were saying. So they crucified Jesus because of their blindness to the meaning of scripture. We need to see Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets. The ultimate end of our purpose. To become like him in every way. In today’s church world it is so easy to see the word and ‘church attendance’ as a means to self fulfillment. But we need to re focus on becoming more like him. I am sure it was a shock to Paul when he realized all the time and study he did as a Pharisee was missing the main intent of scripture. It was humiliating to find out that the simple men who became these followers of Christ were closer to the truth than the theological doctors of the day. Jesus said we must become like little children again in order to see Gods kingdom.

VERSES- [These are verses I taught or quoted on today’s video- Acts 13] Acts 13:1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Acts 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts 13:3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. Acts 13:5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. Acts 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: Acts 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Acts 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. Acts 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Acts 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Acts 13:12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Acts 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Acts 13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. Acts 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. Acts 13:17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. Acts 13:18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. Acts 13:19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. Acts 13:20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. Acts 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Acts 13:23 Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: Acts 13:24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. Acts 13:27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. Acts 13:28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. Acts 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. Acts 13:30 But God raised him from the dead: Acts 13:31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. Acts 13:32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Acts 13:34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Acts 13:35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: Acts 13:37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Acts 13:40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Acts 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. Acts 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Acts 13:43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. Acts 13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Acts 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. Acts 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. Acts 13:51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. Psalm 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Psalm 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. Psalm 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Psalm 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Psalm 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Psalm 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Psalm 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Psalm 2:10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Psalm 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Habakkuk 1:5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Psalm 16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. Psalm 16:2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; Psalm 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Psalm 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. Psalm 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

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June 24, 2018 - Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day

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Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 587

Reading 1

IS 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made. O LORD, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made. Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made. My soul also you knew full well; nor was my frame unknown to you When I was made in secret, when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth. R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading 2

ACTS 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said: "God raised up David as king;  of him God testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish. From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.' "My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent."

Alleluia

SEE LK 1:76

R. Alleluia, alleluia. You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit,  and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Isaiah 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

Isaiah 49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Isaiah 49:3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Isaiah 49:4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

Isaiah 49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Isaiah 49:7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

Isaiah 49:8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

Isaiah 49:9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Isaiah 49:10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Isaiah 49:11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

Isaiah 49:12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

Isaiah 49:13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Isaiah 49:14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Isaiah 49:17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Isaiah 49:18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

Isaiah 49:19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

Isaiah 49:20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

Isaiah 49:21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Isaiah 49:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

Isaiah 49:23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Isaiah 49:24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

Isaiah 49:25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Isaiah 49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

Luke 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

Luke 1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

Luke 1:4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Luke 1:5 THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Luke 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Luke 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

Luke 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

Luke 1:9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

Luke 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

Luke 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Luke 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Luke 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Luke 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

Luke 1:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Luke 1:21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

Luke 1:22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

Luke 1:25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Luke 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Luke 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

Luke 1:40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Luke 1:42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Luke 1:43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Luke 1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Luke 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Luke 1:49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Luke 1:50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Luke 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Luke 1:52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

Luke 1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

Luke 1:54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

Luke 1:55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Luke 1:56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

Luke 1:57 Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

Luke 1:58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

Luke 1:59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

Luke 1:60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

Luke 1:61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

Luke 1:62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

Luke 1:63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

Luke 1:64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

Luke 1:65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.

Luke 1:66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

Luke 1:67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

Luke 1:68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

Luke 1:69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

Luke 1:70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

Luke 1:71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

Luke 1:73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

Luke 1:74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

Luke 1:75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

Luke 1:76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

Luke 1:77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

Luke 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

Ephesians 2:20

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Ephesians 3:5

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Ephesians 4:11

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

1 Corinthians 12:28

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Matthew 3:3

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Luke 3:4

As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

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[covenantlifestylecentre-blog]

Need to Feed Your Soul?

What on earth is going on? What are you talking about? Can I be changed? I am so full of sins. I smoke dagga, abuse alcohol and do all the different evil stuff.

These were the words and thoughts that I had for many years.

I often came to the conclusion that this lifestyle has been specifically created and granted for me. People have at many times told me that I am a failure which I started to believe. Everything I did resulted in failures which I even blamed my mom for.

My mom was a single mother who struggled to raise me. I could not understand why my dad was absent.

Little did I know that there were demonic forces behind all this. I did not at that time possess the spirit of discernment.

I directed my thoughts towards committing suicide. Every time I wanted to do it, I heard a voice telling me not to. Therefore I asked these many questions. I was not aware of this great path of righteousness.

My life even went in the direction of drugs, mentioned earlier, and other worldly elements. I was not involved in any acts of gangsterism, but still lived a sinful life.

But everything changed on Tuesday 3 August 1996.

We, my wife and I, accepted Christ as our personal Saviour on that beautiful day. At that time we, my wife and me, were unemployed and in desperate need of financial assistance. I was still an active member of Mamre Rugby Club and involved in other activities.

Our financial problems were soon sorted out as my wife received a cheque from her Provident Fund. We could buy food and other necessities. God really came through for us. We also found jobs and I left the sport as the Lord instructed me to do so. He wanted me in ministry.

She is currently following her lifelong dream as a nurse at an old age home and developing her nursing career, while I am completing my degree studies in Christian Education at a well known South African university. The Lord has changed our failures into success. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23v1.

Although both of us grew up in Christian homes, we did not really know the path of the Lord. This means that we were carrying on according to traditional beliefs.

The decision to accept Christ did not come very lightly for both of us. We were (so we thought) still young at heart and not ready for such drastic steps. I turned 32 that year. We were still looking more excitement and pleasure. Little did we know that the Lord had greater things in store for our future.

That incident really changed us, especially me. For the first time I started to feel fatherly love and acceptance as a human being worth living.

As I am a person that loves interacting with other people, I thought that being a born again Christian; I would not be allowed to participate in any social activity. How wrong was I to be?

However, I quickly realized that, being a Christian requires commitment towards the cause. Luckily, despite difficulties during the last few years, I remained dedicated because of His love for me.

Yes, I was once a sinner, but am now cleansed by His blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. I thus feel compelled to share God`s greatness in writing with you.

We were baptized on Sunday 7 June 1998. It was a very cold day, but we never felt the cold as the presence of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming.

The following day the Lord called me into the apostolic ministry. I will never forget the meeting I had with Him. It was quite an unforgettable incident,. I never knew that His Spirit and anointing was so powerful.

Looking back, years later, we can announce that it was all worthwhile in accepting Christ into our lives. The song declares: "It wasn`t easy, but it was worth it."

My negativity changed into something very, very positive. I found that I was indeed worth something to somebody and a place in life. God created me as an image of him. To him I was special.

You might be wondering why I make my private life open to the public. Well, I am not seeking any publicity, but wish to testify what the Lord has done in my life. I cannot remain quiet, but declare that He is really the true God. He is Jehovah Jireh!

Even when I went through a tremendous crisis ten years back, He was there for me. Some of my friends turned their back on me, but He showed His loyalty towards me. If it was not for Him, I would not have survived the ordeal.

The same happened during my illnesses, He supported and healed me. Praise His holy name!

My calling compels me to engage into evangelism and teachings hence the reason for the launching of the series of discussions, but first I need to quickly minister to your soul.

I am glad to declare that the Bible testifies that man has and will always take a special place in the Kingdom of the Great God. God won`t allow His creation to suffer unnecessary and get lost. Anyone who wants to take up serious business with Him is ensured of this special place. This is his reward to you, the child of God, for your perseverance.

In order to continue our conversation, we have to turn the attention to you. I request you to first need to sit down and just let your mind ease for a while. Start thinking about your ultimate destination.

The very first question we need to ask you is, of course, "Where are you heading?". You do know where you are coming from, but what is your final destination?

I would like to ask you more questions. How do you see yourself? Do you think you are good or bad? What do you think? Every person lives under his or her own illusions.

You may not be as bad as you think, nor quite as good as you think. Who, then, do you think will lead a better life of faith? Will it be one who thinks of himself/herself as good? Or one who thinks of himself/herself as bad? Is it the latter?

I also had to ask or answer these questions. God holds the answer to this. He knows all and everything.

Allow me to ask you another question. Who is more likely to be redeemed the one who has committed more sins or the one who has committed only a few sins? What do you think? The one who admits that he/she has committed countless sins is more likely to be redeemed. That person accepts that he/she is a grave sinner. Such a person can better accept the Word of redemption prepared for him/her by Jesus.

This idea really got to my mind on that day in August 1996. I realized that my only chance to freedom is on the doorstep. The decision was is in my hands. I am glad that I made the right decision.

An unknown author expresses it beautifully by saying the following:"My thoughts direct my actions, My actions become my habits, My habits define my character, And, my character is the birthplace of my destiny.

These stunning words gives us indeed, as already stated, something to think about. What forms the centre of our thoughts leads to what actions we are going to take at some stage in our lives. If it is violence, assaults beg to become part our lives. This is unstoppable if we, the individual, do not do something to stop the unfortunate happening. We are not perfect people, but we still need to strive to perfection.

Will you allow the HOLY SPIRIT to play a role in your life? The Holy Spirit reacts only when a person realizes that he or she is lost and need to get back to the Lord.

Jesus is then at all costs exalted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit provides us with the assurance that Jesus did die for us and took our sins upon Him. Sometimes we doubt this, but let we be assured this happening occurred without any misleading conception.

Are you currently struggling with alcoholism or any other form of abuse? Alcohol abuse is an age old problem and part of man`s sins.Apostle Paul warned the Christians not to stray. He also advised them not to indulge in acts such as alcohol abuse. (1 Cor.6:9,10).

Unfortunately man suffers from the sins inherited from Adam. Sins are created by the acts of human nature.

Adam and Eve`s sins were because of Satan`s deceitful desires. Sin can become an addictive,destructive force.

Satan, the biggest influence on human nature, is the great enemy of God and all humanity. Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air and operates in those that are disobedient to the Lord.

People flee to the usage of alcohol as a form of stress solution in order to rid themselves of the problems surrounding them. However, many has been rehabilitated and succeeded in life. The question is is there hope for others?

The answer is a big YES.

Alcoholics need to admit that they have problems. These people often think that they will find a controlled manner of drinking. The same applies to people engaged in other forms of abuse.

There is, unfortunately, no spirit inside a human being that will provide any healing or solution to these problems. The godly medicinal solution is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The power and the truth lay in the crucifixion of Jesus upon the cross of Cavalry. He took all the sins of Man upon Him when He died on the cross.

God made a covenant (Genesis 3:15). The covenant was that He would deliver all sinners. He said that humans would be redeemed of their sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by the water and the Spirit. God sent our Savior, Jesus, to live among us.He also promised to send John the Baptist ahead of Jesus and He kept His promise.

The birth of Jesus lead to the cut off of the shackles of sin for all people. Those people who still have a hard time under sin are slaves of sin.His redemption made it possible that our sins could be absolutely cut off. He removed all our sins. Is there anyone who still suffers from sin?

Our warfare against sin has ended. We shall never suffer in sin again. Our bondage to sin ended when Jesus redeemed us with His baptism and blood. The Son of God has expiated all our sins.

What must be done to receive healing? People must have a desire to be redempted from their sinful nature. Every sinner must accept God into their lives. God can start working when people have acknowledge Him as the only and true Savior.

One thus certainly need to confess God as your Savior.A desire to call to God for help must be present. Faith and believe in Jesus Christ is essential. Jesus,as already mentioned, is the only one that can save you from going lost.

One need to place all your trust in the Lord. Saved people have to end all sinful thinking and deeds.They need to encourage others to also repent and worship a true God. A healthy fellowship with other worshippers of God is also vital.This will help in having a godly manner of speech.

Digging deeper into the Word of God by means of,amongst others, Bible studies will strengthen the move to a godly manner of speech.

Active alcoholics and young people need to be warned against the dangers of alcohol abuse.This can be done by means of testimonies.God is alive and are still healing the sick and solving problems.

God is the Master of the Universe.The greatest addiction, the pulls of the human nature, can be overcome with the help of our Father. I overcame this problem. So did many others.

Faith is caused in our hearts in order to believe that, what is written is really true. God allows us to still sin, because we still live in a sinful world. We cannot sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin is punishable by death. All the other sins need to be confessed. Do you now understand why we need to repent our sins?

God is alive, still healing the sick and solving problems. God is the Master of the Universe. The greatest addiction, the pulls of the human nature, can be overcome with the help of our Father.

Today we, the children of God, are looking forward to going home to a safe haven called Paradise. Why is this? We have got Jesus in our lives and in our purified hearts.

Thanking Jesus for saving my soul. What about yours?

Our article emphasizes the importance of discussing Christianity. Christians need to understand their practice (both in writing and practically). Therefore Biblical Studies cannot be ignored.

This religion, based on a God man relationship, holds the keys to peace and harmony for the soul. Unfortunately, we cannot continue without also mentioning the religion`s birth. John 12 v 46: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

Christianity, a major religion, is defined as an inspiration for man`s achievements, is concerned with man`s ultimate destination and makes people passionate. God can also fulfill human needs (hunger, thirst, love, sorrows, etc.) which require attention. Matthew 5 v 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Christianity, a vital factor in Man`s formation, has over 2.5 billion followers. It is a vast topic which no one book can alone cover.

Its founder, Jesus Christ, was born between 2 and 6 BCE (Before the Common Era) and known to be both Man and God. He only had a human mother, Mary, but no human father. The name Jesus means Savior. Jesus was aided by twelve disciples, including Simon Peter and Judas, during His evangelism amongst social dropouts.

His teachings, based on the rapidly coming of the longed for reign of God on earth, and His death on the cross at Cavalry played enormous roles in the establishment of Christianity.

The death of Jesus and Judas, His betrayer, led to the other disciples, along with other believers, gathering in Jerusalem in order to find a new disciple and discuss the road ahead.

The occurrence of a supernatural incident, God`s Spirit was poured out on them, at this meeting resulted in the discipleship expanding to more than 3 000.The first Christian congregation in Jerusalem then combined their beliefs in Jesus as Messiah and (New Testament) Christianity saw the light.

Christianity is today practiced worldwide and covers 33% of the world`s population. Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church and orthodox churches form part of the prominent traditions within this religion of which Catholicism is the biggest type.

Christian writers normally find that there is so much to be shared. We have to praise Him for this. The winning of souls and teaching followers of Christ are vital purposes of spiritual writings. John 12 v 46: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

However, Satan complicates things. He feels that his domain is being threatened and use confusion as centre of attack to prevent this threat. Satan sees followers of Christ as part of the enemy. Luckily, God`s presence and assistance ease matters.

Unfortunately these difficulties rest with all humans and will, however, remain part of life. Christians` beliefs in Christ are daily being put to the test.

Jesus Christ, states that we do not have to fear as He has already conquered the world. John 16 v 33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

We do not wish to focus on writers nor difficulties, but on the glorious victory by Christ at Calvary. How can one forget the Crucifixion as our victory over daily issues lies behold in the Blood of Christ?

His death grants us peace of mind that Jesus Christ, the greatest prophet, has done it all for us." Psalm 106 v 1: "Praise ye the LORD.O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

Is it worth staying committed to Christ? Is God worthy to be worshipped and praised? Are there solutions to the many problems?The answer is YES.

The victory by Christ on the cross assures us this. He has conquered the world. John 16 v 33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Therefore Christianity is the answer to someone seeking the right religion. Christianity promises the provision of peace and harmony for the soul. This is made possible via personal relationships with Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, fantastic rewards in the form of eternal lives await those that are serious in their commitment towards Christ. Studies of the Word remain vital important as the keys to a better future awaits the saints (the children of God).

[dlinnettetheauthor]

Dr. Phil and Bipolar MIBLOG

I was watching Dr. Phil this week and there was this dysfunctional family on the  Dr. Phil show (well, that is what he helps with-- dysfunction) where the mother claimed Bipolar. I don’t know if she was officially diagnosed, but she did mention that she takes pills that doesn’t help. She has adult children who she is estranged from. The mother was very high strung and what she called herself as animated. She was yelling to get her point across and Dr. Phil said,  “shouting doesn’t necessarily help you get your point across”.  Her eyes were bulging out and red from crying. It was a two-part show and boy did I tune in for part II as well. The mother’s relationship with her daughter is that she takes from her daughter. Her daughter who is or was in the military signed over Power Of Attorney to her mother while she was enlisted. Her mother ended up taking upwards of three thousand dollars  from her account. The mother is married to the father of two of her adult kids which are twins. She had a child out of wedlock and her husband remained by her side. The twins say that their father always takes their mother’s side over theirs’ even when he knows she is in the wrong. Why they came on to Dr. Phil is because the daughter had gotten married and her mother acted erratic during the ceremony and made it the worst day ever for her. Her mother even made the bride late to her own wedding. On the show, the mother was yelling and denying everything that happened in her children’s life growing up. The twins finally had enough and wanted to know from Dr. Phil if it is okay to cut strings with her mother. Dr. Phil told the daughter that she has every right, and that she is a grown and the mother has to except it if that happens. It was a very emotional show and it showed how a spouse can be enabling by letting the sick wife act erratic and embarrassing in public. He is going to defend his wife til the end even at the risk of losing a relationship with the children. When the daughter said that she wants to go on with her life and not have a relationship with her mother anymore, the mother started balling. The mother stood up and wanted to hug her daughter, but her daughter told her mother not to touch her. Dr. Phil offered the mother help and she accepted. After the show, the show continued to film off stage, and the mother was having a breakdown, screaming and crying that she was the victim in all the dysfunction. And she didn’t get to tell her side of things. But how could she, all she did was yell denials. You could hear a producer say to the mother, “why are you doing this to yourself”? 

Why? When you are Bipolar and are not properly treated or following treatment, you will go manic when things don’t go your way (yes, like a child). It’s like a fuse goes off in your head, and you will become erratic. You will become disruptive, and you won’t recognize that you are destroying the ones you deep down inside love. No, it’s not an excuse to turn into a monster, crazy person, but it means that the treatment plan isn’t working and something else needs to be tried out. Most people end up in the psychiatric ward. But, there is a switch in the brain that switches from calm to off the chain. 

The mother even said that she didn’t know why her husband stayed married to her. She knows she is not well. She talked about excessive spending, and taking her son’s deceased wife wedding ring and throwing out things her children had stored in her home for safe keeping. When they wanted their personal belongings, the mother got rid of everything. 

Bipolar is called Bipolar because of the person’s behavior and mood swings. Yelling at everyone, denial of what you have done to hurt others, feeling it is you that is being hurt, being promiscuous, spending excessively, not taking prescribed medication regularly. Using illegal drugs. Drinking. Becoming disruptive and embarrassing in public. Not sleeping for days. Non-stop chatter. The need to be in-control of everything including your adult children.

You also have the side of Bipolar where you become extremely depressed and isolated. You stop caring about things you used to love to do. You stop caring about your appearance. Everyday passes you by and you aren’t a part of it. You go inside a shell and stay there. You get angry at the smallest things. You become paranoid of everything. Your anxious about everything. You  take some prescription medications but not all. You can’t sleep or sleep too much.

The mother said that she was Bipolar, and Dr. Phil and her children said that being Bipolar doesn’t give you the right to act a certain way and blame it on  Bipolar. My question is, if a person is Bipolar Manic or Depressed at that moment, how can they stop the manic or depressed mood? They are in it and their mind is going 100 miles per hour being manic or 0 miles per hours being depressed. Why give a Bipolar diagnosis and then turn around and tell someone not to be that diagnosis. Why tell someone it is not their fault because it is a brain malfunction, a brain illness, a short circuit in the brain, the wire connections in the brain are mixed up, the brain this, the brain that. Yet, you tell the person to just stop acting that way, you tell the person that they are embarrassing you. You tell the person to snap out of it. You tell the person it is a chemical imbalance. No, it is not an excuse. It is an illness that science says there is no cure. 

I empathized with the mother because I have Bipolar. When certain things trigger me now, I remove myself from the situation being it from friends, family, a place I am at (ie:store), a errand I am that I may get tired of doing, a phone call I am engaged on. I choose not to be around certain family members because of family dysfunction. I don’t go to certain places that I know will get me riled up (again stores), I can’t deal with poor customer service (well that goes for everybody, but it’s about how you handle it) so I try to avoid calling or going to places where I know customer service is typically bad (did I mention stores).  I have a small circle of friends I like to be around, and trust me, it has been very hard trying to find a true group of friends, who are genuine and I feel comfortable around, and that I can be my “baseline” self (mental health term) which is calm, cool, collected, funny, caring, giving, helping. For a long time, I chose not to have friends, my children were enough to keep me busy. My boyfriend at the time kept me busy. I didn’t need girls night outs. Now that my kids are grown, I started wanting to develop friendships with mature women who I have things in common with. A group of friends where there is no meanness, jealously, bullying, and controlling behaviors. You watch reality television where grown women with children argue and fight and act like they will beat the other person up. I had to weed out potential friends that had that mentality. I befriended a few women my age who were single like me in a church group. One of the women seriously said to me at a Bible Study that, “You’re not going to take my friend from me”. The friend was our mutual friend and I was new to the mix. This woman didn’t want to be Facebook friends (that’s okay, but don’t act like I’m trying to get in your personal business. I mean jeez, some people have over 1,000 friends that they don’t know, and when I ask people I do know, they act like I am the IRS. , She kept acting like I was evading her friendship space. The three of us went out one time, and I made us late to an event and we couldn’t get in. Of course we all were upset, because I didn’t know the event was at maximum capacity when we got there. We still hung out that night, but you could just feel the resentment from the woman. The next time the mutual friend invited me to hang with them, they had me drive separate even though we lived in the same town. This time I made sure I was on time and arrived on time. I said to myself, why did they even invite me? I know I made us late before, it was after work and I took to long trying to get myself dressed up. I apologized more than I could count. I remained friends with the mutual friend for a while, but we never went out as a trio again. I said to myself, “can’t they forgive a girl for a one time mistake???” So making and maintaining friendships are hard at any age.  It took a few years later, but now though, I feel I made some good friends. My friend’s haven’t had to see my Bipolarish ways, but I told one good friend that I wrote a book and it was about my mental health and my son’s mental health. She read my eBook and guess what?? She is still my friend after reading about me. Hey, everybody needs a friend. But former boyfriends did see it. But, in my defense, I didn’t date the top of the crop. I dated men who didn’t have my best interests at heart. So when they would do things to irk me, I would let them have it (yell and scream). I was in a 11-year relationship on and off and we didn’t live together, but he knew me inside and out and I knew him inside and out. You would have to buy my book on Amazon.com, “Crazy On The Inside Of Me With A Dash Of Hope- A mental health and homelessness journey reality book, to get more on that.

The mother said that she didn’t go anywhere or have any friends. She did express her love for Jesus, and she even shouted and did a praise dance at her daughter’s wedding, her daughter didn’t have a problem praising God, it was how her mother went over the top with it and embarrassed her guests. Her daughter also said that her mother decided to get her hair done day of the wedding and that is why the daughter was late. Her mother also wore white which the daughter felt upstaged the wedding. 

I saw in the mother’s eyes that she was suffering inside. She is suffering deep down from something that she needs to work through. She is blessed to have a supportive husband of 36 years. But, only she can fix herself, not her husband. All her husband is is a band-aid.When you take the Band-aid off, the wound is not fully healed and the scars are like keloids raised up and unsitely looking. Only she can stitch up her wounds by getting the help Dr. Phil is offering. I see my psychiatrist, take my medications, and see my therapist. It is part of my lifestyle. I keep my social life small and quaint. I generally keep to myself and when I need a night or day out. I can call on my friends. A husband, no more boyfriend mode is still apart of my want, but not a need. I allowed the relationship to go on for 11-years to nowhere, but I now know what I want, and I know I grew a lot and I am doing a lot of self-care. I know that respect is earned both ways. 

I rather save us all a headache and not force myself to be around family that has done hurt to me and I done hurt back. I forgave in my heart and decided to be around people who help make me a better me. I have motherly figures who know my story and still embrace me. I still have a few ex-boyfriend’s that we remain friends. I’m cool.

Family dysfunction is real, if it weren’t then we wouldn’t need family therapists I may not engage with my family, but I also don’t cause conflict with them. I find peace in my own little world. They don’t focus on my good, they just remember my not so good days (all in my book). But, I am not the only dealing with family estrangement and I will not feel guilty about it either. 

I hope the mother gets help, because going around yelling, and crying, and being disruptive, and spending excessively, and not taking any responsibility for your actions is ultimately your responsibility. Not your spouse, not your children, not your family, and certainly not your friends. 

When you are Bipolar manic, it’s like you’re in a spinning out of control car, and you can’t put the brakes on because it will make you hydroplane. No, you have to let the car spin-out to a stop and hopefully you don’t get hurt. Then you have to go get the car repaired. You cannot just stop in the middle of a manic episode, you have to let it ride out and get help. It’s just hard for family, children, significant loved ones, and even friends to cope with. That I understand. 

My mother said one year that we (me, her, and my two sisters) need to go on Iyanla VanZant, Fix My Life. I wish she was serious because I sure would have participated. 

But for now, I take joy in writing my blogs, writing my books, talking about my books, advocating for mental health and homelessness, running my social media pages on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, twitter, Youtube. Yeah, I keep myself busy and keep to myself mostly.

#bipolar

#nomorestigma

[abowriterstaiwannwhereelse]

Blue Eyes

By C.J. Anderson-Wu

As she enters her mid-forties, her hair is starting to turn gray, and her vision depends more often on the aid of reading glasses.  She feels herself fitting into Taiwan better now that her American look is fading, and her Taiwanese look is gradually taking over.

One morning on her way to work, she is standing at the subway platform when a woman about her age calls out to her, “Evelyn?”  She stops with a gesture of affirmation, but she doesn’t really recognize the woman.

“I am Yu-Jin, Cheng Yu-Jin. We went to the same elementary school.”

“Oh, yeah. Cheng Yu-Jin. Why are you here?  Do you often take this subway at this time?  Why haven’t we ever met before?”  They quickly exchange information and realize that their offices are quite close to each other, so they decide they should have lunch together sometime.

Evelyn works for a literature publishing house.  Her job is to read fiction written in English and write reports about each book she has read, expressing her opinion as to whether or not they should acquire the copyright and publish its Chinese version in Taiwan. In recent years, as the readership in China has quickly expanded, their copyright negotiations with foreign publishers often include the simplified Chinese version for readers in China. Sometimes they work with publishing houses in China, most of them state owned, and other times they compete against them for getting copyright authorization. Evelyn’s judgement of marketable literary works is quite sharp.  Usually the books she picks have satisfying sales, even those works that have been overlooked in the authors’ own societies. That’s probably because Evelyn made up stories, too. Evelyn wishes her company could publish more literary works with controversial issues, but the decision-makers don’t want to take their chance in the market.

She gets a call from Cheng Yu-Jin less than a week later, so they meet in a restaurant that provides  lunch with a free cup of coffee. Yu-Jin asks after Evelyn’s mom.

“She is doing really well, totally independent and she knows how to have fun in life.”

Evelyn’s mother has just turned seventy, and she is still running a small general store back in their hometown, Tainan. Friends stop by to chat or to buy things, making the old-fashioned store a community hub as well as a gossip center.  Actually, Evelyn doesn’t think Chen Yu-Jin ever met her mother; however, because of Evelyn’s unusual look and her father’s mysterious identity, she knows her mother must have been a topic of conversation in their school.

Yu-Jin pursues the subject further, “So you still have contact with your dad’s family in the US?”

For a second Evelyn is speechless, but she recovers quickly enough, “Not much. Young generations hardly care about families nowadays.” At the same time she tries hard to recall which version of her story she had made up for Yu-Jin more than  thirty-five years ago.

Yu-Jin looks straight at her eyes, saying in an excited tone, “My daughter is marrying a British man. I can’t help thinking that, in a few years they might have babies with beautiful blue eyes similar to yours.”

Evelyn feels dizzy. Yu-Jin thought her eyes were beautiful? She has no problem with the fact that her daughter is marrying a foreigner?

Evelyn’s father was an American soldier who was stationed in the Tainan Air Force Base during the late 1960s to early 1970s, but she never wanted to admit that she was one of the illegitimate children left behind by the debauchery of white men. When she was young she had imagined her father as a different person, a journalist killed in the Middle East, a photographer lost in a South American jungle, or a priest who had succumbed to illness in Southeast Asia.

The situations in the Middle East or South America were too complicated for her to decipher at her young age, so most of the time she stuck with her story of a priest. One time she was given a bible, and thereafter she claimed it was her father’s, saying that it had been brought back from Southeast Asia by her father’s fellow priests after his funeral. She also found herself a cross and told her classmates that her father had worn it to his last days.  Being the daughter of a priest, she had to have been religious, so Evelyn studied the bilingual bible diligently and learned many stories from it.

But there was one thing that did not match her story, and that was her mother. Evelyn’s mom had been the proprietress of the small general store near the market of their township for as long as Evelyn could remember, it was inherited from her grandparents. Everyday she was engaged in making up orders, taking delivered goods, putting them away or displaying them on shelves. She calculated money, negotiated prices with wholesalers, and persuaded customers to buy more than they needed. She shouted at delivery men making mistakes, passed on gossip to entertain customers, and confronted those trying to take advantage of her. Everything she did was absolutely normal, but none of it was like the wife of a priest.

Thus Evelyn never introduced her mother to her classmates.  In fact, she avoided talking about her at all.  Nor did she ever ask her mother about her father.  Everything she knew about him she had overheard from their neighbors, her teachers, and the parents of her classmates.  But there wasn’t much information anyway.

Evelyn had been so afraid to talk about her family, it made each day at school a challenge. When other kids talked about their daddy, mommy, brothers and sisters, she had to apply her wildest imagination to make up what she had, because she had nothing. No father, no sibling, only a mother who she would mention as little as possible, she had to make up some relatives on her father’s side in the US at some point. As young as she was, she knew a person must have a consistent personality, and he or she must not be one hundred percent nice or one hundred percent bad.  There has to be some contradictory nature in a person. From storybooks she found in the school library, she borrowed some characters to be her remote family members.

Evelyn left home as early as she could. She was admitted to a quite prestigious senior high school in Taipei.  Her mother’s neighbors who were also her customers at the general store raised a scholarship for Evelyn to study in Taipei, because she was the first one in their neighborhood to go to such a  top-notch school. In Taipei her foreign look seemed to be more accepted.  Sometimes she was even asked to play a certain role in the school plays. She was glad to realize that among her fellow students, she was not the only one raised by a single parent.

Evelyn majored in English literature in college.  With her look and her major, it was easy for her to work as an English tutor in cram schools, so she was able to support herself throughout her college career. She had several serious relationships, but none of them brought her close to marriage. After college, she worked as a translator or editor for publishing houses.  She began getting involved in the copyright trade when Taiwan’s publishing industry boomed in the 1990s, thanks to the abolishment of Martial Law and  the lifting of censorship.

These days Evelyn goes back to Tainan during holidays.  It’s the city of Taiwanese literature, although she knows American literature better. When she is not in her mother’s store, she hangs around the second-hand bookstores. Old neighbors know her well; they were her education sponsors.  New customers find it odd to see a western face in such out-of-date stores. Tainan people have a particular nostalgia for old things; had her mother’s store been established in another county, it would have been replaced by a 7-Eleven a long time ago.

Evelyn’s meeting with Yu-Jin bothers her. She feels there is something she left behind since her childhood, but she is not clear what it is. She never had intimate conversations with her mother, like talks about her boyfriends or her career planning. But that is totally normal; Taiwanese young people do not necessarily share these things with their parents. But her mother is the only one she has in this world, and vice versa.

In April she goes back to Tainan for spring break. Her first morning home, she goes down to the store from their tiny living quarters on the second floor,  and she stays to see if her mom needs any help. There is not much to do. The store sells cigarettes, beer, cooking wine, ramen, sundries and canned food.  It hardly makes any profit, but it’s a good place for old people to gather and exchange words.

Evelyn’s mom has put on some weight in her later years, but she is still in good shape and handles everything on her own. Looking at her, Evelyn realizes she is actually a very beautiful woman, although as a little girl she thought her mom was vulgar compared to her teachers and the parents of her classmates. But watching her now, Evelyn thinks, what a glamorous old lady she is! Her Chiraya tribal blood gives her a radiant face, and her outfit, the decades-old dark green corduroy dress, is still in fashion today.  She must be good at selecting her clothes and creating her own style. Why hadn’t I ever noticed it before?

When her mom has finished her tasks of opening the store and moving several things to the arcade, she sits down in the chair under the arcade in the sunlight. Evelyn sits down next to her.

“Mom, you never talked about my father.” Evelyn speaks in Taiwanese, a dialect she seldom uses.

Her mother looks at her, surprised, “Why do you ask about him now? You are not trying to track him down, are you?  That only happens on TV shows.”

Evelyn laughs out loud, “No, ha ha, it never occurred to me. I just wonder, what happened?” She explains to her mother that she had run into her childhood friend near her work and her blue eyes were the subject of a compliment.   

“He was a beautiful man.”

“How did you meet?”

“In this store. He came to buy ice cream.”

“What’s his name?”

“Julian.”

Evelyn bursts into laughter, and her mother squints her eyes at her, in doubt.

“He must be a blond, right?”

“How do you know?” Mom’s body twitches slightly.  She is not very used to being questioned about this man who had faded from her life long time ago.

Evelyn does not answer; she has an amused mood now. They had a pet kitty called Julian when she was in elementary school. Julian had very light-colored hair.  At certain times of the day, it really looked golden.

Julian was not exactly their pet: he was just hanging with them, and sometimes taking food they offered.  He was a cat that was so aloof that she sometimes considered him almost knightly.

In some ways, Julian really was her knight. When the parents of Evelyn’s classmates came to collect their children after school, she was often accompanied by Julian only. It was impossible for her mom to leave the store around that time since parents tended to shop for things on their way home with their children. So Evelyn and Julian would walk together and play.  Unlike other cats that chase rats or bugs, Julian never distracted himself with such loathful things. Their relaxed promenade would proceed, like two aristocrats patrolling their territory with pride.  The less-than-ten-minute walk often extended into more than twenty minutes. Neither of them cared, nor did her mom.

When Evelyn left Tainan for senior high school in Taipei, Julian took his departure, according to Mom, without leaving any clue. Julian was someone loving and caring in their life for a significant period of time.  He brought them warm memories, and that was all.

“Julian is a good name. What was his last name?”

“It sounds like Livensten, but I don’t remember how to spell it. You are not going to search him online, are you?”

“Of course not! I just wonder if this guy really existed.”

Her mom pinches her thigh, “Who do you think your flesh and blood are from?”

Evelyn is kind of surprised that her mom doesn’t feel uncomfortable talking about this man.  “I have been fatherless all my life.”

“A lot of kids do well without a father. Actually, I believe a lot of kids do better if they don’t have their father.”

“True.”  But if Mom was so confident with their situation, why didn’t they ever talk more about it before?

“It was an unlucky affair at two levels. First, he had to move back to America when the American military withdrew most of their troops from Taiwan.  This all happened during the time when America decided to recognize China in the United Nations. Second, because Taiwan felt betrayed, there were quite a few anti-US protests everywhere when you were a little girl. You and I were naturally thought to be one of the consequences of American betrayal.”

Evelyn’s mother told her that a church provided her a lot of assistance during that time, and she did need their support because as American troops left, their store business dropped significantly. “Especially the ice cream and ice bars.”

Her mom explained that the economy of the township was badly shaken for it had relied on the activities of those American soldiers. “I could have got more support from the church.  As a branch of the American Baptist Church in Taiwan, they felt obliged to take care of me. But in order to be one of them, I had to admit that what I had done was sinful, because in their minds a woman should never conduct premarital sex and have a child without the sacred vow of marriage.”

Evelyn turns to look at her mother, who continues, “You were an annoying baby, a rebellious young girl, and you became a mystery when you entered adulthood. But you were never a mistake.  

Evelyn feels she is on the verge of tears, but she refrains from crying.  She wants to be as cool as her mother is.

“You were in love with this… Julian?”

“Looking back, I am not sure if we were in love or not. We hung out together a lot, but there were so many differences between us that needed to be resolved before we could work out our relationship.  However, we were wonderful partners in dancing. He taught me modern dance, and I taught him our tribal dance. Julian wanted to be a dancer, but he couldn’t afford to go to art school. He joined the military to save money for his plan to be a professional dancer. Julian was fascinated by Taiwanese indigenous dance.  He even began to study their elements for choreography.“

Her mother went on to explain that dancing together with all that physical contact brought them an overwhelming experience of intimacy, and they became lovers. “If I were an American girl, I would be praised as an independent, free thinker. But as a Taiwanese girl, I had to have been either a slut or a victim. Of course under the increasing resentment toward America throughout Taiwan, it was much easier to play the victim.  When the American president went to China to shake hands with the communist leaders, the withdrawal of the American military victimized our whole town because business declined so badly.  I still regret my victim role, not so much for myself but for the society I lived in, with its blind beliefs in certain virtues. “

Evelyn is so surprised and proud to hear that. She now feels ashamed of herself.  She had been hiding her mother from her teachers and classmates. She had believed that this woman was not elegant enough to be her imagined father’s wife. Pride and shame, the twain of Evelyn’s life.

“But how did you feel when you found out you were pregnant? Didn’t you panic?”

“No. I tell you, daughter, despite the morning sickness, swelling limbs and mental storms caused by hormone changes, the pregnancy was the greatest blessing of my life. Becoming a mother is fun, great fun. It’s not unlike dancing; a lot of things happen at the same time at different speeds.  By no means can you practice or rehearse it, but that’s the power of life, the power of giving life.  Chiraya girls are taken care of by our ancestral spirits; one doesn’t have to be afraid.  Too bad that you were never interested.”

Evelyn is stunned. For all her life she had been so careful not to conceive because she hadn’t wanted to repeat her mother’s mistake. It was true that looking through the eyes of others, she had understood her mother’s having her as a misfortune.  But her mother, this independent, free-thinking and regret-free dancer never considered a father to be a necessary condition for a woman to be a mother.   Evelyn protests, “Now you are telling me it’s fun.  I am almost forty-five!”

“How could I know what was going on with you? Other girls figure it out in their twenties or thirties.  I had no idea what was wrong with you.”

“Were you ever in a relationship again?”

Her Mom shook her head, “Under the kind of anti-American climate that existed in Taiwan, we were the perfect evidence of American evils and were better left untouched. We received sympathy, and kindness was heaped on us, but our status was never to be changed.”

Evelyn remembers that when she was in elementary school, the school had a movement “No American Products,” where every school kid’s household was supposed to stop buying anything from America. Protests were everywhere; people gathered in front of American institutions and smashed the car windows of American negotiators and representatives.  Evelyn was not affected by the boycott at all since her mother could barely afford any American products anyway. Many years later when she and her classmates talked about it in college, she realized how useless the boycott was. The public restrained their desire to buy American food, American cigarettes, American sporting goods, and American appliances, but the entire island still heavily relied on the large machines imported from America for the manufacturing industry and construction. Most of the cars in Taiwan at that time were made in the US; even locally produced vehicles required American parts. Not to mention the chemicals and medicines that Taiwanese industries still were unable to produce. Nevertheless, the collective anger of a frustrated society became a blockage in her mother’s life.

“We are the victims of nothing but false victimhood.” Evelyn says.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

They remain seated in front of the store; the sun is getting too warm now. A young man on a motorcycle stops in front of them, inquiring, “Do you have any Marlboros?”

“No!” The mother and the daughter answer in unison. The young man rides away.

First published by the Anthology of the 14th Conference of Short Stories in English: West and East, Confluence and Influence, July 2016

[sheilacwall]

Kanye West & Numerology as Jesus the King Hits #1

Kanye West & Numerology as Jesus the King Hits #1

Has the album been well received? I’d say a resounding yes. Here are the numbers.

Jesus is King Record Sales

Jesus the King just debuted at #1 in the US, Canadian, Australian, NZ & Norwegian charts whilst entering at #2 in the UK & Irish charts.

Jesus Is King opened at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 264,000 album-equivalent units, of which 109,000 were pure album sales.

The chart-topping position stood as the sixth time that West did so with an album in the 2010s, tying him for second place with fellow rapper Future and Canadian singer Justin Bieber for most number one albums of the decade. The album simultaneously entered atop the US Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums charts.

All 11 of Kanye West’s songs debuted on the latest Hot 100:

Rank, Title

No. 7, “Follow God” No. 17, “Closed on Sunday” No. 19, “Selah” No. 23, “On God” No. 33, “Everything We Need” feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Ant Clemons No. 36, “God Is” No. 37, “Use This Gospel” feat. Clipse & Kenny G No. 44, “Every Hour,” feat. Sunday Service Choir No. 50, “Water,” feat. Ant Clemons No. 59, “Hands On,” feat. Fred Hammond No. 62, “Jesus Is Lord”

West is among the most critically acclaimed musicians of the 21st century and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 140 million records sold worldwide.

He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time and the most Grammy-awarded artist of his generation.

Kanye’s Evolution

Kanye is a year older than me and like me, he had to move to another country as a child due to his parents’ job. For him it was China at age 10 years old as his mother found a teaching job abroad, for me it was the USA at age 9.

It seems like he had a similar problem I had at school with the same outcome.

“China was a time where me and my mom spent the most time together, we spent a year together, and she used to homeschool me. I was in school and I wasn’t doing so good, but it was actually because I was bored and after she homeschooled me I did so good on the tests they put me two grades above in a lot of different courses.”

I read that before Donda West passed away, his mother had recounted tales of a young Kanye break dancing on the streets for yangrouchuan (lamb skewers) for small change.

Mrs. West said that although she found the language difficult, her son found it amusing that the word ma meant both “mother” and “horse” depending on how it was pronounced. “He played that to the hilt,” she recalled in her book.

I remember using the word “rubber” in America, when I’d made a mistake writing something down and the kids laughing. Rubber means “condom” in America and the word you need is “eraser”. I think I played that to the hilt after that as well.

You probably know that Tupac’s parents were Black Panthers. You might be surprised to know that Ray West, Kanye’s dad, was also an ex-Black Panther and is now a Christian counsellor.

So, it is not that surprising that Kanye is following in his father’s footsteps away from his rebellious side to a more Christian role now that he is a father of four. In his interview with Zane Lowe, he says he’s drawing inspiration for a more secular role due to his daughter’s love of the Church.

The Number 27

Jesus is King clocks in at 27 min and 4 secs. Why?

What is the meaning behind number 27?

27 is an interesting number and it is the perfect cube of 3 x 3 x 3. Dark matter is assumed to make up 27% of the universe and also makes up 90% of the brain (grey matter).

27 just happens to be the number of books in the New Testament & there are also 27 Nakṣatra or lunar mansions in Hindu astrology.

Number 27 is the atomic number of cobalt & the atomic weight of the only stable isotope of aluminum. Both forms of these metals are used in dentistry. Kanye had his mouth wired shut after a car accident in 2003 after which he recorded, “Through the Wire”.

27 is also the number of bones in the hand – See “Hands On” below.

From Affinity Numerology:

The numerology number 27 is about philanthropy and compassion in a cooperative atmosphere.

The number 27 is a wonderful number. The energies it represents makes the number kind-hearted, tolerant, intelligent, a team worker, and so very much wanting to see humanity better off than it is.

27 endeavors to inspire others to support humanitarian groups and organizations, using its diplomatic skills and enticing them with a vision of an ideal. The groups and organizations are carefully chosen for their effectiveness.

A sense of fulfillment for 27 comes with others adopting its sense of idealism and actively helping to achieve that end.

The 27 essence contains:

the 9’s essence, such as being non-judgemental, humanitarian, and tolerant, plus a generous dose of the 2’s essence, such as cooperation, relationships, and diplomacy, and a dose of the 7’s essence, such as introspection, study, and spirituality.

The result is a unique essence.

https://affinitynumerology.com/number-meanings/number-27-meaning.php

According to the Secret of the Tarot…

Angel number 27 is a sign from your angels concerning your soul mission or calling in life. Our guardian angels are always there to provide us with the support and inspiration necessary to live up to our highest potential.

Angel number 27 is all about living a purpose-driven life. When you see this potent angel number appearing in your daily life, know that your angels and the Ascended Masters are telling you to have faith and trust that you are on the right path.

https://thesecretofthetarot.com/angel-number-27/

On Finding God

First scare: car crash

Kanye was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, mentioned in the song, Through the Wire, as “the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died,” and had his jaw wired to his face in reconstructive surgery. Two weeks after being admitted to hospital, he recorded the song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut. Consequence recalls West started rapping the lyrics to the song three days after the accident.

The song’s title refers to the wires used to hold his broken jaw together. When asked about how the incident changed his music, West stated:

Well, the only thing this accident’s saying is, “I am about to hand you the world, just know at any given time I can take it away from you.” To nearly lose your life, to nearly lose your mouth, your voice, your whole face, as a rapper…and I had to be on TV! My face looks crazy to me now… But I have to just thank God for the situation that I am in… “Through The Wire” is the worst thing that could’ve possibly happen to me, and now it’s obviously the best thing. Look how it exploded!

Second scare: Trump Backlash

Backlashes over his erratic behaviour, the anniversary of his mum’s death, his wife getting robbed, his comments on slavery & his support of Trump all proved to be too much emotionally and put him in a hospital. No-one knows quite for sure what happened in the hospital, but he has emerged as a born-again Christian.

There are many, many problems with taking the bible literally and Kanye proves another one in the video above when he talks about taking his own eye out.

I googled it & it looks like this is from Matthew 5:29 and concerns “adultery”:

New International Version “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Selah

Selah is likely to mean “to praise” or “pause and reflect upon what has just been said.” Lauryn Hill used this name for her daughter.

“Selah” is the name of a city from the time of David and Solomon.

In Islam and in Arabic generally, Salah (also pronounced Ṣalāt) means prayer, and Selah means connection. Both words come from the same original root Sel which means connect.

‘Ye makes a number of references to the bible when talking about freedom from slavery in Selah.

“Closed on Sunday” makes a good point about Capitalism, but, why is he still brand name dropping a junk food store, Chic Fil-A, a fast food chicken chain?

Did he get paid to sneak this in or is he looking for sponsors?

It’s also a sneaky back reference to a line in “N***as in Paris” when he was in a different mindset. Maybe he is trying to tie a past hit record to this song. A powerful mind trick.

“She said ‘Ye can we get married at the mall? I said look you need to crawl ‘fore you ball Come and meet me in the bathroom stall And show me why you deserve to have it all (Ball so hard) that shit cray, (that shit cray) ain’t it Jay? (Ball so hard) what she order? (What she order?) Fish fillet”

“On God” is where he gets the realest, actually raps and he gives his reasons why he supports Trump… and it comes down to… taxes & prison reform (lines highlighted in bold below).

“”How you get so much favor on your side?” “Accept Him as your Lord and Saviour,” I replied Thou shalt love thy neighbor, not divide I’ma ride, that’s on God His light shine the brightest in the dark Single mothers know they got my heart And all my brothers locked up on the yard You can still be anything you wanna be Went from one in four to one in three Thirteenth amendment, gotta end it, that’s on me He the new commander and the chief That’s on Keef, that’s on God Before the ranch, I had horses in the garage When the Forbes cover was just a mirage They had me chasin’ statues, that’s on pride “Oh my God,” Bust said that’s on Tribe When I thought the Book of Job was a job The Devil had my soul, I can’t lie Life gon’ have some lows and some highs Before the Grammy’s ever gave a nod I wore my heart on my sleeve, I couldn’t hide In ’03, they told me not to drive I bleached my hair for every time I could’ve died But I survived, that’s on God I’ve been tellin’ y’all since ’05 The greatest artist restin’ or alive That’s on L.A. Reid, that’s on Clive That’s no Jive, that’s on God Off the 350s He supplied The IRS want they fifty plus our tithe Man, that’s over half of the pie I felt dry, that’s on God That’s why I charge the prices that I charge I can’t be out here dancin’ with the stars No, I cannot let my family starve I go hard, that’s on God”

“Hands On” is another interesting record.

This is what a police office often yells whilst pulling people over for DWB – “Hands on the hood”!

‘Ye points out the unfairness of black people being thrown into prison over misdemeanors and the three strike rule. Then he calls out the 13th amendment again.

“Got pulled over, see the brights What you doin’ on the street at night? Wonder if they’re gonna read your rights Thirteenth Amendment, three strikes Made a left when I should’ve made a right Told God last time on life Told the devil that I’m going on a strike Told the devil when I see him, on sight I’ve been working for you my whole life Told the devil that I’m going on a strike I’ve been working for you my whole life Nothing worse than a hypocrite Change, he ain’t really different He ain’t even try to get permission Ask for advice and they dissed him Said I’m finna do a gospel album What have you been hearin’ from the Christians? They’ll be the first one to judge me Make it feel like nobody love me They’ll be the first one to judge me Feelin’ like nobody love me Told people God was my mission What have you been hearin’ from the Christians? They’ll be the first one to judge me Make it feel like nobody love me Make you feel alone in the dark and you’ll never see the light Man, you’re never seein’ home and you never see the domes I can feel it when I write, point of livin’ in the right If they only see the wrongs, never listen to the songs Just to listen is a fight, but you booked me for the fight It’s so hard to get along if they only see the slight From the love of religion What have you been hearin’ from the Christians? They’ll be the first one to judge me Make it seem like nobody love me I’m not tryna lead you to Visas But if I try to lead you to Jesus We get called halfway believers Only halfway read Ephesians Only if they knew what I knew, uh I was never new ’til I knew of True and living God, Yeshua The true and living God (Somebody pray for me)”

The 13th Amendment

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Some prisoners in eight states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas—are not paid at all for their labor in government-run facilities.

The national average for inmates receiving the least compensation for their maintenance work in these prisons is 14 cents per hour, according to the non-profit Prison Policy Initiative. The countrywide average for those receiving the most for the same type of labor is 63 cents per hour. Inmates in Minnesota and New Jersey can receive the highest hourly rate for prison maintenance jobs: $2 per hour.

Note: Kanye wants prison labourers to make his shoes. It will be interesting to see what he will pay them.

Anyway, back to the music. Kanye employs Jewish saxophonist Kenny G on “Use This Gospel”, but fortunately for Kenny, there is no mention of Jesus on the track. I wonder how much flack Kenny G will get from the Jewish fundamentalists for appearing on the track?

It’s seems to me like Kanye wants to sit back and be a director, producer and preacher now whilst letting someone else take over with the rapping and singing.

I think being a rapper was getting in the way of his “mission”. Creating a church will increase his power and wealth to get done what he wants to get done… whatever that is.

I can imagine youtube being flooded over the coming years with covers such as this. He wants his music received by a much larger audience and after watching the Dame Dash interview with Adam22, it looks like this might have all been orchestrated for a long time.

Let’s see if he continues down this path and where it leads or whether he’s still “on strike with the Devil” and will be back to his old self. It seems to me at the moment, his biggest hurdle will be getting his wife on board with this new lifestyle.

I can think of a few places Kanye will be welcome with open arms right now though, such as The Philippines.

I feel like this album is a stocking filler for later albums. He’s just testing the water to see which ones connect with the public. I’m not sure the songs on this album are strong enough to stand the test of time, but I think this is just a warm up, plus it will get major airplay in the “Bible Belt”, especially “Use This Gospel”.

The post Kanye West & Numerology as Jesus the King Hits #1 appeared first on Hip Hop World Music.

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[didsbumeare-blog]

Dating someone unequally yoked

Equally Yoked I have a friend who has a 4 year old who knows so much and already has a testimony.  I am weak when it comes to him.  I want that for my little girl.  The key is to weed out these men before you get invested.  That you cannot work your way around and would put you on two different playing field altogether hence being unequally yoked.  More often than not, it is the believer who finds himself pressured to leave his Christian principles behind for the sake of profit and the growth of the business.  Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? The problem that I have is that, since then, I haven't seriously dated anyone and no matter what i do I cant stop thinking about him.

Is it Okay for a Christian to Marry a Non Christian? What is Unequally Yoked? When we did finally talk again my bf had done research from you and your husband I believe! He needs to learn Christ by himself— over there.  They do not value the same things.  Before you know it as Heather stated in her post your quit and gentle spirit — 1 Peter 3:4 — will have drawn them to salvation… He promises to strengthen you where you are weak, so pray to Him and no one else! Therefore, those of us in Christ cannot be in a harmonious, God-pleasing relationship with an unbeliever.  I know what I have to do but how do I go about telling the father of my child that I no longer what him to sleep over my house, have sex, etc? Just or the picture below to get it.  My hiccup has always been a man.

10 Ways to Live In an Unequally Yoked Marriage God has always cared about the unions His people make — as evidenced by His relationship with Israel.  God has the power to change someone, and we should never give up on praying for those we care about.  And they will be My people, and I will be their God.  Matthew 19:4-6 A dedicated, baptized Christian wisely does not seek a marriage mate among those who are unbelievers, since the values, goals, and beliefs of unbelievers are so different from those of a true Christian.  However, He was weak following the desires of his flesh with another no-christian woman.  And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.  They may not accept or understand your walk with God and criticize you for it.

15 Important Bible Verses About Being Unequally Yoked She broke up with Joseph and left for college in tears.  I try to live each moment in respect to our heavenly Father, and I hope to grow in His ways so I can influence others to do the same.  I'm really happy about being single in this season because as I was reading this, I didn't feel convicted.  Here Paul uses it to refer to Satan.  Likewise, the joining of a Christian and a non-Christian joins Christ to an unbeliever.

15 Important Bible Verses About Being Unequally Yoked Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? Don't confuse differences in your spiritual maturity with differences in your religious beliefs.  Man leaves his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife.  However they rationalized it, the Israelites formed covenants between themselves and people who neither knew nor served God.  Have you signed up for Pinky Promise? If I am dating with the purpose to marry then why would I date an unsaved person? I knew it was a source of great pain and unhappiness for him.  Then on your date he wines and dines you, tells you how much he loves God, and is looking for a future wife.

Equally Yoked No matter where he wants to take his wife, Jesus will always be with her, because Christ is in her heart! On the other side of the coin show interest in the things that make up the person.  He lets me teach her what I want, as long as he has the same opportunity, which scares me.  God draws them by His Spirit — we plant seeds and wait for another to water and God to bring forth the increase.  Well, I got news for a man like that…Jesus will still be in Texas, New York, West Virginia, etc.  So why is marriage just as difficult for Christians as it is for unbelievers? She was was idol in my life and I didn't know it because I was a baby in Christ and I depended so much on her.  For example, in the situation I just mentioned instead of being Debbie Downer and sucking the life out of him with all of her problems, she could at least have brought a positive attitude to the table, be someone he wanted to be around, or show him a side of herself worth getting to know instead of coming to a date with her hand out.  Since our relationship ended, I've only heard from him once or twice.

Unequally Yoked? Meaning, Scriptures and Lesson November 11, 2012 at 8:23 pm Thank you thank you thank you Heather.  I have no idea how any Christian can live without the Holy Spirit when Jesus Himself sent him to all those who believe.  Proverbs 6:28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? Digging a little deeper… the spender has major debt, not to mention their credit score is in the dumps.  As a woman if you have it going on, then why would you go with a loser who is not doing anything with himself? The father of my child is not a Christian.  When you fight the correction, you hurt yourself and can ultimately break free from the yoke.

Equally Yoked I get the same relationship questions from people I talk to at one of my book signings at a night club in Atlanta as I do at singles ministry at a church in Dallas.  If one person goes to church and the other person does not go to church can they still be equally yoked? Instead, we are not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the power of God.  I have been given the opportunity to travel around the world teach at conferences, seminars and have helped organizations understand and grow in areas such as spiritual development, purpose and destiny, family and relationship dynamics, leadership formation and emotional well being.  So when the arguments ensue, you could come back to asking him questions in a humble manner.  This post and the media study have made me realize I need to focus on seeking and serving God.  I'm so thankful that God led you to my blog! I use to be so much closer to the Lord some years back.

Unequally Yoked and the Christian singles dating perspective. November 12, 2012 at 1:19 am Hey love.  Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.  One of my favorite verses regarding a difficult person is this one… If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.  We were planning on going on a vacation together, and right before then, he had gone on a vacation with his parents.  I haven't been to church since my break up.  Being married does not mean that you are equally yoked.

[reviewape-blog]

Politics in the Church of God Prevents Progress

https://www.reviewape.com/?p=15841 Politics in the Church of God Prevents Progress - Many Sabbath-keeping Church of God members (various groups and organizations associated to one degree or another with Herbert W. Armstrong) are sincerely opposed to offering any Church of God literature or religious material for sale, since Herbert Armstrong taught us to “buy the truth and sell it not.” However, such Church of God members should remember that Mr. Armstrong later permitted his books to be made available for sale in bookstores, informing the brethren and co-workers in a letter dated September 12, 1985: “There is a very large audience which would never request this book [Mystery of the Ages] if offered free – who would never send their name and address to us – but would gladly buy a copy in the bookstore. By putting it in the bookstores we will reach a very great audience that we can reach in no other way. We will not sell the book ourselves, but it cannot be made available to this large audience of book buyers unless the bookstores do put a price on it.” (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Volume 2, page 638). Some have been upset that Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall is sold. I remind them of Herbert Armstrong’s words above and Paul’s rhetorical response to some in his day over this principle that we’re commanded to not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain and that a worker is worthy of his hire. Besides, Beyond Babylon is available to for FREE or read online for FREE. God knows I am certainly not in this for the money, but gladly share the plain truth of the Bible and history as I am able, knowing it is truly priceless information. I am also an individual, not a Church organization receiving regular tithes and offerings who therefore have no need to sell anything, as they’re equipped to offer it all, ideally, for free. I don’t believe any Church of God organization should sell Church of God literature. However, those out in the field, not part of the administration or headquarters, have a God-given right to do as necessary. Yeshua didn’t condemn selling sacrificial animals but was righteously indignant that such commercial activities were taking place in the Temple courtyards and at exorbitant prices. Many were making a killing rather than offering a service. A member of the Philadelphia Church of God recently corresponded with me on this and other Church of God issues. Didn’t you try and impose your book on God’s ministers and church? Not at all. Gerald Flurry refused to go forward with Beyond Babylon and fell backwards, treading old ground and is now going in circles, business as usual, as Europe rises and Judah and Israel have yet to be warned. Maybe you should have waited until the time came. Don’t you believe God goes first to His Church and then His Nation? It was time to bring Beyond Babylon before Flurry, whom I consider to be the leader of this Laodicean era of God’s Church. Do you think you are one of the 2 witnesses? God knows, but what I do know is that we ought to at least prepare the way for them with Judah and NONE of the Church of God groups reach the cities of Judah. That would be a honor to be one. I’ve often prayed about them and in my silliness wished I could be one of them. It would be an honor and a grave responsibility and the most hated job in the world since rejection would be by many in the Church, initially, and nearly all in the world, with a bloody ending until the resurrection to physical life just before the return of the King, Yeshua the Messiah. No nice dinners or fancy invitations for the Two Witnesses but plenty of murderous misunderstanding and hateful grief. But I’m just a lay member….. No such thing as “just” a lay member. Everybody has their God-given place in the Church of God and are equally important for whatever God has called them to do. Seems to me you focus too much on the physical Jews. Not at all. Herbert Armstrong always told us to “WATCH JERUSALEM!” Who’s in Jerusalem? JEWS! The gospel began and will return there. God’s true church is not there now although “Elijah” went there. This must change. Mr. Armstrong, near the time of his death, said on one of his sermons or Bible studies that they are not so important as he once thought since they don’t even believe in Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that at all and don’t believe he ever said it. I quote what we know for sure Herbert Armstrong said about the importance of reaching the cities of Judah. It’s documented. Shamefully, it’s something that hasn’t been done yet but the foundation has been laid, even though the Work in Israel is temporarily suspended by government decree as it was in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Mr. Flurry never read your book right? I don’t know. Wayne Turgeon [Gerald Flurry’s son-in-law] handed him a print out of it years ago and he returned it to him saying, “He’s always sending us stuff.” Mr. Flurry even responded to me several times on various issues including his confusion of Mount Carmel with Mount Hermon which I brought to his attention (having been blessed to live next to both of them), and my disagreement with him when he said the pope was the only religious leader to sit on a throne and I mentioned the Queen of England is also head of the Anglican Church (although agreeing with the point he was making against the Roman Catholic Cult). I would love to find those letters, however during my many moves overseas to Israel I thought I kept them stored at my sister’s home but she can’t find them. Such letters also include correspondence from Dr. Herman Hoeh years ago about the Jews and their variations in color and why. I met Dr. Hoeh at the Toronto Singles’ Weekend (Church of God singles from all over were in attendance) where he spoke and invited us to write him, which of course I did. Later I sent an autographed copy of a self-published BB (Beyond Babylon) to Flurry’s home for him and his wife who said to me (during the Feast of Tabernacles in Louisville) about my name, “What a strong Judah name!” Dennis Leap said he read parts of it and that it wasn’t necessary for him or Flurry to read it, unlike Mr. Armstrong wanting Sardis (Church of God, Seventh Day) to read his manuscript – The United States and Britain in Prophecy – which they DID. Well, I hear you loud and clear. I do not agree with some of headquarter’s decisions but they are just as human as we are and liable to make mistakes, including Mr. Flurry. Sometimes we just have to suffer the wrong and go on. I readily accept and acknowledge that fact, but if it’s a mistake or a sin we learn from it, acknowledge it and go forward all the wiser. Flurry has done none of those humble things. Regardless, I go on without him as he goes backwards trying to play HWA and God in the Temple, grieved to say. David, I hope and pray for your return to PCG… Mr. Flurry has engaged in personal appearance campaigns and he plans to go to Joseph and Judah this coming year I think. The Key of David will no longer air on TV and we are now focusing on personal warnings. Remember we are baptized into the Body of Jesus Christ – not into any sect or denomination of men. I remain a member of the spiritual Church of God that isn’t bound by membership lists at the mercy of men. Remember Diotrephes? (3 John vs. 9-11). What do you mean they’ve scrapped the TV programs (even though I always constructively criticized them -through Wayne Turgeon who used to write me very frequently – that nobody but a very limited religious audience would watch the programs at the hours they were shown). As Turgeon can testify, I also said they needed a toll free number (which years later they obtained); I said they needed a website with Church literature (which years later they have); they need to publish Beyond Babylon freely (which they still don’t) and to take out major newspaper ads like HWA to reach EVERYBODY and get EVERYBODY talking about our God-given controversial message. We do really need better advertisement. Yes, because I’ve conducted my own tests and surveys on many internet forums to see that the general public doesn’t have a clue who Flurry is, never heard of the PCG and doesn’t know the warning message at all. All that money for what? A private club? Too bad you only see what you think is bad but God has to get his family ready first to marry his Son before He can deal properly with the world. And how does God do that? Have us stare at our Church navel – Church headquarters as the center of our attention? – or by the way of give, outflowing concern for the good and welfare of OTHERS – like the cities of Judah. Otherwise folks will never feel ready to reach out and will have proven themselves deceived by Satan who doesn’t want the Work to GO FORWARD. As we reach out, so help us God, He will work in and through and for us at the same time. I know everything that is good about the PCG and continue to direct folks to its literature and The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine despite their refusal to send it to me. They even know I’ve given them contacts in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, Jewish leaders, and that it was me whom God used to contact the mayor of Jerusalem to get the HWA monument repaired (in the Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem), and then I forwarded the information to Flurry (who didn’t even say thank you and wasn’t even aware of its woeful neglect that I knew about from being over there so many times). I’ll bet you didn’t know that, did you? I had written an open letter to the mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, that was published in The Jerusalem Post. His office contacted me to inquire about what groups or organizations I was referring to that would be interested in undertaking the financial responsibility for the monument’s restoration and the rest is history. Politics - ReviewApe - https://www.reviewape.com/?p=15841

[automatismoateo]

Dear Christian mom that has abandoned me... via /r/atheism

Submitted November 01, 2018 at 03:44AM by rlee2718 (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2qnsXd0) Dear Christian mom that has abandoned me...

Mama, ​I feel horrible about the decision to not allow you to see my son in Florida. I assume that it must feel as though I am discriminating against you for your Christian beliefs. I assure you that this is far from the truth. I asked you many times that when you see him that you and Lee do not talk about religion or about Harry Potter with him. This is a request from me as his father, not me as your son. Unfortunately this request was met with a lot of resistance from you because you felt that I was limiting your freedom of speech. Let me explain to you why I am uncomfortable with the topic of religion and Harry Potter coming from you and Lee. ​When you married Lee I was five, I couldn’t understand English, I was raised in a quiet, safe, and respectful environment with Oma, Opa, and you. I didn’t know yelling or violence. Soon after the wedding we moved out and into a house with Lee. It was there that I learned English through Dumbo, Pete’s Dragon, and Herbie. Soon after we moved in together the yelling started, things were thrown around, and pictures of my biological father and his family were burned in the Kitchen sink. Although confusing and scary, the worst was yet to come. I woke up late at night to screams that made me think you were being killed. I ran into the living room, Lee had you on your back, sitting on your stomach, holding your body down with his legs, and hitting you over and over again in the face. I yelled at him to stop, he wouldn’t. I said I would call the Polizei, he got up, pushed me to the phone, handed me the phone and told me to call them. He yelled at me over and over to do it. I couldn’t, I was too scared, I didn’t know the number, and for years, to this very day, I am in pain for having gone back to my room. This abuse didn’t end that day; as we both know, it lasted until he went to Korea. ​After you left him, he came back promising you that he would never hit you again. Not sure if this promise was ever broken, but I did not see it first hand after that. The verbal and physical abuse toward me did not end however. A prime example was when I embarrassed him in front of his co-workers where he slammed my head onto a basketball court and rubbed my face across the asphalt. It is true, I only had scratches, and I did embarrass him by saying “old man, you want to go?” Something I said to show my friends how cool he is when we wrestle. ​As you surely remember, soon after this event we moved to Arkansas, a hard move for me because I was a skater, and where we were going there were no skate parks. This is when our lives changed forever. When GX Jam, an evangelical Christian skate and dance team under the umbrella of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) came to town, I had the great idea to ask them if I could skate on their ramps before the show. This would be the first time I could express myself as a skater since living in America again. I must say, when I asked the question, I was stoked that they said yes. They also asked me if I knew Jesus, and they even offered up their testimony to me. A lot of the members did this. I thought it was cool, I assumed they were high. I didn’t understand what GX Jam was, I only knew they skated. Since many skaters abused drugs, I falsely thought that they were using them and telling me about their fake friend in the sky. ​That day I skated so well that they asked me to skate in the show. That night before the show started they held a prayer meeting, they asked me to join, circled me with love, placed their hands on me and started to pray. I felt this warmth, this love, this community that I had never experienced before. When I started to cry, they told me that the Holy Spirit came down to me, and if I say that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, that I would be saved and would spend eternity in Heaven with him. I was ecstatic, all my problems were temporary in this world, and he was using me to skate my ass off in order to be the example kids needed, and a messenger for the Lord. After the show they asked me to follow them for the rest of the U.S. tour and to eventually follow them to Australia. ​During the same period, you and Lee were saved. Praise the lord I thought. What a change I saw in you two. You both stopped your smoking habit, you prayed before every meal and even volunteered to feed the poor. Both of you really studied the bible and shared your views with me. You invited me to your church, both of you proselytized both in person and online. You took hard stances against behaviors that the bible does not condone. You even taught me that a democrat can’t be a Christian because they believe in abortion. I really ran with that line of thinking. I argued with people about their morals and beliefs. When questioned, I could never give a real answer, I would just default to the bible. I really wanted to believe, I had blind faith that I am not cognitively capable of seeing the lords gifts and power in my own life. This led to me making some very ridiculous claims to friends and family. During one group prayer session someone mentioned that god turned tooth fillings into gold to show his might. We prayed for him to honor us in the same way. I was convinced that I had gold fillings. I told all of our German family about my new gold fillings. As any rational skeptic would ask, they wanted to see my teeth. They told me that they are silver, and I told them that they are wrong. I was on fire for the lord. ​When I was older and in the Air Force, I started to associate myself with the diverse members of my profession. This led to me drinking and having copious amounts of pre-marital sex, not to mention the things that came out of my mouth. When Lee would ask me if I am a Christian, if I ever was a Christian, and if my time with GX Jam was all just a lie in order for me to skate, I felt very hurt. Couldn’t he see that I had just back-slidden a bit? I still believe that Jesus was my savior, I still didn’t think that faggots were moral, I still loved Fox News and hated abortion. I just liked to party, that’s all. ​Soon the second biggest change of my life would happen. I met Amy and she motivated me to start my Ph.D. After enrolling and starting the first few classes I learned about arguments, fallacies, and critical thinking. During this period of cognitive growth I asked Amy to marry me. On the way home from your house we decided to get married in three days. The plan was to be wed by a Justice of the Peace downtown. A lawyer who we would pay 90 dollars to perform the ceremony. However, I felt bad. God was pulling on my heart, I felt this had to be done right. So I called a friend who is a minister and could legally marry us in a church. He agreed to do it only if we attended a few hours of pre-marital counseling first. We attended, I learned more about what it means to be the head of the household, and she learned what it means to be a Christian wife that serves and honors me. It was a great ceremony with just me and four of our friends. A few days later I learned about how a theory works; not sure if you know this, but let me explain. A theory in the scientific sense draws on facts gathered through the scientific method and are consistent with the emerging literature/findings on the subject. When a single piece of information is discovered that goes against a theory, then the theory needs to be thrown out or amended to include this new information. A good example of this comes from our knowledge on how evolution works. If a human was found buried next to a dinosaur in the Grand Canyon, the Theory of Evolution would have to be thrown out. This really caused me to stop and think about Noah’s Ark. Since I was a Bible believing literalist, I could not come to terms with the fact that a Koala Bear swam back to Australia from the Middle East. This caused a major issue with me believing in the bible as the literal word of God. The next step was to determine if the bible is real at all, and if the God I am worshiping even exists. That night I prayed so hard. I asked God that if he is real that he please give me a sign. I apologized for questioning the faith, I pleaded with him to please show me because I have lost it and I don’t want to burn in hell. I prayed so damn hard. I did believe in my brain, but my heart told me I am fucked if I stopped believing. The next morning I woke up an Atheist. I was 100% comfortable with this decision. ​For the next few days I read a lot, watched many videos, listened to a lot of podcasts, and realized that I can never go back to the faith again, knowing what I know now. This was awkward because I just talked my wife into getting married in a church. I couldn’t live a lie, she had to know, and whatever the result of this conversation was, I would have to deal with the consequences. She was relieved because she was playing the Christian game for me in hopes that God would reveal himself to her. Even though I despised the fact that so many people are not living their life on this world, that kids were dying from an attempt to pray them healthy, that so many wars were fought based on these beliefs, that so many people were marginalized due to a book, I respected your beliefs and didn’t tell you. ​I bit my tongue at your house for a few visits when Lee said that his biggest fear in life is that one of his sons may be gay. When he told me that Harry Potter is witchcraft (he said this before I became an Atheist, but strongly disagreed with his reasoning), I bit my tongue during prayers, and I even stood by as he disrespected your views and opinions because you are a woman. I did challenge the important things such as your decision to not get chemo therapy if your cancer returns, out of your faith that alternative medicine and prayers will either heal you are take you to heaven. I pushed back against your anti-vaccination claims. I even shut my mouth about your views on psychology and psychotropic medications. I laughed internally as the discussion came up again about how Lee couldn’t get promoted because of a Free Mason conspiracy in the Army. I looked at Lee’s social media posts in awe and disgust as I tried to rationalize a loving Christian spending the day online to belittle and offend every person that does not agree with his world view. The most amusing of which being his opinion of Ken Ham having won a debate against Bill Nye, not a scientist by the way, by simply repeating that the answers are in the bible, and using fallacy after fallacy to support his stance. ​Critical thinking is not part of your household. That’s okay, it is a learned skill that many have not mastered. Therefore, I tried to have intellectual conversations with you two where I point out the reasons for why I believe what I do on various non-religious subjects. This was also the case when we were all sitting around the patio table enjoying great conversation. When Lee asked me if I know what a strawman fallacy was, I honestly and confidently answered “Yes”. To impress him, I even gave my definition. I told him that it is a response to someone else’s statement, reworded in a slightly different manner in order to give a counter point using his own verbiage about what was said. He told me that I was wrong and that a strawman is a lie. I politely disagreed and said that many people who create a strawman do so by accident, and that this alone does not make them a liar. He again disagreed, at which point I pulled up the first two definitions on Google for a strawman, to which he still told me that those definitions are wrong. Then he went on a rant and created his own strawman. As a real-time example, I chose to tell him that he just created a strawman. Before being able to elaborate, he pushed the table into my stomach, and onto my wife, spilled the drinks, put his finger in my face and said, “don’t call me a fucking liar”. To this I angrily replied, “I did not call you a FUCKING liar”. Then he said, “don’t cuss at me boy”. I got up to pack my belongings, as I walked by him I said “Fuck You”. He followed me into the house, from behind he hit me in the head hard enough to leave a knot and knock my glasses to the floor. I turned around and broke my hand on his face. I didn’t hit him a second time as he laid on the floor in fear. I told him that this was the last time he ever lays a hand on me, I told you that you can live with me if you need safety. ​The next day you returned my glasses, asked me if I lost my mind. Told me that I could have really hurt him. You then drove off. Soon you would learn that I am an Atheist from social media postings. What really hurt me is that you took his side and stopped talking to me for the most part. When Ivan, my stepbrother died of cancer, the obituary said that he left behind Lee, You, my other two brothers and no mention of me. It was clear at that point that I was no longer a member of your family. ​It pains me that my son will no longer have the relationship with you that he would have had if I would not have defended myself against Lee and didn’t identify myself as an Atheist. I was happy to hear that you two are going to Florida to see him. Even though I worry about the example Lee sets when he disrespects you in public or around family, I still chose to be okay with this decision. What worried me is my son’s use of prescribed medication, his love for Harry Potter books, and the possibility of you telling him that this is witchcraft. I worried about his cognitive dissonance of hell and Harry Potter. I worried that you would tell him that he doesn’t need the medication he is on. I also worried about you undermining his wishes of becoming a scientist by telling him outlandish claims such as an Ark floating over mountains. All I asked is that you do not mention the bible or Harry Potter, a request that could not be met on your end. ​You literally believe that the bible is true. You know homosexuality is a sin. I raise my boy to respect all people, regardless of their beliefs. You told me that it states in the bible that homosexuality is a sin, and that it would be sinful to not spread the word of god to him. This is an issue. The bible supports slavery, the bible states you should kill a woman who is raped and doesn’t want to marry his rapist. The bible supports genocide, it also supports the killing of witches (a real concern at this point), and the Goat Herders Guide to the Galaxy also pushes a lot of non-science that will only confuse a developing mind. You may say that those examples are crazy and that a raped woman should never marry someone she doesn’t want to. You also don’t believe in slavery, and you won’t kill a witch. But why do you believe this? It is the literal word of the bible. Jesus said that the Old Testament is the word of god, and that “until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or strokes shall pass away from the law, until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). How is it that I can trust your moral reasoning when you take the bible literally? It is for these very reasons that I do not trust you alone with my son when the topic of religion is introduced. ​Finally, I miss the views I had of you as a loving Christian family. As the people I can always come to when life gets hard. It pains me that you chose to not enjoy life with me on this Earth because you have to choose between me and you husband. It kills me that we won’t be in heaven together at all, more specifically that neither of us will live a life other than the one we have today. I am okay with your beliefs, I will hold your hand to pray if you choose to. I just want my mom. I just want to experience the rest of your days as your loving son, sharing memories and planning the future. I want my son to know you. I want him to become the man he wants to be based on his actions and beliefs, not based on a fear of eternal hell. As for Lee, he lied to you when he said I spit on him. Take that for what it is worth. I am sure that he is not a liar, he is too religious for that. However, his recollection, and his views on the world are flawed. As a Humanist, I am more than willing to bury the hatchet and to listen to his views on things, and hopefully an apology. Family is more important to me than any world view. If at any point your family becomes too violent, I am always here for you no matter how long you stay gone. I will always love you, and I will always have pain when thinking about the abuse you endured and the abuse that you may still be dealing with. In Love,

Ron

[severelymassivenerd-blog]

What's Your Story? How To Produce and Switch Your Organization Story Into Revenue

Allow me request you... What is actually your tale? I indicate... Do you and your enterprise have a tale? How did you get to the place you are and why did you generate the business you have? We get so utilised to all the "guru's" and others preaching to us that no one particular cares about you and only is fascinated in on their own. This can be correct to a position. We are going to get to getting triggers and selling your advantages like a professional later, but for now... Let's dive into making your tale. Here is some thing I located exciting and you may possibly as well... I was looking at Google analytics on one particular of my web sites (basically page views, what individuals appeared at and how prolonged they were on my website). It turns out the web page that was my story was visited by in excess of 70% of new guests to my internet site. Guess how a lot of per cent of new guests entered my testimonial web page? Only A Small Over fifty%. This implies that far more folks desired to discover about me as opposed to benefits I produced for customers. Now results and evidence all issue. But the position is... Your Story Can Be Really Effective. If failed to believe your tale issues or not sure how to develop or categorical your tale, then you are in luck. Why? Due to the fact I am going to give you some fast tips so you can get started creating your story and permitting men and women know about your tale. But very first... Want to know something you can insert to your e-mails, sales letters or any other sales information and triggers far more individuals to read through your information? Something that can hold your prospect relocating from a single sentence to the next-in a smooth interrupted fashion. What is it? Utilizing the exact same issue we're talking about. If you haven't uncovered this or tried employing stories for by yourself, then you're in for a take care of correct now. Using a tale or stories in your messages can be a excellent way to attract people into your concept. heroes charge hack 2015 download Plus... A very good story can very easily do the selling for you as properly. You will find also an really easy and simple way to enhance the odds of someone studying way a lot more of your information and story as effectively. I'll get to that in a moment, but first let's chat about why tales are great for promoting or speaking about your merchandise, support and or organization. Stories can be employed to promote goods or even tips. Stories can be utilized to entertain or even teach. Here is a perfect illustration of this... Guess what the most famous book in the world is? The Bible. It's full of stories. Some of the most effective and popular advertisements of all time associated stories. A copywriter by the identify of John Caples wrote what most get in touch with the "twentieth century most successful mail buy advert". The headline was... "They laughed when I sat down at the piano But when I began to enjoy... " There is a part of you that needs to see the underdog get. This headline hooks you emotionally. You want to know what transpires and does he freak out or win more than the bullies. Does he truly play great or tumble flat on his encounter? In this advertisement, they could of just talked about audio classes, but the tale places a twist on yet another music item. In other phrases, you dive into the story which is actually the advertisement. The story does the large lifting and selling for you. As a make a difference of truth... Folks constantly really like very good tales. From the time we had been youngsters, we listened to and liked tales. Even as adults, you are at a household occasion or get together and you happen to be drawn into a insane or intriguing story. Probably your buddy referred to as you and informed you the funniest or most fascinating story you have listened to all day? Probably your partner or wife just advised you the "horror story" from work or a crazy incident involving their friend and the most current gossip? The level is... Stories can not only get people involved in your revenue information much more, but also... Stories do the "heavy lifting" of your revenue information or objective like we spoke about. Absolutely everyone loves a good story and if you can mix your tale with some entertainment and price, then you have a winning mix. Oh by the way, you probably wished to know what I mentioned a tiny while ago-you know when I explained there was one particular easy way to have individuals read more of your information and or story. That 1 way is via... Cliff Hangers or Teasers. Like when I explained "I am going to get to that in a minute". Cliff Hangers can be potent in messages. Just consider about your favourite tv present, maybe had been genuinely acquiring into it and then below comes the industrial or the stop. You cannot cease viewing it now, you need to know how it turns out. The information is infamous for this. You know the outdated... "There's something in your house proper now that could be harming your loved ones, but 1st let's go to Mr. X for the temperature" or... "We'll talk about that harmful point tonight at 10!" Why would not they just inform you now? Simply because they want you to occur back again or to stay tuned. Teasers or cliff hangers can be powerful and explosive when merged with stories and or messages. If nevertheless not certain if you can come up with your revenue message story, then this rapid tip under could make your following tale so considerably simpler to produce and create. A while again I read a fall lifeless basic method for coming up with a story. Want to hear it? O.K. given that you stated of course. In a fantastic book by the identify of Pitch Something... the writer talks about this formulation and it go's one thing like this... Set a Male In The Jungle. Have Lions Assault The Gentleman. Does He Survive and If So, How? It really is not just like that, but that is it in a nutshell rather considerably. I know you could be contemplating that's way as well basic. But think about any very good tale or even film you have seen. It all follows the very same method. Let me set it one more way for you actual swift... Character is place into an intensive situation. Some drama or action requires area. The character is defeated or most probably-overcomes the knowledge and you see this all unfold prior to your eyes. Which is it.

[virtualcrasis]

5 Free Productivity Tools

So if you're just starting out doing freelance work and don't have a system yet, or you have a system and it doesn't work very well for you, take a look at these 5 tools that will help you be more productive, save time and manage your projects more easily.

Also for the record, I'm not getting sponsored by anyone to share these tools, this is purely to help you be more productive, and also to market myself by providing helpful information to you. =) (Now that’s what I call being transparent!)

I will be covering just the gist of what these tools are, and some of the things I really enjoyed about them, but don't just take my word for it, do some more digging for yourselves and play around with them to see if they suite you and your needs.

I've listed my favorite ones last so stick around if you want to see the best ones. Atleast in my opinion, you may find you have a better use for some, more than others.

MightyText

This first productivity tool syncs your smart phone messages and app notifications to your desktop. You can even set your device on the charger in another room and if you get a call, text message or an app notification (optional), you will see them pop up in the corner of your desktop screen. That way you're not playing with your phone, but are updated as needed and can choose to leave it for later, or respond immediately from you computer and get back to work!

Now you may have noticed, if you are a Windows 10 user, that the new OS has phone integration as well, so you can receive text messages to your computer and respond. That's all fine and well, however if you don't respond within the dialog box or the Action Center, you can't get back to your conversations except by looking at your phone. That's where MightyText continues to be helpful. I leave it run in minimized form until I need it, and it allows you to use the windows notifications box in place of their own.

There are a few pitfalls with it, but if you are so inclined, you can sign up for the premium version and that takes care of those issues. The main issue I've had is not having all of my contacts synced so I can't make quick new messages from my laptop. I have to first look up the contact on my phone or in Outlook to confirm the correct number to the corresponding contact, but as I mentioned before the premium version takes care of that problem because it allows for multiple contact platforms to be synced.

Toggl

What I will be discussing is the free version of Toggl, not the premium. The free version offers you the basics and will get the job done, but there's more for those who want to get all they can out of it, including Toggl business that I have not researched myself.

I use Toggl's desktop app on Windows 10 and the online reporting tools to keep track of my weekly and hourly work completion. I also use the Toggl Android app, to keep track of tasks that I do outside of the office, like reading emails while waiting for my wife in the car or working from somewhere that my laptop isn't handy. This helps me stay focused and know where I need to improve if I'm slacking off. I only track my working hours, but you can track whatever you choose. In the image below you can see an example of the desktop app.

As you can see you can add tags to your entries by clicking on the entry and opening the side panel. You can also edit your entries and open up the reports page on the website where you can do a lot more, like research how long you spend on a weekly basis reading your emails or doing social media marketing. You can see an example of this in the image below.

Lastly, I would like to add that it will send you a weekly report in your email showing you where and for how long you worked on certain entries throughout the week. It's a very helpful tool, especially if you're charging by the hour for work for different clients or with a team of colleagues.

The last few images I will show you are of the mobile app, it's very helpful on the go, although sometimes it has sync errors unfortunately.

Invision App

This tool is more aimed at creatives and designers. It is an online tool that one can use to create prototypes and moodboards. It also has some other features that you can play with for yourself, I'm still learning it as I'm writing about it, but the more I use it, the more helpful I find it. If you want to go even further there is a premium service you can look into as well.

One of the things I noticed very early in my exploration is the ability to make interactive prototypes. If you have a free account and are logged in open the prototypes tab and click on the pre-made prototype titled "Web App Prototype". You will notice that within each "project" there can be multiple project cards. For this project each one of the cards are a different page to the web app. Now if you click and enter the first one on the left you will see what looks like a social media site. Remember this is just a prototype of the final version of a web app, but if you hover over the profile image on the top right hand side, a drop down will appear, additionally if you click any of the menu items there, you will be redirected to the other cards that match it's description. So you will still have to design elements in Photoshop or another application, but you can see the functionality in the InVision app, before you do a lick of coding. Pretty cool right?

Basically InVision will help get your projects organized in a presentable way to showcase to your clients or your team. On that note, it's very social, and allows for live previews to those you share to. It allows the ability to collaborate with others through comments, something they call "hotspots", where specific elements of a design can basically be highlighted and commented on and the option to designate whether a board is "On Hold", "In Progress" "Needs Review" or if a board layout has been "Approved", which seems like a very useful feature. There is also the ability to view the history of a board if you so choose, and see all the different versions of a design from start to approval.

Let's talk a little bit about InVision "Boards". I use these most frequently of the boards and prototypes options, as I like to use these to get the mood and overall feel of a project together in one area. If you are working as a team this is also a great place to share and save resources for the future, like color schemes, source imagery, typeface selection, written documents and body copy written for your project. There are so many uses for these, but you will find that out as you play with it.

My biggest complaint about the InVision tool is that when you are working with lots of images, like one might when using the moodboards, the load time can be tediously slow. If you use lower res images that should help. Really it's the Internet's fault. Sorry Internet, we still love you!

The last helpful thing about InVision, is the InVision Blog. It always has great articles that are relevant to an aspiring designer that are not just helpful or insightful, but also help you to feel that you aren't alone and that other designers and creatives struggle with the same things you struggle with. Check it out if you have a chance!

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media dashboard. Instead of posting the same article multiple times on different sites, you can link them all together and post from one place. The free version will work well for most users, but if you have a ton of social media accounts or clients you work for, it will be more beneficial to upgrade to the business platform as you are limited to a set amount of accounts that you can link. Here's the plans if you're interested!

You can also check all of your feeds in one place, see your stats, make reports about your posting success and even schedule when you want to make your posts go out. For instance if you want to share a holiday post, but won't be in the office on the day you want it to go out, then just make one early and send it out at the perfect time on the special day, that way you can still enjoy it without feeling guilty about not posting something on such a crucial date for people checking their feeds!

Evernote

I use Evernote everyday, I only wish I had started using it earlier that's why it's my favorite and final tool I wanted to share with you! In fact I'm using it to make this post's content!

I'm using it type out the words to this post in a note within a notebook titled "Virtual Crasis Blog" and I'm collecting images inside of this note as well, that I've screen shot from my browser! (See Below)

Talk about trippy 4th dimensional stuff right? Haha WRONG! It's real!

The best part is that it syncs across all of your devices, so your main workstation, to your phone, to your tablet and to anywhere you can access the Internet if you don't have your own device, just use the web application.

I use it for multiple things in my daily life. For instances, anytime I need to make a personal note I can tell my Android smartphone using Google Voice to "Note to Self" and it will ask me for the details and then save it to my Evernote. I can even make reminders that will be emailed to me when they are due.

I use Evernote for everything, from taking notes in my bible study, to keeping my daily goals and task list, to editing snippets of code and sharing it with my "work chat" colleagues who share notebooks with me! All that, and I can even remind myself that I need to check out a cool band later and get some more milk from the store! It is the single most valuable tool I use on a daily basis.

I currently am using the Plus package, which will run you $35 a year and it's totally worth it! You can also use the Free version which is ideal for testing out the features and learning how awesome it is, and then getting you hooked! They may even have a free trial for the other packages if you are a new user.

It works on Mac, it works on Windows, it works on Android and it works on everything, as far as I can tell or have seen.

In addition, Windows 10 store has the app which will make the program work more intuitively with your OS, however there are a few bugs yet, so I am still using the downloaded version from the Evernote site.

I'd also like to say again, I'm not being paid to say any of this, these are all tools I've found helpful on my journey of freelancing and being self employed, hope that you can get as much enjoyment out of them as I do!

As always, God bless and thanks for following the Virtual Crasis blog!

[netmaddy-blog]

A Difficult Woman To Know

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/a-difficult-woman-to-know/

A Difficult Woman To Know

I admit it. I have a love/hate relationship with the Proverbs 31 Woman. At times she inspires me to no end. Yes, who can find a more virtuous, capable woman? She is an exquisite portrait of a truly remarkable and lovely woman, wife and mother. At other times I want to know where she lives so I can toilet paper her front lawn. Anyone who makes Martha Stewart look like a slacker has serious issues. I am sure she has never had a bad hair day. She probably doesn’t even know what cramps are. Her foot never finds its way into her mouth, repeatedly, like mine. The meticulous woman would almost certainly be aghast at my dusty floors then would give me pointers on housecleaning. I am sure she would then wash my floors herself like some deranged Mary Poppins. What a show-off!

I have often compared myself to this epic woman whom we will call Prov. She is like that tall, beautiful model trying on the exact same clothes as you. You compare your assets with hers and find yourself seriously lacking. As you gaze in the mirror, your reflection looks pitiful next to hers, like a speck of sand against the breathtaking superstar. According to the Bible, not only does Prov do everything perfectly, but all around her think the same. Plus she has the husband and children surrounding her. For us single ladies, we feel even more inept. We hope that our singledom gives us the blessed loophole from trying to be everything Prov is. Does my empty ring finger give me a Get-Out-of-Proverbs-31-Free card? As I read and study about Practically Perfect Prov (her formal name), I am inundated with questions. What is a woman’s worth? What is my value? Does a woman have merit if no one is there to acknowledge her capabilities? Why does she have to be so flawless? And why is God pressing on me to examine her?

A mother wrote this discourse on the most excellent of women in the hopes her son would recognize a Godly wife when he saw one. Generations later and these 22 verses have become a checklist for some and for others a carnival mirror that distorts perception. I read about Prov and grow tired as I remember the dirty dishes in the sink and the spider webs in the corners of the ceiling. I tell myself that I don’t want to be like her, but secretly I crave to have someone say those things about me. Someone determined she was of great importance and value. I think that is what I am most jealous of. The Bible says Prov has excelled over all other women. She has surpassed Deborah, Ruth and Esther. She has outdone Miriam. She outshined them all and she is the ideal that I am to live up to. Are you serious? “Susan?” “Yes, God?”

Obviously He was tired of me talking smack about Prov. “Do you even know what it means to be a virtuous woman?” “Pure, perfect, capable, high morals, quiet, and always polite.” On a good day, I am maybe two out of five. “That is what the dictionary says.” “Dig deeper, Susan. You might actually like her.” “Wait, God, I have so many questions.” “You usually do.” “God, what is my worth?” “You will figure it out. Susan, meet Prov.” And so began my character study of this exceptional and highly irritating woman that had taken up residence on a pedestal.

Like any difficult person, once you get to know them and what makes them tick, your opinion softens and you see something of yourself in them. Or in this case, you discover components that are missing in yourself. I have found myself housecleaning my soul and spirit and she is the tool God is forcing me to use. How convenient that this investigation started during the days of Omer. The second day of Passover is the beginning of Firstfruits and the counting of the Omer which lasts the next 49 days leading to Shavuot or Pentecost. The Israelites would take the omer or grain, and divide it before it was winnowed and sifted. Then it was parched over a fire. After the heat, came the refining and grinding followed by another thorough sifting. Eventually the best of the best grain was brought before the Lord and waved in His Presence as an offering. It was a declaration that everything came from God.

It was also a spiritual assessment of where each person needed to examine themselves. They took stock of their lives, emotions, choices and habits. Was their life a pleasing and sweet fragrance to God? The Israelites had left behind their physical and spiritual bondage in Egypt on Passover. Those first days in the wilderness were opportunities for them to improve and upgrade who they had been. They didn’t know the particulars, but they understood God was taking them where preparation was paramount. Those days of counting their lives and actions were the biblical version of a makeover show. God calls us to be a holy nation. Do we look holy? Do we act like we are set apart for His use? Being holy is about being separated and elevated from all that would pull us down and take our focus of the Lord.

Comparing myself to Prov, I know my habits and actions need to be examined. Where do I fall short? The omer of my life needs to be sifted and refined. So I am choosing to take stock of me. Am I a pleasing aroma to the Lord or with one good whiff do I clear out the heavenly realms? Have I concealed areas of my life that stink with air freshener in order to disguise them? I’m pretty sure I will find things that I don’t like about myself, but this house needs a transformation. Like the grain offering, I will be sifted and ground then toasted on a relentless fire. I want to present myself as a new offering to God. As I look in the spiritual mirror before me, I am seeing the ways I don’t measure up. There are a few blemishes in my heart that have been covered. Sometimes the hardest person to study is the one in the mirror. Maybe Prov isn’t as a difficult woman to know as myself. “This is me, God. For better or worse, I am Yours. I am nothing like Prov. Maybe that is why she gets on my nerves. I want to be like her, but don’t know how. There is a lot of distillation and mending to do, but this is my start. Have Your way, Jesus. Make me over.”

The Israelites were safely situated in the unfamiliar wilderness. God had confirmed His covenant with Moses. The commandments had been given. The golden calf incident was still a smarting sting in their minds and Moses had seen God’s glory through a cleft in the rock. Now the building of the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place, had begun. God had given specific instructions for each piece and the blueprints were divine. God even anointed the people to do the work. Once it was completed, the temple work began. The priests would come to the bronze laver. They washed their hands and feet in the basin in preparation to meet God. The washing bowl was made with the mirrors of the women who served the tabernacle. They weren’t pretty, clear mirrors made of glass, but were polished brass. The imperfect surface did not give a smooth likeness Give Us Life.

As a tabernacle priest would wash, he saw two reflections. One was in the stand and one in the cleansing water. The laver is where they truly looked at themselves with all the bumps, bruises and imperfections in plain sight. Then they looked into the water that washed them. This is where they became the reflection of Jesus and left the old likeness at the door. Like the women who gave up their mirrors so a priestly nation could see who they really were, God asks us to do the same. He says, “Give up what you think you look like to the world and focus on what I look at.” So often we concentrate on the inadequate image that we forget there is a sanctified figure in the Living Water.

How hard it must have been for those women to give up their mirrors. Let’s face it; mirrors are sacred properly to us females! Women have always been described and categorized by how they look. All women, no matter the era, have some degree of vanity within them. God moved them to surrender their airs by giving up control of their pride. Looking at ourselves in the mirror can be one of the hardest things to do. Mornings can be especially difficult since we more than likely have gunk in our eyes, smeared makeup and unkempt hair that has a mind of its own. Once we see what is amiss, we begin to put it back together again. How many times do we check our appearance throughout the day? Every potty break includes inspecting the mirror. We walk past department store windows and cast a sideways glance at the image just to ensure that we haven’t left the house with our skirts tucked into our underwear.

There is one woman who would be more than happy to give up her mirror. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to look at the face staring back at her. She didn’t need to be reminded of what the world saw; she had been hearing it her whole life. Look at how she is depicted in the Bible: “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.” Can you imagine the wound to a woman’s heart if she knew that her less than attractive appearance was still being talked about a few millennia after she walked on the earth? Ouch! I freak out when people talk about me the next day not to mention the next millennium.

What did it mean that Leah’s eyes were weak? Some Jewish scholars say her eyes were pathetic because she cried so often about her circumstances. Perhaps she was ill, or maybe she was just plain ugly. The word used for “weak” means to be liable to give way under pressure. It comes from a Hebrew word meaning to faint, to have a dismal and weak appearance. There was no sparkle or breathtaking quality to Leah. She was less than average. Saying she had “weak eyes” was the polite way of saying she had a good personality. No man would choose her. Her father Laban was probably very vocal about his burden to offload his first born daughter.

Leah might have already accepted her fate as a spinster when in walks Jacob. Everyone knew he was head over heels in love with the striking Rachel. It was no secret that he had been working for the past seven years to marry her. Finally the day had come that would pay off for Jacob. All the back-breaking work in the hot sun was a distant memory as the thought of his bride filled his heart and mind. Laban threw a wedding feast for the big event. One can’t help but wonder how long he had been plotting the next events. Laban lead his new son-in-law to the bridal chamber. Jacob was probably skipping with anticipation and nervousness. Seven years of daydreams were coming true.

Who knows where Rachel was kept or if she was even made aware of the dastardly plan. Leah had taken her younger sister’s place either by choice or by a father’s forceful hand. Maybe Leah felt guilt for stealing her sister’s moment, but then again a lifetime of being jailed in someone’s shadow may have helped her overcome any momentary remorse. Rachel captured every gaze as she entered a room while Leah was inconspicuous and unremarkable. She was not easily seen; someone had to choose to see her and no one had. This was her moment to be noticed even if it was stolen attention. Feelings of pitiful sadness had to be flowing in her heart. “The only way I can get a man to choose me is by my father tricking him.” A bride is to feel so beautiful on her wedding day, but this was probably the ugliest she had ever felt.

Jacob did not detect the switch. Maybe it was the veil covering Leah’s face, the amount of wine in his system, or a combination of both that made him unaware of the true identity of the bride lying in his bed. Not realizing it wasn’t the love of his life, Jacob treated Leah like beautiful, stunning Rachel. For one night the unsightly woman was deemed remarkably exquisite. Perhaps in the course of the night, Jacob called out the name of Rachel in ecstasy, but Leah chose to ignore it. Leah was finally touched by hands that coveted her. She was whispered to by lips that craved her. Leah was beautiful that night. She was no longer invisible, but the totality of one man’s attention. She didn’t want the truth that comes with the dreaded morning light to ever show its repulsive face. If only time could be stopped.

Jacob woke to find the weak eyes of Leah and not the remarkable face of Rachel lovingly gazing upon him. He was anything but tactful. With shock and anger he shouted, “What have you done to me? I served for Rachel, not Leah! Why did you deceive me? I have been cheated!” The pleasure and acceptance she embezzled in the night was replaced with the reality of her worth to Jacob. She was unsolicited and undesired. She was once again the ugly woman who only looked good after enough wine and a veil. Leah knew she was the raw end of the deal. His love was so great for Rachel, Jacob chose to work another seven years for her. He was willing to work a total of 14 years for her sister. No one had even offered to work a single day to win Leah. A week after her momentary joy, she witnessed Jacob marry Rachel.

Leah was not the one who was loved most. She held on to a brief ray of hope within her because Jacob still came to her bed. Leah was probably the backup when Rachel was considered unclean every month. God saw that she was unloved and opened her womb. With the birth of her first son Reuben, she was sure her husband would love her, but nothing had changed. With the next two sons Leah continued to hold onto the fantasy of being treasured. By the fourth son something in her had changed. She gave birth to Judah and cried out, “Now I will praise the Lord.” It stopped being about a man’s love and about loving God. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel were barren until their prayers succeeded in changing their nature. Leah’s barren heart was altered after her praises unto the Lord succeeded in transforming her soul. She still battled Rachel in the offspring race, but her heart was settled.

She didn’t know her worth, but God blessed Leah more than she would ever know. Rachel might have been the wife of Jacob, but Leah was the wife of Israel. From her son Levi came a tribe of priests that would man the tabernacle and temple. Israel was built in the house of Judah. Through Judah came the line of David and eventually Jesus. Through all the pain, toil, and heartbreak, God was planning to redeem her. God loved her where Jacob failed. In God’s eyes, Leah was precious and had value.

As women, we have worth. It might be hidden, but it is there. The Bible says the price for Prov was far above rubies. Everything in this world has a price tag. An amount has been determined and set. From towels to people, everything has a decided fee. In Uganda, a bride’s price is set by the number of cows a family thinks their daughter is equal to. In some cultures it is the number of children a woman bears for her husband that decides her estimation. Jacob’s price for Rachel was 14 years, but God’s value of Leah was priceless. She became the mother of God’s chosen people. If God uncovered Leah’s inestimable value, He will also expose ours. What is our value and worth? What is God seeing that we miss? What did Jesus see in us as He was on the cross? So much of our value is assessed by how we look. Some men also look at our housekeeping and cooking skills to accurately price us, but let’s be honest. A man will marry the world’s sexiest and most beautiful woman if given the chance even if she keeps a messy house and can’t cook soup from a can.

As women, beauty can control our life. It did for Leah. It determined her marital status for years before Jacob came in the picture. What happens when we are not a physically beautiful woman or we don’t fit the world’s definition of good-looking? How do we get past the world’s ruling on our significance and focus on the importance God places on us? I struggled for the majority of my life about my appearance. Somewhere about the age of 15, I encountered the world’s snobbery when it came to beauty. For the next few years, well into college, I was truly a geek. I was overweight, self-conscious, and completely believing the enemy’s lies. At school I heard boys tell me I was ugly, but then my Mom would tell me I was beautiful. I stopped trusting my Mom’s opinion because she obviously was either blind or lying to me. On days when I knew pictures would be taken, I would get dressed up and do my hair and makeup. When I looked in the mirror I felt somewhat self-assured, but when the pictures came back I cringed, “This is how I look?” So many mornings were spent in front of the mirror in hopes that something would change. I excelled in school subjects while my sisters surpassed in attractiveness. I would have traded my A’s for just one day of prettiness. The mirror became my prison and my perceived value was worthlessness. Then I became Born Again and had to confront my feelings of inadequacy.

First of all, who do we belong to – the world or God? The world didn’t create us; it merely influenced the opinion of ourselves. God fashioned us and it is His estimation that matters and should define ours. God doesn’t make mistakes and He doesn’t make ugly. Yes, some of us are not the picture of a model. We do not have the hourglass figure and the flawlessly proportioned face and flowing long hair not to mention that come hither look, but we have something better. God will make beautiful the humble with His salvation (Psalm 149:4, KJV). That kind of beauty transcends time. The world’s version of loveliness is conditional and can fly away at any moment. Imagine the most beautiful model in the world. Every magazine wants her ideal image on the cover. Men all over the world desire her. What if she was in a disfiguring accident? The covers would be gone and the men’s attention would gravitate to her successor. That kind of beauty lost its conditions.

In describing Prov, Proverbs 31:29 says that outward beauty has no real significance or value. It is fleeting at best. Godly beauty has no conditions to be met or lost. When Psalm 149:4 says God will beautify us, picture the opening of a seed to reveal the magnificent interior. Inside a seed is potential for greatness. Inside of us, no matter the outward appearance, there is magnificent promise and capability that God has planned to reveal through Jesus Christ.

Inside of us is Godly beauty. I know, I know. We all want, at least once, to feel like the most beautiful woman in a room. My fantasy is walking into a ballroom in a splendid dress. I imagine every eye turned towards me, this breathtaking creature, and I hear over the chords of music, “Who is that?” That is my Cinderella fantasy that gets me through the last 10 minutes of every workout. What I truly want is to be the stunning woman that enters heaven to worship my Creator. The world’s opinion only lasts for a moment, but Jesus’ estimation lasts for eternity. That is where I try to keep my focus.