“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
People persecute us and they cannot understand why we get angry at them, for is it not good practice to pull out the thorn that is hurting you and then throw it away then you run away so that it hurts you no longer?
When people treat you bad, you want to distance yourself from them, because they give you absolutely no reason to be anywhere near you – if you are deliberately mean to someone then he or she will obviously want to be far away from you, and the meanness teaches them to want great distance from those who enjoy hurting you.
People who don’t enjoy hurting you will apologize for hurting you, and if they really cared then he or she would make things right. People who genuinely care for you want you to know that they went out to bat for you, they want to publicly protect you, make things right, and then you will for the first time see that person in a different more honourable decent Light – this is when you want to know them and have them close.
Being Grounded means getting back to where you should be physically or mentally or at one with the Earth.
If you have a goal, and many things constantly put you off your goal, such as your arguing with yourself to not or to do something, then a good way to get back and grounded to where your mind should be, is to have a reminder, its kind of like rubber-bands on your wrist, the person when he or she starts to get anxiety they pull on the rubberband and let it go by getting a sharp small pain, it helps to get back to refocus.
There is probably a phone app that can send you reminders, or you could set your smart watch or phone to remind you the time each our with a chime and this brings you back to Earth (as they say).
Another thing that you can do, is make posters and have them around the house with a message like “Stay Grounded” or of an image that to you means stay grounded, like a bright yellow image of the sun, and if you find that you are walking around losing the plot with yourself, and you see the image of the sun, its like, “Hey, shuttup, Stay Grounded, what do you really want????”
If you use and image it is not obvious to others what you are doing, people who visit your house.
If people stop seeing each other with suspicion and instead see one another with love, and then act out that Empathy, Compassion, and Love then the world, and their personal world would be a much better healthier more loving place to be in, especially mentally.
It appears that everyone assumes that he or she is innocent, the good guy, and in most confrontations always the one who is right. But sometimes this is not true at all.
I was talking to a known Narcissist who was talking about someone else who would have no more contact with the Narcissist, and the Narcissist said, “I thought that we were friends, and that we had a better relationship than this!” as this Narcissist was unable to see any fault in what he was doing to this other person, or in fact to everyone he knew.
We are all Narcissistic to some degree, but some people add pride, ego, over-self-confidence and assume that the traits of a Narcissist are actually just “ways to get things done”, because they try to work with people who won’t agree with them and do what they want, so they gaslight, trick, lie, and so on, and when they get their ways they assume that this is the right way to treat people and live life – this is much like Character Assassination, the Narcissist/s use the Flying Monkeys to hurt innocent people, and they assume that because it works and achieves the goal of destroying someone who they don’t like without any risk to themselves that this is good way to deal with people.
But its always amazing how the Narcissist or a group of Narcissists has no idea at all that they are in fact the bad guys.
And this is why they fight so viciously against people who point out their evil ways. The Narcissist always hates the person who hows them who they really are, and could get them caught out, and they will use every nasty, brainwashing, grooming, trick that they can to disarm anyone who is seeing the Narcissist as he or she, or group of Narcissists, who they really are.
Also, when the Narcissist is caught out they tend to blame-shift everything on to the person who caught them out, and as a way of punishing the innocent person for being intelligent enough to see the truth and who also is not easily sucked into the void of lies like everyone else is.
The advantage to Mindful Meditation is that it takes your worries of the day, puts it behind you and out of the way, and you are able to come from it clear-headed and start again.
After my ex-wife left I was having some serious negative self hate angry thoughts, and suicidal, and I got angry and determined to be who I used to be, not this mental mess. So I did this meditation of listening to my breathing “everytime” I got a negative thought, and for a week or so I was going to the bedroom to do this meditation nearly all day because self destructive thoughts would enter my mind so often that they were driving me out of my mind.
Previously I had found God, and I prayed for a way tp get out of all these negative nasty conversations that were often appearing in my head to destroy my self thoughts and my day. And the answer was this Breathing Meditation which cleared my mind, and allowed me to start again each time I got up.
I have never been able to properly meditate, but I can do the breathe meditation and developed my own version of it, but I rarely use it, and I should use it often.
What one does is lay on a bed, or sit, and close your eyes, and listen to your breath, its called (I found out later) Mindful Breathing. What it does that is practically very useful is it interrupts what is bothering you and your mind goes quiet because you are concentrating on your breathing and pushing out all other mind-noise-conversations and so on, until you reach a state of quietness and calm.
Breath in through your nose, a long slow non-painful no struggle breath, breath out through your lips/mouth.
Listen to the wind noises of your breath as your breath in air, and then listen to it escape as you breath out – only hear this, only concentrate on this.
Each time a thought comes into your head you realign your mind back to concentrating on your thoughts. and this stops your mind wandering. Thus you quiet your mind. Often after a while as you finish this type of meditation you get new clear, helpful distinctive thoughts, unhurried thoughts, thoughts that are not like the thoughts that have distressed you in the past.
It takes patience to get used to doing this, but tie and persistence will bring you though and then you will become a calmer more positive person.
If you are away from home, look at a tree, its leaves, and then breath in and out slowly, pushing out all the sound around you and listen to the wind in the tree’s, relax while you stand.
A cool thing about this, is I used to so totally relax, that I would see the aura of the leaves, every one of them all at ones ion tree covered in hundreds of levees. Its really fun doing this, and a way of seeing nature in a different light.
You see, all things have an aura and are Energy, nothing in the universe is without energy. You may think that a rock is dead, lifeless, but it has energy just like everything else. If you look slightly off a rock or object its aura becomes apparent, many people can look at any object, including humans and see their aura easily, and they see many colours. All I ever see is white, glowing white light especially around humans, and on some people it really glows.
I have a very strong energetic Aura. I remember with some psychic meeting, they had all these divining rods, and they told others to stand and they stood a short distance from them and they could easily find their aura. To the shock of the Psychics when they tried it on me, my aura was picked up in the kitchen, and we were in the lounge, and the woman looked at me with shock and sad that I had a very strong wide aura and that she had never seen anything like it before. This is probably why I am so energetic at my age.
I hear this all the time. Mainly on YouTube rescues, you know, rescuing animals and people.
“Listening to your breath” refers to the practice of mindful breathing, where you intentionally focus your attention on the sensation of your breath as it enters and exits your body. This practice can help to calm the mind, reduce stress, and ground you in the present moment.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
What it means:
Mindfulness:
. You’re paying attention to your breath without judgment, simply observing the sensations.
Bringing awareness to the present:
.
Focusing on your breath helps you anchor your attention in the here and now, rather than getting caught up in worries about the past or future.
Calming the mind:
.
By focusing on your breath, you can quiet the internal mental chatter and reduce racing thoughts.
How to practice:
Find a comfortable position: You can sit, stand, or even lie down. Close your eyes or gently focus your gaze: This helps to reduce distractions.
Observe the sensation of your breath: Pay attention to how it feels as it moves in and out of your body.
Notice any changes in your breath: You might notice the rhythm, the temperature, or the feeling of air passing through your nostrils or mouth.
When your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breath: This is a normal part of the process.
Practice regularly: Even a few minutes each day can make a difference.
Benefits:
Stress reduction: Mindful breathing can help to calm the nervous system and reduce feelings of anxiety. Improved focus: By quieting the mind, you can enhance your ability to concentrate.
Increased self-awareness: You become more attuned to your body and emotions.
Enhanced emotional regulation: Learning to observe your breath can help you become more aware of your emotional responses and develop healthier coping mechanisms.
In essence, “listening to your breath” is a simple yet powerful practice that can have a profound impact on your well-being.
– Google AI.
This would be a result of what Trump is doing in the USA, now other Governments are giving themselves a shake-up.
| Minister for State Owned Enterprises Simeon Brown has told various Government-owned companies they must explain why they are failing to deliver their cost of equity and how they will improve their return to the Crown. He told several of the SOEs – including NZ Post and Landcorp – that the Government was “disappointed and concerned” by their performance and they must deliver a “bold and challenging turnaround plan”.Act’s David Seymour, who has raised the notion of privatisation previously, told the Herald it’s “coming into fashion” to ask hard questions about the Government’s ownership of the companies. Asked if there was growing appetite from his coalition partners for privatisation, Seymour responded: “I can’t speak for them, but they’re reading the same numbers in the Budget documents as I am and they are smart people.”I suspect we’ll be starting to ask these questions more frequently.” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has ruled out asset sales in this term, but signalled he’s open to discussing them at the next election. Brown’s expectations were laid out in letters sent in March to the Government-owned companies that have just been released publicly by Treasury.In total, letters from responsible ministers were sent to 30 entities within the Government’s commercial portfolio. Among the key points the letters make is that the companies’ boards must “run a profitable business, focus resources, minimise and control costs, and deliver improved performance to represent a value for money investment for the Crown as owner”.”There will be enhanced scrutiny of cost of management, ability to make distributions to the Crown, and transparent, fair and reasonable executive remuneration” in line with the NZX’s corporate governance code. |
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https://www.facebook.com/share/r/sRf1WtZ9XY2wsdkf/?mibextid=Mk4v2M
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/LJ7squWFwowJvNFb/?mibextid=oFDknk
https://www.facebook.com/share/hQ7b3Fvhem8L1HF5/?mibextid=oFDknk
John Ford CLYMER • * 29 January 1907 in Ellensburg, Washington. † 2 November 1989 in Bellevue, Washington. ╱ Oil on board 30 x 28 inches (76.2 x 71.1 cm) Signed lower left: John Clymer Private collection Photo credit: Heritage Auction ⓒ Cover art for The Saturday Evening Post, 23 May 1959 issue.[/caption]
All the articles that I wrote below were from about 2003-2006.
Some people seem to believe that calling themself a Christian seems to give them a license to judge other people (calling people sinners as if those people were lower than the Christian talking, for instance)
1Jo 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jo 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
Luk 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Today’s People And Life
People today are confused. In fact we are often not able to deal with our lives as they are at present. This is due to many things. It is not that we are weak by nature because we are not. In fact the human race is very strong mentally and has shown by a tremendous track record that we humans are here for the long run. We humans have been through many ups and downs, many wars, two world wars, and many attacks on many shores and in many ways.
But the amazing thing is that we are still here to fight on. The animals, they disappear when the going gets rough – they become extinct because they don’t have all the strengths that humans have. You can count on it, you belong to the most impressive and strongest living race of animals upon this planet. We have been attacked on many ports and in many ways, yet we still have what it takes to fight on. In fact we have what it takes to be strong and able people. We learn from our mistakes. We can carry huge amounts of information in our minds, much, much more than any computer that has ever been invented because God wanted us to be able to deal with the world, after all we do have to live on this planet. After all we Christians should be able to tell the difference from right or wrong because we need to know this difference, so that we can lead the human race away from the evil of this world, to the love, truth and Grace of the living God.
All you need to do is read a history book of mankind and you will be amazed at the events which have helped people grow and learn from. You will be amazed at our amazing ability to get through whatever it is that is making our lives rough. From the amazing and sometimes tragic natural disasters that come our way we people will always get through it. Oh yes, not all people survive these events but you can be sure that mankind gets through it to fight on towards another victory. You see we learn from our mistakes, and we “grow” with every achievement. And every time we go down, we then come back up to the top to keep on pushing forward for another lap of that fast and furious track called human existence.
There is only one way to defeat mankind. And that is to attack people from the inside, the human mind. If people were confused and led astray, which means to move them from recognising their heritage and the reason for their existence, then they would be confused. I have a saying, that if any person on this Earth came face to face with God, then that person would turn away from his bad ways and repent and become new as we should do, this person would be “Saved”. Of course there are not many people (no matter how mean he or she tends to be) alive who if he or she saw pure evil would not run to God immediately for protection and love.
People, yes you and I, have come face to face with evil and yet will not rush from it. Why, because that evil exists because we humans let it exist. Yes, we give evil the power to rule over us if we let it. Our own weaknesses are a form of evil, and evil comes in many, many forms. Sometimes these forms are easy to recognise, sometimes they are not. Because we are not “seeing” a visual form in the shape of some sort of dark life we choose to not believe that we are seeing evil. But that evil is there. It shows in the most alarming ways.
When you talk down to people without looking at their good points first. When we talk about other people, about business that is not our personal business. When we make fun of people and hurt a persons feelings. When we laugh at a person in a manner which we know will hurt that persons pride, this is a form of evil. Evil thoughts creep into our minds, feeding us with repetitive thoughts that would do ourselves or somebody else some sort of harm. There are many evil thoughts that try to lead us to vengeance, revenge, murder, unjustifiable murder, cruelty, the list goes on and on…
We people, yes you and I, need to recognise the damage used by evil. If we do not recognise the forms of evil then we cannot fight evil. We claim to be on Gods side. We claim to stand there and fight evil. We tell our children that they have to turn their backs to evil and to watch out for it – how can we do this if you and I do not know evil in our own hearts! Yes, we can only be useful if we fight evil, on our doorsteps, and out there in the world. And we must show the world a shining example of a good person. We may have to mingle in the downtrodden areas of people hearts and homes, but as those daring Christians before us have done in the past, we must obey the call to help our fellow people, and do what we can to show them what evil is in their lives, so that they to can walk at our sides, with us, as we fight the good fight for freedom from evil. And we will go forth to good, love and freedom of life.
A church cannot fight the good fight if its members are misbehaving or letting some form of evil guide them, even in a small way. We must walk with thoughts of genuine love for those that we see during our week. We must want to help these people with a genuine want to see them “Saved” from evil. W must be able to recognise evil so that we can guide these people, show them the errors of their ways, but do it gently, with patience in our hearts and God at our side. With he right mixture and an honest heart we are sure to do well.
Lead by example. You are Gods students, Gods children, God messengers. Bring more people to God and a happier, more knowledgeable existence will come to those people simply because you cared. Your understanding for other peoples plights and hard times will be remembered for all time. Love for your fellow people has filled up many a church in the past and it can still do this now.
The Preacher
The role of the preacher is to reach out to the congregation in the place of Jesus.
A preacher has the role of the public spokesperson for God and the church. Many people look up to the preacher as somebody to admire because of his commitment to God and to the public of the world. Note that I did not say only the congregation of the preachers personal church. A fault of many preachers is for him to think of the congregation as “his” congregation which is not true, these are Gods people and they are Gods congregation.
The preacher is a “servant” to the people, it is not the other way around.
The preacher must have God supporting him in his work. If God is not supporting him, it will be known.
The preacher must be able to read people with his mind and his heart.
The preacher must be a good orator, who speaks on behalf of God.
The Preacher must be “blameless”. A man who will do as he preaches, and will do no unrighteous thing.
The Preacher must be committed to God and his own family. He must be faithful to both.
The Preacher is human and he will have his “off” days, but that is natural for humankind and normal for people.
The Preacher must not fall into the trap of blaming inanimate objects for the wrongs of the world.
The Slums
The slums of the days of Jesus were the places of poverty and hardship. In the days of Martin Luther, John Wesley and William Booth there were many other slums all in different parts of the world. Read a few Charles Dickens books and you will be introduced to poverty and uncleanliness of his time. Obviously Dickens was trying to make the world public aware of the suffering of children and adults in those hard times. The slums of the past are here now in these modern times, but mostly they are different. Today’s slums are not only slums of poverty and hardship. No, the new slums range from the poor to the very rich. A persons finances are not the only reason for being in poverty, there is the mental poverty where a person lacks a good education.
In the past a slum was a lowly and unclean place of poverty, where those who lived there suffered from lack of money. Of course these slums had large amounts of people, most were unemployed. Medical care was hard to get and was expensive. People lived and died in these hard times, and it always seemed that one would die and two more would be born in that persons place.
The slums of today consist of millions of people and the slums are much more global. In fact they reach from home to home, town to town and country to country. In the slums of the past it was the outside of the person who looked “slumish”, or that persons street and home looked slumish, but today it is the inside of people that “is” slumish. What I mean by the word slumish is that the people who lived in the slums of old wore clothes that suited that environment. Children playing in the streets in dirty, ragged clothing, while most adults were clothes that were no better. In fact most large cities of the world in these modern times usually have some form of slum. The crime in slum areas is usually higher than in other parts of the city. Slums have a high unemployment and a low education public, which ensures that the poverty continues. Due to unsanitary living conditions slums can be breeding grounds for diseases.
Peoples minds today are living and thinking “in” sin, and society in many, many ways fully support this ‘thinking in sin’.
The minds of today’s people are the results of a slumish society. And the public have soaked up the bad language, unmoral behaviour, self vanity, greed, lack of love for our neighbours. The slums are here with us right now but because we have this belief that slums are to be associated with lack of money we don’t think that we are living in mental slums at this very moment.
Today’s slums are within the person. This person may be dressed nicely, but his or her thoughts may be directed toward slumish thoughts, thoughts of greed and selfishness. Thoughts that declare that this person is living in mental slumtown – a place of sin and mental destruction. A self destruction that may bring others down with it, but mostly close relative and loved ones will be hurt the most.
What is the cure for these people? God wants you and I to step out there into the darkness of these peoples minds with His Holy Light and guide these people away from the pain and suffering of their own tormented minds. Many of these people don’t even realise that they are suffering in this manner and that is why they often argue with you and I when we try to convert them to the ways of God, the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus.
Showing understanding, persistance, kindness and lots of love will bring God to these unfortunate souls. But most of all we must understand the position that these people are in. We must realise that these people are attacked from all directions. We need to realise that for some people turning to God is a simple thing and may only take a day or a few hours. And for others it may take months or years for this Holy conversion to take place.
But like those who walked this Earth before us, we must take up the work that is required to bring these tortured souls living in sin away from the sinful lives that they lead. But to do this we need faith, we need empathy, we need the words of Jesus to guide us, we need numbers, and most of all we need God on our side. So do your best to be the good Christian that you want these non-Christians to be. Set an example of happiness and goodness that proves that you not only “talk the talk”, but yes, you also “Walk the walk”.
The Sermon On The Pharisees
First it was spoken of how Jesus Christ spoke of the confusions of the day (when Jesus was in his thirties). We were taken to Mark Chapter 7. Mention was made of the disciples not washing their hands before they ate. Mention was made that the Pharisees were using manmade tradition and not holy laws to point fault at the disciples, and therefore at Jesus.
Jesus said “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
This is people who talk of God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus in their church but don’t actually follow the truths shown in the Bible. The mention of the word ‘hypocrites’ tends to point that the people being spoken of are acting out the part of a preacher or follower of God.
“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Here is talk of how today’s followers of God worship in vain, while the leaders teach the doctrines of the church and not the doctrine of Gods word. Each church group of today has its own personal doctrine which has additional rules with were not suggested by God or Jesus Christ such as: wearing ties in church, wearing suits, being clean-cut in church, and many other items which were never ever suggested by God or Jesus Christ. These are the commandments of men.
“For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men,” We are supposed to follow the teachings of God and not the teachings of men. So we are not following God but our own rules and regulations created by mankind. “as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.” Manmade rules.
“Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” People today are putting aside Gods rules and going with the much easier manmade rules. A good example of this is the manmade teaching that we are all sinners and that Jesus told us not to sin but really did not believe that we weak minded humans could not live without being sinful in heart and nature.
“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” People of today attempt to deliver the word of God but destroy its effect with human traditions which we have brought into the church, which are those which were not brought into the church by God or Jesus Christ.
The King James Bible
Mat 22:19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Mat 22:20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Mat 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
Is this the same for the King James Bible? Who’s name is on the Bible? King James of course not Gods.
The Final Coming
Often I have been told that God reigns in Heaven and that Jesus will reign on Earth. And I am also told that God and Jesus are one. This clearly does not make sense like most of the comments or writings about the Holy Trinity.
It is sometimes mentioned that 180, 000 people will be the only ones to go to Heaven to be with God.
What will happen to those left?
Could it be that in the old days (Old Testiments days) mankind was judged by God and then only those that were very good and Holy were supposed to go to heaven, and now today we people are now judged by our own doings – our own deeds as well as our deep loving faith in God and His son Jesus Christ, so now we create and destroy our own blessings – we judge ourselves.
It is my current opinion (14th October 2005) that the Bible in all its forms are not the correct word of God.
The New Testament it seems was not created by God (or at least God alone). If the Old Testament has the errors that I believe then God more than likely would not have wanted a newer version of the Bible created, because He would have feared that humankind would have got everything confused as was done in the Old Testament.
Would the use of a collection-of-religious-words be a good idea anyway since God would have known that they were to cover a long amount of time because somebody could slip-in some text (a word or two or even a story or two; [Adam and Eve]) and this additional (obviously fake) text would be thought of as truthful many centuries later. Nobody would be able to “test” the additional text due to its age and so it would be assumed that even the most dubious text is the truth.
If the Bible was disproved tomorrow will your faith in God disappear! It shouldn’t because the Bible is just a book. A book is not God and it is not the total, or all the words of God. The Bible is not God. If your faith is fully based on the Bible then you need to move your faith from a physicall book and transfer it to God.
By showing your total and complete faith in God you will know the real God. Even when the “doubts” creep in, your faith will not falter – lessons or not – your faith must be true.
A desperate person has not found God? Why? Because desperation signifies a lack of belief that God will help you.
https://youtube.com/shorts/VFQK8AEr9fQ?si=-q4zhgndi3zf9son
Surnames were brought into common use (world-wide to nations that were not Roman) back in the years 900 to 1000, after the birth of Christ.
But the Romans were known to use first and last names:
‘The use of family or surnames began in Roman days, though as far as the Jews were concerned the practice was confined to families of royal lineage. Those who followed the Roman custom placed the family name in front.’
[http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Ethnic/Jewish/Jewish.Names.html]
The strange thing here is that Jesus is often referred to as Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ.
Could it have been that the Jews (followers of the teachings of Jesus) saw him as of royal lineage and called him Jesus Christ or:
Could it have been Paul who started this way (Christ Jesus ) of writing Jesus’s name? Paul was a Pharisee to begin with – therefore he (once) held the beliefs of that office. He would have followed to some degree the Roman customs (as he claims as a Roman citizen, and a Jew) of his day. Acts 21:39, Acts 22:35, Acts 22:26, Acts 22:27-28 – a few verses that appear to state that Paul was a Roman.
Paul would have seen Jesus as a Jew would have seen Jesus, and he would have seen Jesus as a Roman would have seen Jesus to some degree. In fact Paul had to change his views of Jesus after he became a follower of Jesus’s teachings, this would have gone against any Pharisee or Jewish beliefs that he would have had at this time. Paul would then probably have written Jesus’s name as Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus or even simply Jesus.
Many people these days have written that there was a period of time when nothing was written of the teachings of Jesus. For some 30 to (possibly) 50 years nothing was written of Jesus’s teachings. All that was said was verbally spread from person to person. The “Christians” of that time (as they were by this time known) had their “set-ways” and beliefs which may be considered to some degree different to what Jesus taught, these writers (of the Gospels, and quotes of Jesus’s sayings etc) could have written these texts in a manner that was not directly as Jesus said them. Or was it people of a later time (around the year 100 and onward) who changed the original texts of the work of Jesus and his name.
When Paul wrote his written works (or who ever wrote them for him) many believe that Paul at this time was a Christian, this means that he had Christian beliefs. These Christian beliefs were to some degree different than the teachings of Jesus.
These changes in the texts and teachings of Jesus over time are interesting. Lets see, Jesus died around 33 AD, by the year 100 AD the teachings of Jesus are different that previous works. Is this the pattern of the religions (at least the Christian religions) of modern times? They start of all fired up for God. The members get into the prisons to help those who have committed crimes, they get their hands dirty (so to speak) mixing with the unfortunate in the streets, pubs, taverns, brothels etc. They attempt to help the thousands, they live to spread the word of God. And then finally they become stagnent. They wear suits and ties. They only go to church in their ‘Sunday Bests’. They look down on the poor. Until finally the poor have to go to these churches, and the churches (in any reasonable numbers) don’t go to the people. They may go to the people as Soul-Winners or soul savers of some sort, but it is always done in their flash suits etc which puts them away from the sinners of their time.
Is this just the way of humankind, man or woman? We always “infect” any new Christian religion with our own human “ways” until that Christian faith has only a limited appeal to the worldly public.
St Augustine’s Magic
Great Tales from English History – © 2003 Robert Lacy. ISBN 0 316 72674 5
In the high summer of 597 Pope Gregory’s missionaries landed on the Isle of Thanet in Kent bearing painted banners,silver crosses and holy relics. The man that Gregory had picked to lead the mission to the Angles was a trusted old colleague, Augustine-and his first target was cleverly chosen. King Ethelbert of Kent was a pagan, but his wife Bertha was a Christian, a Frankish princess who had brought her own chaplain from Paris. If Ethelbert was allowing his wife to Practise her Christian faith in Canterbury, he must be a promising prospect for conversion.
Ethelbert greeted the missionaries with caution, insisting that their first meeting should be out of doors-he did not want to be trapped by their alien magic.
‘I cannot abandon the age-old beliefs that I have held,’ he declared in his speech of welcome. ‘But since you have travelled far, and I can see that you are sincere in your desire to share with us what you believe to be true and excellent, we will not harm you.’
In fact, the King let Augustine and his forty followers base themselves in Canterbury at an old church where Bertha worshipped-clear evidence that Christianity was by no means new to a country which had previously been a Roman province. Some time in the third century St Alban had become Britain’s earliest saint and martyr when he suffered execution for protecting a Christian priest – and after the emperor Constantine was converted in 312, Christianity had been tolerated across the empire. But then the Angle-Saxons had imported their pantheon of Germanic gods, a collection of very human deities inspired by storms, victory in battle and the force of nature. The word ‘pagan’ comes from ‘pagus’, Latin for a country district and its inhabitants. When the Anglo-Saxons ploughman went out to cut his first furrow of the year, he would kneel and say a prayer as he buried a fertility cake baked from the last harvest’s grain, asking the gods to allow the seed to germinate again.
Back in Rome, Pope Gregory had told Augustine to treat such pagan customs with respect. ‘For in these days,’he explained,’the Church corrects some things strictly and allows others out of leniency…By doing so she often succeeds in checking an evil of which she disapproves.’
The Pope wisely suggested that churches should be built where the old pagan temples had been-‘in order that the people may the more familiarly resort to the places with which they have been accustomed.’
Rather then sacrifice to Mother Earth, the pagans were encouraged to pray to the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary.
And our modern calendar shows the live-and-let-live interaction between old and new: Sun-day and Moon-day were followed by Tiw’s-day, Woden’s-day, Thor’s-day and Freya’s-day, named after the Germanic gods of war, wisdom, thunder and love respectively. Saturn’s-day was another pagan hangover-from the Romans in per-Christian times. The feast of goddess of dawn and fertility.
As Ethelbert cannily studied Augustine and his companions, he came to the conclusion that the Christians posed no threat to him. On the contrary, he liked what they had to offer-learning, piety, discipline,and a ready-made band of activists who were keen to go out and spread these solid virtues among his people. Augustine helped the king draw up the first Anglo-Saxon law code. The Christian magic was a potent and modern magic, and he had a special reason for urgency-Augustine and his missionaries warned all they met that the end of the world was nigh and that God’s terrible judgement was at hand. Fourteen hundred years later we speak of the early Church, but Gregory, Augustine and their fellow-believers did not know they were only at the beginning of a very long story. They believed that time was short. Jesus could be coming back to earth at any moment-maybe that very night, ‘like a thief,’ as he promised in the Bible- and King Ethelbert decided not th take the chance that these learned newcomers with their documents and paintings might be wrong.
Ethelbert was baptised, and he invited Augustine to make Canterbury the headquarters of his missionary efforts, giving him the land and money to build the first Canterbury Cathedral. To this day, Canterbury remains the headquarters of the Church of England, and Archbishops of Canterbury sit on the throne of St Augustine.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Put on the full armour of God
Let’s take a look at the six pieces of God’s armour described by Paul in Ephesians 6:14-17.
The first three are things we wear all the time. The last three are things we pick up as needed for the moment. Let’s check out the first three:
(1) The belt of truth. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth. During World War II, a plane flew many kilometres past its destination because the crew didn’t realise they had a strong tail wind and refused to believe what the plane’s instruments were telling them. All on board perished. Sadly, when the plane was found years later the instruments were still in perfect working order. God’s Word is your infallible instrument panel. Read it daily. Know the truth in your heart as you battle the spiritual battle against evil.
(2) The breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate covers your heart, which must beat in sync with God’s Word.
When it doesn’t, God sets off a warning beeper that something’s wrong – it’s not wise to ignore those signals.
(3) The shoes of peace. Shoes mean that you’re going somewhere. Don’t expect to hear from God if you remain frozen in the same spot. When you move ahead for God He confirms the rightness of your direction by the peace He gives you. That puts a firm foundation under you.
Let’s look at the last three pieces of armour:
(4) The shield of faith. Paul says that the shield of faith allows us to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Do you remember in the old western movies, the battles between the Indians and the settlers? The settlers would circle the wagons then the Indians would shoot flaming arrows into them. Smart thinking! You can’t fight fires and foes at the same time. Flaming arrows are a huge distraction, and Satan uses the same tactic against us. But faith (and focus) snuffs out those flaming arrows.
(5) The helmet of salvation. This helmet protects your mind, which has to do with your new identity as a Christian. Your salvation is everything you are in Jesus the Christ (as Jesus lived his life). Use your head to organise your new life as a Christian. “Know” what salvation “is” and follow the rules, and be born new.
(6) The sword of the Spirit. Paul says that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Interesting, because the word for Scripture here is not ‘logos’, but ‘rhema’, which means an ‘utterance.’ This refers to our speaking God’s Word to defeat Satan in battle; using the right Scripture at the right time to deal with the problem at hand. Three times Satan came at Jesus in the wilderness and three times Jesus answered, “It is written” (See Mt 4:4-10).
An important key to the effectiveness of a soldier’s armour is putting it on correctly so that the pieces fit together and provide maximum protection. Pray at all times in the Spirit. Praying in the power of the Spirit clothes us for Spiritual warfare. You need to pray specifically at the start of every day. Don’t go into battle Spiritually underdressed. Don’t give Satan an inch or he’ll take a mile.
Trainers who want to train dogs to listen to them and obey their commands no matter what, start the training by throwing a juicy piece of red meat in front of the dog. The untrained dog goes for the meat immediately, but eventually the trainer teaches the dog to keep its attention on him no matter what’s put in front of it. When the process is successful the dog will not take its eyes off its master, even when the “temptation” of meat is right under its nose. There’s an important lesson here for you. If you keep your eyes on Jesus (and his refusing of temptation) it won’t matter what kind of meaty lie or temptation Satan throws your way. Every now and then you may want to “go for it,” but if you keep your eyes on Jesus and listen to his voice alone, you’ll be victorious every time.
For some time I was under the idea that Popes came into being in the 350’s or somewhere in that area – but it appears that this is not the case.
THE FOURTH POPE
According to Tertullian, writing c. 199, the Roman Church claimed that Clement was ordained by St. Peter (De Praescript., xxxii), and St. Jerome tells us that in his time “most of the Latins” held that Clement was the immediate successor of the Apostle (De viris illustr., xv). St. Jerome himself in several other places follows this opinion, but
here he correctly states that Clement was the fourth pope.
It appears that the above text states that the Roman Church (Are these direct Catholics?) believed that St Peter ordained the first Pope.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04012c.htm
Thank you for this day,
For us being together to worship and for fellowship,
Please bless the preaching and those listening so that we all will learn something that we can take away that will help us through the week until we can be together again.
Raise the dead – could this mean that Jesus will raise those who are considered dead by their sinning ways when they were alive?
It appears for the 1st 50 years no written word was made about Jesus and his teachings.
Then the Christians of the time (Paul and the like) – who were at this time called Christians – but Jesus’s followers when he was alive or just past his death were not called Christians, wrote about Jesus but added their own Christian flavour to the writings.
Mark was written about 70AD. Jesus died about 27AD. 43 years.
Mark 33 years old = 37 years later that he wrote Mark.
This puts Mark at about 70 years old.
Jesus 33 plus 50 years = 83 is the time of first Gospells written.
Mark 33 then makes Mark 83 years old.
Jesus means in Hebrew: “God saves.”
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses,59 is rendered as Kyrios, “Lord”. From then on, “Lord” becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel’s God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title “Lord” both for the Father and – what is new – for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.60
(http://www.catholic.org/clife/jesus/jesusname.php)
IN BRIEF
452 The name Jesus means “God saves”. The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21): “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
453 The title “Christ” means “Anointed One” (Messiah). Jesus is the Christ, for “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38). He was the one “who is to come” (Luke 7:19), the object of “the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20).
454 The title “Son of God” signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18); he is God himself (cf. John 1:1). To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. Acts 8:37; 1 John 2:23).
455 The title “Lord” indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit'” (I Cor 12:3).
James West Stack 1835 – 1919
Missionary, clergyman, writer, interpreter
secretary
James West Stack, born on 27 March 1835 in a tent in a Maori pa at Puriri in the Thames district, New Zealand, was the oldest of seven children of the missionary James Stack and his wife, Mary West. He married Eliza Rachel Jane Jones on 28 January 1861 at Auckland; they had seven children. He spent his childhood with his parents at Church Missionary Society stations in the north of the North Island and at East Cape. Living remote from European contact at Rangitukia, near Ruatoria, from 1842 to 1845, James learned to snare birds and catch eels and grew up familiar with the Maori world, although conscious that he himself belonged to the missionary one. His views on the conduct of the pre-Christian Maori were influenced by his father’s unfortunate experiences at mission outposts in New Zealand. In 1846 James was sent to school at St John’s College, Auckland, but left for Sydney the following year with his father, whose health and sanity had collapsed. James spent a year at Sydney College (later Sydney Grammar School), before the family travelled back to England, arriving in May 1848.
In London he was supported by the CMS at a commercial college until the age of 14, but it was his own developing love of books which shaped his mind. Although employed by the CMS as a clerk, he had no intention of becoming a missionary himself. The unexpected death of his much loved mother in 1850 and a reunion with the Reverend William Williams in 1851 caused a change of heart. Although too young to be a missionary, he was accepted as a teacher and spent a year at the CMS Training College at Islington. The presence of Tamihana Te Rauparaha in London gave him a chance to revive his fluency in Maori as interpreter and companion. Stack sailed for New Zealand on 22 July 1852, on the Slains Castle , with Tamihana among his fellow passengers, and arrived in Dunedin on 9 November 1852; he disembarked at Wellington on 7 December.
From 1853 to 1859 James Stack taught the boys at the industrial school at the CMS station situated first at Maraetai, at Waikato Heads, and then at Te Kohanga, under the Reverend Dr Robert Maunsell, who supervised his continuing studies. He then accepted Bishop Henry Harper’s invitation to take up the work of the newly founded Maori mission of the diocese of Christchurch, reluctantly leaving the CMS. He arrived in Christchurch on 16 August 1859, was ordained deacon in 1860 and became a priest in 1862. The mission house, church and school were sited at Tuahiwi, away from European settlement, on 20 acres of land gifted by the Maori from the Kaiapoi Reserve. Although initial evangelism had already been carried out by Maori converts from the North Island, and the Wesleyans (with whom Stack worked cordially) were already in the field, there was considerable enthusiasm for the new resident European clergyman. Stack travelled very extensively around Banks Peninsula and occasionally as far south as Stewart Island.
Stack’s long-term hope was to set up a Maori church within the Church of England, and the ordination of the Reverend George Mutu as deacon in 1872 appeared to offer some prospect of its fulfilment. But the church suffered during the 1870s, not only from lack of money but more seriously from the teaching of the prophet Hipa Te Maiharoa, who drew many throughout the district. Although those around Kaiapoi stayed Anglican, Stack believed that the bitter sense of betrayal over the loss of land had ‘blighted all our work’. He wanted the government to prevent the leasing of Maori land on disadvantageous terms, and to encourage Maori landholding to develop along European economic and social lines. He considered the reserves were ‘ridiculously small’, showed impatience at the government’s slowness in settling claims and was aware of extreme poverty among the South Island Maori, who were feeling the full weight of European settlement by the 1870s. He tried to influence the government to act for those suffering hardship.
When the mission house at Tuahiwi accidentally burned down on 5 May 1870 there were no funds to rebuild it, and after a period in temporary accommodation at Kaiapoi, the Stack family moved to Christchurch in 1874. His proficiency in the Maori language had made it possible for Stack to supplement his meagre clerical income by taking an appointment in 1860 as government interpreter. He later became inspector of native schools in the South Island, as well as presenting annual reports to the Native Department on the condition of the Canterbury Maori. In 1880, with retrenchment, Stack lost his government employment but accepted the charge of the European parish of Duvauchelle; this gave him access to the Banks Peninsula Maori, with whom he rebuilt some church connections. In 1883 James
and Eliza Stack visited England, returning to a series of parishes: St Albans, 1884–85; Kaiapoi and Woodend, 1885–88; and, on retiring from the Maori mission (possibly in recognition of Eliza’s advancing years), Fendalton, 1888–98. He became honorary canon of Christchurch Cathedral in 1894. In 1898 Canon and Mrs Stack left New Zealand, living with her brother in Bordighera, Italy, until 1907, and then in Worthing, England, where Stack died on 13 October 1919.
As a member of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, Stack published a number of papers on Maori subjects. His South Island Maoris: a sketch of their history and legendary lore (1898) was based on a paper delivered to the institute in 1877, and included a list of his informants. He also contributed the section on Maori history to H. C. Jacobson’s Tales of Banks Peninsula (1884). Kaiapohia: the story of a siege (1893) gives a version of the background to the sacking of the pa and incidents during the siege; it also conveys something of its economic importance. Stack organised the erection of a column at the site, with a brief text in Maori and English commemorating its history. Koro (1909) indirectly provides a background to much of Stack’s mission work.
Stack was consulted as an expert on Maori matters by his friend Julius von Haast at the Canterbury Museum. He wrote on Maori subjects for the local press and gave public lectures, hoping to enlighten European society in Canterbury, which largely ignored the Maori world. He chose, on the whole, to omit genealogies from his accounts, on the grounds that these would confuse the European reader for whom his work was intended. On the other hand, he kept close to Maori phrasing for his myths and histories, in order to preserve authenticity. Artefacts collected by Stack, now in the Canterbury Museum, are of very great value. He made a significant contribution to the preservation of Maori placenames, arguing from his knowledge of local tradition that ‘Every part of the country was owned and named’, and the detailed maps of areas round Banks Peninsula which he sent to the provincial surveyor in 1896 bear out that claim.
JANET E. MURRAY
Stack, J. W. Autobiography, 1835–1915. MS. DP
Stack, J. W. Early Maoriland adventures. Ed. with a memoir by A. H. Reed. Dunedin, [1935]
Stack, J. W. More Maoriland adventures. Ed. A. H. Reed. Dunedin, [1936]
Stack, J. W. Through Canterbury and Otago with Bishop Harper in 1859–60. Akaroa, 1906
Stack, J. W. A white boy among the Maoris in the ‘forties. Ed. A. H. Reed. Dunedin, [1934]
The original version of this biography was published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume One (1769-1869), 1990
© Crown Copyright 1990-2005. Published by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington, New Zealand. All rights reserved.
Two Portraits Of Jesus:
The Synoptic Gospels
Begins with John the Baptist or birth and childhood stories.
Jesus is baptised by John.
Jesus speaks in parables and aphorisms.
Jesus is a sage.
Jesus is an exorcist.
God’s imperial rule is the theme of Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus has little to say about himself.
Jesus espouses the causes of the poor and oppressed.
The public ministry lasts one year.
The temple incident is late.
Jesus eats the last supper with his disciples.
The Gospel of John
Begins with creation; no birth or childhood stories.
Baptism of Jesus presupposed but not mentioned.
Jesus speaks in long, involved discourses.
Jesus is a philosopher and mystic.
Jesus performs no exorcisms.
Jesus himself is the theme of his own teaching.
Jesus reflects extensively on his on mission and person.
Jesus has little or nothing to say about the poor and oppressed.
The public ministry lasts three years.
The temple incident is early.
Foot washing replaces last supper.
God
It should not be very hard for people to know God for we are created in His image. Yes we are a copy of Gods basic makeup in the physical form as a human being. To find God we need to find ourself first. To know you is to remove the negative from your heart and soul.
God is good. That is the basic and honest statement that always explains just what God truly is in spirit. God Is Good. There are many rules that a person must follow to be good. God follows those rules Himself and He acts in a good manner.
Great Tales from English History – © 2003 Robert Lacy. ISBN 0 316 72674 5
Augustine and his followers were not the only missionaries at work converting the pagans of Anglo-Saxon England in the years around AD 600. For nearly a half a century, Celtic monk’s from the island of Iona off the shore of western Scotland had been travelling around, preaching Christianity to the inhabitants of northern England. Their teaching were inspired by the kidnapped St Patrick (see p. 33), who, after escaping from slavery children. He had returned to convert his Irish captors-and, according to legend, had also rid Ireland of snakes in the process.
The graphic emblem of the Irish missionaries was the Celtic cross, the symbol of Christianity surrounded by a sunburst. Irish monk happily sought inspiration in Celtic culture, incorporating the sinuous geometric patterns of its imagery into their Christian manuscripts. They shaved the front of their heads in the tradition of the Druids and had their own date for Easter. So in the early seventh century England’s patchwork of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was being converted from two directions, with north and south practising Christianity in different ways.
The problem came to a head when King Oswy of Northumbria married Eanfled, a princess from Kent, who came north with her own chaplain and other followers. They practised their religion in the manner that Augustine had established-including the latest Roman way of calculating when Easter should fall. Christ had been crucified in Jerusalem as the Jews were gathering for the feast of Passover, so Eater’s timing had to relate to the Jewish lunar calendar which ran from new moon to new moon in a cycle of 29 1/2 days. But the Christian church used Rome’s Julian calendar, which was based on the annual 3651/4- day cycle of the sun – and whichever way you try, 291/2 into3651/4 dose not go.
‘Such was the confusion in those day’s,’ related the historian Bede,’that Easter was sometimes kept twice in one year, so that when the king (Oswy) had ended Lent and was keeping Easter, the queen (Eanfled) and her attendants were still fasting and keeping Palm Sunday.’
Oswy decided to call a conference to sort out this clash of timing and to resolve the whole range of differences between the rival bands of priests-among them the vexed question of the correct religious hairstyle, or tonsure. Down in the south clergy shaved a bald patch on the top of their heads, leaving a thin circle of hair all round the head just above the temples, in memory of Christ’s crown of thorns. This was the Roman tonsure that contrasted with the Druid-like Hair- style of the Celtic monks, who shaved the front of their heads along a line going over the top of the scalp from ear to ear, with the hair behind their ears tumbling down in long, flowing and sometimes greasy locks. Not for the last time in English history, hairstyle’s were vivid and visible symbols of divided loyalties.
The two sets of holy men squared off at a synod, or church council, held in 664 at the Abbey of Whitby, high on a hill overlooking the rugged Yorkshire coast.
‘Easter is observed by men of different nations and languages at one and the same time in Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and throughout the world,’ argued the Roman, southern English side. ‘The only people who stupidly contend against the whole world are those Irishmen…’
‘It is strange that you call us stupid,’ retorted the Irish spokesman, siting the support of the gospel writer St John, and, more pertinently, St Columbia, who had founded the great monastery of Iona from which so many of the Irish monks had come.
In the end it was the King who resolved the arguments. The Canterbury side had based their case on the authority of St Peter, who was believed to have brought Christianity to the city of Rome and to whom Jesus christ had said, ‘I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.’ These words from the Bible impressed King Oswy mightily
‘I tell you,’ said the King, ‘if Peter is guardian of the gates of heaven, I shall not contradict him. Otherwise when I come to the gates of heaven, there may be no one to open them.’
heaven and earth seemed very close in a world where life was so fragile. King Oswy plumbed fro the roman Easter, the roman tonsure and overall authority of the Pope in Rome, tying England more firmly to the church’s ‘world headquarters’s, with Canterbury confirmed as the local ‘head office’.
The first reaction of the long-haired monks who had argued the Celtic case was to leave Northumbria disgruntled, returning to Iona and eventually to Ireland. There they discovered, however, that some Irish churches were already calculating Easter according to the latest Roman system- and the Roman tonsure eventually followed. In due course razors would shave the necks and scalps of all Irish monks in the Roman crown-of-thorns style.
Six years later, in 670. King Oswy, whose voice had been so decisive in Rome’s victory, died as he was setting out on a pilgrimage to the holy See of St Peter in Rome. His body was brought back to Whitby to be buried at the site of the historic synod by the sea, and if his spirit did manage to find its way to the gates of heaven, we must presume that St Peter was waiting for him with the keys.
https://youtube.com/shorts/u7wobA0yV0c?si=KDlhU6niOKmuwoGj
KJV Argument:
http://www.chick.com/ask/articles/nkjvtext.asp?FROM=biblecenter
The word Christian is often read with disbelief and sometimes even scorn. Sometimes all associated with this word are respected. Such is the history of a word that means so much to people everywhere.
Human history shows that Christians were once very respected. It was also once popular to call oneself a Christian and often it was said with pride, because to be a Christian was to be different from others who were not upholding the laws of God and who were living lives of sin. Often all people who were considered decent were called Christian, this is shown in many books and novels from the past.
Christian Woman’s Careers
I have noticed a strange thing that has happened to the woman in the Christian church system. These valuable woman, who the church could not cope without, are working hard to help their fellow Christians. What is wrong with that you say? Nothing, except…
What is a church without woman! We need them, working in the background tirelessly (or so it seems), day in, day out. It could be considered a tiresome task except these woman are working for God, in some manner or another. We must thank God for the work that these woman complete to help our churches run smoothly. What a treasure they are!
These woman speak out bravely about that old rogue, the female-career. This subject is often spoken of, the young women who join the religious fold are told of the evils of the world and its pull toward woman and careers. All is done to convince these young aspiring mothers-to-be to teach them to be good wives and good mothers. They are taught how to “hold” the family together, and do many chores of joy to help their partner, their husband, to have a happy family.
Funny though, if one looks deep enough in the churches one may actually go beyond the front trenches and look at those who are doing the teaching. What do we often see? Sure some of these woman are in the older age groups. Some are married, but the children have moved on and have their own families. Some are just learning how to teach. All good I suppose.
But have you noticed that some of the woman in the church seem to have, dare I say it, a career? What is a career? Lets see, it is sure to be something that takes up ones time to a large degree. These people in churches speak of a career as something that gets in the way of the family, a thing that keeps the woman away from her children, or stops her from having a family. You know, she puts aside her family for a career. People with a career get payed, aha, woman in church do not get payed. Oh but through the work of these valuable woman…, these hard working woman must take some credit for the donations given every week to the church – so in a sense there is a payment each week for their efforts (in a way, well maybe ?) Hmm. Something to think about. One could almost look at the Pastors very busy life and call it a career. Yes it is a career. And what about his wonderful busy wife? And do you notice how her children mis-behave, children in child-care tend to behave like that. It is not for me to poke my nose in these places (But I have anyway), as you well know, but… And what about the Sunday School teacher, and Mrs Jones who is in charge of crèche, they sure are busy. In fact mostly behind all that new blond hair and makeup, she sure looks tired.
So if we do some simple math with words and sentences, a paragraph or two, and we come up with an undesirable answer – an answer that will not be accepted in any church system. These woman, they have careers! And some of them haven’t yet got a family, and some of them already have young children. Oh don’t get me wrong, these woman are very dedicated to God. In fact so dedicated, the family are put aside, and so is the husband. So what’s left. A busy church life working for God, and what could be worse is many of these churches are protestants (etc). You know they don’t believe in Monks and Nuns, right? But some could actually say that the exhausted hard working woman of the church (to some degree, a small degree?) could even be compared with Nuns.
Could some of these woman be actually using their Christian beliefs to satisfy their old-world demands for a career, a job. It is about satisfaction, not how you get it. The “feeling” of doing work for God could be a mask, a fence to hide behind while still having a career.
Maybe a career should be compared with something that interrupts a persons family life and gets in the way of rest and family, but also brings in the cash.
Of course there is always missionary work, Christian counseling, volunteer work,…
A Preacher Should Be Holy
This should be so in order for the preacher to be above temptation. If the preacher can be tempted then there is always a possibility that he can be seduced by evil temptations which come in many forms. Jesus showed us clearly that the human mind and body is capable of being in control of our mind and body.
If the preacher is not able to control his physical self then he should not preach at the pulpit for the main sermon as this position is held only for those who have shown themselves that they are able to control themselves in mind and body.
1Corinthions 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Why You’re A Target!
By this I know that You are pleased with me. – Psalm 41:11 NASB
Satan doesn’t want you to know that the favour of God is upon you, that you’ve been blessed by Him and given all the good things you enjoy. Actually he doesn’t
want you to think that God’s done anything for you! His lie is that you’ve no purpose, no power and no potential. To convince you he’ll play the race card. If that
doesn’t work he’ll play the childhood memories card. Finally he’ll resort to reminding you of all the broken promises and shattered dreams. If you buy into it you’ll have
such low self-esteem that you won’t believe God has blessed you in any way, or that you have any real possibility for success in life.
Understand this: no matter how limited your ability or lack-lustre your accomplishments are to date, you don’t have a thing God didn’t give you. Your blessings have
been made possible only because the Lord is on your side. Listen: “By this I know that You are pleased with me, because my enemy does not shout in triumph over
me. As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever” (Ps 41:11-12 NASB). David understood that his enemies were attacking him
because they could see the favour of God on his life. Do you understand that too? If you don’t, you won’t expect the attack, understand the reason for the attack, or
know how to respond to the attack. You’re blessed, that’s why you’re a target! They’re jealous because of what God has done for you. How come they see it, but
you don’t?
SoulFood Bible Readings: Num 29-32, Matt 5:33-48, Ps 44:17-26, Pr 11:12-13
Watch
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
My stepfather Herb and I looked in the direction she was pointing. The three of us were on a driving tour of Arizona after a memorable visit to the Grand Canyon. On this day, we were braving the steep roads and hairpin turns of the White Mountains.
“Oh, Herb, over there, isn’t that some kind of hawk?” my mother said. “Beyond those trees, could that be a coyote?”
“Gosh, Bebe,” I finally said to my mother, who usually spent extended driving time listening to tapes or reading out loud from the newspaper, “where did this new interest in the great outdoors come from?”
“Well, surely you saw that sign when we started up the mountain,” she answered, still peering out the window. “You know: watch for wild animals.”
I caught Herb’s eye in the rearview mirror from my place in the backseat and giggled.
“I’m sure that was a coyote,” my mother was saying.
Of course, the sign was meant as a warning for drivers, but my mother had turned it into an opportunity. I thought about some of the ways I could do the same.
I might respond to yield by resisting the urge to score a point in every conversation and listening more thoughtfully to the views of others. I could turn drive carefully into a challenge to care for each fellow traveler I came across, could remind me to take time to enjoy the scenery as I pass through the seasons, and stop might prompt me to put a halt to negative thoughts and useless worries.
Maybe Mother was the only one among us who saw where the sign was really pointing. I didn’t know if I would ever pass through the White Mountains again, so I set my gaze on the deep woods that rimmed the road, watching for wild animals, too.
Father, as I pass through this world of wonder, let me watch for the signs that point me to You.
By Pam Kidd
They wrote the songs that made you sing
The Sherman brothers now doing ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’
NEW YORK (AP) — Richard and Robert Sherman are the authors of the most-played song on Earth, and for that they would like to apologize to some of you.
The song is “It’s a Small World (After All),” the tune that plays on a continual, multilingual loop every few minutes at Disney theme parks across the world — a fact that Disney employees are only too well aware.
“They must go out of their minds,” says Richard Sherman.
“We’ve driven teenagers crazy in every language,” says Robert Sherman.
The Sherman brothers have built a career writing songs like that, the kind that crawl into your head and stay put. Just scratch a baby boomer and a Sherman song will likely tumble out. They wrote the award-winning tunes in “Mary Poppins” and songs for animated movies like “The Jungle Book” and “Winnie the Pooh.”
Now, the brothers are pulling into Broadway with a refurbished vehicle — “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” the stage adaptation of the 1968 movie that has been playing in London for three years. The duo have added new lyrics and four new songs.
During a recent interview after a matinee preview at the Hilton Theatre, the pair reveled at the boisterous crowds streaming out into the street, many still humming songs created almost 40 years ago.
“It’s very heartwarming,” says Richard, 76, the younger of the pair. “It’s gratifying to have a new generation responding to something we originally created a long time ago. It’s a new show to us even though it’s an old friend.”
“Chitty” concerns a madcap inventor who sets about restoring a magical old car with the help of his two children and a lady friend. Banding together, they save the car from the clutches of the Vulgarians, a fictional dictatorship that bans children and rounds them up.
Like all Sherman works, “Chitty” works on multiple levels. Kids can enjoy the funny flying car and goofy Germanic accents, while adults can hear echoes of the Nazis and admire the playfulness of the lyrics.
“Bob and I, we learned from the master — Walt Disney,” Richard says. “He once told us, early on in our career, ‘Don’t insult the kid — don’t write down to the kid. And don’t write just for the adult.’ So we write for grandpa and the 4-year-old — and everyone in between — and all see it on a different level.”
The Shermans began a decade-long partnership with Disney during the 1960s after having written hit pop songs like “Tall Paul” for ex-Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and “You’re Sixteen,” later recorded by Ringo Starr. They wrote over 150 songs at Disney, including the soundtracks for such films as “The Sword and the Stone,” “The Parent Trap,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” “The Jungle Book,” “The Aristocrats” and “The Tigger Movie.”
One day, Disney handed them a book by P.L. Travers. He asked them if they knew what a nanny was. “We said, ‘Yeah, a goat,’ ” Robert recalls. No, said Disney, a nanny is a British nursemaid. So he asked the brothers to read the Travers book and let him know what they thought. They furiously underlined sections, changed the timeline and combined characters. Then they returned to Disney’s office. He asked them if they’d like to work for him and the brothers said he told them, “Call me Walt.”
The Shermans won Grammys and two Academy Awards for the resulting movie “Mary Poppins,” and went on to pen songs for “The Slipper and the Rose,” “Snoopy Come Home,” “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Magic of Lassie.” Their only other Broadway musical was 1974’s “Over Here!” “Something good happens when we sit down together and work,” Richard says. “We’ve been doing it all our lives. Practically since college we’ve been working together.”
“Fifty years!” says Robert, 79, shaking his head.
“It’s a long time,” Richard laughs. “And I’m only 39!”
The two credit their father, composer Al Sherman, with their love of wordsmithing. His legacy of songs includes “You Gotta Be a Football Hero,” “(What Do We Do On a) Dew-Dew-Dewy Day” and “On the Beach at Bali-Bali.” His sons went on to popularize the terms “fantasmagorical” and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
For “Chitty,” the Sherman brothers were given a gift with a great pedigree: a musical adapted by Roald Dahl from fiction by Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. It came with wonderfully inventive characters like Truly Scrumptious — as well as the title role.
“When we heard ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,’ we thought, ‘Wow,’ ” says Richard. “I remember Bob and I just began playing: ‘Oh, Chitty. You, Chitty. Pretty, Chitty, Bang Bang.’ Play with it! It’s a great sound.”
The Shermans tease songs out of each other, brainstorming song titles and then trying to top each other with improvements. “Being brothers, we sort of short-cut each other,” Richard says. “We can almost look at each other and know, ‘Hey, you’re onto something, kiddo.’ “
There is one rule: Both brothers must agree. Then they shake hands.
That’s how the new song “Teamwork” came about. Robert and Richard were sitting with “Chitty” producers and adaptors trying to pitch ideas for a new tune. Someone in the room said they’d nail it as long as they all worked as a team.
“I thought, ‘Teamwork would make a dream work,’ ” Richard says. His brother shot him a look. “He looks at me and says, ‘Has that been written down?’ I said, ‘I don’t think so.’ He says, ‘That’s our song!’ It was like — bang. We built on that.”
The first draft of the song was written in 30 minutes.
Not all ideas come so easily, of course. The pair spent two weeks trying to nail down a snappy title for a song sung by the nanny in “Mary Poppins.” They considered, and then nixed, “An Apple a Day” and “A Stitch in Time.”
“Nothing was coming,” Robert says. Then one day his 8-year-old son came home from school. “I said, ‘How was school?’ He said, ‘Great. We got the Salk vaccine today.’ I said, ‘Oh, did it hurt?’ He said, ‘No, they just stuck medicine on a lump of sugar.’ I went, ‘Ohhhh!’ That was it!”
“He came in the next day all glassy-eyed,” Richard recalls. The final lyric would become world famous when it emerged from the lips of Julie Andrews: “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
Over the years, the two have raised families and pursued their own interests, yet still live close to each other in Beverly Hills, California, and continue to create the soundtrack for a new generation.
In some ways, their relationship sounds almost too good to be true — something they themselves would script for a feel-good film. Is it possible that there’s been no sibling tension?
“We’re human. We have frailties and weaknesses. But we love each other very much, respect each other,” says Richard. “I’m happy that he’s a successful guy. That makes me a successful guy.”
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/11/sherman.brothers.ap/index.html