Saturday, July 31, 2010

Christian Theory Of Just War

America and the Christian Theory of Just War
by John J. Dwyer article link
February 20, 2007 | LewRockwell

Excerpt:

I. INTRODUCTION

... For my good friends, I must tell you that there is an impostor among us in this day. It presents itself as a lovely and inspiring and even holy thing, but it is actually a pretender, an idol, a damnable heresy. It seeks to swell our hearts with pride and sentiment and certitude, but in the end it demands the right to anything of meaning we possess in this world – our property, our lives, the lives of our children, our faithfulness to the teachings of the gentle and humble Savior who is the Redeemer of our souls and the Captain of our salvation.

This impostor has distorted our perspectives on world affairs, our own country, and our history. It has twisted American Christians’ understanding of our God and the Holy Scriptures He gave us. It has silenced our pulpits regarding that about which they should be aflame with righteous outrage and prophetic utterances, and it has made a lie before the nations of the world of the professions of our sacred rules of law and what George Washington, the Father of our country, called, "our blessed religion."

This impostor, this new god of Moloch, has demanded the deaths, mutilations, and moral corruptions, the mental and emotional devastation, of legions of our young, through multiple generations. Even as we meet here today, it multiplies the enemies of our nation and faith, and crafts a dark and uncertain future for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This impostor, this detestable fraud and rapist and murderer, is American nationalism. It births its crimes in a flag, baptizes them with the anthems of bands, and seals them with 21-gun salutes and the rantings of wealthy demagogues who have come no closer to a battlefield than a television camera or studio microphone.

This impostor is not patriotism, though it would pervert that too. The patriot says, "I love my country," works for its good, and defends it if necessary – against enemies within and without. He strives and prays not primarily that God will bless his country, but that his country will bless God. The nationalist, meanwhile, says, "My country is better than yours." "My country is the greatest there has ever been." "The greatest nation on God’s green earth." "They hate my country because it is so good."

Of all citizens, the Christian should be the most faithful patriot. He should bloom where he is planted, and be a blessing to the country where God has placed him, whether America or New Zealand or Sudan. Yet we in America, especially we in the Church of Jesus Christ, have become the most faithful nationalists. If you do not believe me, talk to Bible-believing Christians from other countries. They wept and prayed for us after 9/11, then stood dumbstruck, with gathering incredulity, as they witnessed what has apparently become our true national character, unfold bloodily, mercilessly, recklessly, on the world stage in the years since.

But be not deceived, my friends, this impostor, and others that claim the place in our individual and national life that should be filled only by Almighty God, were working their will through our actions long before 9/11. In fact, they were in no small way helping to craft 9/11, and other calamities large and small, before and after.

I believe we must confront our idolatrous reverence for American nationalism – for United States nationalism – to escape leaving those who follow us to a multi-generational lot constructed, whether we wish to admit it or not, largely of our own making. And we must face the consequences of our assumptions and attitudes and in order to understand first that they truly exist within us, and second that they actually result in the actions that are the history we shall create and leave those who come after us.

Today I shall discuss some sad and sorrowful events. But these are not my primary message. They are a firebell in the night that something is wrong in this country, and has been, perhaps for a very long time. History – "His Story" as I tell my students, the story of God calling out a set-apart people for Himself from every tribe and tongue, through every generation – can teach us much. And there is no missing the repeated pattern of powerful nations like ours crumbling from within and without after engaging in the sorts of actions I shall discuss in the next few minutes.

But though this portion of the talk may seem to concern bullets and casualties and crimes of violence, these are only among the many symptoms of the true problem. "Power tends to corrupt," said the devout Catholic Christian Englishman whom we know as Lord Acton – and "absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." John Adams said that "our constitution is wholly inadequate for the governing of any but a moral and religious people." As sinful human beings, we are all prone to blindness, shortsightedness, arrogance, and greed. Ceaseless corporate yielding to such pursuits will bring ruin upon a nation. But humility, patience, and suffering faithfulness can bring blessing.

I believe we still have a chance as a nation to count for good for the long haul. Regardless of our national destiny, we have the opportunity as the Church to shine a beacon of light and hope to every nation. Lest we come too close to despairing today, we shall remember the wisdom given to us as precious treasure by faithful, suffering servants of God in generations past.

II. OUR HISTORY ... (excellent historical review follows in article)

... after many years of studying and teaching history, and not from a liberal or politically correct diet of source, I have come to fear that for all our affluence and prosperity and power and even Christianity, we Americans are in a bad way. Our history washes over us like a sea of blood. We now view our supposed enemies as so many digital figures on a computer screen. We urge our children to share and play and don’t hit, and yet our national identity is holding a rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other. (And by the way, I will always support – with Bible and rifle if necessary – our Biblical and Constitutional right to carry both.) We tell our children to find peaceful solutions even as we continue to bomb cities full of women, children, old folks, and babies. Old and young, black and white and brown, we make very good fighters and very good haters. ...

III. JUST WAR

Where to turn but for a remedy to Him who is not a respecter of persons – or nations. To Him who opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. To Him who delights not in the strength of the horse or chariot, but takes pleasure in those who fear Him. In the fifth of Matthew we read of the Beatitudes – the "be happy-tudes" – from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

"And seeing the multitudes, (Jesus) went up into a mountain: and when he was set, His disciples came unto Him:
And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying,
'Blessed are the poor in spirit: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'"

Some Bible commentators attempt to dismiss any temporal applications of this famed passage and suggest Jesus’s intentions regarded strictly spiritual matters, as if the two are not part and parcel of one another. Many others just sort of scoot past the issue. Some, however, unpack, in the case of the "peacemakers" of Matthew 5:9, the implications for the believer in relations with others that are not limited strictly to evangelism.

The splendid Reformed theologian William Hendriksen, for instance, while declaring that the gospel of peace is the preaching of Christ Crucified, wrote:

"’Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called sons of God.’ A blessing is here pronounced on all who, having themselves received reconciliation with God through the cross, now strive by their message and their conduct to be instrumental in imparting this same gift to others. By word and example such peace-makers, who love God, one another, and even their enemies, promote peace also among men. . . . True peace-makers are all those whose Leader is the God of peace, who aspire after peace with all men, proclaim the gospel of peace, and pattern their lives after the Prince of Peace." ... (excellent review follows in article)

... So what are the key tenets of the theory of Just War? Well, many have been put forward in many different forms through the centuries. However, thanks to the efforts of the aforementioned men and many others (refer to article), including some contemporary men such as conservative evangelical Presbyterian minister and economist Ron McKenzie of Christchurch, New Zealand, we can arrive at a consensus catalog of guidelines by which to estimate a war or a proposed war.

First, a Just War must be waged by a legitimate government authority. That is, not by private citizens, pirates, or usurpers. Also, its cause must be justifiable self-defense – as opposed to seeking the territory or property of others or furthering one’s own economic, social or political interests – and its intent to restore a just peace, fair to all. And it must have a reasonable expectation of success in accomplishing that goal.

A Just War must only be fought as a last resort, when every conceivable alternative has been exhausted. Its use of force must be proportionate in response to the wrongs committed. For example, burning every home within a five-mile radius of a partisan ranger ambush of uniformed regular soldiers would not be a proportionate response. Or bombing those homes from 15,000 feet in the air when they contain no soldiers.

Other tenets of Just War with solid Biblical basis include not having a large standing army (Deuteronomy 17:16, 1 Kings 10:26-29, Isaiah 31:1) and not possessing offensive weapons (Deuteronomy 17:16), Just War does not allow for the attacking and damaging of the land that is God’s creation (Deuteronomy 20:19), for "the tree of the field is man’s life," and "the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof." This item alone precludes the use of nuclear weapons, which by nature harm both the land and non-combatants. And, the defensive military alliances so common in recent generations – and so loathsome to America’s Founding Fathers – are decried in Isaiah 31:1–3 and elsewhere.

Rev. McKenzie, the New Zealand minister, further illumines the Just War philosophy when he writes how "God determines the appointed times of the nations and the timing of their rule. (Acts 17:26). No nation has the authority to invade another nation to change its government (even if it is evil). A nation cannot even be invaded to establish democracy. "Democracy," McKenzie continues, "must come from the hearts of the people, it cannot be enforced from the outside." Most attempts by great powers to establish ‘better’ government by force in other nations have failed, because the spiritual forces that control the nation have not been defeated (Daniel 10:13)."

And finally, non-combatants must be preserved from harm. That is, "collateral damage" is not allowed for, nor acceptable, however "regrettably." The first Geneva Convention on War in 1863, and others since, have minced no words: attacking defenseless cities and towns, as well as plundering and wantonly destroying civilian property, are war crimes, performed by war criminals.

IV. CONCLUSION

May Christians remember that a crucified Jesus Christ was God's remedy for the evil powers that animate wicked men and nations. Let us purpose to fast, pray for and serve lands like Iraq – and Iran – caught in the grip of such forces. Let us commit to go to those lands and, if necessary, lay down our lives while armed not with an M-16 but with John 3:16.

I tell my students that we discuss such sorrowful events not because we hate America or we are nihilists without hope. To the contrary, it is because we believe in a sovereign, all-powerful, all-good God – Creator of the universe, Redeemer of us His elect company, and Sustainer of our weak needy souls – and we want to better know how we may please Him, and what are the obstacles and temptations to our doing so.

It is the truest patriot who loves his country enough to call her to task when she is in the wrong. Let the brave soldier who wears the uniform descended from Washington and those who froze at Valley Forge; from those who charged – and stood – at Cemetery Ridge; from those who scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and those who drove their torpedo planes into the teeth of the Japanese carrier force at Midway – let that soldier refuse the order which calls him to war on the innocents. For such an order is an immoral order and should not be obeyed by any American soldier.

And let the Christian clothed in the white robes of righteousness and descended from the Lord of eternity declare that attacks on innocent women and children are a blot on history and on the nation who commits such atrocities. Ultimately it is our humanity that is the collateral damage, we Americans, especially we American Christians – if we remain silent. ...

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Christianity and Avatar
by John J. Dwyer article link
February 24, 2010 | LewRockwell

Excerpt:

... I support discussions of Avatar that enfold Cameron's "religion" and its flaws and dangers. That being said, recent attacks by professing believers – some of them Christians working in or around the motion picture industry – accusing the film of being "Anti-America, Anti-Military" announce the speakers’ own cultural and nationalistic idolatry, if not their ignorance of the gospel itself. Of course, if a Christian chooses Fox News, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter books, and National Review magazine as their primary news sources, they'll be surprised to learn that our country's "military-industrial complex" – to use the famous words of that war hero and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower – has for generations acted as Cameron depicts it in Avatar.

Conservatives who deny the undeniable truth of our (often "well-intentioned") violent, rapacious, money- and power-fueled imperialistic behavior all over the globe are – well, they need some good teaching of the true "Christian history" sort. We should be thankful Cameron did not make Stephen Lang's villainous character in Avatar a Bible-spouting fundamentalist, as so many of our "noble warriors" actually are. (I was particularly struck by the recent story of a leading American arms manufacturer engraving Bible verses inside the barrels of the guns it made to kill people with.)

Christians moan and groan over the Church's ineffectual impact on the world in general and our country in particular. Christians who make (tax-deductible) money off other Christians moan the loudest about it. But why should a holy God honor the efforts of fools? (The biblical sense of a fool is one who refuses to learn.) Those spouting "Anti-America, Anti-Military" epithets about Avatar – and other recent films that criticized our tragic attack on Iraq – behave as stubborn, stiff-necked fools, and place themselves in the perilous role of opposing the Christian gospel of peace, humility, gentleness, purity, sacrifice, suffering, repentance, reconciliation, and redemption. So far as they labor in that direction, they act as enemies of Jesus – not because they criticize non-Christian films, but because of the unbiblical views they hold that animate this portion of their criticism.

Let us criticize those aspects of James Cameron's work – and anyone else's – that fall short of Scriptural precepts. And let us learn from such work when it casts light on our own blindness. We Christians who elect and re-elect warmongering politicians; who sacrifice our sons to serve as hired killers for Caesar; who confuse and terrify a watching world of unbelievers as we baptize our brutal military colossus with Christian symbols, imagery, song, and emotion; who cow our own pulpits into silence when they should be aflame with holy zeal and jealousy for God over such wicked idolatry – we are the villains of Avatar.

Christians should be men and women enough to own up to our shortcomings and assess where we need work to become more conformed to the image of Christ (Isn't that what we teach our children and grandchildren?), even when God chooses to use His enemies and ours to teach us some of those lessons. After all, He was no friend of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, or Romans, as is evidenced by "Where are they now?" But He used them all in His sovereign, Providential plan for sanctifying His people.

As I wrote seven years – and a couple of wars – ago, it is past time for the followers of Jesus Christ to put down our M-16s and to go forth into all the world with John 3:16 as soldiers of the cross and not Caesar.

John J. Dwyer serves as Adjunct Professor of History at Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma City Community College. He is former chairman of history at Coram Deo Academy near Dallas, Texas. He is author of the new historical narrative The War Between the States: America’s Uncivil War. His website includes a five-minute preview video about the book. He is also the author of the historical novels Stonewall and Robert E. Lee, and the former editor and publisher of The Dallas/Fort Worth Heritage newspaper.

LewRockwell home page

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MM Book 1 Chapter 3-19

WAR *IS* TERRORISM, a “war on terrorism” is a contradiction, and belies our spiritual illness: fighting terror with terror reduces man-kind to beasts without conscience, lashing out in the/our darkness !! – war is a taking, it cannot “give” peace [as result], especially if sought “as lie” by a weaponizing of excuse or opportunity: THOSE WHO TAKE, WAR !! – the absence of external conflict is NOT evidence of peace; engendered hatred remains, held within: OUR GOD(-ing) IS PEACE, there is NO other definition !! – war in the service of privilege and claim; asking God to guard the troops while conducting war [a crime *against* God] is to ask amiss; GOD WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN, OR SUPPORT, OUR SINS [deicide in the cause of Mammon] !! – those who conduct war [and those complicit] will be taken in war !! — the Word of God is NOT a “Sword of Conquest” to be wielded in the selfish hands of mankind; God’s “conquest” is a conquest of love NOT war and death !! – [Isa 1:4-5 "sinful nation ... the *whole* head is sick ..."] !! — every war, every conflict is about us, no matter where it is, or whom is involved: HUMAN FAMILY !! – the *excuse* of the other “forcing our hand” into striking, violence/war, criminal acts is exactly that, an excuse; THERE IS *NO* EXCUSE FOR EVIL !! – our awareness of complicity demands our repentance; our “false” family is sacrificing its members: ** FRATRICIDE ** [the crime of "murdering" a brother] and DEICIDE [putting Christ to death; His Way of Love] !! — the systemic APOTHEOSIS [n. of God; deification; consecration]: the Bush/Obama Admin., National Interest, etc., demanding sacrifice; AMERICA USED AS IDOL, “GOD BLESS AMERICA” !! – “America” (the people, their hopes and dreams) used as “divine sanction” by the Nation-State (US Inc.) to enslave the very same !! – America ceased in “being” many decades ago, usurped and misrepresented by the “State”.

MM Book 1 Chapter 3-20

WAR IS *NOT* MORALLY JUST; lack of morality “builds” war – traditional Christian “Just War Theory”, “just cause” determinations, sense of “imminent threat”, “social [corporate] obligations”, etc., all *excuse* mass slaughter in the cause of group selfishness – WAR IS BUILT, DEVELOPED – the US/UK seen as the “messianic” nation(s), in God’s service [generally held public view]; WAR IS *NOT* AN AGENCY OF GOD, MAN DOES *NOT* HAVE JUST AUTHORITY TO WAR !! – God is NOT (self)propaganda, GOD IS TRUTH; developed sin, imposed evil must be overcome by good !! – AGAPE TRUTH, PURE MOTIVE vs. self-serving propaganda of any variant; the LIE told, claimed for benefit/deception; even God’s Word taken/used for LIES !! – using Christ [in vain (in self)], and “being and doing” Christ are NOT the same !! — WAR IS BIG BUSINESS [business is war; cause/effect; resultant] !! — OUR COLLECTIVE SINS/EVIL MUST BE LAID BARE, REALIZED AND REPENTED OF, WE MUST (RE)TURN TO GOD !! — State imposed legality is NOT God’s legality !! — war does NOT ennoble a generation, it does NOT give it meaning; violence is NOT a means of communication; WAR IS NOT ENDURING, ONLY LOVE IS ENDURING !! – war “media” is complicit in the myth making, the excuses for dehumanization: human beings turned into objects – the CARNAL LUST OF/FOR WAR vs. the *ugly* truth about ourselves: WAR IS ORGANIZED DEATH !! – WAR DOES NOT UNIFY, IT DOES NOT GIVE US VALUES vs. State exaltation, heroic idolation – WAR *PERVERTS* SOCIETY AND INDIVIDUALS: PATRIOTISM IS SELF-GLORIFICATION, IT IS PREJUDICE vs. THE OTHER – WAR IS *NOT* SELF-PRESERVATION, IT IS SUICIDE !! – VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE UNTIL SOMEONE SAYS ENOUGH, STOP !! – the COURAGE of FORGIVENESS, a GOD-LEVEL AWARENESS is evidenced when the “strongest” surrenders to PEACE !!

MM Book 1 Chapter 3 web page (widescreen)
MM Book 1 Chapter 3 graphics (widescreen)
MM Book 1 blog home

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Joseph Laycock: Vampire Bible: Will Smith and The Legend of Cain

Vampire Bible: Will Smith and The Legend of Cain
Some are incensed by the idea of vampires in the Bible. But is the idea so new?
By Joseph Laycock article link
July 26, 2010 | Religion Dispatches

On July 16 it was announced that Will Smith has agreed to play the titular character in The Legend of Cain. The story of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother Abel, comes from the Hebrew Bible, though Cain also appears in the New Testament, the Qur’an (where he is called Qabil), and in numerous stories and legends throughout Western culture. Smith’s new project brings an added twist, however: Cain was a vampire.

Although no director or studio has yet been connected to Cain, the idea has created quite a stir on the Internet. Already some Christians have objected that writing vampires into the Bible is sacrilege, while others assert that the story plagiarizes White Wolf games. White Wolf, which produced the popular role-playing game Vampire: the Masquerade, first imagined ‘Caine’ as the original vampire in 1991. (In 2003, White Wolf sued Sony Pictures over the film Underworld, which also appeared to borrow some of their ideas about vampires and werewolves.) However, the connection between vampires and the Bible—if not Cain directly—has a much older history.

Our idea of vampires comes from the folklore of Eastern Europe. While there was a tradition that someone killed by a vampire would also become undead, it does not appear that these cultures were preoccupied with “the origin” of vampires. In folklore, infection was not necessary. A corpse could become a vampire for any number of reasons such as if the individual had been excommunicated or violated social taboos. Some people were simply fated to rise as vampires.

Western curiosity about “where vampires come from” likely began with the Victorians. Vampires interested Victorian anthropologists like E.B. Tylor and Sir James Frazer who were obsessed with finding the origin of religious belief. Then in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published, vividly depicting the contagious spread of vampirism in London. Many readers were left wondering: If Dracula turned Lucy Westenra, who turned Dracula? Who was the “patient zero” of vampirism?

As early as the Enlightenment, vampirologists turned to the Bible and other ancient sources for answers. In 1746, biblical scholar Augustine Calmet said of the vampire panics then occurring in Eastern Europe, “It is certain, that nothing of this sort was ever seen or known in antiquity. Search the histories of the Jews, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and you will find nothing that comes near it.” Conversely, Montague Summers, writing in the early twentieth century, argued that there are hints of vampirism throughout the Bible.

Modern vampire writers had no trouble imagining their subjects’ ancient origins. In 1988 Anne Rice placed the first in ancient Egypt, where the wicked Queen Akasha accidentally became trapped between life and death. In Dracula 2000, the first vampire is none other than Judas Iscariot, which explains the vampire’s aversion to silver (It reminds him of the coin he received to betray Jesus). Cain was first described as the original vampire by White Wolf games in 1991. In 1993, Sam Chupp and Andrew Greenberg produced the Book of Nod—an apocryphal Bible text—as a prop for the game. In this version of the story, Cain kills his brother out of love, not jealousy. To show his devotion to God, he sacrifices that which is dearest to him: his own brother. His curse is to wander the earth forever as a vampire.

So is White Wolf solely responsible for linking Cain, the first murderer, with vampires? If we start from vampires and work back to Cain, then the answer may be yes. But if we start at Cain and work forward, a different story emerges. In Genesis, Cain’s behavior is almost childlike. He is motivated by sibling rivalry and a severe lack of impulse control. But in later retellings he becomes an increasingly demonic figure.

In the first Epistle of John, the author warns his readers to, “Be not like Cain, who was of the evil one.” In some of the legends of Jewish midrash, Cain is actually the product of an adulterous affair between Eve and the fallen angel Samael. Tellingly, Eve has a dream prior to the fratricide in which she sees, “the blood of Abel flow into the mouth of Cain, who drank it with avidity.” The idea that Cain was the progenitor of evil appears again in the Epic of Beowulf, where the monster Grendel is described as one of the outlawed “clan of Cain.”

With such a legacy, it should hardly be surprising that Lord Byron and Bram Stoker—the forefathers of modern vampire literature—also wrote gloomy poetry and short stories about Cain. All things considered, Will Smith’s role as the vampire Cain may actually be an inevitability within the exhausted genre of vampire movies. As for the accusations of sacrilege, perhaps we should look at the link between vampires and Cain not as a revision of a biblical story, but a testament to this story’s enduring effect on the Western imagination.

Joseph Laycock is a doctoral candidate studying religion and society at Boston University. He is also the author of Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampires.

Religion Dispatches Articles by Joseph Laycock
Religion Dispatches home page

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The Progenitor Bloodline (physical begettal, close-near): the high-bred vs. the hybrid

Vampyre - the Aristocratic-Desposyni (source fire within); Predatory (Life-Blood Systemic); Immortal (the Continual); SAGE (Mammon); the Sun/Son "a comsuming fire" - daylight (Christ the day-star); the self-Illuminated (dark-)nightwalkers; [Mid-17th century via Latin pyra | Greek pura | pur "fire"]; dead to Christ yet claiming the resurrection (King-lineage).

(Vere-)Werewolf - Truth-Benjamin Totem; COG Inc., the Anti-Anointed; Full Moon Holy Days (Passover/political freedom, FOT/economic freedom); [Old English werewulf | were- "man" + wulf "wolf" | Indo-European, "man"] [Early 17th century directly or via French | medieval Latin veracitas | Latin verax "truthful" | verus "true"]; ravenous pack/beasts (wolf in sheeps clothing; Lycan); Secular-Judeo-Christianity (Desposynic lineage/authority physically/spiritually); [Early 17th century via modern Latin | Greek lukanthropos | lukos "wolf" + anthropos "human being"]; Zion-Davidic Priests (Mt. Zion: Tribe Benjamin territory).

Hybrid - Progenitor Bloodline "Descendant Responsibility" - Body of Christ: Messianic servant-Priests, servant-Kings; [14th century | Latin , "begetter" | progenit-, past participle of progignere | gignere "beget"]; spiritual begettal, the Begotten-Desposyni; apotropaic, preventing evil [late 19th century; | Greek apotropaios | apotrepein "turn away" | trepein "to turn"]; non-SAGE "eye of the needle" - custodians (protector-preserver; upholder) vs. the dynastic claim and the withholding (the keepers of the dogma).

Mammon or Messiah meta previous post

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Mary Elizabeth Croft excerpt

... Collectively we have ‘created’ our world. Truth is, if we want to know what is going on in our minds, we need only observe our circumstances. If we are happy with our circumstances, we can conclude that our minds are somewhat happy and vice versa. Our circumstances follow our thoughts. Nothing is created without thought, thought is the only source of energy, energy is what it takes to create, and energy is all there is. We have ‘cause and effect’ reversed. Our belief in time and space is what keeps us from knowing real cause and effect. Our circumstances are the result of our thinking, so our judging any situation is based upon our belief that circumstances came first and our response is the result.

The "powers that be" don’t want us, whom they consider the ‘enemy’, to know their secrets. They promote each of us as the other’s competition, when in fact our opposition is way closer to home - our very own ego mind. If we continue to believe that ‘what is going on in the world’ is real and creates fear for us, we must consider that we are continuing to create it. If we want to change the world, which exists only in our own minds, we must first change our minds about the world. When we fear, we serve only the dark entities which David Icke claims thrive on our fear. When we rise above fear, they cease to exist, at least in our minds ... and seeing as everything exists only in our minds ... they will cease to exist - except for those who choose to keep them alive by paying their attention to them. We will win. We are watching a horror movie which ends well. Keep up your spirits in anticipation for the famous final scene.

When we are told something over and over, as in programming and mind-manipulation, the public fool system, media, gov’t propaganda, TV advertising, TV news, satanic ritualistic cult abuse, billboards, sexual abuse, etc., with any emotion surrounding it (e.g.: the official story on the WTC demolitions) ... then the subconscious mind/ ego accepts it as true and incorporates it into its belief system. When the truth confronts us it is automatically rejected; it simply doesn’t fit into the belief system. Its like trying to file into your documents folder, two separate articles with the same title; the computer rejects the second one, even though the second file has the more accurate information (or you wouldn’t be bothering to file it). The computer is at least smart enough to request you either change the name of the second file or dump the original, which is what most people do, since the original is no longer true. But the ego mind is more tenacious than a computer because there is emotional identity behind it. Hence, we find closed-minded people who actually think they know what’s going on in the world, when in fact, it's all just propaganda. Based upon this premise I offer a solution to what appears to be the sole problem of the world with the intention that once we have information about what seems to be yet isn’t, we can change our minds about it, which will empower us to change our beliefs about who we are, which will allow us to change the world, which, by the way, doesn’t exist except as a projection of our minds. Thoughts never leave their source - they boomerang.

Problem - Reaction - Solution

The ego mind tells us that it will solve all our problems for us. What it doesn’t tell us is that it is the cause of all our problems. Does this sound like something we’ve heard from some other entity? “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” The ego/gov’t has a plan:

1. Create a problem;
2. Wait until there is outcry and demand to solve said problem,
3. Reluctantly agree to find a solution for said problem, the cost of which is, in some form, further erosion of our rights and/or integrity, not to mention, already in the works because this was the plan of the ego/problem-creators in the first place.

The IBs’ (Investment Bankers) Commerce Game is a game only they can win. The Banksters cannot lose; they have forced everyone to play and they have forced everyone into a debt from which we cannot escape. US/CA, as a bankrupt corporation, is owned completely by its creditors - the Bankers. They own all levels of the media, government, education, religion, everything; if you have a birth certificate, they own you too. They control every transaction; they control what is going on in the world; they even control the puppet whom the world blames for the terror and threat of war (GW Bush). Do you like the results of this control? Are you enjoying the game? The only way to win the Commerce Game is not to play. We were never meant to operate in commerce; they tricked us into it and for their benefit. Isn’t there something we’d rather be doing? What do banks do with this credit which we created with our signing of promises to pay? They lend it. Banks are not permitted to lend their money or their assets; they are allowed to lend only credit; credit which WE created. There is only liability which is being spread around with the added liability of interest attached to it each time it is used to ‘pay’ someone. The value of the note is thus diminished each time. Hence, we have inflation. When I ostensibly ‘pay’ you $50 for a service you provided me, since I am paying you with notes which were borrowed into existence, and now have interest attached to it, how can it ever get paid? From whence comes the interest to pay when the interest has yet to be borrowed into existence. If I borrow your car, how can I bring back more of your car than I borrowed? It doesn’t exist. Every transaction gets us further into a debt which does NOT exist, except in the minds of the Banksters.

Will I, somewhere along my path of doing what I want to do, just happen to notice that I am no longer serving a major corporation, but rather my fellow living souls? Corporations, by definition, do not exist. They are legal fictions. The purpose for their alleged existence is for their limited liability and that of the living souls who operate them. The ‘law’ does not go after an entity who ‘owns’ nothing. Corporations have nothing to give. You can’t get blood from a stone. Now you see why the wealthiest in the world ‘own nothing yet control everything’.

We ought to stop wanting to own things, since we can’t anyway because we do not have legal title to the things we think we own; we have only equitable title. We are allowed to ‘use’ that which the state allows us to use. This includes our bodies. We cannot ‘own’ anything for which we haven’t ‘paid’ or for which we have relinquished title, e.g. our bodies via the birth registration. Since we have nothing with which to pay, we ‘own’ nothing - unless - we use asset funds to ‘pay’ for legal title. Unfortunately, unless we have handled our commercial affairs properly, we also cannot ‘control’ anything.

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy, and when you’re inside, and look around, what do you see? Businessmen, Teachers, Lawyers, Carpenters, the very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand: most of these people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." - Morpheus - The Matrix. Most people in the world are wholly dependent upon ‘The System’ and cannot function without it. This system forces them to live in a debt cycle which never ends. The system perpetrates an addiction to materialism for the purpose of producing interest which is created from debt. Since debt does not really exist, then neither does interest. Hence, the national debt is a hoax perpetrated by the PTB (Powers That Be). The biggest con game the world has ever known was perpetrated by those who control education, law, media, churches, banks, medicine. They played upon our innate belief that we must earn our right to life, that we are unworthy, not to trust our intuition, that we must depend upon the authorities, that any punishment we sustain is justified and deserved, that we have no self-generated power, that what is outside our minds is real. They have confiscated our health, wealth, love, and peace of mind under this ruse. This scam is known as The Matrix. ...

"How I Clobbered Every Bureaucratic Cash-Confiscatory Agency Known to Man"
by Mary Elizabeth Croft read and/or download pdf.

It Is Time To Burn The Strawman blog link

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

SurvivalBlog: Five Stages of Social Collapse

How to Do More than Survive at the Different Stages of Societal Collapse
Thursday, April 8, 2010 SurvivalBlog
(bold text emphasis added by MMmeta)

Dmitry Orlov wrote about the five stages of social collapse. In descending order, these stages are: financial, commercial, political, social and - last and certainly worst - cultural. In the face of a collapsing society, what can be done to lessen the immediate and local impact at each of these stages? How can we lessen the personal impact of societal collapse? Preparedness is key in any disaster, and societal collapse is certainly a disaster on epic scale. The question then is what to do at each stage of societal collapse.

Here is how to do more than survive at each stage of societal collapse, and what one can do to prepare in advance of each stage.

1. In the financial collapse, currency hyper-inflates or becomes unavailable. If currency becomes unavailable, either due to hoarding or restrictions on allowed cash withdrawals, money becomes scarce. If currency hyper-inflates, the theoretical cost of paying off a loan frequently shrinks. However, in hyperinflation, wages rarely keep up with the devaluation of currency, leaving workers with a shrinking plate on which to pay their existing bills. It is preferable to pay off all debts before this stage, so that lack of money in either scenario does not make it impossible to pay payments and lead to your physical possessions being repossessed. When cash is scarce or worthless, crime frequently goes up. Don’t look like a target. Where possible, lower your profile now so that collective memory will also change; “he used to have all the flashy stuff that’s gone, probably trying to look poor.”

What to do before then: Own your home and property. If applicable, own your business location. If possible, own usable real estate that can be rented out to others in exchange for barter. For example, own outright a plot of land near high density homes that can be rented for gardening in exchange for produce.

2. In commercial collapse, there is a business slow down. Lack of currency or lack of value of cash on hand causes business slow down. Inability to buy goods or pay for their transport creates shortages. To manage this stage, have your own supply source. For example, have a garden for food so that empty shelves at the grocery store do not leave your family hungry. Have a stand of trees that can be harvested for wood so that propane gas lines don’t leave you cold at night.

What to do before then: If possible, become a distributor or seller of these necessities, ensuring your own supply as well. However, this requires building up the business connections and likely getting into the business before a collapse so that you have an established customer base. This requires inventory, storage and protection for inventory, and the means to purchase these products now, but it can create a means of livelihood for the long term.

3. In a political collapse, public order becomes chaos. Police don’t bother policing the streets unless it is their own. Judges don’t see many cases unless it is for the ruling elite or to silence an angry mob outside. In this situation, it is essential to have at least one means of personal protection. If calling 911 is jokingly called government sponsored dial a prayer when we have a functioning society, what will it be called when the police rarely bother to come at all? Own at least one gun, and know how to use it. Teach your neighbors how to use a gun properly, so that their response to a home invasion is less likely to result in stray bullets hitting your home or even yourself. Consider having a family member join private security services. Or set one up yourself.

What to do before then: Organize a local neighborhood watch that actually packs heat, so that violent crimes by armed criminals can be dealt with immediately. An existing organized group can easily ramp up its number of patrols and extend its range. An active group also benefits from knowing the people and the area, thus will not be mistaken for a new gang as it starts to patrol or make contact.

4. In social collapse, the national institutions start to fail. Colleges close. Landmarks shut down. Communication across even intermediate distances becomes difficult and unreliable. In this stage of collapse, local institutions are the only ones left standing - if they are helped to stand. Bolster local institutions like churches and temples by volunteering. Keep food banks open by donating food - thus preventing begging on the streets. When state schools close, support private schools to fill in the gap. At this stage of collapse, strong local social connections become even more important.

What to do before then: Know teachers, lawyers, and supportive personnel that are within a safe commuting distance and who can be there when you need them. If possible, organize home-schooling groups now that can evolve into private schools for children within walking distance. Set up mediation center now with trained mediators and retired judges that can evolve into a local community court when the municipality ceases doing its job or becomes too corrupt to be trusted.

5. In cultural collapse, local institutions fall. This is best described as total anarchy or social collapse. When the Maya abandoned their cities, they were in cultural collapse. When the local institutions fail, the only fall back is family and clan. There is no prospering at this stage, only survival and hope for more than survival later. If society is in a stage of collapse, it is essential to take the right actions long before it falls this far. Move close to family, such as within walking distance.

What do to now: Repair family ties. If the world falls apart and one can only rely upon family, have strong relationships so that they are willing to support you. Build up family members into those you can rely upon Encourage financial responsibility among family members, so that they do not need desperate help when money is in short supply. Encourage strong personal responsibility in the next generation, so that they can be there to rely upon instead of needing help. Help them break addictions now, because that will only be an even greater temptation when the world seems to be falling apart. If your younger family members are looking for mates, encourage them to select spouses who are compatible and in for the long haul.

You may want to consider networking now nationally or internationally with like minded individuals, so that you could join a rising culture that is still strong. Whether it immigrating abroad to another nation or building anew regionally will depend on circumstances of the time and place. However, having the social infrastructure and connections in place now are essential to avoiding becoming a refugee. Whether it is knowing someone you could move in with after your home is destroyed in a disaster or after forced relocation, having family or friends that are like family can give you a destination ready and able to take you in. Also have the means in your own home, such as space and supplies, to help incoming relatives and close friends, in case you are the refuge to which they flee.

James Wesley Rawles
SurvivalBlog home page

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Labor With All Zeal And Diligence

Walter Rauschenbusch

The essential purpose of Christianity is to transform human society into the Kingdom of God by regenerating *all* human relations and reconstituting them in accordance with the will of God. The religious spirit is a factor of incalculable power in the making of history. Unless the economic and intellectual factors are strongly reinforced by religious enthusiasm [the communitarian gospel] the whole social movement may prove abortive. The vastness and the free sweep of concentrated wealth on the one side, the independence, intelligence, moral vigor, and political power of the common people on the other side, promise a long-drawn grapple of contesting forces, but if God be for us who can be against us? It is the religious leaders of the people who give direction to the forces of religion, but most have been coopted by the system [prophets for profit; it is up to the common to be led by the Spirit of God, the common spirit granted to all who seek for the *perfecting* of humanity; Work out *your own* salvation with fear (respect, reverence for God) and trembling (Phil. 2:12)]. The conscience of Christendom is halting and groping, *perplexed by contradicting voices*, still poorly informed on essential questions, justly reluctant to part with the treasured maxims of the past, and yet conscious of the call of the future, the voice of our children.

Ascertaining what was the *original and fundamental purpose* of the great Christian movement - the *life and teachings* of Jesus, and the *dominant tendencies* of primitive Christianity, is imperative due to the impossibility of handling of questions so vital to the economic, the social, and the moral standing of great and antagonistic classes of men, without jarring precious interests and convictions, and without giving men the choice between the bitterness of social repentance and the bitterness of moral resentment. Men must overcome the temptations which made the wrong almost inevitable, and the points of view in which they entrench themselves to save their self-respect. Those who come after us will live in a world which our sins have blighted or which our love of right has redeemed. We must do our thinking on these great questions, not with our eyes fixed on our accounts [the entrenched fear, the blinders], but with a wise outlook on the fields of the future and with the consciousness that the spirit of the Eternal is seeking to distill from our lives some essence of righteousness before they pass away. [CHRISTIANITY AND THE SOCIAL CRISIS BY WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH 1907, 1913 edition, [with additions]]

Orestes A. Brownson

The remedy is to be sought first in the destruction of the priest [the systemic priesthood: religious, governmental and business]; we are not mere destructives; we delight not in pulling down; but the bad must be removed before the good can be introduced; conviction and repentance precede regeneration; moreover we are Christians, and it is only by following out the Christian law, and the example of the early Christians, that we can hope to effect anything; Christianity is the sublimest protest against the priesthood ever uttered ... in the person of [Christ] Jesus both God and Man protested against the priesthood -- we may offend in what we say, but we cannot help that; we insist upon it, that the complete and final destruction of the priestly order, in every practical sense of the word priest, is the first step to be taken towards elevating the laboring classes ... He who redeemed man did not spring from the priestly class ... the chief priests were at the head of those who demanded his crucifixion ...

Let us have no class of men whose profession it is to minister at the altar [the altar of power and commerce]; let us leave this matter to Providence; when God raises up a prophet, let that prophet prophesy as God gives him utterance ... let us have none to prophesy for hire [prophets for profit] ... none of your hireling priests, your "dumb dogs" that will not bark ... what are the priests of Christendom as they now are?; miserable panderers to the prejudices of the age, loud in condemning sins nobody is guilty of, but silent as the grave when it concerns the crying sin of the times ... the next step in this work of elevating the working classes will be to resuscitate the Christianity of Christ; the Christianity of the Church has done its work; we have had enough of that Christianity ...

According to the Christianity of Christ no man can enter the kingdom of God who does not labor with all zeal and diligence to establish the kingdom of God on the earth; who does not labor to bring down the high and bring up the low; to break the fetters of the bound and set the captive free; to destroy all oppression, establish the reign of justice, which is the reign of equality, between man and man; to introduce new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, wherein all shall be as brothers, loving one another, and no one possessing what another lacketh - no man can be a Christian who does not labor to reform society ... no man can be a Christian who does not refrain from all practices by which the rich grow richer and the poor poorer [SYSTEMIC EXPATRIATION], and who does not do all in his power to elevate the laboring classes, so that one man shall not be doomed to toil while another enjoys the fruits; so that each man shall be free and independent ...

We grant the power of Christianity in working out the reform we demand; we agree that one of the most efficient means of elevating the working men is to Christianize the community, but you must Christianize it; it is the gospel of Jesus you must preach, and not the gospel of the priests ... let it be the genuine Gospel [the communitarian way] ... and not the pseudo-gospel, [the gospel of men; worshipping in vain; commandments of men] which lulls the conscience asleep, and permits men to feel that they may be servants of God while they are slaves to the world, the flesh and the devil ... we must preach no Gospel that permits men to feel that they are honorable men and good Christians, although rich and with eyes standing out with fatness, while the great mass of their brethren are suffering from iniquitous laws, from mischievous social arrangements, and pining away for the want of the refinements and even the necessaries of life -- we speak strongly and pointedly on this subject, because we are desirous of arresting attention ... the redemption of the world is understood to mean simply the restoration of mankind to the favor of God in the world to come; their redemption from the evils of inequality, of factitious distinctions, and iniquitous social institutions [in the present world] counts for nothing in the eyes of the Church and this is its condemnation [the systemic, the origins of the evil; band-aid solutions provide temporary relief but no cure; you cannot use evil (the systemic) to propagate the good, in doing so you negate the good]. -- [based on Orestes A. Brownson (1803-76), The Laboring Classes, 1840 [with additions]].

Saturday, July 24, 2010

We Are Eating From The Wrong Tree

MM Book 2 Chapter 6-3

WE HAVE TO REPAIR AND RESTORE GOD’S CHURCH/NATION !! – the corporate structure by its very nature CORRUPTS !! – the many who ruled, and continue to rule over the sisters and brethren were and are symptomatic of a systemic, the corporate church, as many of us were/are, just sitting there [an image of the world, filled with its tragedy, disappointment, misdirection and deception] — our whole society is based on, and organized around consumption, including the corporate church – truth becomes product, proprietary, copyrighted, used for publicity and self-promotion; WE BECOME MERCHANDISE – this is NOT God’s Way, stewardship is God’s Way !! – God is truth and so are we [James 1:21, engrafted word (as instrumentality)], we must *be* truth, not error [our very being], there must be no distinction – to seek/assume greatness, pre-eminence, in the guise of a servant needs a rethink and repentance !! – we are *all* responsible for the truth, we must be truth-seekers, God-seekers, each of us, realizing that truth is *not* imposed, it cannot be.

Christ was tempted in all ways, yet without sin, and the “body of Christ” has been tempted in all ways, *with the sin* – it is important that we claim and hold on to the truth of our spiritual heritage, our spiritual ancestry, and it is important that we examine and acknowledge the error of that same heritage – we must repent and forgive and move forward – we are all flawed and imperfect human beings, any/all of our past sins and transgressions are forgiven upon repentance and any unrepented are placed into the hands of the Father – we have been imprinted with God’s truth and we must continue in it, we must reach out and embrace each other, God will heal us by His presence !!

MM Book 2 Chapter 6-4

God is in control *through* the sisters and brethren, NOT through a hierarchy; *face-to-face assemblies* [we are face-to-face with God, and each other] – no one within the Church of God (COG) was and is sacrosanct [with the exception of Christ Himself]; 1 Peter 4:18 “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” – the ekklesia, the COG with much difficulty, with much hard work *together* is barely saved, WE MUST BE COGNIZANT OF, AND REMEMBER THIS !! – we are sanctified [set apart] together, as *one*, with the honor of *serving* each other, *ministering* [an act, a deed, NOT an office] the gifts God has shared with us, individually, in *true humility* [strength of character (an absence of pride, self-assertion), NOT a cowering, an imposed weakness, a depression (Psalms 14:4)] – God determined and set the “rules of engagement” for the COG and we must, in all truth, seek His will !! – we must overcome the psychosis that pervades the COG [a gated community of mind; the fragmentation (a fragmented mentation)]; we must unlock the gate and open it; WE MUST HEAL !! – our long-term therapy [for each and every one of us] is someone who loves us [ie., mate, family, friend, etc.], and we must ensure that this agape love *is* the COG !! – GOD DEMANDS NOTHING LESS !!

MM Book 2 Chapter 6-5

The work of God is multitasking, a ministry of gifts [the possible number of combinations limitless] — rank is nothing more than levels of ignorance, increasing the distance from God’s truth and its application; the responsibility(-ies) belong to/with the people – we must challenge doctrine and authority wherever it is in error – this is not heresy, this is seeking God, His truth !! — God does not want structured, repetitious prayer and He does not want structured, repetitious Sabbath services or Bible studies – this is not confusion, this is *delight* – the Sabbath is to be a delight to us !! – God wants us to dialogue with Him, reason with Him, in true humility and faith – He does not want us just to be passive spectators, obeying the commandments of men !! — the wider implications of doing nothing must be examined and considered, we will be responsible for any inaction !! – being “Laodicean” [people of my judgement, of my vengeance (people of the curse)] means being the “laity,” the people of God under the authority of man, not willingly exercising their spiritual gifts, not needing each other, the true riches of grace [capacity of service] and fellowship – the guiding principles must come from God, we are all spirit-begotten, we *all* have direct access to God our Father through our High Priest Jesus Christ — our original assumption was in error, the error is NOT with God !! – we fell for the fallacy [the fall], hierarchy claiming and offering knowledge of good and evil, claiming primary conduit of the Holy Spirit, and we bit; we are eating from the wrong tree !!

Mammon or Messiah Book 2 Chapter 6 web page (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 2 blog home

The Ultimate Preparedness Community

The Ultimate Preparedness Community
by George L. article link
The SurvivalBlog Saturday, June 10, 2006

In Boston T. Party’s excellent novel, Molon Labe, the central character, James Wayne Preston, writes an inspiring letter on page 45 to his father outlining the issues he sees requiring separation to build a common community of free people in Wyoming. A better plan doesn’t require moving to one state for a political revolt. For those who are not Christian, please bear with me for a moment. You will quickly identify many of these organizational principles as essential for all group dynamics of individualists freely associating with each other to achieve specific goals. God’s plan of true Church organization does not require a physical move. It simply requires a small gathering of His people wherever they live, organized as outlined by the early apostles. Both accurate orthodoxy and orthopraxy (the practice of the Christian life) are vital to creating a dynamic culture that will overcome today’s popular culture. In 1858, Southern Baptist theologian J. L. Dagg wrote in Manual of Church Order, P. 84-86 that the apostles, “have taught us by example how to organize and govern churches. We have no right to reject their instruction and captiously insist that nothing but positive command shall bind us. Instead of choosing to walk in a way of our own devising, we should take pleasure to walk in the footsteps of those holy men from whom we have received the word of life…respect for the Spirit by which they were led should induce us to prefer their modes of organization and government to such as our inferior wisdom might suggest.”

Just as true conservatives know in order to understand the implications of our Constitution for today, they must understand the root arguments made by both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. These type conservatives will appear radical to the world today. Consider the term radical is from the Latin radix and simply means root. To understand Christ’s organizational format we must return to the roots of the apostles’ writings, while often ignoring the customs around us today.

Remember that no one survives for long without the assistance of others. Within the preparedness community some are primarily interested in political reform, others economic, religious, social or just preserving certain issues we know are important to a free people such as rights of speech, arms, or privacy. None of these issues alone will compete with the culture of tyranny that grows in our midst. We must actually grow an alternative culture that provides a more dynamic and free alternative to what the current environment is forcing upon many of us. Home education was the mustard seed of involvement that resulted in many Americans realizing the ineptitude of the design and intent of government education. Now comes a new growth of social organization I believe will even eclipse the positive experiences of those having grown up in the home education culture.

Everything that happens in this world, including preparedness, begins first in the heart. It then works its way into the subconscious mind and into our conscious thoughts. Only then do we decide if we will take the time, energy, risk and creativity to put it into effect.

The great challenge of the preparedness community is the conflict of world-views. The Western world has historically understood that “civilized” life began first with the integrity and value of the individual. It then worked its way out to the family, tribe, and only then to the state or nation. We are now often at odds with a socialists or communist perspective of sacrificing individual values, even the entire individual, for the better good of the state. We have come a long way from the original values of a government designed to protect life, liberty and property to those of grand social designs that harness your life, liberty, and property for it’s purpose. Even our religious institutions have mostly gone this same route of centralization of power to serve the needs of an “organization” at the expense of basic individual rights.

How does one stand against such a great tide of opposition? Millions have been killed and persecuted in the last century of its oncoming wave of ideology. Many have argued our defense with opposing theories, but with no success against the envied and hate-filled majorities of democracy’s tyrannies. For almost 1700 years the Christian church has organized itself more along the lines of the world’s spirit of collectivism than the spirit of freedom that Christ came to give. Once Constantine made Christianity legal and forced its adoption, the original principles of organization outlined by the apostles in the first several hundred years of Christian growth began to be subverted and then mostly lost. The accurate application of orthodoxy and orthopraxy will show how weak and fallen men are built into individuals of spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical strength completely capable of working together in a spirit of freedom to overcome even the strongest system of collectivism ever created by the fallen nature of man…that of Rome in it’s later days. The success of the Christian home churches in communist China is also an excellent example of the success of God’s organizational system even today.

Please do not discount this brief article as an inspirational or motivational piece. It is neither. It is motivational only to the extent that my desire is to move you toward a self-directed academic study of the greatest “how to” organizational design ever to come form the heart and consciousness of the Creator Himself.

While space does not allow me to get into the details of how the early church gathered in homes, was lead by a plurality of unpaid elders, and provided for the teaching, spiritual and physical well being of its members and often the larger community, please permit me to point you to a few resources to guide you on your self-study:

1. The New Testament Reformation Foundation: home page
2. A Baptist Greek Professor’s blog: blog home
3. For encouragement of young adults: Turning The Tide home page
4. The first week of March 2006 issue of Time magazine gave an interesting overview of the “home church” topic.

The combination of communities of free people working with and alongside others who both home educate and have home fellowships is a viable foundation of building a dynamic decentralized culture. This is far superior to the alternative being forced on us by confiscation of our life from both government taxation and emotional manipulation of a paid clergy system. In summary, first develop a love of freedom, second, a knowledge of freedom, and then, act with inspired courage in being free.

The SurvivalBlog home page

Friday, July 23, 2010

Brian Dominick: Grassroots Revolutionary Strategy

Grassroots Revolutionary Strategy
The Revolutionary Endeavor
by Brian Dominick article link

Maxim One: Personal change is vital to the revolutionary endeavor. We should accept that revolution is by its nature a set of personal acts, subjective transformations of the self being indispensible. We cannot hope to change relationships unless we also change all their components, ie, the individuals who constitute social institutions in the first place. The days of looking at revolution as a cold process or event carried out by "masses" of individuals who are personally no different than when completely subjugated by various oppressions, are fading into history. The new outlook demands that we also look inward, toward each other and ourselves.

Maxim Two: Institutional change is the basis of revolutionary change. We need to look at revolution as an inherently social act, with its basis in the changing of institutions. This is the counter-point to maxim one. While it is a new kind of person who brings about radical social upheavals of all sizes, it is those changes, as they effect institutions and society as a whole, that are the actual evidence of a revolution in progress.

Maxim Three: Populations make revolutions, so control should be actively democratic. True revolution is a participatory and directly democratic undertaking -- guided not by vanguardist elites but by people as a whole. Too many times in the past people have fallen in line behind charismatic leaders with promises of a pre-paved future. The truth is, though, that any revolutionary advances will be made collectively by common people, not those to whom credit is normally afforded. The people who shall be expected to do the work of tearing down the old society and building the New should have full managerial control over the directions their movement takes.

Maxim Four: Revolution is a premeditated process. Rather than being something spontaneous, revolution is a historical "phenomenon" we plan for, patiently, cautiously, hopefully. It is not an event that comes about as a result of historical circumstances. Revolution is not a moment to be seized but a continuing set of struggles which happen because two forces are in conflict. That is, it doesn't land in our lap as a consequence of history, at the appropriate time. We make the time appropriate by planning and building revolution, of which the insurrectionary period is but one phase, not the pinacle or definition of revolution.

Maxim Five: Revolution relies on holistic change throughout the many aspects of social life. Radical changes in any sphere of social relationships do not in themselves make up a revolution, which instead comes about only when economic, political, kinship and cultural life are all fundamentally altered. Major advances for women, queers and young people, while noteworthy advances, are not revolutionary if they are not accompanied by radical alterations of culture, economic changes and also a reorganization of the state. The dominant institutions and ideologies in other spheres will manage to accommodate the advances in kinship and continue oppression. What we need is an all-out, broad-based social change.

Maxim Six: The present, not merely the future, is revolutionary. The revolutionary endeavor is something we experience as we make it, even if the action we are taking and lives we're leading are not acknowledged as "revolutionary" at the time -- however premeditated the process, revolution is not something we wait for. This is why the concept of dual power, building while we resist, is so vital. We may or may not be living in a revolutionary time. Only history will decide that. We may not see an insurrection, the proving grounds of revolutionists, in our lifetime. Again, something we must accept before the fact. However, none of this means we cannot live revolutionary lives, as activists with vision and ideals. So we treat everyday as if it is in the midst of revolution, and we build, and we benefit from what we build, hoping so too will future generations.

Grassroots Revolutionary Strategy web page

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Michael Meacher: Humans Only Have 200-300 Years Left on Earth

Humans Only Have 200-300 Years Left on Earth
Interview with Michael Meacher MP
July 22, 2010 | The Ecologist | Global Research

Former environment minister Michael Meacher on the place of humanity in the universe, intelligent design, the survival of the human race, Gaia theory and uncertainties over climate change

Tom Levitt: Your new book is focused on the destination of the human race, but what is our role, if indeed we have one?

Michael Meacher: Well 99.9993 per cent of time since the origin of the universe elapsed before we even came on stage. That doesn't say that it took all that time to produce this wonderful human species but it does seem odd and I think it shows that we are part of a cycle which is continuing. Ninety-nine per cent of all species are extinct - I don't think there is any guarantee of our survival especially if we remain as irresponsible and foolish as we are at the moment.

Irrespective of that I would expect the evolution of life forms to continue alongside and possibly surpass us. But we are an important part of it - we are the first species on earth in all that time that has a sense of morality and spirituality. These are very significant features of the human species which mark us out as very special.

I don't think the whole universe is about us and that's where we come to Stephen Hawkins point about us being exceedingly insignificant because we are on earth - just one of 8 planets in a solar system going round a sun which is one star, just an ordinary star, of which there are 200 billion in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And there are about 100 billion galaxies...

When you think of it in these terms, we are totally insignificant and almost invisible. So you have a contrast and paradox that is the size of universe, beyond are imagination and yet at the same time we are a very unique species. There is something very special about us. You have to somehow combine those two facts. How is it that a species in such a minute part of the universe should turn out to be so significant in the evolution of life forms? I don't think there is any obvious answer.

TL: Does that lead us to believe in a creator?

MM: The religious answer is that God created us in His own image but it does seem very odd that we have a universe of vast size to produce us and that it has taken an inordinately long time to reach this stage of life forms. It doesn't mean it is impossible but it does seem very odd unless you take the view that time is immaterial and we are only at the beginning of it and it will revolve for ever.

I don't believe science has invalidated religion and it can't because they are two utterly different paradigms of existence. Science has enormously increased the wonder of the religious message. It doesn't force us to believe in it but it is compatible with it.

TL: What will happen to humans - can we survive?

MM: We have become very clever in our improvements in technology and engineering over the last 100 years and the level of productivity and extent of exploitation has increased rapidly. But while the earth is extremely bountiful, there are limits to how many resources we can extract without replacing them or enabling them to be recycled and to recover.

We have an overdraft with the earth something in excess of 130 per cent. We currently consume something like 30 per cent over and above what we are replacing and rather like an overdraft at a bank that can't go on.

I don't think we have learnt to keep within the limits. They are quite elastic but there is a point beyond which they will break and then you will get a complete and massive change in the climate in which the survival of human species might not be compatible.

I think with the current rate of exploitation and current disregard for sustainability that our economy and our civiliation has, I think we will easily reach that point in the next 200-300 years.

TL: Will we destroy the earth as well as ourselves?

MM: I don't think so. I think James Lovelock's idea - that when an alien virus invades the human body it fights back and usually manages to surround and destroy the alien - is more likely. Earth will do everything it can to survive with us being the virus it is trying to destroy.

Climate change is one way it is doing it. It is changing the climate - the atmosphere, temperature, ocean acidity and sea levels - all massive changes cumulatively saying to us that we cannot go on as we are. And we cannot go on as we are because we will lose the basic resources which are essential to our survival.

TL: Can we reverse this situation and stop ourselves from heading towards extinction?

MM: We can - we are an intelligent species. The question is whether there is the political leadership in countries to act on what the scientists say. It's not perfect - the description of the atmosphere and the interactions between so many parts of the climate is very complex and I don't think the science is 100 per cent there, but it's 80-90 per cent of the way there, and is being refined all the time. We certainly know plenty more than is necessary to apply the precautionary principle.

The issue is whether there is the political leadership to guide people. The knowledge is there for them but it is the difficulty in actually getting that change in way of life which political leaders by and large are unwilling to press. They prefer to win elections: people in the west like their comfort zones and way of life and political leaders are not willing to press very far.

I think that will only really change when the human races begins to suffer some of the extremely severe consequences of climate change which may be some decades ahead. They will then realise, as we have with the financial crisis, that we are up against the wall and hitting the buffers and we have got to change.

It would be nice if human beings realised those limits and began willingly to act in accordance with them in order to produce more a harmonious relationship with our environment and greater sustainability. But all the evidence is that we are not wiling to do this until forced to. So yes we can change but I doubt whether there is yet the political will.

Destination of the Species: The Riddle of Human Existence is published by O Books, price £9.99 in paperback

The Ecologist home page
Global Research home page

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Societal Fears Override God

MM Book 2 Chapter 7-5

All of the evil around us is the result of something; it is up to each of us to understand this !! – SOCIETAL FEARS OVERRIDE GOD !! – THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF HUMANITY IS REFLECTED IN THE PHYSICAL, this applies to *all* situations and actions; these are terminal spiritual sicknesses, MANKIND IS SPIRITUALLY ILL !! – ONLY CHRIST PROVIDES THE HEALING [SALVATION] — PATHOS [suffering; disease; feeling], the “quality” in something experienced or observed which arouses feelings of pity, sorrow, sympathy, or compassion; the ** MINISTRY OF TEARS ** answering the collective unconscious, the THEOGNOSIS, the knowledge and recognition [diagnosis]; the health of the community is measured by the number who participate in it [MINISTRY OF GIFTS]; DIVINE HEALING — Genetic Memory [spiritual/physical influences and characteristics imprinted; passed from generation to generation] must be a consideration — the one who has infused his own EVIL and FEARFUL spirit into others, who actuates and governs their minds, the originator and transmitter of all spiritual disease [LUST; his spiritual sacrifice] is SATAN the DEVIL !! – WE MUST KNOW THIS TO BE HEALED BY CHRIST, BY HIS TRUTH !!

MM Book 2 Chapter 7-6

They say the “price of freedom is high”, well God say’s there is no price on freedom; He offers it *free*, it is His to give !! – those who offer freedom at a price are offering slavery instead, to their systemic, and the price of their systemic is very high indeed; it is a price that we cannot pay and too many have died trying [paid the ultimate price] !! — the corporate monies have value because the evil is maintained [the servicing of Mammon; building holocaust]; the “price of freedom” is actually oppression – apathy fed by ignorance will lead to our extinction !! – WE EITHER SERVE GOD OR SERVE MAMMON; we must know what it means to serve God; we already know what it means to serve Mammon – the pain of the past [the fear] envelops each new generation; it is overwhelming our sanity; if we want our dreams to come true, we must first wake up !! – this [contrived and imposed] world is a realm of suffering and confusion [God is not the author of confusion]; the major source of suffering is ignorance and the major expression of ignorance is the belief in a Self – we must become conscious of the fundamental discontinuity and therefore illusion of Self; our purpose, our goal is to be *one with God*, our sense of Self within the One [individually we are NOT one, *together* we are one] – our individual stories are our essence; our goal is not to escape our stories, but to make our stories sacred [WE MUST WRITE OURSELVES INTO THE BOOK OF LIFE] !! – the unique torture of modernity [its thoroughness; impact] is the sense of being disassociated, de-storied [de-humanized], displaced [nameless, devoid of context, history, soul print; SEPARATED FROM OURSELVES AND GOD] – through pain, the torturer aims to force the victim to betray and abandon his story – to lose hope in life is to lose the thread of your story; to recover hope is to reweave the fabric of your story. [Sacred Stories based on Tikkun]

MM Book 2 Chapter 7 web page (widescreen)
MM Book 2 blog home

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Freedom In Service To Control

MM Addendum 1-20

Confidence is faith in-and-of one’s self; we must achieve self-confidence and confidence in/of-and-with God(-Family) – there is no greater enemy than one’s own fears (real or imagined) – our fears will be/are manipulated / controlled by our would-be protectors/saviors, the very same who created/produced the very systemic to which we are so inured; their/its fears have become/are our fears, yet they/it fear us the most – the banality of evil, our complicity, our sin, must be recognized and repented of; only then will we be response-able.

Each and every Human Being is essential to, and for, the survival of the Human Race; the SAGE Agenda will ensure the elimination of the “systemic unneeded” as a resultant; the very survival of the majority of Humankind is threatened; this is Holocaust on a massive scale, systemic extermination (as previously exampled in Russia/Germany pre-/during WWII, and as preliminarily exampled in today’s world: 30-50M needless deaths/yr., one sacrificial death per 1M$ of world economy (to maintain value and markets); to extrapolate further, 1000 Human Beings die/are sacrificed each and every year to maintain the value held by one Billionaire); SAGE authority is considered supra-divine, as Messianic, as binding/bound in Heaven as-well-as on Earth; the SAGE are beyond consideration and examination by the vulgar; Mammon’s systemic/mechanisms ensure and enforce privacy and compliance; the “Bilderberg Meetings”, previously private, are now a vulgarization for public focus/consumption, seeming “approval at large”.

MM Addendum 1-22

The more fear there is in the world, the more people are willing to be ideologically imprisoned and shackled – imprisoned within the prevailing SAGE national systemics, the mechanisms of subjugation and control; democratic-fascism must produce (as a profit/loss) supposed-freedom(s) as its operating theatre (freedom as servant/in service to control); usurpation /misuse/misrule of the “power of the people”, now used against the same and against those considered outside; the idolization, the apotheosis(-sys) of the Nation-State (the identification with, and the defense of); obedience /obeisance as measure (of freedom(s)/of right(s) of Mammon) — Governments ensure/effect compliance — “war is terrorism of the rich against the poor; terrorism is war of the poor against the rich” [quote: BBC.Intelligence2(squared), Debate, Sat.Jan.19.08] — the 1700’s, the “New World” Order established – the concept of America is the “wool pulled over the eyes” by the SAGE (grievous wolves in sheep’s clothing) and their “merchant nation”. ...

MM Addendum 1 web page (widescreen)
MM Addendum 1 blog home

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Plough: Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution

André Trocmé (1901-1971) is famous for his role in saving thousands of Jews from the Nazis, as pastor of the French village of Le Chambon. But his bold deeds did not spring from a void. They were rooted in his understanding of Jesus’ way of nonviolence and the social implications of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God on earth.

In this book, you’ll encounter a Jesus you may have never met before--a Jesus who not only calls for spiritual transformation, but for practical changes that answer the most perplexing political, economic, and social problems of our time.

Newly revised and expanded, this edition includes a concise biography of André Trocmé, and extensive notes on how contemporary thinkers have grappled with his ideas.

Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution
208 pages download book

There is no easy peace. The earth’s exploding population renders more difficult each day a peaceful solution to the problems of hunger, national security, and social justice. Simultaneously, the threat of nuclear destruction continues to hover over the future of humanity.

Meanwhile, the gap widens between the mentality of our contemporaries, shaped by a technological civilization whereby we control nature, and traditional religion, conceived during a rural epoch when human beings bowed under the weight of nature. Though technology threatens human existence more than it ever did in times past, Christian thought – frightened by the responsibilities it should assume – refuses to see in the gospel anything but a message of individual salvation. It might even be said that today’s Christianity finds suspect any actions performed for the physical salvation of the human race. It spurns any practical efforts of authentic Christian obedience as presumptuous and pharisaical – and that in an age much in need of them. Such a reversal of the teachings of Jesus Christ must be rectified, lest the church disqualify itself as an instrument capable of pointing the way for a humanity bordering on collective suicide. ...

All of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, are responsible for the hunger, injustice, egoism, exploitation, and wars that devastate our time. Christians bear special responsibility: knowing that God can change both people and their situations, the disciple of Jesus can help bring into being God’s future for humanity. ...

Moses had instituted a genuine social revolution aimed at preventing the accumulation of capital in the hands of a few. This was to recur every seven and every forty‑nine years. I use the term “revolution” intentionally because the social readjustments commanded by Moses were far more radical than the efforts of modern revolutionaries. Contemporary revolutions grow primarily out of economic disparities caused by technological developments. Jesus’ revolution, on the contrary, drew its strength from God’s liberating justice. By proclaiming the Jubilee, Jesus wanted to bring about a total social transformation, with an eye to the future, yet based on the vision of justice God had already set forth in the past.

The Plough home page
Welcome to Plough Publishing House. Browse our collection of free Christian ebooks to download and articles to read.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Systemic Manipulation

MM Book 1 Chapter 5-18

The “Devil” kills no man, men do; we actuate the Devil or we can actuate God — the corporate “structure” of society, roles/professions; the “State” is all about “corporate wealth” and “national debt”, the enforced “privatization of wealth/profit” and the “socialization of debt/cost”; the “public-Nation” pays for and supports the “private-State”; since the “debt” can never be repaid (as Money is Debt), “income tax” is a necessity to repay the Debt as it is essentially “already issued debt” and it is regarded and collected by the corporate-State as a “franchise fee” for “public” State-Citizenship and Benefit; the Public must pay a “fee” to access some of their God-given “rights” usurped and taken by the State — the State is “private-ownership” overriding and/or dismissing the Nation’s “public stewardship” — “religion” is the re-binding to the systemic; Mammon “is” the possession; the State is all about the controlled “structure” and “psychology” of the Nation (our “group think” and “conformity”); our physical “world view” and our spiritual “God-view”; the monetary “de-meaning” of a Human Being (in “violation of God”); defined in Mammon’s terms: “worth” for life; how can one be “Lord and Master” if everyone actually had “equal rights” in all things.

The link between our “real” world and the “artificial” systemic is our consent whether known-or-unknown; every citizen has been “capitalized” monetarily and nominally as Nation-State debt-surety (the State-issued “Strawman”, the “artificial you”); the SAGE Nation-State “owns” you and everything connected to you (your possessions, even children) — the systemic manipulation of the Nation is pure evil: the very “forces” that assassinated ML King in 1968 selected/placed Barack Obama into the Presidency 40 years later – Mammon or Messiah: “sell your soul to the devil” (lust) or “give it unto God(-ing)” (love); no Human “Being” has “right” to wealth when so many are in poverty (anything above need is greed); the present “spiritual war” is about consciousness, against the “faces” and “masks” of death and corruption, the very “imagery”; negate the claim, take back your sovereignty vs. an artificial systemic evoking real and deadly repercussions; violence (in any form) is a betrayal of our God(-ing) and a failure of our humanity.

MM Book 1 Chapter 5-19

God has NOT abandoned you and you most likely have NOT abandoned God – God has never been very far from you, he considers you a member of His church, not a church controlled by a few select men, but a church of equal brethren, guided by Him; and now, He would like to know if you are willing to reconsider Him ?? – He is extending an open invitation to you and your family to take your rightful place within His community; *God desires and needs you* in His Family !! – God is not self-interest, yet, you are in His interest, and in turn, He is in your interest, we *are* God together – God’s Family is a sharing, a relationship of reciprocal interest [a belonging place; an open experience], not a self-interested taking, but an unselfish giving !! — the high ground of truth is now to be made level, as originally; in diversity is truth, not confusion – reason and worship as way of life; pure religion and undefiled, without spot — open dialogue is NOT confusion – we must come together and converse, amongst ourselves, and with God; we must reason and counsel together [a multitude, not just a select few] – dialogue and cointelligence — we have been sermonized near to death [by men of good intentions, but caught in the grasp of the hierarchal error] !! – God’s brethren, the ekklesia, are NOT passive spectators but active participants – let us start with our own households, then the common household of God, and then the fragmented household of man; a reciprocal sharing, a community of the *gift*, the FAMILY !! — the work of God is active, living faith, the preaching and the witness — the love of God in action speaks volumes, and touches hearts and minds in the full power of God; we are to share freely and openly what God has freely shared with us; this is God’s storehouse !!

MM Book 1 Chapter 5-20

We understand, each of us, *together* with Christ all things taught [God provides the understanding; we are not just to accept another's teaching, another's understanding, even if presented in the Spirit; we must *share in*, with Christ, the understanding and application; we must prove all things, search the scriptures daily]; it is our *relationship* with God that enables us to understand and apply His truth – fellow-laborers with us provide insight, teaching, guidance and example, but it is *with* Christ that we understand, all of us, together !! — free Christianity [free and open community] means we are free to accept the responsibility that comes with being a member of God’s Family; it is spiritual liberty, the unencumbered, self-sufficient environment that is necessary for the Kingdom of God.

The application of God’s Word is the *power* of God; the COG is NOT applying God’s Word [worshipping in SPIRIT and TRUTH] – how we stand in *relation* to our fellow man [and his society] as his future judge [1 Cor 6:2, the saints shall judge the world, the angels] is paramount [we cannot partake of another's sin, or be the cause or occasion of the same] or our role as judge [the judgment to LIFE] is negated !! – the COG systemic must be *of God* NOT of man; we are under judgement NOW [under the same terms as those in the future]; how can we mete out judgement when we are *complicit* in the very sins being judged ?? – THIS AWARENESS MUST TRANSCEND ALL ELSE, AT THIS TIME, IN THE COG !! — Rev. 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, *my* people, that *ye be not partakers* of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have *reached unto heaven* [the hierarchal Tower of Babel; the State/COG Inc.], and God hath remembered her iniquities — the “nature of the beast” is directing the COG, NOT the nature of God !! – the *image of the beast*, the hierarchal systemic [business; the corporate as means/instrumentality] has to be ** REJECTED IN TOTAL **, the absolute disestablishment [of the SAGE/Beast construct] *begins* at the House of God !!

Mammon or Messiah Book 1 Chapter 5 web page (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 1 Chapter 5 graphics (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 1 blog home

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Who is the Author of You?

MM Book 1 Chapter 4-10

Most “personal scripture” is prewritten by others and incorporated without question; who is the author of you ?? – God is the author of our salvation, He will rewrite us, renew us, if only we will invite Him in – our “scripture” has become flawed and only the original author can restore it !! — a community of renewed mind, an altered state of consciousness; the Kingdom of God begins with God’s consciousness — the Holy Spirit of God is God’s own Mind, His very consciousness, His knowledge and understanding from *within* – human spirit overlaid and permeated by God’s Spirit [sub-conscience (subconscious), conscience, *over-conscience*] !! – God’s Mind, His very consciousness, His intelligence(s) residing in us, His abilities, His very “being” a part of our own – He is expressed as our own mind becomes tuned into His mind [our mind truly becomes *our* mind] – the actualization becomes possible as we grow in grace and knowledge, as wisdom expands to fill our being, as we open the doors of our minds [doors, partitions, veils; light enters vs. shadow] to Christ and allow Him entrance to sup with us [to gather together for the common meal of bread, milk and meat; the spiritual manna], our capacity increases, we become nourished – Amos 3:3, can two walk together, except they be agreed? – God’s mind will merge with our mind as we become aware of, recognize, and conform with God’s will, as His will becomes our will, when His objectives become ours – we will exist in a perfect and holy symbiotic, dependent and reciprocal relationship – we will assume the rights and responsibilities of the God Family — we are the active agents in the design and creation of our own intelligence(s), in the service of the Family – the community *is* the congregation [not just the human community but the whole community of life]; we must be the elders at this time, those mature in the spirit, the servant example.

MM Book 1 Chapter 4-11

God’s consciousness awakening in our minds, with the fruits of the Spirit [ nine fruits, nine intelligences ] drawing out and defining our natural abilities, sharpening our intellect [ennead mentation (multiple intelligence)], creating each of us as distinct, unique individuals in the God Family, each uniquely prepared for the responsibilities that await us; God’s nature becomes our nature !! – the Spirit conveys to God an understanding of our thoughts and very being and in return gives us the attributes and nature of God Himself in harmony with our own and/or paired to correct – the Spirit gives to each person the attributes God desires in order to benefit the Body as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; God gives us all different aspects of Himself, and puts us together for the benefit of all – every person in the Family has a particular strength that the others do not necessarily possess; we are all doing a job that we were given by God to do – the Body of Christ has been given people of varied gifts and talents and God does it for the greater glory of us all – the Body benefits by the operation of each one of us, but we can quench the operation of the Spirit; if we don’t pull our weight individually, we can quench the Holy Spirit; we affect each other because we are all one Body, we affect God – the Spirit can be quenched (1 Thess 5:19) by being neglected or grieved (Eph 4:30); our capacity for growth and service is diminished – our understanding becomes darkened as the light fades, as God’s consciousness withdraws from our unrepented sins, our unrepentant attitude; the withdrawal of God’s consciousness, the vacuum of understanding, the absence of light and God’s strength, draws in the adversary’s consciousness which overwhelms our weakened carnal mind, grips our minds tightly in its grasp of error.

Mammon or Messiah supplement summary (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 1 Chapter 4 web page (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 1 Chapter 4 graphics (widescreen)
Mammon or Messiah Book 1 blog home
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