Crossroad for ensuring sustainability

”The world is at a crossroads for ensuring sustainability.
If the right choices are not made now,
future generations will pay the price.
However daunting the task may be,
this is the moment to do it…”

 

Confrontation by people telling lies to force others to avoid the targetted groups

Many times in our life we have to make choices and do we have to be confronted by people willing to force us to make certain choices or to go certain directions. Those who want to re-direct people often are not afraid to use very offensive or intimidating language.

On the internet we do find lots of people who do not mind their way of speech. Some are convinced that their offensive manner of speech can attract more followers (what it seems to do) and shall get people so much afraid that they would not dare to give a negative reaction or would not dare to contradict the web-owner.

Dave Norris picturing Son. H. Spirit. Father. Christadelphians. Unitarians. Created Being. Mere Force. GOD. Jehovah Witnesses.

One such person is Dave Norris who seems to find pleasure in attacking Roman Catholics, Christadelphians and also seems to have a thing (or fling) with Mormons, because all people who dare to give an other reaction than what he expect he calls Morons and Mormons. Because this (seemingly very frustrated) author bombards the net with anti-Christadelphian material and provides several Christadelphian members with hateful or inappropriate language mails, the Belgian Biblestudents, after a lot of patience, did find it time to react on the net and to provide a special website to show people the many lies such people as Mr. Norris are presenting on the net as so called proof that Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other non-Trinitarian Christians are following false prophets, adhering false teachings and are people sent by Satan.

Too many people do forget that this matter about Trinity or not is a very old issue that came into existence after the death of Christ and became a terrible matter long after the death of the apostles, bringing clergy agreeing to a three-headed god for political and power reasons.

The clergy also found an interesting tool to keep people in their power and to please them with offering them all heathen pleasures, being able to have graven images to pray for, to use incense and do all sorts of rites taken from the pagan people and traditions. People also found more  pleasing answers in possibilities to have an other life after this life on earth, than the teachings of the Bible could offer them. The mixture of the philosophical writings, of the Greek and Roman cultures could find a nice amalgamation with the many pagan teachings and were blended in the Roman Catholic Church its teachings.

The Belgian Christadelphian Biblestudents (not to confuse with some other Belgian Christadelphian groups) are aware that lots of people do not have enough bible knowledge and therefore they would love to give an incentive to come to read the Bible, so that it can be examined who keeps most to the teachings of the bible, the trinitarians or the non-trinitarians.

Please come to know this website which want to come to the defence of all non-Trinitarians and in the near future also wants to present the different denominations which believe in only One God Who is One and not three.

Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people

Showing the only One True God and the Way to That God

 

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Have a look at one way of Dave Norris reacting: Reaction to Vragensteller on Christadelphian Hogwash

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Find also

1. Anti Jehovah sites
2. For those who do everything to stop the work of Christadelphians
3. The Trinity matter
4. The Trinity – the Truth
5. Altered to fit a Trinity
6. Trinity – behind a false doctrine
7. Trinity – History

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Related

1. Unitarism [745] – Please take into account that the Belgian Christadelphians have no ties with the JW and that the Belgian Christadelphian Biblestudents may have connections with and have ex-JW members in the Biblestudent movement [those who returned after they first went with the schism group of the JW which was founded by Rutherford and not by Charles Taze Russell, the student of John Thomas (the founder of the Christadelphians)] Mr. Crossroman seems to have a limited view on the Christadelphians in general, but perhaps also thinks all Lutherans are as followers of the woman unfriendly Martin Luther women-haters, though he misses the point that the Christadelphians are not called Thomasians or Thomasists, like we can find Calvinists and Lutherans.
2. Trinity, Logic, and the Transcendence of Transcendence
3. What Constitutes a Cult?
4. Moongazers and Sunflowers
5. In which I cement my place in hell via Newton
6. 18 May: Alison Patrick of the Unitarian Church in Shrewsbury: Unitarian? What’s that?
7. Worship
8. Please don’t call me a Christian
9. I am an agnostic at heart
10. Is religious faith madness?
11. The Conflict that lives on.
12. A Theology of Doubt
13. Letter of the Day: Government must probe trial process
14. When Windows Become Mirrors
15. All One InTent
16. Open Minds, Welcome Hearts
17. The Broken Pastorate
18. Labyrinth #17: Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Rock Tavern, NY
19. A Rescued Life from Cult to Freedom: A Rebuttal of JW’s Beliefs
20. Top Of The Morning: What Do You Know About Jehovah Witnesses
21. Why Jehovah Witnesss confuse people 
22. Jehovah’s Witnesses
23. Denomination’s 5..Jehovah’s Witnesses.
24. August Dickmann-executed without a trial.
25. 10 Things You Should Know about Jehovah’s Witnesses (at that site once again we read the false statement that Charles Taze Russell would have been the first JW.)
26. Leaked Documents Reveal Jehovah’s Witnesses A Pedophile Cult David Zublick Channel Leaked internal documents from the Jehovah’s Witnesses church reveal a cover-up of a huge pedophile ring operating within the …
27. How Should We Act In The Face Of A False Teacher?
28. Was Jesus the Archangel Michael?
29. Do You Have to Believe in the Trinity to be Saved?
30. Ep. 4 – Jehovah’s Witnesses
31. More advice on dealing with Jehovah Witnesses
32. Why I hate fundamentalist people so much
33. Is the Watchtower Using (or Creating) Apocryphal Material?
34. Enduring as a Transgender Christian
35. OSC’s Watchtower street teach pt 1
36. YouTube: Who’s Lying Now Stephen Lett?
37. YouTube: Bigotry & Emotional Manipulation
38. My Interview with Mick Pillar-A Survivor of the JW Cult
39. Congratulations to Naomi!
40. ‘Extremist’ Faith: Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses Report Wave Of Police Raids, Detentions
41. UnBiblical Interpretation Can Cause Havoc To Your Faith
    Unitarian group supports BDS nomination for Nobel Peace Prize
42. Welcome! on a website to promote Unitarian Christianity as the best path to a personal relationship with God.
43. Dare Not Linger
44. Weighing Our Choices
45. The Peace of Wild Things
46. The End of the World

Responsible for what we are

More than one writer and philosopher pointed to the fact that we are all ourselves responsible for what we are, have become or what we shall become.

“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be,
we have the power to make ourselves.
If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions,
it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future
can be produced by our present actions;
so we have to know how to act.”
~ Swami Vivekananda …

The Indian Hindu monk Vivekananda sitting in meditative posture in Cossipore 1886

 

Dr Austin Ejaife *(Ugo1)* also looks at this statement which should be a warning for us all. He writes:

It can be easy for us to lose focus of the incredible potential we possess to make ourselves into anything that we wish ourselves to be. All too often we let the little failures in life get us down, or we lock ourselves up into our current situations in life and our same old routines. But it is true what Swami says here:

today, we are a result of our past actions… and it therefore follows that we can come to be whatever we wish, if we so choose to.

The key is that we must choose to make positive changes… and then act upon those changes now. {Take Action To Bring Yourself Closer To Who And What You Wish To Be}

He too is aware that such changes do not have to happen at once. question is first if we are willing to change ourselves. In which way do we want to grow and mould ourselves when we go along the path of life? Question to be posed is on what do we as a person want to focus?

In this world for many the focus is on material things. Not many are interested in the spiritual richness which can be in front of us. We should be aware were we want to position us in this world and how we want to look at ourselves but also would love others to see us.

Dr Austin Ejaife *(Ugo1)*his advice is

We can make slight changes to our routines that help us to become more positive, more productive, and bring us closer to where we desire to be. {Take Action To Bring Yourself Closer To Who And What You Wish To Be}

But also questions

Why is it easy to get caught up in who we are now and lose sight of who we want to be? {Take Action To Bring Yourself Closer To Who And What You Wish To Be}

So many people fall in the trap of their own ego tripping and selfishness, that they miss the opportunity to become part of a greater unit. Lots of people are also afraid to be confronted with their-self and always postpone to change something essential.

For this reason it is not bad to take in consideration the following thought:

 

“Never again clutter your days or nights
with so many menial and unimportant things
that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along.
This applies to play as well as work.

A day merely survived is no cause for celebration.
You are not here to fritter away your precious hours
when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine.
No more busy work. No more hiding from success.
Leave time, leave space, to grow. Now. Now! Not tomorrow!”
~ Og Mandino

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Preceding

Getting up to bring changes into your life

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Additional reading

1. Change
2. Control and change
3. Only I can change my life
4. A Living Faith #8 Change
5. Concerning the Spiritual Body
6. Control your destiny or somebody else will
7. Sociological changes to be taken serious by the church
8. We will all be changed

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Related

1. The Humans and The Humanity
2. Tunnel Vision
3. I Decided, So I Did
4. Will You Choose Freedom?
5. Choose wisely….#8
6. When things just don’t go as planned…
7. Focal Point
8. Keep Your Eyes On God
9. Isaiah 24-27; Perfect Peace
10. April 25th 2018 – Our Focus
11. Maintaining an Upward Focus
12. Focus; Pt. 2
13. Switching Focus
14. Choosing Our Focus In Challenging Times
15. Distraction from God is extremely dangerous
16. How Big Is Your God?
17. Keeping our Focus on God
18. May 30th 2018 – Seek His Face
19. Choice
20. 28 Quotes To Become Successful With Continuous Improvement

2017 September – Upcoming Days of Awe

The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets), 21 September 2017, 1 Tishrei 5778, and ending with Yom Kippur, 30 September 2017 or 10 Tishrei 5778, are commonly known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance (High holidays). This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.  On Wednesday September we have Erev Rosh Hashanah, followed by the 1st and 2nd Rosh Hashjanah days and the Yamim Nora’im or Days of Awe closing on September 30 with Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement.

Starting the Hebrew Year 5778 we should seriously think about how we want to continue is this particular time where there is so much anxiety and where we can find in so many  places religious groups fighting against each other. Jews and Christians are already a few years under fire and now we curiously also find Buddhists fighting Muslim groups.

What was our reaction when we heard all that bad news about terrorism and fighting (so called) religious people? Did we dare to come up or defend those who were attacked for things they did not do or for which their religion was not guilty?

Gary Bowers questions

What is your level of insecurity over menacing events conjectured by some geopolitical and socioeconomic experts? Such as: the dysfunctional disintegration of the European Union that could cause a chain reaction melt-down of the entire European economy; collapse of the financial system in the United States linked to or independent of Europe’s demise; Iran launching a first nuclear strike to make good on its threat to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and the United States along with it; North Korea doing the same thing; Russia’s ominous intrusion into the Middle East, potentially taking on the United States should we do anything to oppose Russia’s real agenda for being there; an all-out conventional attack by a powerful Islamic coalition of nations against Israel; and other harbingers of man-made catastrophes and natural disasters. {Yom Kippur / With Or Without Atonement?}

These days we should take time to search our heart, look for how we want to approach our life but also the life of others, and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

We have all different ways of handling ourself and our way of life. We also are eager to look at others and often do not mind judging them or pointing with a finger at them.

According to vain Jewish tradition, God supposedly weighs every man’s work to determine who will be written in His books, who will live and die, who will have a good life or a bad life for the next year. The judgement is based on one’s works during the Days of Awe (e.g., repentance, prayer, obedience, acts of charity). The individual’s fate is then sealed on Yom Kippur.

But we should know that we all are already written in the book of life and death from the beginning of times. Also from the moment we are born we do have our own choice to make the right or the wrong decisions, all the time. Nothing is decided just in one day or in one week or in ten days.

Rabbi Mark Glickman

The Days of Awe encourage us not to get other people to take responsibility for their misdeeds, but rather to get each of us to take responsibility for our own. The emphasis isn’t on what they’ve done wrong; its on what you’ve done wrong. Rabbi Mark Glickman, the spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Tikvah in Calgary, suggests:

During the upcoming Days of Awe, when you feel your finger starting to pop out and point at someone else – and pop out it surely will – then just bend that finger back so that it points at you. Focus your efforts not on what others have done to you, but on the ways you’ve fallen short and can improve in the future.

Check what you have done this last year, which past so fast. I am sure you, probably like me, wanted to do so many things and have to admit lots of things we wanted to have done are not done or we did not succeed to do. Let us do teshuva, to give tzedakah and to reflect on how we may improve ourselves. And let us consider how we can help others on that path to the Most High Elohim.

A Temani (Yemeni Jewish) style shofar made from a horn of the greater kudu. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

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With best wishes to you, your family, and all klal Yisroel for a good, sweet, safe and healthy year, full of success spiritually and materially, with much nachas ruach, and a geula shlema for the coming year.

*

Please come to read:

On the Virtue of a Bent Finger: A Challenge for the Days of Awe

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Preceding article

Elul Observances

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Additional reading

1. Perhaps a little bit late, though not less well ment: Happy Rosh Hashanah
2. From dust and breath into living beings
3. Prophets making excuses

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Further reading

1. What about Blowing the Esrog on Shavuos?
2. Haftarat Simchat Torah—Joshua: Strong and Resolute
3. Days of Awe
4. A Sober Israel Experience
5. Looking Back to Look Forward
6. Day 1081: Days of Awe
7. Elul Journey: A New Year Is Emerging 5775 – 11 More Days
8. 49 days until Rosh Hashanah
9. Rosh Hashanah’s Shout for Joy
10. Comfort for a Traumatized Age
11. Respite
12. Elul: Month of Return and Renewal
13. Days of Teshuva 2017
14. Embracing Elul by Heather Rosenberg
15. The Waters Meet Their Limit
16. Melodies for the Days of Awe
17. Days of Awe at CBI 2017 / 5778
18. Contemplative Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
19. High Holy Days 2017: Finding Interfaith Community
20. About this weekend: Selichot and cemetery service
21. Yom Kippur / With Or Without Atonement?
22. Hurricane Harvey & A Year of Prophetic Milestones (2017)

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Related articles

• Faith Council Members Take A Step Back From Advising Trump
• Shadowhunters 2×16 “Day of Atonement” Synopsis & Photos

Adar 6, Matan Torah remembering the giving of Torah

In the people of God their year 2448 (1313 BCE), on the 6th (or 7th) day of the third month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar, Sivan, after Moshe was called up at the mountain of Sinai, God told his chosen one what to tell to the people. With the Shemoth or  Exodus from Egypt only three months in the past, the Jews arrive at Mount Sinai to hear a terrible noise and to see flashing lights. They saw a mountain which was been touched and burned with fire and to blackness and to darkness and to tempest.

“Now all of the people were seeing the thunder-sounds, the flashing-torches, the shofar sound, and the mountain smoking; when the people saw, they faltered and stood far off.”
(Exodus 20:15 SB)

“The people stood far off, and Moshe approached the fog where God was.”
(Exodus 20:18 SB)

Moshe having entered into the thick ‘darkness’ of the clouds, came to hear the Voice of God, the Most High Divine Creator. God spoke to Moshe

“… Say thus to the Children of Israel: You yourselves have seen that it was from the heavens that I spoke with you.”
(Exodus 20:19 SB)

V11p133004 Torah (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There God gave to the Children of Israel what is by most Christians known as the “Ten commandments” but would be better referred to as the (literal translation) ““The Ten Sayings” or Decalogue. These Sayings including more than ten actual mitzvahs. Later Jeshua would tell that he has come not to take that Law away, like so many christians think, but to explain it and to fulfil it.

“Do not suppose that I came to tear-down the law or the prophets; I did not come to tear-down, but to fulfil.”
(Matthew 5:17 MLV)

“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one serif of the law to fall short.”
(Luke 16:17 MLV)

“Now I am saying this: the law, which happened four hundred and thirty years afterward, does not invalidate a covenant* validated beforehand by God in reference to Christ so as to do-away-with the promise.”
(Galatians 3:17 MLV)

Many thousand years ago God found it time that what He wanted people would know very well what He expected from them. He wanted to make it clear to them what His expectations were.
He made it clear what He wanted man to keep to.

For those who doubt it, or use graven images in their worship places God made it clear He does not like such things.

“You are not to make beside me gods of silver, gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves!”
(Exodus 20:20 SB)

No body, who wants to be a child of God, may have more than One God before him or may become unequally yoked with unbelievers and take part in pagan rites and pagan festivals (like Halloween, Christmas, Easter, just to call a few).

It was on Sivan 2 that the Almighty God tells Moshe that He not only wants to give the Jews the Torah, but also wants to make them His chosen, set apart or holy nation, who will follow His commandments. The Jews wholeheartedly agree, replying,

“All God wishes we will do.”

On the third day of the month Moses relays the Jews’ answer to God and then returns to the Jews to tell them that he will be the messenger for the Ten Sayings; that what God told him up high on the mountain.

This weekend, Adar 6, 5777, we remember the giving of Torah and this transitional moment in our history — a moment known as Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah). No longer were we merely the descendants of a great man named Abraham, or simply a Middle-Eastern people known as the Israelites. We had now become God’s people, chosen to learn His Torah and keep its laws. It’s a moment we celebrate every year on the festival of Shavuot, and this year will take place from May 30–June 1.

The Torah and Talmudic sources describe the delivery of the Ten Commandments as a unique experience — complete with thunder, lightning and a smoking mountaintop — and an event of historic significance. Yet the Talmudic account itself actually makes it quite difficult to understand what was so earth-shattering about

“the giving of the Torah.”

It was not that people did not yet know God’s Will. A significant body of legislation and moral lore was already in existence long before the historic event described as “the giving of the Torah.” Indeed, even without the Talmudic tradition it would seem that all of the Ten Commandments given at Sinai are either philosophical axioms (e.g., monotheism), moral imperatives and ideals (e.g., do not murder, do not steal, honour your father and mother, do not covet), or previously received mandates (e.g., the Sabbath). In other words, not the sort of material that would seem to warrant a divine revelation — and certainly not one of such grandeur.

But we should know that it was no simple handing over a book of lore …  God gave man the basic rules to live by, the Ten Commandments.

Please do understand, though the name of the event — the Giving of the Torah — implies that the entire Torah was given that day, this is not the case. In fact, only the Ten Commandments were taught to us that day, and even they were only transmitted verbally. The physical luchot—the tablets — were not given for another 40 days.

Nevertheless, the name remains, as it marks the day the Elohim began the process of giving us the Torah. In that light we should remember this weekend which great gift we were given so that it would be much easier for us to know how to keep in line with God’s desires.

First we were taught the Ten Commandments. Then, Moses stayed on Mount Sinai to learn from God, for 40 days. We too can take such 40 days to meditate and wonder about our relationship with the Most High. You can call it a time of reflection. Also Jeshua took such a time to think about what God wanted from him and his followers. He too had gone in the desert for 40 days to contemplate. Jeshua also took time to cogitate and was not afraid to deny the requests from others to denounce God or to test God. Also God’s people had to wait such a long time before they saw Moshe back. Though they proved not to be as strong as Moshe and Jeshua, Jesus Christ, who thought it most important to do the Will of God and not his own will. Though it is clearly impossible for Moshe to have learned ‘all 385 commandments’, he did learn the rules they are based on, and so it is considered as if he actually learned them. On stone tablets the basic 10 sayings cover most rules. The rest of the Torah was communicated in stages throughout the Jews’ 40-year sojourn in the desert.

In short we could say

The Ten Commandments

1. Believe in Only One God.
2. Do not believe in other deities.
3. Do not take God’s name in vain.
4. Keep Shabbat.
5. Honour your parents.
6. Don’t murder.
7. Don’t commit adultery.
8. Don’t kidnap.
9. Don’t give false testimony.
10. Don’t covet another’s possessions.

The Ten Commandments, In SVG (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This our the basic rules for man to follow. The 4 first ones you could consider laws believers in God should follow, but the 5th until the 10th commandment form the basic rules for all people, who should take care to be able to live with each other in the best and most peaceful conditions. By obeying those given ethic laws for humanity man should be able to live in peace.

Although Matan Torah is known as the time when God gave us His Torah to study and keep, there were a few Israelites who had kept the entire Torah of their own volition before Matan Torah.

Now the moment had come that the Elohim Hashem Jehovah asked man to take the act of making a conscious choice or decision. It had become time man had to show for Whom he wanted to stand. From the beginning of times God had given man freedom to act or judge on one’s own. Now it is time for man to show that he has the ability or power to discern what is responsible or socially appropriate.

Man has to make the choice how he is going to behave in a community. He has to choose the position he is going to take opposite others and how he is going to treat them.

Before Matan Torah, those who observed Torah did so entirely of their own accord. It was their own choice and we can not tell in what way they wanted to do it. We can only guess how they saw it as a matter of having a good relationship with the Divine Creator.

Probably their connection to God, therefore, was only as deep as their understanding and feeling. Like today people who come into the faith cannot know yet all what they have to keep to and have to go on a path of learning to come to know what God really wants from them.

The Title page of Mishnah Torah by Moshe ben Maimon haRambam, published in Venice in 1575 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For us tonight having Matan Torah in our mind, we look at the time the Elohim connected His Essence to the Torah and gave it to mankind and as such also to us. Each of us has the own responsibility now to decide to accept that given Torah or to deny it. Each of us should see how The Law of God is our safeguarding but also our inner set apart (holy) contact with the Most High. When we observe the Torah, therefore, we are connected to God’s essence, no matter who we are and how much we understand or feel. {Likutei Sichot, vol. 28, pp. 11-12.}

Fear may have seized those at the fields before the mountain of Sinai, but we should not be in fear, because “God has visited his people!” and given His instructions so that they could live according to the Wishes of God. We should know that in every place where God’s Name is recorded He will come to us and will bless us.

“Moshe said to the people: Do not be afraid! For it is to test you that God has come, to have awe of him be upon you, so that you do not sin.”
(Exodus 20:17 SB)

“A slaughter-site of soil, you are to make for me, you are to slaughter upon it your offerings-up, your sacrifices of shalom, your sheep and your oxen! At every place where I cause my name to be recalled I will come to you and bless you.”
(Exodus 20:21 SB)

“I will make a great nation of you and will give-you-blessing and will make your name great. Be a blessing!”
(Genesis 12:2 SB)

“So are they to put my name upon the Children of Israel, that I myself may bless them.”
(Numbers 6:27 SB)

Moshe wrote down the Words of God and that way even today we can read what God wants from His creatures.

“Now Moshe wrote down all the words of YHWH. He started-early in the morning, building a slaughter-site beneath the mountain and twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.”
(Exodus 24:4 SB)

Moses repeated the commandments to the people, detail by a Carolingian book illuminator circa 840 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Preceding articles

Our life depending on faith

God’s wisdom for the believer brings peace

Mishmash of a legal code but importance of mitzvah or commandments

Written by inspiration of God for our admonition, to whom it shall be imputed if they believe

Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion

29. Laws that Value People

Responsibilities of Parenthood for sharing the Word of God

Luther’s misunderstanding

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Additional reading

1. Statutes given unto us
2. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
3. Necessary to be known all over the earth
4. God-breathed prophetic words written torah and the mitzvot to teach us
5. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
6. Displeasures and Actions of the Almighty GodJudeo-Christian values and liberty
7. Not trying to make the heathen live like Jews #1
8. Hello America and atheists
9. 1,500 to 1,700 years old Chiselled tablet with commandments sold at auction

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Further reading

1. Our Competition With God
2. A Summary of Exodus
3. February 6, 2017-The Beginning of Law’
4. Intro to the Ten Commandments or The Ten Words
5. Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:1-17
6. Exodus 24:12-18 Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights
7. The first commandment – Putting God first
8. God verses our gods
9. God’s nature revealed as Law
10. The 10 Commandments
11. The Ten Commandments
12. The Ten Commandments and Prophesy
13. Daily Prompt: Ten
14. Do You Keep the Ten Commandments
15. 10 Rules Worth Following
16. Ten Commandments
17. Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians?
18. The beginning
19. Can the Old Covenant be abolished if the Ten Commandments are not?
20. “The Catechism in Six Parts: The Ten Commandments”
21. How Not to Learn from The Bible
22. God the Father – “I did not create you so that you could do whatever you want…”
23. Want What You’ve Got! (Lent)
24. Christian Parenting, Ten Commandments, and Les Miserables
25. It Depends
26. Idolatry & The Shack
27. Honor Your Parents
28. What I’m Reading: Are You Normal?
29. Simple Standard
30. Rules of the Road
31. Sabbath, Creation, Guarding and Observing
32. Top Ten Secrets From The Foundation Of Our World
33. Simply following the Ten Commandments isn’t enough
34. Seven Fundamental Practices: Sabbath Rest
35. Sermon: Who Do You Love?
36. Love and the Meaninglessness of Scripture
37. Lying
38. Lust of the eyes
39. Morality and neurochemical impulses
40. Shorty*: What Ultimately Comforted Job?
41. Jesus Christ – “Remember, you are not here to please man with your actions but God – God’s Laws never change”
42. I’ll Do It My Way -the terrible harvest of moral relativism

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Related articles

• Why Do Christians Fight?
• School Does UNTHINKABLE To Ten Commandments After Liberal Mom’s Attack
• Valley High 10 Commandments monument to find new home at Catholic school
• Sufjan Stevens Wants You To Remember The Ten Commandments
• TODD STARNES: Atheist forces school to drop Ten Commandments – New York Times ignores Starnes’ latest best-selling book ‘Deplorables’
• School district agrees to remove Ten Commandments monument
• God Hates Fags church now attacking Jewish people too
• God Will Sustain You
• Oldest known 10 Commandments is in America, in Ancient Hebrew Script-From time of king Solomon
• Passover Traditions

January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works

In the past there have been many discussion about the possibility man being good. When we look at the world today it seems not much has changed. Along all sides we can see people who do not want to share the luck they have with others. This has come to a high point with the refugee crisis. It is understandable that people want to protect their own goods and culture, but often they are too much afraid that their way of living would be in danger by others from far away coming to live in their regions.

Several people are convinced that people who are fleeing from war-zones can not be good and trustworthy people. According to several Christians it is even impossible for a human being to be good from himself and as such no one can be reliable.

A17th century Calvinist print depicting Pelagius. The caption says “Accurst Pelagius, with what false pretence Durst thou excuse man’s foul concupiscence, Or cry down Sin Originall, or that The love of God did man predestinate.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The controversial British monk Pelagius in the fifth century had taught that man’s nature was essentially good. This was not to the liking of the Catholic Church leaders who found that because of Adam’s sin all men were born with a strong tendency to sin. It is even for that reason that lots of Christians do say it is impossible for Jesus to be a man. Because he was without sin he should be God, according to them. This naturally is not at all true and makes of God a horrible Creator, having created human beings who can not decide for themselves to do good or bad. Worse it would also mean that God gave man commandments He knew they would never be able to follow.

Pelagius rightly said that an individual had the power to do right by choosing to do right and by beating the body into submission through ascetic practices. Traditional Christianity said that men could defeat their tendencies to sin only by the working of God’s grace in their heart. According to the churchleaders Pelagius‘s ideas meant that Christ‘s death on the cross served more as a moral example than as an atonement able to transform the soul from within by divine force, which meant against going their doctrine of sola fide.

Those who think that Old and New Testaments alike teach us that we cannot change ourselves have not very well read the Holy Book of books. In the many books which form the bible we do have many examples of people who have gone from bad to good but also from good to bad and sometimes returning to good.

Saint Augustine from a 19th-century engraving

The Christian philosopher and theologian St. Augustine or Augustine of Hippo (354-430), best known for “The Confessions” and “The City of God” was responsible for the excommunication of Pelagius.

While in Rome, Pelagius first heard of Augustine through his reading of a prayer from Augustine’s Confessions: “Give what Thou commandest and command that Thou wilt.” To Pelagius, the philosophy expressed in this prayer sounded like the total abandonment of human responsibility and a denial of the ethical dimensions of the Christian faith. If all moral action, thought Pelagius, depends solely on God — both the commanding as well as the ability to obey — God is either an arbitrary tyrant or else man is a creature deprived of free will. Pelagius conducted his teaching along these lines while he was in Rome, and it was to this teaching that an able lawyer, Caelestius, responded, leaving his profession of advocacy and becoming Pelagius’s disciple, companion, and the popularizer of his views.

Caelestius’s Pelagian views continued to spread, and soon Augustine was preaching and writing with intense fervour against this what he called a new heresy, arguing that the whole lump of humanity is infected with sin and that only the grace administered in baptism can wash away the guilty stain.

In spite of these admonitions from the Doctor of Grace, the controversy continued, and it was not long before the articulate bishop of Eclanum, Julian, stepped in to argue the Pelagian cause, forcing Augustine, by the clarity of his logic, into positions regarding the doctrines of grace and predestination that have been burdensome to Western Christendom ever since. {Encyclopedia of World Biography | 2004}

Today we still find many who do not want to see that man has a lot in his own hands. Today there are still lots of Christians who think it is impossible for man to live according to God’s Wishes and that he does not have to do any good works to enter the Kingdom of God because it is just impossible for him to do such good works.

According to Augustine it is not possible to lead a sinless life, with (for whatever reason, probably she had to carry the god son according to the Catholic Church) the exception of the Virgin Mary. For Augustine divine grace must precede every virtuous act and today many Christians are also still convinced we are all saved whatever what we have done and whatever we do in our life.

For such Christians who try to put sand in the eyes of searching people, the saying that we need works to enter the Kingdom of God is heresy. For them it is not only possible for man not to sin, they are not able to bring any change in the salvation of themselves.

The caricature of Pelagianism found in many orthodox textbooks and devotional manuals is hardly one that Pelagius would recognize. He never, for instance, denied the need for grace or for infant baptism; he never accepted the position that man can, by his own moral efforts, achieve his salvation. On basic doctrinal issues, Pelagius was certainly orthodox; and on matters of Christian morality his chief concern was to foster among Christian people a right regard for the ethical responsibilities he saw as inherent in the Gospel message. {Encyclopedia of World Biography | 2004}

The Christian attitude is a very important issue which was been tackled by rabbi Jeshua (master teacher Jesus Christ) with a lot of delicacy. The Nazarene Jew, who was not afraid to bring others to see they had no right to judge others, told his listeners many parables in which he tried to get them to understand that we must be very careful not to loose the right to enter the Kingdom of God.

Lots of Christians are mistaken to think they do not have to do any good works to enter Gods Kingdom. It is true that they are saved and have nothing to do to get under the Grace of salvation. But what they forget is that, though they received salvation for nothing, they can loose it when they do not work at themselves. The leaders of the Protestant Reformation, 1,500 years after the last books of the Bible were written wanted their flock to believe that Jesus paid the full prize or penalty for our sins, so that nothing had to be done or paid any more. They added their human doctrine, which is nowhere written in the Bible, saying that

Jesus paid the punishment for our sins, he having fully atoned for our sins and by saying “it is finished” he did what no human could do, make up for their sins and made an end to everything what had to be done.

But it was not finished by having to come to God (a work) or to follow God’s commandments (again demanding works).

It is totally wrong to think once new born and/or being baptised, we are cleared and have a free way to enter into God’s Kingdom, or what some are thinking to go to heaven. In case a person has fund Christ and has come to God several works are needed. First of all before finding Christ work has to be done to come to know him and his God. Once a person believes in Jesus Christ, the son of God, that person has to convert to Christianity which again is a work to be done. But once baptised it is not finished. Than the person has to work at his or her character and try to stay on the right track, following God’s commandments, which shall require again some, not to say ‘lots’ of works.

Every Christian must work to control themselves. Once having become a Christian that person should try not to lie, to steal, to betray, to fornicate, to murder and many other things he or she should avoid doing (which demands work). If none of these works are needed for salvation the person could have sex with as many persons or animals as he or she wanted no matter the gender. If no works have to be done a person could also continue to do fraudulent actions, without having to worry.

It is for the reason having so many Christian preachers trying to convince others they do not need to do any works, and because of the reaction by Grow Pastor, Minister to Men, Ken Miller to us, at his article That’s the Spirit!, that we think it opportune to warn people of the lack of understanding of the given grace.

Christ Jesus died for all people, sinners or not. By the works of faith he has done, we received the Grace of Salvation, but when we ignore his calling or his heavenly Father’s calling than we shall not be allowed to enter the Kingdom of god when we did bad things and did not repent about them. It is not by works of justice that we had done, but, in accord with the mercy of God, Him willing to accept the ransom offering of His son. Through Jesus Christ our Saviour we are been justified by his grace and are we allowed to become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

When Saul had become a follower of the Messiah he looked at the work of the master teacher and at the sacraments which were given to those who followed Jesus. The apostle wrote

Romans 3:27-31 The Scriptures 1998+  (27)  Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what Torah? Of works? No, but by the Torah of belief.  (28)  For we reckon that a man is declared right by belief without works of Torah.  (29)  Or is He the Elohim of the Yehuḏim only, and not also of the gentiles? Yea, of the gentiles also,  (30)  since it is one Elohim who shall declare right the circumcised by belief and the uncircumcised through belief.  (31)  Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.1 Footnote: 1See 7:12.

and gave the Romans to know that they thought or hold that a man is brought into right standing with God by faith and that observance of the law has no connection with it.

Saying that he did not confirm that

“by faith apart from deeds of the law” as meaning, “by faith alone”

but him affirming that we then not through faith make null and void the law; instead, we confirm it. It is by our faith that we shall do certain works according to the faith. Pelagius considered that sacraments are elements believers should keep taking throughout their life. For him it was like it is for us, that faith should be expressed and perfected in works. Submitting to Jehovah His works in the proper disposition, which is that of faith, is an action or a work to be done.

Too many Christians forget the importance of the feeling we should have about what we have done. If we do not feel bad by the wrong things we have done and do not repent for them, for sure the Bible shows us, we shall not receive an entrance in God’s Kingdom. Repentance and teshuvah demands a work. Staying a good person also demands work. All those that say we do not have to do any work of faith, are either forgetting what the Bible tells about it and are insinuating we can do whatever we want and shall still be saved.

On the other hand it is very strange that it are just such preachers who talk so ferociously about salvation and no works needed for salvation, who also preach about damnation in a hell, a place of eternal fire.

Luckily the Bible speaks about the end of our life by death, and that we once we die shall not be able to feel anything any more. No frustrations, no pain, no sorrow any more when we die. Then it shall all be finished, but then it shall also be too late if we did not choose for God and did not work at our own self.

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Please do find also to read:

1. Salvation and Righteousness
2. Elul Observances
3. God’s wrath and sanctification
4. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
5. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus
6. Back from gone #4 Your inner feelings and actions
7. Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
8. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
9. Good and bad things in this world
10. Establish your hearts blameless in holiness
11. Myth 12: The Hyper-Grace Gospel Makes People Lazy
12. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
13. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
14. A Living Faith #6 Sacrifice
15. Humbleness
16. A race not to swift, nor a battle to the strong
17. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong
18. Being of good courage running the race
19. Bearing fruit
20. To Soar In The Spirit You Have To Be Hard Core
21. Our stance against certain religions and immigrating people
22. Religion, fundamentalism and murder
23. Daring to speak in multicultural environment
24. As Christ’s slaves doing the Will of God in gratitude
25. 2014 Religion
26. Disobedient man and God’s promises
27. From pain to purpose
28. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #17 Sorts of prayers
29. God’s forgotten Word 5 Lost Lawbook 4 The ‘Catholic’ church
30. Daily Spiritual Food To prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of God
31. Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism
32. When not seeing or not finding a biblically sound church

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Further reading

1. No one is saved by the law. Salvation is by faith through Grace.
2. The Justification of Abraham
3. St. Paul Didn’t Say Faith Alone
4. The Law of Diminishing Returns
5. A Call to Dare God
6. The Tangible Presence of God
7. Devotion for Monday After the Second Sunday in Lent, Year C (ELCA Daily Lectionary)
8. Grace is a soft gospel for soft Christians & The Hyper-Grace Gospel Makes People Lazy
9. Did God really say “Prevenient” Grace
10. Can someone who genuinely loves the God of Israel, prays to Him and trusts him go to hell? The New Testament says…
11. I was wrong – but I am right – Calvinists preach a false gospel.
12. The pain of radical grace
13. The power of grace
14. Seeing Christ
15. (12/04/2015) By More Than Believing
16. Faith Child – Forget the poor!
17. (01/13/2016) How To Treat Unbelievers?
18. Repent so that you can understand
19. Faithfulness
20. Faith Without Works (Pastor Joe Taylor)
21. Faith without Works ??? (1 Way to live)
22. Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life: Faith Alone Does Not Save
23. The Works
24. Faith in Action
25. Put Your Faith Into Action
26. Fashion advice?
27. Intentional God
28. The Sower of Seeds: A Parable of Jesus
29. Matthew 23:23 [Coming Soon]
30. Studies in Mark (Pt. 8)
31. Galatians 5:4 [Unfinished]
32. Galatians 6:7-9 [Unfinished]
33. Ephesians 2:8-9
34. Titus 3:5-7
35. NT Reading – October 5
36. James 1:14-20 — Faith that Works!
37. James, Part 2
38. The Book that Almost Wasn’t: Faith, Lists, and Works ~ James 2
39. Tuesday Devotional: Revelation 2
40. Faith Without Works Is Dead
41. Putting Legs to Their Faith
42. Are You a doer???
43. Are You Willing to do more???
44. Mincing no Words
45. Epistle for September 6, 2015
46. Tell it Tuesday w/ B.Parker|How To Pray When Life Isn’t Going Your Way
47. Tell it Tuesday w/ B. Parker| It’s 2am and No One is Answering…Who To Call?
48. Childish Thinking
49. Are You A Weed?
50. Sneaky Subjectivism
51. What Future?
52. Intentional Avoidance, Disconnected Ignorance, or Disinterested Forgetfulness?
53. We Are All Damaged Goods…
54. Just Sitting There
55. The Subnormal Christian Life
56. 14 How to Work Your Way to Hell
57. Faith Life Congruence
58. We pray and plead with you…”Do You Job!”
59. Gospel Doctrine 2015 – Lesson 42 – “Pure Religion”

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• Does the Pope Know Something The Rest of Us Don’t?
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• Messianic Jews, Mission and the Vatican
• Receiving Christ no matter the season
• The Spirit Speaks – of the One Greater than the Church
• Anti-Christian persecution isn’t all about Islam…
• Thoughtcrime? College Professor Put on Leave for Saying Muslim & Christian God Are the Same – David Pakman Show
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Swallowed in the Sea but belonging to earth

The response to the refugee crisis so far has also raised profound questions about a failure of European principles, a trembling of the pillars on which the bloc was founded more than 20 years ago.

The European Union’s reputation, and its faith in Brussels, have suffered in the past few months, with sharp and vocal divisions among member states and continuing doubts about Greek economic sustainability.

The migrant crisis “risks bursting the E.U. at its weak seams,” said Stefano Stefanini, a former senior Italian ambassador now based in Brussels.

“It’s more dangerous than the Greek drama and more serious than the euro, because it challenges fundamental European accomplishments and beliefs.”

Refugees enter a registration camp after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border on Nov. 11. (Robert Atanasovski/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

A translator by degree, who loves writing, thinks that every day we have a choice but that some others do not have a choice. Talking about the refugees he writes

every single day we have so many decisions and choices to make or take, but not them. {Swallowed in the Sea but belong to Earth}

Water of the mediterranean sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

though he forget that they made a very important life changing choice, which was for most of them not so easy to make. though it is true

When they’re in the middle of the sea, where nobody can hear or see them, except for the lord, their choices are, to get lost or get found, to get safe or swallowed by the sea. {Swallowed in the Sea but belong to Earth}

they shall be very limited in their choices, but not without.

Those who might fear those refugees coming to their regions should wonder why those people left their families and their country of birth. for many of them there not only shall be the confrontation with totally different people, a total different culture, but also a grey air, cold and wheat region. How they would not long for their sunny country which nice temperatures?

We should not be angry on them, but should be cross whit those fighters and human smugglers. We should look at the politicians and figures behind the scenes.

Syria is considered the tragedy of the century, and it has been swallowed by the sea of war for the past five years, therefore the Mediterranean Sea will never be an exception. {Swallowed in the Sea but belong to Earth}

Those confronted with an ongoing war had to make the hard choice to leave everything behind what they loved. They made the choice to go to unknown places or to place where they heard from and got some information about. But what were the sources which fed them and what was the reason of those sources to bring them to certain countries, like Germany. Can it not be that they are just used as pawns in a game of ‘Stratego’ or ‘Chess’ to destabilise a part of the world where some states are trying to make one strong Union to be able to stand strong in the stream of the Great Powers, the United States of America and Russia, and to be able to cope with the growing powers of the East, India and China. Could it be that ISIS is a product of American in-action or a product of direct action?

The inhabitants of Europe should realise that they were formed by generations of mixed people coming from one or the other place in Europe and having built a culture over the years which many of them do find in danger,but when they would be strong enough believers they should not fear. The people behind ‘Islamic State‘ are very well aware that those living in Europe have become victims of capitalism and are mostly people who have no strong believes any more. For the ones who want to create a big caliphate it seems best to polarize Western society — to “destroy the grayzone,” as it says in its publications. Islamic State is pushing at an open door to divide Europeans. The group hopes frequent, devastating attacks in its name will provoke overreactions by European governments against innocent Muslims, thereby alienating and radicalising Muslim communities throughout the continent.

The last few years we have seen several attacks by individuals are small groups. Last weekend attack are different in the way that they were very organised and well managed. They are a proof that ISIS is getting better organised in Europe as well as in their battle fields.

Since January, European citizens fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have provided online and material support to lethal operations in Paris, Copenhagen and near Lyon, France, as well as attempted attacks in London, Barcelona and near Brussels. Islamic State fighters are likely responsible for destroying the Russian airliner over the Sinai. These attacks are not random, nor are they aimed primarily at affecting Western policy in the Middle East. They are, rather, part of a militarily capable organization’s campaign to mobilize extremist actors already in Europe and to recruit new ones. {The Islamic State’s trap for Europe}

Some of those who entered Europe by the Mediterranean sea had also some other goals than the ones who were really hoping to find a better life in Europe. Those are also the ones we do find complaining about not having the right food or doing things which we consider not acceptable, like peeping in women’s shower cells or fighting with Afghans or others. They are in for their own selfishness and for stealing from the others. Their actions undermine the politicians their strategy to bring the refugees into different villages and to get them integrated. Such revolts against the people who are giving them a roof above their head makes the civilians angry and giving them a wrong picture of the Muslims and the refugees in general.

Harleen Gambhir writes in her opinion piece for the Washington Post

Unfortunately, elements of European society are reacting as the Islamic State desires. Far-right parties have gained strength in many European countries. France’s National Front is expected to dominate local elections in northern France this winter; on Saturday, Marine Le Pen, its leader, declared “those who maintain links with Islamism” to be “France’s enemies.” The Danish People’s Party gained 21 percent of the vote in national elections in June on a nationalist, anti-Islamic platform. The anti-foreigner Sweden Democrats is steadily growing in popularity. {The Islamic State’s trap for Europe}

The Syrians had to make a choice and had to bear the sea. Now the Europeans have to be careful not to be swallowed by an equally dangerous sea of treason and hate, by making the wrong choice.

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Preceding articles:

Israeli leaders delight in Europe’s cruelty toward refugees

Human tragedy need to be addressed at source

Poster: Please help the refugees

Real progress leaves nobody behind

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Additional reading:

1. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
2. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
3. State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
4. Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
5. Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
6. ISIS a product of American in-action or a product of direct action
7. Complaining and fighting asylum seekers not giving signs of thankfulness
8. bORDER-Gastrofest
9. The New gulf of migration and seed for far right parties
10. Asylum seekers crisis and Europe’s paralysis
11. Britain’s position in an age of increasing globalisation
12. French Muslims under attack
13. Syrian but also Belgian connection to French attacks
14. Islamic State pushing at an open door to divide Europeans

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Further reading:

1. US, French Defense Ministers Discuss Campaign Against Islamic State
2. The Nihilistic Assaults On Paris – OpEd
3. Ordinary peace-loving person tries to make sense of terrorism
4. The Liberal Islam Problem
5. The France theater Attacks
6. Paris attacks: What we know so far about the victims
7. In Photos: As France mourns, Europe holds moment of silence in honour of Paris victims
8. Post About it, Be About it: thoughts on social media activism
9. Terrorists Infiltrated Europe Disguised as Refugees
10. Reuters: Islamic State threatens attack on Washington, other countries
11. Making ☮ : Where does the peace symbol come from?
12. Paris, Pussies And Pinterest
13. A Moment of Silence
14. Passport found near Paris suicide bomber shows few security checks exist for migrants in the Balkans
15. Facebook defends using Safety Check after Paris attacks
16. “We The People Speak” Marketing Campaign
17. When Compassion Imperils our Security
18. TV Quiberon 24/7 WORLD – Minute’s silence for Paris victims
19. I’m with you
20. Celebrities mourn Nick Alexander, merch manager killed in Paris attack
21. Anonymous declares war on Islamic State after Paris attacks
22. BidenJam Returns: Lame-Duck VP Brings L.A. Road Closures Monday & Tuesday
23. A Message About The Paris Attacks, And Also Peace
24. French fighter jets bomb ISIL capital in Syria as ‘massive’ retaliation for Paris attacks
25. Make no mistake, the Paris attacks were a result of Religious Fundamentalism
26. Paris attacks deepen Republican opposition to Syrian refugee influx
27. On the attacks in Paris.
28. Disturbing comparisons
29. Investigation on Paris attacks continues as authorities look for suspects

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Related articles

• Russian soldiers refuse to fight in Syria
• Russia to hold drills in the Mediterranean
• Most Read: Dam the Mediterranean
• EU decides on 120K refugees’ relocation and hardly anyone believes in the project’s success
• The Ballad of Aslan and Rose. Teen and Dog Flee Syria Together
• A Global Response to the Mediterranean Migration Crisis
• EU announces second phase of Mediterranean anti-trafficking operation
• Theresa May maintains tough stance on ‘economic migrants’
• EU refugee plan attacked on eve of crisis summit
• Hungary may consider ‘corridor’ for migrants to pass from Croatia if Austria and Germany agree and take responsibility for it, Hungarian PM says – @DailyStarLeb

Freedom and amendments, firearms and abortions

In certain countries the debate about abortion and birth control is being enforced with the influx of refugees and having more people to get so poor that they can not afford a family any more.

In the United States lots of people react negatively on any form of giving help for women with questions about having children or in avoiding having children. In the U.S.A. it is harder for a woman to get an abortion than it is for someone to buy an AK-47. Atpoklop with her “we all need feminism” hits the nail on the head and should bring much more American Christians thinking.

Lots of those Pro-Life and Anti-abortion groups have very big words and shout a lot from the roofs, telling the whole world we should protect life and that nobody has the right to take the life from the unborn child. Though they do not seem to have any problem with carrying weapons and are defending the right to shoot at some one even to kill him or her. Suddenly the act of forbidden killing does not count any more.

Many people do seem to forget that the centres for parental planning have a good reason to be there and have a good reason to keep existing, proving a lot of necessary education to avoid the worse and mostly also to avoid people to be placed in front of the awful question to abort or not to have an abortion.

People holding signs at a Planned Parenthood Rally, NYC 2011.

In the States Planned Parenthood has 35 percent of its total activities, like similar organisations in many other countries, revolving around sex education and providing contraception.

Instead what (so-called ‘pro-life’ policies have) succeeded in doing is compromising the health of thousands of women, all while the number of abortions increase. {Bobby Jindal’s Anti-Women Policies in Louisiana: A Case Study}

Lots of people forget a government has to protect its citizens, the one which are already there, but also the unborn or the ones which could come to being. It has to create directives, rules and regulations and provide laws to be a guidance and for being able to react justified when something goes wrong or when there is discussion about a certain event.

Having certain things put in laws does not mean that those laws are providing for moral justice.

To be blunt, the legality of an act is not enough to make it moral. One clear example of this would be antebellum slavery, which was legal for quite some time in the United States. Would those who want to assert that legality is enough to make an act morally permissible agree that slavery, at that time, was moral? If so, that is a tough pill to swallow. {“But it’s Legal” – Does the legality of an act make it moral?}

In history we see that several groups of people tried to find ways to provide their own society only with ‘justified’ beings, totally according their ‘wants’.

About what happened in Germany student member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the Evangelical Theological Society J.W. Wartick writes:

By willingly participating in and carrying out genocide and other atrocities, despite having orders to do so and acting within the laws of their land, the Nazis had still violated a higher law, which held them to a moral standard. There remains much debate over the legal basis for the convictions and executions of those who carried out the atrocities, but it seems that if one ultimately wants to argue that the law is all it requires to make something moral, they must side with the Nazis and agree that they should not have been held accountable for their acts. {“But it’s Legal” – Does the legality of an act make it moral?}

Who can be accounted for their acts?

Who is going to decide who is wrong, when was wrong, who is right, when was right?

We can therefore see that the mere appeal to a law to argue something is moral is not enough. Anyone who disagrees must assert that slavery, as it was being conducted in the United States, was at least morally ambiguous if not a moral good, because it was legal. Similarly, they must assert that the genocide the Nazis carried out was itself at least morally ambiguous if not a moral good, because it was legal and they did it under orders. The absurdity of these two conclusions should lead any reasonable person to agree that the legality of an act is not enough to establish its morality. {“But it’s Legal” – Does the legality of an act make it moral?}

Thus, the simple legality of an act does not make it moral. An appeal to an acts legality does not mean it should be dismissed from moral scrutiny. Planned Parenthood should justly remain under intense scrutiny. {“But it’s Legal” – Does the legality of an act make it moral?}

For sure every act, every law, every organisation, people should question and look under the loop to see if it is in accordance to what they belief is ‘just’ or ‘right’. But they must be careful by judging and sincerely look into the matter, balance the pro’s and con’s and compare with other possibilities.

In case there are no centres provided by the state to help girls, young women, young men, to help them in questions those youngsters do not dare to come with by their own parents, is it not better to have professionals guiding them? Is it not better that those who have doubts about carrying a child have some safe haven where they can sincerely discuss all different possibilities and can come in contact with others who had to make such not easy choices.

We may not forget that life is not just black and white but is a very complex matter, where people do have to find solutions which are ‘human-worhty’.

A Catholic family man, raised in a healthy Protestant family, posted a graphic that depicted the number of human deaths from some of the biggest contributors since the American Civil war in a pie chart. The contrast between the human deaths from abortion versus all of the major American wars is dramatic when displayed in a chart like this.

According to him

abortion has taken more lives than all of the other wars in which America has fought. {Abortion and crime rates}

But I wonder where he got those figures from and if he sincerely knows the historical figures of American citizens killed in fights all over the world, let withstand only those finding an end of their life in weapon violence.

Another thought that can be presented in the pro-choice position is to find statistics, which with considerable explanation, attempt to tie a correlation between an increase in abortion, and a drop in crime as being a causal relationship. This is also an irrational untenable position, as seen with just a little rationality applied. {Abortion and crime rates}

It is true that

No one is weaker than a newborn infant, except an unborn infant. An unborn human is different from a born human only in stage of development and location. {Abortion and crime rates}

But that does not justify the carrying of guns when older than three and having the right to shoot one down when an adult or adolescent.

Hypothetically speaking, if you could prove that the crime rate among Jews was lowered during the holocaust, would that justify the death of six million Jews? Absolutely, positively, with all emphasis – no, it would not even be considered. The level of ridiculousness that this proposal achieves is morally less than the justification of killing 50 million humans because it arguably lowers the crime rate. Combating the evil of adult murder by killing a weaker, more vulnerable human population is entirely ridiculous. “Evil” cannot be vanquished by committing another “evil.” {Abortion and crime rates}

When going into a debate about pro-life or pro-abortion people do have to look at both sides of the medal.

And people may not forget abortion in the first instance is not at all about reducing crime rate or avoiding that criminals would come into the making. It is all about figuring out how the person with child can be helped to make the right choice for herself and for what she is carrying.

About the politicians who have to make the choice to allow something to exist, people forget they themselves are also responsible for them being there. In most democratic countries everybody has the right to vote and can have their say about the politics of that country. It is up to each citizen to let hear his or her voice. but they also do have to know that they cannot expect all other citizens to have the same opinion and/or the same faith as they. They too have to respect the freedom of the other person to make other decisions than he or she would take.

For many Americans the government may not touch the freedom to carry a weapon. They are convinced they should have the right to have the easy facility

as simple as point and shoot {Don’t Just Stick to Your Guns. Lock and Load.}

Voice out world which want to create an avenue for people, especially the youths, to speak out against everything around that is morally wrong, also to express your opinions and thoughts, writes

The never-ending debate on racial act of terrorism will not go away neither will the wayward use of fire arms by some citizens of the US. Every time a shooting occurs and people die or get injured the gun control issue comes up just for a little while until another shooting occurs again. This is a cycle that should be stopped.{Charleston shooting: The observation of an onlooker}

But is it not strange that the country which is so afraid of terrorism and spends billions of dollars against religious fundamentalists who not yet present one tenth of the amount of people killed by weapon-violence in the States of America? Whilst such violence seems worth to be protected for the right of mankind. And what about the rights of women who have to live with something or who do not want to live with something?

The fire-arms lobby in the United States is mightier than the president and has lots of so called Christians a smoke screen in front of their eyes. Those who defend the right to carry a weapon and who think they have the right to shoot at some one for sure do not have any right to condemn those females who have to make a terrible life-decision. Those pro-fire-arm people have for sure no say in the abortion matter, wishing the pro-abortion people to hell. They should look at their own heart first.

That is also what Jesus asks his followers. Before judging an other, please do look in your own bosom. How can you know the difficulties an other person is having to make a certain choice? How can we decide over some one else life and over some else his or her choices?

It is true that

“Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote.” {Archbishop Fulton Sheen}

but it is not always to see what is right. Often after words the ‘right’ is on the victor’s site. What is considered wrong by one person can be looked at the right thing to do by an other person, and the opposite. But all created in the image of God have an inborn feeling, a gut-feeling that can tell us what is wrong and what is right. More people should listen carefully to that gut-feeling.

All judging in the end will be up to Jesus and to no other man.

In our society what is important is that we should give a good education on all sort of matters and learn people how to behave. Because we have more people not being aware any more what is written in the Bible more people should make work of it to let others know.

When more people would become aware what is demanded from them by the Creator already less problems would occur. By knowing what is written in the Bible a person has their view of life and death and ethics reoriented back to the way God designed us to see things.

When people would get to know more the Biblical truth and come to love that above human sayings there can grow a life that will be not falling so easily for the traps of worldly life. Out of faith in Jesus people will find fulfilment and purpose, identity and dignity in living in harmony with God, and no longer shall depend on having a drive to find those things within oneself or in the systems of this world.

A true follower of Jesus shall love the master his teachings and shall try to live accordingly. He or she shall also try to be like him, in seeking to live first for God and for others, not for themselves, being aware of the values of life and respecting them.

>

Please do find also to read:

Republicans’ Love Hate Relationship With Waiting Periods

GOP Takes One Hell of a Swing at Planned Parenthood—and Misses

Bobby Jindal’s Anti-Women Policies in Louisiana: A Case Study

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Preceding articles:

Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion

My Choice (by Jezabel Jonson)

The Real ‘Choice’

“They Told Me What I Wanted To Hear” – Real Abortion Stories

The Things We Carry, by Penny

Hillary Clinton Says Religious Beliefs About Abortion Have to be Changed

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Further reading:

1. Christian values and voting not just a game
2. The trigger of Aurora shooting
3. High time to review the right to keep and bear arms
4. American Senate ignoring many voices and tears of their own people
5. Outreach to rednecks
6. Speciesism and racism
7. Maker of most popular weapon asks for repentance
8. Newsweek asks: How ignorant are you?
9. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #4 Mozaic and Noachide laws
10. Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America at war
11. Demonizing families in poverty and misleading actions
12. Last Events of Old Testament – Right of Wrong?
13. Forms of slavery, human trafficking and disrespectful attitude to creation to be changed
14. Time for all to act against free military-style assault weapons
15. Subcutaneous power for humanity 3 Facing changing attitudes
16. A look at the Failing man
17. Inner feeling, morality and Inter-connection with creation
18. Paris World Summit of Conscience, International interfaith gathering #3
19. Failing Man to make free choice
20. May reading the Bible provoke us into action to set our feet on the narrow way
21. We should use the Bible every day
22. Feed Your Faith Daily

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On other websites:

1. Don’t Just Stick to Your Guns. Lock and Load.
2. Peter Kinder for Missouri Governor!
3. Charleston shooting: The observation of an onlooker
4. The Empty Hand in the world of Firearm
5. VA Sends Veterans’ Medical Info To FBI To Get Their Guns Taken Away
6. Safety Around Firearms Challenge
7. Great Moments In American Politics: Pulling a Gun While Being Drunk in the Senate
8. Owners of billboard featuring ar-toting Santa defy critics
9. UN Gun Treaty to Take Effect?
10. How Diehl Stopped Second Amendment Preservation Act in the House
11. Abortion objectifies both women and children
12. If the baby is part of the woman’s body…
13. Morning Motivation
14. Baptist convention’s ‘Outreach to Rednecks’ includes gun give-away: Holy or holy crap?
15. Ky. Baptists lure new worshippers with gun giveaway
16. “All it takes is one good man with a gun….’ – The ‘Jesus Wants Me Packing This I Know’ Edition – ‘Kentucky Churches Giving Away Guns To Help People Discover Jesus’
17. “All it takes is one good guy with a gun……..” – ‘The Facebook Post Taking The Gun Debate By Storm: Gun Laws Should Be Like Abortion Laws’
18. God’s And The Republican’s Will -‘Huckabee Supports Denying Abortion To 10-Year-Old Rape Victim’
19. Personhood – The Republican Religious Right War On Women – ‘Huckabee Floats Plan To Deploy U.S. Troops To Stop Women From Getting Abortions’
20. ‘California Lawmaker: Abortion, Liberal Politicians May Have Caused Drought’
21. The Republican War On Women – Because….You Know…..Abortions – ‘Pro-Life’ Texas Legislature Bans Planned Parenthood from Cancer Screening Program’
22. Living In A Republican World – The Republican War On Women – ‘Republican Filibusters Abortion Ban Because Of Rape And Incest Exceptions’
23. Lock and Load for the Lord
24. Pat Robertson, born March 22, 1930 – a bad year for botched abortions
25. ‘Biblically Correct’ Independent Candidate Susan-Anne White Is Back With More Anti-Gay Rantings
26. The End? (from “Forward”)
27. Who is with me?
28. Meat On Our Bones: The Next Four Years
29. Texas Defunds Planned Parenthood
30. Texas cuts off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood
31. If we value life, we don’t get to choose which lives we value
32. Disclaimer: Strong Opinions
33. I stand with Planned Parenthood.
34. The Child I Didn’t Plan For
35. A False ChoiceThe Stance of Planned Parenthood: Why is this debate important?
36. Shared Post: On Foster Care and Social Workers
37. What If Planned Parenthood Is Sincere?Where to find miracles
38. “They Told Me What I Wanted To Hear” – Real Abortion Stories
39. Devaluing Life
40. A Conversation With “Safe,” “Legal,” and “Rare
41. ”Changing Camps- How I Became “Pro-Life”Contributor Spotlight at Catholic Mom
42. I propose we save the baby
43. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice
44. David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill
45. For This Cause I Was Born
46. SJT – Redemption (Midwife Openings)
47. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Daydying right: a recommendation
48. An insider’s perspective of Planned Parenthood
49. For Those Who Haven’t Lost
50. Planned Parenthood quietly drops a bombshell on day of Democratic debate
51. Federal lawsuit filed in San Diego to stop California pregnancy care center
52. “Bully” law AB 775 that coerces conscience violating speech.
53. “Blessing” an Abortion
54. Human Trafficking
55. The Real ‘Choice’
56. Planned Parenthood and the Future
57. ‘Pro-Life’ issues and human rights
58. Standing Up for Life
59. ICYMI: Would Defunding Planned Parenthood Violate the Constitution?
60. The Byproduct Of Idolatry
61. Michigan Bills Would Ban Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure
62. Random Headlines — 10/16/15
63. Abortion Advocacy Is Extremisim
64. Planned Parenthood changes fetal-tissue reimbursement policy
65. Kelsey Grammer’s Wife Shares Photo of Him Wearing Anti-Abortion Shirt
66. Anti-abortion campaigner denied visa to travel to Australia
67. Why I’m Pro-Abortion
68. The #StandWithPP Roundup: Shutdown Narrowly Averted
69. Utah State University students claim censorship over anti-abortion chalk art on campus
70. sticky situations

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Related articles

• Planned Parenthood takes Alabama to court over Medicaid
• Ohio Senate bill would stop government payments to Planned Parenthood
• New Ohio bill would end Planned Parenthood funds
• Planned Parenthood Takes Alabama to Court over Medicaid
• Planned Parenthood takes Alabama to court over Medicaid
• Planned Parenthood takes Alabama to court over Medicaid
• Women embrace, criticize #ShoutYourAbortion
• House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood
• Cecile Richards to Testify Before Congress
• BREAKING: Senate Dems Block Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions…

The Things We Carry, by Penny

When we go and look for help we also should look fro the priorities of that organisation by whom we knock at the door.

Having people giving endless lectures from puberty onward about the interests of boys, from a wrong viewpoint does not help either. Catholic institutions often did not help bringing up the children to be strong enough to be themselves and to be able to cope, resist and or communicate with persons of the other sex.

In many extreme religious countries we have seen fundamentalist groups and others terrorising the female sex. Often women were considered as the lower species to bring forth the next generation and to be a puppet ‘spiel’. Many boys who got that education as well used those of the other sex as their toy. They were brought up that way. Who can blame them?

At the beginning of this 21st century the West carries still many scars of the previous century where unwanted children or babies of young girls were considered as the bad in the world which had to be cast out and the girls punished. We would not like to think how many boys or man did got away unpunished, whilst they left an unhappy girl behind.

Shame and intimidation were the easiest tactics which could bring people down. But there were also many girls who came out of it much stronger and being much more aware of this precious life.
Some went looking for their child which was taken away from them at birth. Those who got an abortion had it more difficult facing the dark spot in their life. For many of them it was like an eating cancer making them rot away in grieve.

Several countries hoped to regulate and control abortions and help children who became pregnant. But shamefully we have to conclude that several organisations had other options than the well-care of those girls and looked more at the welfare of the community and politics, nor wanting to present them with some unwanted children or with children without loving parents or not being able to grow up in a stable family.

In certain groups of the community it looks cool when the man knows to dominate the woman. Certain man tiranise their partner and often use the children to set them up against the partner.

There that partner has to make certain choices and can avoid that there do come any more children. But as we can see sometimes the male part can be so dominant and so in control, that the partner still becomes pregnant. Others do find it normal to use the woman and have not the word ‘rape’ in their vocabulary.

For victims of such beings it becomes even more difficult to make certain choices. what we may not forget is that they sometimes also are forced to go to an abortion clinic. Other times they would love an abortion, but have no means or have lots of people who take care she doesn’t.

It is good to hear some witnessing from people who went through different stadia and not only became victim of rapists, wrong sex actions, but also victim of our societies attitude or certain organisations who want to regulate and control too much.

Let us not forget that those who are brought in a situation where they have to make a choice for what is inside them, it will never be an easy choice, and it will demand courage and it will demand perseverance and shall bring a turning point in the life of that person who shall never be able to be the same.

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To remember:

• On the sidewalk, the “antis” look at us
• We all have reasons for being there, unique experiences we carry up and down the sidewalk.
• bit the hand that assaulted me => scolded by the nuns for “unladylike” behavior + note sent home to parents
• endless lectures from puberty onward that “men only want one thing – that’s how they all are, they can’t help it, and so you have to protect yourself.”
• in order to receive any affection from men <=  to reduce myself to my body +  mind irrelevant in any romantic entanglements => took almost the rest of my life to unlearn this.
• body only valuable thing > had little control over what happened to it
• as sex worker > could pay my bills.
• boyfriend “rescued”
• went alone to a Planned Parenthood for an abortion
• impotent rage of fighting my way through protesters, with no escorts to assist me
• gain skills needed to survive in the nine-to-five world
• never once doubted my decision, + don’t to this day ====> I do wish that I’d been brave enough then to confide in a friend, and that I’d had escorts to run me through the gamut of shaming
• We need to draw a hard line here, because raising girls to believe that they are only their bodies – as blow up dolls, incubators, or punching bags – is dangerous
• Make any choice you want, as long as it’s yours.
• Stay brave, stay free, and may your pack be light.

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Additional reading

1. Happiness mapping and getting over gender mapping
2. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
3. Eternity depends upon this short time on earth

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Related articles

• Infants in the Hands of Planned Parenthood: What is the Duty of Love?
• Eight Catholic schools cut ties with Planned Parenthood
• LGBT Ally Leaves Catholic School After Coworkers Fired
• Should Rapists Write Memoirs?
• Why do women need to shout about their abortions?
• Fewer US women underwent abortion for unintended pregnancies in pro-life states
• Group calls for enforcement of law on rape
• #ShoutYourAbortion: Pregnancy termination has transformed women’s lives and should be celebrated
• ‘Abortion rights an election issue’, says Clare Daly
• Rape: NGO, experts seek strict enforcement of law against culprits

Louisville Clinic Escorts

TW:  Violence, rape

On the sidewalk, the “antis” look at us, escorts as well as clients, and based on our ages, the vehicles we drive or don’t drive, the clothes we wear, the overheard snippets of friendly conversation, they’ll tailor the harassment to what they believe is the greatest effect.

“Does your mother know you’re here – you may be an outcast!”

“That’s what a real baby is supposed to look like.”

“You are not young, nearing the end of your life – repent now!” and memorably,

“Go home and put some decent clothes on!”

We immediately think through all the counter-arguments, the snappy retorts, the “you-don’t-know-me’s,” and sometimes a client or companion will voice them. Mostly we hope to avoid the added annoyance of them learning our names. I can’t help but cringe when this happens, because any acknowledgement feeds the antis. But it’s hard. It’s so hard not…

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The Real ‘Choice’

In this world were superficially everything seems to be so nice there are lots of people who at first trusted everything and everyone with their huge open heart, but by all they ever wanted was people and the world to love them back, suddenly something went totally wrong in their life.

For some such a day of horror or day of the unexpected may have the direct consequence which gets them facing one of the most uncomfortable and emotionally challenging moments they probably will ever have. For sure their experience will change their life forever.

When after such an incident they become pregnant an other difficult matter bothers their soul. At that time that person has a weight on her head she shall have to carry for her whole life. To make a decision either to carry the baby and to be confronted for the whole life with the horror experienced or to abandon the fruit of the nightmare and remember the lessons she learned along the way, will give her thoughts ‘for ever’.

It is a sad situation and the consequences in both cases are very sad for both parties.

In such instance it is the environment, the people around the victim who play an important and supporting role.
When people have voluntary sex with each other they must be aware of the consequences of their act. Though sometimes it might have happened before the girl and boy really realised what was happening. Being carried away at a young age also can happen.

Afterwards people have to realise that we as human beings have to be responsible for our acts in the past, the present and in the future. Therefore we should think before we act. And even when things which we do not like came over us and have certain consequences we would never would have liked, we should come to make choices we shall not regret later.

That is not easy.

As a wife and a mom the writer of the article calls rightly to start being real and stating what the real choice is. For her it is clear that we should look at the only two possibilities: 1. a choice to raise a kid (or to give up for adoption) or 2. it is a choice to kill.

Much more people should also come to see the second option in the first choice. That part of possibility is much too often overlooked or not looked at at all.
There are so many people hoping to get a child, but not able to get one from their own. For them an adoption would be a good solution and for many it can be a real blessing. So, what is a curse for the one should be made in a blessing for the other.

It must have been not an easy choice for the 11-year-old Paraguayan girl who denied an abortion after allegedly being raped (when 10) by her stepfather and this August gave birth to a healthy baby girl in Asunción, Paraguay, where a fierce debate was brewing over a law banning most abortions.
In that mostly Catholic country, 684 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 gave birth last year.

“The physical and psychological impact of forcing this young girl to continue with an unwanted pregnancy is tantamount to torture,”

Guadalupe Marengo, deputy director for the Americas at Amnesty International said then.

“The Paraguayan authorities cannot sit idly by while this young rape survivor is forced to endure more agony and torment.”

Naturally by abortion sometimes also comes an other terrible choice at the forefront. When the doctors are sure something is wrong with the foetus or that there never shall come out a normal child. What than?

Having to hear the ordeal of the doctors, having to be confronted having to make a choice, does not make life easy.

Others may than easily say you may not abort the foetus and have to make the best out of it. But who is going to turn up to care for years for the handicapped person? Who is going to deal with the many costs to take care? what life is one going to give to that handicapped person, when the mother is not able to take care physiologically, physically or economically?

For the ones standing at the site it may be easy to judge and condemn.

For the one to make the decisions it may be an other nightmare to go through.

Those who call themselves Christian should remember the Nazarene rabbi they should have to follow. Jesus did not judge. He will do later at the authority of his heavenly Father. In the end it is to that Father of Jesus, Who is also our Father, to Whom life belongs, knows the heart and will judge last.

It is in His hands we should leave it.

And the ones who doubt and are in our neighbourhood we should try to help to come to a good decision. we should try to show the beauty of life and how we should try to give everybody the right to live.

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To remember:

• don’t enjoy shaming people for choices they make > haven’t been in their shoes
• made choices in life > everyone has
• blessed to have not been in the position to make the decision
• pregnant with first child => beauty of real life growing inside of me was magical
• if I would have miscarried, my mourning and grief would have been real and deep > Because I had life growing inside of me.
• couple who has struggled to get pregnant >  You can make the decision to try, but it isn’t always that easy
• ‘choice’ to be a parent > real choice is not whether or not you want to be a parent … but rather a choice to kill your child because you don’t want to be a parent.
• raped = tough one
• ask myself the option of taking care of the life or ending the life = >  consider the ‘choice’
• wouldn’t want to live with both pains
• always live with the consequences of their ‘choice’

Let’s stop sugarcoating it.

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Preceding articles:

Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion

My Choice (by Jezabel Jonson)

+++

Related articles

• Whoopi Goldberg Admits the Purpose of Planned Parenthood is Abortion
• Whoopi Goldberg Tries to Defend Planned Parenthood, Ends Up Doing Just the Opposite
• LifeNews Pro-Life News Report 9/21/15
• ‘The View’s’ Whoopi Goldberg Blasts Planned Parenthood Foes: ‘Get Out of My Vagina!’
• Whoopi Goldberg Says Bible Doesn’t Condemn Abortion
• Liberal Feminist Whoopi Goldberg Admits ‘Purpose of Planned Parenthood is Abortion’
• Whoopi Attacks Planned Parenthood Critics: ‘Get Out Of My Vagina!’
• Whoopi on Planned Parenthood: ‘Get out of my vagina!’
• Whoopi Goldberg Admits the Purpose of Planned Parenthood is Abortion

Through the Stillness

I know where I stand on the issue. Never have I heard a strong argument to make me doubt my stance. Still though, I have a hard time announcing my stance.  I don’t enjoy shaming people for choices they make.  I haven’t been in their shoes.  I have made choices in my life that I regret, everyone has.  I am not perfect.  I am not taking the ‘high horse’ stance on this.  I am no better than anyone.  I cannot stress that enough.  I know someone will be offended by these words I am about to say.  Someone will think I am being insensitive to those faced with the decision.  And––I know I have been blessed to have not been in the position to make the decision.  But nonetheless, I know what I would ‘choose’.  To me, it just isn’t even my choice to make.

I remember Mother’s Day 2009…

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Your position about materialistic desires having conquered the world

In the previous articles we have spoken about the world clinching to material wealth like velcrostrips hoping to have all luck in the world.

The materialistic desires have conquered the world. Those who know were they come from and Who they should honour do know they should not give their love to material things.

15 Do not love either the world or the things in the world.+ If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him;+ 16 because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh+ and the desire of the eyes+ and the showy display of one’s means of life*—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. (1 John 2:15, 16)

In the articles we also could see how many love to be moulded by this system of things. (Romans 12:2) The worldly desires have run high in our society, but at other times people also fell for those distractions and attractions.

It Conquered the World (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The love of money or the desire to amass riches and possess material things can corrupt the heart, leading a Christian to do things that go against God’s will. A few have become dishonest at work, have cheated others, or have even stolen money or objects that do not belong to them.

Lots of people do have many things of which they want to boast of is this. Lots of people also do think man is full of wisdom and that they have ‘most’ wisdom’. They do not want to look into their conscience which might bear witness. They are full of fleshly wisdom.

Material pursuits may bring on anxiety. For example, some complicate their lives by living beyond their means. Others have been enticed by get-rich-quick schemes and risky financial investments. For others, secular education as a means to attain financial success becomes a snare. The Bible warns: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.”

9 However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation+ and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires,+ which plunge men into destruction and ruin.+ 10 For the love+ of money is a root+ of all sorts of injurious things,*+ and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.+ (1 Timothy 6:9, 10).

Essential to not being drawn into a materialistic way of life is cultivating the ability to distinguish between right and wrong when making decisions. This ability is developed by regularly partaking of ‘solid spiritual food belonging to mature people’ and by ‘having our perceptive powers trained through use.’ (Hebrews 5:13, 14) Making sure “of the more important things” when setting priorities will also safeguard us from making wrong choices.

9 And this is what I continue praying, that YOUR love may abound+ yet more and more with accurate knowledge*+ and full discernment;*+ 10 that YOU may make sure of the more important things,+ so that YOU may be flawless+ and not be stumbling+ others up to the day of Christ, 11 and may be filled with righteous fruit,+ which is through Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise.+ (Philippians 1:9,10,11).

A materialistic life-style can blind us, leaving little or no time for spiritual pursuits.
How can we examine ourselves and avoid being ensnared by such a life-style?
We need to consider prayerfully how and to what extent we can simplify our life. King Solomon of ancient Israel said:

“Sweet is the sleep of the one serving, regardless of whether it is little or much that he eats; but the plenty belonging to the rich one is not permitting him to sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Does taking care of unnecessary material possessions consume a lot of our time and energy? The more we own, the more we have to maintain, insure, and protect.
Could it be to our advantage to simplify our life by freeing ourselves of certain belongings?

Lennon (right) performing “All You Need Is Love” with The Beatles in 1967 to 400 million viewers of “Our World”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We think life can much be easier when not loving the material things and not focusing on the world and its worldly life.

On the other hand, by cultivating a healthy fear of displeasing Jehovah, loving justice, and being determined to hold a good conscience, we show that we love “purity of heart.” That love moves us to continue to “conduct ourselves honestly in all things.” (Hebrews 13:18)

18 Carry on prayer+ for us, for we trust we have an honest conscience, as we wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things.+ 19 But I exhort YOU more especially to do this, that I may be restored to YOU the sooner.+ (Hebrews 13:18

When we act uprightly, honesty can result in a fine witness.

Emilio, an Italian Witness who works as a driver for a public transport company, found a wallet containing 470 euros ($680, U.S.). To the surprise of his colleagues, he handed the wallet to his supervisor, who later gave the wallet to the person who had lost it. Some of Emilio’s colleagues were so impressed by his conduct that they became interested in the Bible and started to study. As a result, seven people from two families have accepted the truth. Yes, behaving honestly from a pure heart really can move others to praise God.—Titus 2:10.

Materialism may not seem to be an issue of loyalty, but it is. Do we trust in Jehovah’s promise to provide what we really need?

33 “Keep on, then, seeking* first the kingdom and his righteousness,+ and all these [other] things will be added to YOU.+ 34 So, never be anxious about the next day,+ for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness.  (Matthew 6:33-34)

5 Let [YOUR] manner of life be free of the love of money,+ while YOU are content+ with the present things.+ For he has said: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.”+ (Hebrews 13:5)

Rather than striving to obtain at any cost some of the “better” things in life that are presently beyond our reach, can we do without them? (Read Philippians 4:11-13.) Are we tempted to forgo theocratic privileges in order to get what we want now? Does loyal service to Jehovah have first place in our life? Our answers will largely depend on whether we are wholehearted in our service to God or not.

“It is a means of great gain,”

wrote the apostle Paul,

“this godly devotion along with self-sufficiency. For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.”—1 Timothy 6:6-8.

In a revelation to the apostle John toward the close of the first century, the glorified Jesus Christ delivered a message to the congregation located in Laodicea, Asia Minor. It was a warning message against materialism. Though materially rich, Laodicean Christians were bankrupt spiritually. Instead of continuing to walk by faith, they allowed material possessions to blind their spiritual vision. (Revelation 3:14-18) Materialism has a similar effect today. It weakens our faith and causes us to stop ‘running with endurance the race’ for life. (Hebrews 12:1) If we are not careful, the “pleasures of this life” can smother spiritual activities to the point that they are “completely choked.”

14 As for that which fell among the thorns, these are the ones that have heard, but, by being carried away by anxieties and riches and pleasures+ of this life, they are completely choked and bring nothing to perfection.+ (Luke 8:14).

Time ran out for the world of Noah’s day, and it will run out for the present system of things. The apostle Peter assures us:

“Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be discovered.”

Neither the symbolic heavens — wicked governments — nor the symbolic earth — mankind alienated from God — will survive the heat of God’s burning anger. Indicating how we can prove ourselves ready for that day, Peter exclaims:

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah!”—2 Peter 3:10-12.

A key to spiritual protection is contentment rather than the use of this world to the full and the enrichment of ourselves materially. (1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 Timothy 6:6-8) We as such do not have to look so much at the world of mankind or the kingdom of mankind but at the world of the Kingdom of God. When we walk by faith and not by sight, we find joy in the present spiritual paradise. As we partake of nourishing spiritual food, are we not moved to “cry out joyfully because of the good condition of the heart”? (Isaiah 65:13, 14) Moreover, we take delight in our association with those who manifest the fruitage of God’s spirit.

22 On the other hand, the fruitage+ of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness,+ faith, 23 mildness, self-control.+ Against such things there is no law.+ 24 Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus impaled* the flesh together with its passions and desires.+ (Galatians 5:22, 23)

How vital that we find satisfaction and refreshment in what Jehovah provides in a spiritual way!

Some questions we do well to ask ourselves are:

‘What place do material things occupy in my life? Am I using the material possessions I have to live a life of pleasure or to promote true worship? What brings me the greatest satisfaction? Is it Bible study and fellowship at Christian meetings, or is it weekends away from Christian responsibilities? Do I reserve many weekends for recreation instead of using such time for the field ministry and other activities in connection with pure worship?’

Our regularly attending Christian meetings and sharing in preaching the good news are included among the necessary acts and deeds of godly devotion. May we perform them with heartfelt devotion to God while we wait patiently for Jehovah’s great day. Let us “do [our] utmost to be found finally by [God] spotless and unblemished and in peace.”—2 Peter 3:14.

Walking by faith means that we keep busy in the Kingdom work, with full trust in Jehovah’s promises.

58 Consequently, my beloved brothers, become steadfast,+ unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord,+ knowing that YOUR labor is not in vain*+ in connection with [the] Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58).

+

Preceding articles:

Material wealth, Submission and Heaven on earth

For The Love of Stuff

Learning that stuff is just stuff

Watch out

Thought of the day: We want more, i want more, but why is that?

Mini-MAX-malism: A Bigger Approach to Less is More

Less… is still enough

Less for more

The Art of Doing Less – Your Time is Finite

Why “Selfishness” Doesn’t Properly Mean Being Shortsighted and Harmful to Others

Looking at a conservative review of Shop Class As Soul Craft

++

Additional reading:

1. What is life?
2. Greed more common than generosity
3. Some one or something to fear #2 Attitude and Reactions
4. Some one or something to fear #3 Cases, folks and outing
5. Some one or something to fear #4 Families and Competition
6. Struggles of life
7. It continues to be a never ending, exhausting battle for survival.
8. Searching for fulfillment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression
9. Daily portion of heavenly food
10. I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late!
11. How should we react against the world
12. A call easy to understand
13. Followers with deepening
14. Come ye yourselves apart … and rest awhile (Mark 6:31)
15. Suffering redemptive because Jesus redeemed us from sin
16. Looking forward to God’s faithfulness
17. Count your blessings
18. God should be your hope
19. Always set a place in your life for the unexpected guest
20. Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
21. Be a ready giver
22. Contribution – Contributie, bijdrage
23. Bearing fruit
24. A small company of Jesus’ footstep follower
25. What’s church for, anyway?
26. Making church
27. Meeting – Vergadering
28. Congregate, to gather, to meet
29. Gathering or meeting of believers
30. An ecclesia in your neighbourhood
31. Not bounded by labels but liberated in Christ
32. Breathing and growing with no heir
33. Breathing to teach
34. Reasons to come together
35. God won’t ask
36. Communion and day of worship
37. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #6 Prayer #4 Attitude
38. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #18 Fulfilment

+++

Further reading:

• What Controls you?
• “Things”
• Properties
• Buy now, don’t think: the urgency trap
• Shopping Addictions – Day 168
• Greed is Wrong, But What About Wealth Itself?
• A Journey Toward Your Goals
• Virtuous egoism
• In brief: Why you should admire and not covet.
• Nothing & Everything
• The Sticky Fingers of Things
• Material girl
• Simple Girl In A Material World
• Pursuit
• Finding Satisfaction
• Less is more or getting rid of the clutter in your life
• What Really Matters
• The 2 Things That Matter Most
• Romans 7:18 – The Struggle is Real
• How is life measured? — from Luke 12:15
• What Jesus ask us to give up is nothing compared to what He want to give us
• Freedom from Minimizing | Personal
• Seek First The Kingdom
• The Minimalism
• The Cares Of This World
• What can I leave behind – A packing guide for relocation
• Quality over Quantity 💖
• The Pursuit Of Happiness

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• Joy as Fruit (genesisone.wordpress.com)

Not following the tradition of man

Looking for having success we can follow different paths. To come to the most positive way to get somewhere we best look into the very Old book of books, the bible where we can find a lot of advice, better than that of man of today.

The first of the Epistles to the Colossians (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 KJ21)

The apostle Paul tells the Colossians,

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition …” (Letter to the Colossians 2:8);

telling them that

“they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23).

What is of value?

It is by

“holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:19).

And how does this happen?

By reading the word of God; it provides essential spiritual nourishment that we need every day. But it is not so much a case of trying to stop ourselves doing things that our human nature inclines us toward thinking and doing, but rather trying to occupy our thoughts to a greater degree with spiritual things. The result will be that we will be less and less inclined to indulge in fleshly thoughts and activities, but will grow “with a growth that is from God” as we appreciate his word to an ever greater degree.

Reading the Word of God we can come to get to know the Works of God, His Plan, how He has chosen Himself a people and how we too can become partakers of the promise God made in the Garden of Eden. There a positive message was given to those who had broken the relationship with God. The Creator saw the faults of the 1° Adam and took care that there would come a 2° Adam to save all people. But it would be up to the people themselves to accept or to ignore the Good News of the Saviour.

The promised one was the son of God, the Nazarene Jeshua (Jesus Christ). Under his blessing a person can come “in the light of Christ” and can get a positive mind. To come to more knowledge and mature in faith and spirit the person has to open his mind  in such a way that Christ can come in him or her. The one who got to know Christ wants to build a relationship with him and with his followers.

Central to our relationship with God is “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). “Him we proclaim”, writes Paul, “that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).

How is your maturity developing? Absorbing the true sense of the divine word is a foundation for this. May we all increase day by day in the “knowledge of God” and become “mature in Christ” so his way of thinking becomes more and more our way of thinking.

Such a right way of thinking shall also create a right way of living and having us taking on the right attitude for living and for having good relationships with others and to become successful in our life. We also can see that like at the beginning of the world the 1° Adam rejected the right of God to be the Master in the world, we do find lots of people who take such an adversary attitude against the Creator as well. They mostly bring lots of negative elements against those who believe in the Creator. They also shall try to do everything to get those believers a negative feeling.

From Scriptures we learn that we should not envy others, but we also come to see how the world develops and which position human beings are going to take in it and how we are set to chose. We also have to make up our choice to whom we want to belong.

Note in the dramatic account of Paul’s experience of shipwreck on the way to Rome in Acts 27 that Paul says

“the God I worship”

and then significantly adds,

“to whom I belong.”

Do we view our God in that way?

Those who are baptised commit their lives into the service of God and of Jesus Christ His son. In the same way, the people of Israel under Moses entered into a covenant with God. Moses told them,

“For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6 ASV)

Sadly, most of the people in the generations that followed failed to have the sense of belonging to God possessed by those entering the promised land. If we make no commitment to belong to God, then we belong to the world – a world which is facing an awesome shipwreck!

Isaiah has a vision of our days; it describes a time when the kingdoms of men come to an end and “the lofty pride of man shall be humbled” (Isaiah 2:11). It is a message against “every high tower” (Isaiah 2:15) and never have buildings been built higher than today. Later Isaiah sees in vision:

We should be conscious that there shall come a day thta we shall not have to face the day of man but the day of the Adonai, divine Creator Who shall bind up the wounds of His people and shall heal the bruise caused by the blow they received from other man. at that day those who did not want to know of the Name of the Most High shall have to hear that Holy Name of the Adonai, the Most High Lord the elohim Hashem Jehovah. At that day those who did not want to know of Him shall hear and see from afar, his anger burning, in thick rising smoke. they than should know it is too late to avoid His lips full to the brim with fury, His tongue a consuming fire. His breath shall race over them like a tornado or like a racing torrent that rises up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and put a bridle in the peoples’ mouths to lead them astray. Shall you be ready and shall your song be like one that is sung on a night when a holy feast is kept, and will your heart be happy, as if walking to the sound of the flute, to the mountain of Jehovah, the Adonai, to the rock of Isra’el?

“24 the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. 25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks [and] streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27  Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire; 28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err [shall be] in the jaws of the peoples. 29 Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.” (Isaiah 30:24-29 ASV)

Those who do not know God’s word will indeed be terrified. But those who know God’s word, although their faith will be tested – as “man is humbled and each one is brought low” (Isaiah 2:9) – they will then rejoice in the total wonder of those days. Will you be there? You make the answer now!

Therefore it is important that you make the right choice and take the positive route. Not getting afraid of man around you, making you shy and withdrawn, or getting you down even to become depressed, but standing strong not getting intimidated by man, but believing and trusting in the Hand which is much more Powerful than any human person, remembering:

“The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11 ASV)

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Additional reading:

1. What is life?
2. Greatest single cause of atheism
3. Do not be afraid. Good news because a Saviour has been born
4. Fear not tomorrow. God is already there
5. When discouraged facing opposition
6. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
7. Relationship with God (articles)
8. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
9. God’s wisdom for the believer brings peace
10. True riches
11. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
12. Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) by Chris Tomlin (video)
13. 8 fears caused by the fear of Man
14. Fearing the right person
15. Anxiety is the gap between the now and the later
16. God become master of our passions
17. Power in the life of certain
18. Being sure of their deliverance

+++

Related articles

• Colossians 2 (zachscripturestudy.com)
  Paul warns the Colossians in Colosse about men who will come to them and attempt to confuse them with ‘doctrine of men’
• Colossians Chapter 2 (pofw.wordpress.com)
  That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
• Does Paul Condemn Philosophy? (pastorbrianchilton.wordpress.com)
  Some Christians have criticized the use of philosophy due to Paul’s statement against philosophy in Colossians 2:8. Yet, Christianity teaches is knowledgeable, is based on truth, defines the nature and meaning of life, holds great logic, teaches aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Paul himself gives lessons in most of the previously mentioned systems. So, does Paul refute himself? Or is there a problem with the way many interpret Colossians 2:8? So, the question must be asked: does Paul really criticize the use of philosophy? In this article, Paul’s statement in Colossians 2:8 will be exegetically examined and in its proper context and the article will answer whether Paul really condemns philosophy after all.
  +
  Paul uses a form of philosophical apologetics to demonstrate that empty arguments and bad philosophy does not represent the truth. If one places his or her faith in any system that leads one away from the truth, that person will slowly erode into a system of erroneous trust and hedonistic living. That is not to say that one may not have elements of truth, but holding elements of truth does not necessitate that one holds full truth. A little bit of error can lead down a pathway of huge problems.
• Practise it! (genesisone.wordpress.com)
  We are called and expected to live accordingly, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Life. He looks to guide us closer to God, into the meaning and freedom of our true relationship with Him and upwards to our God-given potential and purpose.
• Colossians 2:8-10 How easy can we be deceived? (ashesofdiversity.wordpress.com)
  If we call ourselves Christians, are we not followers of Christ, and what does that mean? Do we spend time knowing God’s word so we can discern what is a deceit or what is truth?
  +
  How about using fear as a reason to not do things right. How about following your heart? Keeping yourself so busy you do not have time to study. How about liking certain philosophies even if they are secular, but we spend a lot of time trying to make it work with Christianity because it is more modern.
• Colossians 2:2-15 (olgatodd.wordpress.com) > Colossians 2:2-15
  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
  +

  When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

• Moving Through Time: Timeline of Religion (pcr.wpengine.com)
  Since the beginning of time, mankind has formed beliefs of the unexplainable and unknowable. Over thousands of years, these beliefs became traditional, customary, and institutionalized within regional societies. People continue to express an interest in spiritual matters from all corners around the world. Everybody has pondered the meaning of life, what happens after we die, what existed before us, and whether any other life exists in the universe. Mankind may never know concrete answers regarding the spiritual. In fact, humans may destroy the planet before we can discover the remaining life in unexplored regions. Nevertheless, we continue to seek spiritual enlightenment and a connection with our Creator.

Helping to create a Positive Attitude

From the previous postings you could come to see how serious we have to take the people around us, because they will influence us in one way or the other. It would not be so much a problem if those out there would have naturally positive attitudes. But we also have to face those with negative attitudes. They might be born with no sunny signs for them or could their dispositions having destroyed or distorted by the negativity of others (parents, teachers, siblings or friends) as they grew up.

We also showed that everything is in the mind of each person him or herself. Everyone can bend the coarse of negative thought in to the line of positiveness. We all have to take up our responsibility to help those who are totally caught up in the negative spiral. We can help them by showing our positive attitude.

By coming to the knowledge that we ourselves are the only person who can create and control our attitude, we ourself can get on the way, but also show to the other that he or she also has that possibility to change her or his track. By showing the importance of the belief in the self, we can get them to reconsider their own position in their own life.

Remember The Duck, Keep Positive !! …item 5.. Law Enforcement Prepares For FSU / Miami Game (Fri 7:05 PM, Nov 01, 2013) — The phone number, 850-645-JERK (5375) … (Photo credit: marsmet463)

When we ourselves can get ourselves and others to believe that outside events can’t create our attitude, we can come together to build up together a good attitude. It is wrong to think that we all have to do everything on our own. We should come more to think of a group, helping each-other on the  road to success.

Having come to more non-religous persons, most people have no connection any more with their ‘community‘. Most of them are not part of a parish or an active community. Lots of people live in a neighbourhood but do not know their neighbours personally. Often lots of activities in the community even happen without them noticing it. Sometimes this is also the fault of the community or the parish itself, not inviting the people which live in the neighbourhood, or restricting contact only to those who are member of the church. Lots of churches have forgotten to go out and to do preaching work or investing time in missionary work at their own place. You might find churches having collections for places far away and talking about mission work in countries far away, but their eyes are closed for their own region. There there has to be done lots of missionary work today.

It is important that a person gets that feeling of being part of a community. We need to feel part of something which is bigger than ourselves. We are not made to stay on our own. It does not mean we do have to be married or living together with somebody else. But there has to be a connection with others living around us.

The outside world will always throw challenges in its surroundings and we may not close our eyes for them plus we also do have to open eyes of others for them. Some Christians do think we may not involve ourselves in the politics of the world, but we can not close our eyes for the politics in our own surroundings. We should be aware of it and should protect the weaker ones for those who try to get power over others.

We have to create our attitude in response to how we think about the events going on in our environment. Living in a communal society we do have to decide how we are going to respond to those challenges and to our entourage. Here we do have to make our first choices, how to look at things, how to let it influence ourselves or others and to choose whether to respond negatively or positively to the things it shall come to bring to being. Everything which is said or done  shall request a reaction and shall have an influence on those around it.

Being aware of your position in the community is important to the feeling of yourself but also for the reaction you will create onto others. Having much more in your hands than you might think, you should come to see that really you too can bring lots of changes, not only to your self, but also to others.
This request a strong attitude form yourself and a willingness to help others.

We shall not deny that maintaining a positive attitude in the face of all of the daily challenges in life can be daunting. We may differ with each other, but we shall have to find ways  to live with each other. By respecting the thoughts of the other you too may gain respect from the other. You both can come to the conclusion that each of you might find way to live positively with each other.  It does not matter if you are white or coloured, if you are very highly educated or have a poor education, each one of you can contribute to the community.

Many challenges may be offered to us and the community we are living in. But when we join hands we shall be able to do more than just on our own. Each of us can do it. It’s a personal choice to believe the best about any situation. Start to become aware of what you are thinking and saying, and check in yourself what effect it can make what you our saying.

As soon as we come to the understanding that we all works in progress in we are on a good way to come to changes which can be positive. You should work at it – gently correct yourself when you’ve gone the wrong way and praise yourself when you get it right.

We should be aware that common notion such as ‘long hours and many years’ counts also for us. but we have to be careful how such idea would dictate our life patterns. Believing on ourselves we should pursue our dreams, letting also others know that dream and prove it could be possible to succeed and on our own terms.

In case the surrounding looks boring or unappealing to you, why do you not try to change something to it. Consider more pleasurable surroundings that involve activities you may like, but also know you yourself can bring changes in your own environment. Your attitude and energy level are at their best and your attention span is very keen since you are focusing on something you like.

When you meet people who have grown to believe they can not achieve success due to a variety reasons, why do you not show them too that other side of the coin you have found. Let them and come to see yourself that in fact they put more effort into producing reasons as to why they can not succeed than others may invest into becoming successful. Our and their focus should come onto the vision of success.

Teaching yourself to have a positive attitude takes gentle but consistent work, just like training a young pets or toddlers. Do it for yourself and help others to get on the process of developing a positive world together.

A positive attitude changes everything. (Photo credit: deeplifequotes)

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 Complementing reading:

1. Intentions of an Ecclesia
2. Parish, local church community – Parochie, plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap
3. Breathing to teach

++

1. 3 Vital Character Traits
2. 5 Ways Your Mental Attitude Affects Your Success
3. Fostering A Positive Attitude

+++

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  +
  My attitude is one of my biggest enemies. It tells me how to look at others and judge, it tells me how to criticize no progress, it tells me how to blame others for my failures, it tells me, I’m always right. What my attitude fails to tell me is,  at the end of the day I will be alone, because I choose to keep my attitude instead of my life.
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  +
  Pope Francis said this positive attitude towards suffering was lived and taught by Blessed Luigi Novarese, who believed in “educating the sick and the disabled to value their suffering through apostolic action, carried out with faith and love for others.”

  “He would always say: ‘The sick must feel that they are the authors of their own apostolate,’” recounted the pontiff. “A sick person, a disabled person can become support and light for other people who suffer, in this way transforming the environment in which he lives.”

  Pope Francis urged the sick and disabled to give witness to the example of Christ in their own lives. “With this charism, you are a gift to the Church,” he said.

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• We all got Attitude (pastorleonard.wordpress.com)
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  Attitude is a huge influence in…

  Fait, Effort, Energy, Determination, Courage, Faithfulness, Relationships, Partnerships, Health, Peace joy and hope, How we treat others, How we handle adversity, How we parent, How we approach marriage

Attitude of Unstopable Success

When people do want to get rid of the negativeness in their life they should come to the understanding that they shall have to change their attitude and direct their choices in the good direction.
To be able to find a path to success we get to put away our memories of the bad things. We have to chose to let go bad memories and most of all the fear for what happened in the past to us and for what still could happen to us. We must be aware that we may have to walk on a hard road, the one less travelled but the one with less hurt.

We perhaps have to choose to go into other directions than most people do want to go and we have to chose the better friends to walk with us. There is no reason at all to cling to the past nor to people who are not meant to stay with us.

For sure there will be haters of all sorts of thing and mostly of those who do not like us. But why keep worrying about them? Why wanting to walk around with those who so often doubt? We may doubt, but it may not catch us like a virus. When we do face the Non-Believers and the Unbelievers, we should stand strong in our own shoes, going for what we feel in our inner guts.

We better dare to stand strong in the heavy waters of the sea of this demanding world and have the strong feeling that we will and shall prove them wrong.

Positivism demands first a strong change in ourselves. First we do have to believe in ourselves before we can start constructing.
The attitudes given here are one step to the start-blocks to do the relay race of our life.

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Additional reading

1. Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past
2. Running away from the past
3. Rejoicing in the day

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Spiritualism for Excellence

“Attitude is a matter of Choice and not a Chance”.

Alphabetically let’s learn to practice in life.

1. Adjust with people and situation
2. Bear every thing to achieve any thing
3. Communicate clearly as desired
4. Develop confidence in people
5. Engage your self always
6. Forget and forgive
7. Give love to all
8. Help all in difficulty
9. Influence every one with your nature
10. Judge people’s feelings
11. Keep your promises alive
12. Lead from front
13. Motivate every one
14. Network with good people
15. Open your heart
16. Pass on all odds
17. Qualify your elegibility
18. Respect all
19. Stay connected to needy people
20. Tolerate all
21. Unite all
22. Value people
23. Willingness to learn
24. X-ray all weakness
25. You propose and people support
26. Zip your thoughts

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Misleading world, stress, technique, superficiality, past, future and positivism

I am convinced that in case we try to bend all our negative thoughts into the direction of good thoughts we can manage better. Very important to avoid stress situations simply is avoiding those people who could bring us into such a situation. We best avoid negative influences and associate better more with people who can contribute positiveness in our life.

Eliminative Materialism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We should be careful not to be taken in, by not be focusing on the distribution of material power because that are the matters which can bring us down.  Materialism in the end always will kill the person. Always being aware that no way we ever shall get a good working system or any political system that can solve everything. For that we shall have to wait until the return of Christ, when the Kingdom of God shall at last become a full reality. Before that the reality of a perfect world is an illusion. The reality that surrounds us is not in itself a product of the objective forces but one of our shared perceptions, ideas, social values and understanding. We would be fooling ourselves if we believed the state and the inter-state systems, would not be artificial constructs, meaning that they are constructed by humans, and they can be changed and developed in new ways in extreme cases leading to anarchy and a huge security dilemma.

We all should work on coming to understand how the world evolves and what for influence we as human beings have on nature. when you look how we treat nature it more seems that we are very good at destroying it instead of living in symbioses with it.

At the moment how people are making a mess of the world they are also putting stress on the whole community, using everything and every one to get as much material gain as they can. Not many people are really interested in the spiritual site of life. Most people are also not interested to come to know or to come to an understanding of the universe and the world around us.

All the things that happened in the past can never be undone. This can be hard to swallow and it can bring much sadness to us. But it has no use to linger on such bad events, sad happenings and to keep facing depressing thoughts. the world must go on, and we with it.

Instead of having people to succeed to push us in a hole, getting us not believing in ourselves any more, we better try to understand why such people became so envious, jealous, and so frustrated that they like to bully others. They would like to kill all initiative others would take, because that would put them in the shadow. Often such people looking to get all the power would not mind putting all those on their path, standing in their way,to not only put them in the shadow, but to get them in the dark, not having to play any significant role any more. it is all a matter of control. And when we lose control we might come into a phase of stress and they think they also would come in a phase of no power any more.

Sharing  control and sharing tasks has not to mean you would or the other would loose control. Together more can be managed than on your own. Often when people start feeling their loosing control they do come in afraid to loose their position in the comfort zone. Some may take on the defence mode and try to suppress the other, others may come in the discomfort zone and feeling stress. at first the one feeling the pressure at work might thing he or she could solve the problem with working harder, giving himself or herself more for the job, but many of such hard-working and optimistically minded individuals have lost their jobs and have come so depressed, taken over by the stress or worries.

We best take care we do not get in a position were we could start dwelling on the negative spiral to nowhere. It leads to nihilism. We too can avoid that others get in a stress situation and loose their optimism. By encouraging others to focus on the positives is an act of ‘brotherly love‘. It also shows a faith in other individuals as well as a faith in what is around you or in the organization you are working for.

Captain Edward Rickenbacker, America’s premier “Ace” officially credited with 22 enemy planes and the proud wearer of the French War Cross as he appeared upon his arrival on board the Adriatic. Underwood and Underwood., ca. 1919  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We all should remember  what World War I ace and aviation entrepreneur, Eddie Rickenbacker said:

“Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in experience and achievement.” That is an attitude worth maintaining and nurturing especially when times are so severe.

A big problem today is that most people are so focused on the materialism they do not see that there are more important matters and they think somebody else can destroy them. Several people consider atheism as being more useful for the development of life forces and the worldly satisfaction of the larger masses of mankind. {“Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit.” Articles by and on Berdyaev, Returning to Berdyaev at the Return to Materialism}

The triumph of the bourgeois spirit led Berdyaev to declare that history was a story of failure. Berdyaev lamented that the will to power and affluence had triumphed over the will to holiness and genius.” (Peter Maurin: Prophet in the Twentieth Century, Paulist Press, l98l.) {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

This world is taken over by materialism, idolatries of power, lust and comfort. Normally you would think all the luxury would bring much satisfaction to the people, but by comparing what others have and what they do not have the  jealousy took them down in a spiral of envy and bring them in a stress situation. Lots of people have created their own god. They do not understand that the for them useful and practically effective god of capitalism cannot be the True God. When you look at their god or gods you might come to see that it is no problem at all to unmask their new and popular gods. We can see that many adore the money and have put away The Only One God of religious revelations far away. For them That God can not be seen nor felt and therefore has no value for them. You could ask them: whenever did you try to look for Him and tried to see Him?

We have become surrounded by technique and many are totally taken by it and also have become very dependant on it. Their relationship with all that technical stuff however did not help to bring them into closer communion with their inner life and soul of nature. they might think it brought them closer together, and has created them having more ‘friends’ on the social networks. But they do not see that many of them are ‘virtual friends’ and have not a real social connection at all. We even see that more people become more isolated in their environment of Linked-in and Facebook relatives. They might have many so called ‘friends’ in their circles but they are very lonely … on their own. They, in their isolation, also seem to loose track of their own possibilities.

The machine sets its stamp upon the human spirit and all its manifestations. Thus civilization has neither a natural nor a spiritual, but a mechanical foundation. It represents par excellence the triumph of technique over both the spirit and organism.

The machine and technique are the product of the mental development and discoveries of culture; but they sap its organic foundations and kill its spirit. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

With all the focus on material goods not much interest can be found for culture. those working in the cultural field may be tampered and losing positivism as well. They have to find a way to earn their living and are persuaded to greater concessions. Many artists having lost the artistic soul, becoming part of the mainstream ‘civilization’ where spiritual matters are discounted and where quantity has displaced quality.

The assertion of the will to “life,” power, organization and earthly happiness, brings about mankind’s spiritual decline; for the higher spiritual life is based upon asceticism and resignation. Such are the tragedy and fate of historical destinies. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

Vyacheslav Ivanov, Lev Kobilinskij-Ellis, Nikolai Berdyaev (standing) and Andrei Bely (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I do not think like Nicholas Berdyaev that civilization as opposed to culture, which is given up to the contemplation of eternity, tends to be futurist. I do agree that machinery and technique are chiefly responsible for the speeding up of life, but that some might have lost the reason why we could make advantage of such tools. and its exclusive aspiration towards the future. the technique should have helped our society to come more at ease and to be less stressful. Many let the machine take over and concentrated more on the material gain it could bring instead of making use or advantage of the time it could make free for them to do other things.

Organic life is slower, less impetuous, and more concerned with essentials, while civilized life is superficial and accidental; for it puts the means and instruments of life before the ends whose significance is lost. The consciousness of civilized men is concentrated exclusively upon the means and technique of life considered as the only reality, while its aims are regarded as illusory. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

Berdyaev may think that spiritual culture is unreal, but for me culture is fundamental for a healthy community. Culture is is not a mere instrument of technique, it is the gear transmission of society. It is the sociological controller and instigator for a good relation between end and means. Culture is also the mirror for man to put everything in perspective and the golden thread in history. Today we may see the loss of any sense of purpose in human life, culture and religion.

All historical tendencies which have striven to create harmony, to overcome the dark premise, to subdue the turbulence of freedom and supersede it by compelled and necesary good, are concerned only with the secondary signs of the unique and primal mystery of divine freedom. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

We as human beings should remember we are only a very tiny element in the universe. We would love to believe that everything turns around us, but we are thoroughly mistaken.

21st Century Materialism (Photo credit: tomislavmedak)

I do agree with Berdyaev that humankind has a solution in front of them, which was already given to them early from the start. And that it is this fundamental moral contradiction we are facing today that invalidates the doctrine of progress, turning it into a religion of death instead of resurrection and eternal life.

There is no valid ground for degrading those generations whose lot has been cast among pain and imperfection beneath that whose pre-eminence has been ordained in blessedness and joy. No future perfection can expiate the sufferings of past generations. Such a sacrifice of all human destinies to the messianic consummation of the favoured race can only revolt man’s moral and religious conscience. A religion of progress based on this apotheosis of a future fortunate generation is without compassion for either present or past; it addresses itself with infinite optimism to the future, with infinite pessimism to the past. It is profoundly hostile to the Christian expectation of resurrection for all mankind, for all the dead, fathers and forefathers. This Christian idea rests on the hope of an end to historical tragedy and contradiction valid for all human generations, and of resurrection in eternal life for all who have ever lived. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

Our habit of breaking up time into the past, present and future does not entitle us to endow the last with more reality than the first. From the standpoint of the present, the future is no richer in reality than the past, and our efforts should be with reference, not to the future, but to that eternal present of which both future and past are one. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}

More people in this world should make the choice on what they really want to focus. Too much we have forgotten the importance of the choices we have to make and on the direction we have to focus our eyes and mind. We should all be convinced how much we ourselves can regulate our own life and how much depends on the focus on what we want is directly proportional to what we can achieve.

To many of us are more concerned to prove ourselves for man, instead of proving ourselves for the Higher Being. How many of us are not willing to change themselves, just for the sake of wining someone’s approval.

Geetika Garg, who is trying to know more about everything around her, writes on her blog:

You don’t have to prove yourself worthwhile by doing what others wish; it’s certainly not your job. Be confident for who you are, for who you had been all those years, stand strong for all the decisions that you have made and have faith in yourself.  You are enough for your ow. {You Matter}

Too many people have forgotten to be their own self and to dare to speak out for themselves.  A lot of people who would have loved to have more affinity for the spiritual have been pressed against the wall by the materialists. they put their own inner soul aside, thinking they would be less than the other. they looked for ways outside themselves to prove themselves by doing what others wished them to do. they should know that is not the right way and is neither to help them nor the ones they are hoping to please.

May I quote the lady who believes whatever we are seeking is seeking us too, and has hopes that the day the two will meet, it will be complete, perfect as it is meant to be!

Be confident for who you are, for who you had been all those years, stand strong for all the decisions that you have made and have faith in yourself.  You are enough for your own self; you are capable of achieving what all you desire and you require absolutely none to tell you how worthy you are. Instead of focusing on what critics have to say why not concentrate on those who praise you.  Those people are the ones with all positivism and happiness. We often tend to forget that they exist and keep believing on all bad about us. They are the people who matter. Let go of rest. Don’t let your ears used to of those cruel words that inhibit your growth, that steal a part of you and things that change your entire being. {You Matter}

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Recommended readings:

1. Social Constructivism and Positivism in the Context of International Relations
2. Put Positivism to Work
3. Returning to Berdyaev at the Return to Materialism
4. Berdyaev on the Nature of Spirit and Reality in Relation to Apologetics
5. The Practice of Philosophy and Modes of Knowing: Hart’s Rejoinder to Zuidervaart?
6. Searching for fulfillment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression
7. Depression, Anxiety, Pressure and megachurches
8. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
9. Aligned
10. Malefactors becoming your master
11. Control your destiny or somebody else will
12. Control and change
13. Science and God’s existence
14. Do we have to be an anarchist to react
15. Getting out of the dark corners of this world
16. Value Positivism
17. Patience is the ability to count down before blasting off
18. He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger
19. To whom do we want to be enslaved
20. Power in the life of certain
21. Know Who goes with us and don’t try to control life
22. God is my refuge and my fortress in Him I will trust

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Savouring pictorial entertainement

Casual photo of Dr. Ted Baehr (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of Movieguide looks at the tolerating self-destructive or socially destructive behavior in our children. According to him it is not a sign of love, but hate, as well as parental neglect. He warns the public also that our narcissistic society is on the brink of stewing in the vile juice of its own self-destructive behaviour.

Consequently, we seem to have forgotten what love entails.

God calls us all to love our neighbour as ourselves, both Jew and Gentile. That divine call entails helping ourselves and our neighbours get over intolerable destructive behaviour, such as violence against the innocent, alcoholic stupors and perverting our children’s innocent hearts and minds by frankly intervening and correcting such behaviour in a manner that brings about significant change or repentance).

He writes, reminding us of Leviticus:

Levitcus 19:17-18 AESV Torah  (17)  “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.  (18)  “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am Mar-Yah.

Today we should remind ourselves more of this saying, concerning what we bring our children in contact with. What do we allow to come in front of their eyes?

Nothing should lead a young person into viewing something that would lead them down the road to perdition. Young people tell us all the time they’ve been blessed by the guidance of Movieguide®.

Ted Baehr thinks love marks the freedom of the abundant life (as promised by Jesus Christ) with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit – wisdom, knowledge, discernment, prophecy, tongues, interpretation, apostleship, teaching, evangelism, pastoring, leadership, encouragement, faith, healing, miraculous powers, administration, service, giving, and mercy – built on all the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. But should parents not wonder more what the freedom may entail? The last twenty years we can see too much unguided freedom is given to children. They were allowed to do what they wanted and see what they wanted, but were left on their own. Television has become the modern babysit. It is so easy to set the (little) children in front of the (big) television screen and have it savouring the full entertainment stuff presented by all sorts of channels and entertainment groups.

Baehr reports that in 1985 only 1 percent of the films made by Hollywood contained “positive, redemptive content,” according to Movieguide’s grading scale. But after more than 20 years of conclusive evidence that audiences back their desire for positive, faith-affirming and family-friendly films with box office bucks, now more than 65 percent of the movies made include “positive, redemptive” content and storylines.

In most of the things shown on television or in the cinema it is not clear any more what is good and what is bad. Regular non commitments sex with several people, of the other but also of the same sex is often promoted and violence looks like a game to enjoy. In Aronofsky’s film Noah, good and evil are two very distinct things at first.  Noah’s family — the descendents of Seth — are “good” and Tubal-Cain and his people are “evil.”  Early in the film Noah’s son Ham sees a flower he believes to be pretty and picks it, after which Noah explains that they should only take what they need from the earth, never more.  In this human beings should recognise the lesson the Bible and the film maker want to get across, how we have to treat creation. Tubal-Cain’s tribe, on the other hand, will kill or destroy all creation without care in order to build industrialized cities.

Several conservative Christians may say not such messages are given in the Bible, but than they should read it better, and also between the lines on many places.  While not mentioned in story of Noah in the Bible, Tubal-Cain can be found in Genesis 4:22, as a son of Lamech (a descendant of Cain) “who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools….[his] sister was Naamah.”  It makes sense for Aronofsky to pull Tubal-Cain into his interpretation of this story because while not mentioned in the Bible, rabbinic literature (The Book of Jasher, chapter 5) suggests that Naamah was the wife of Noah (also the name of Noah’s wife in the movie, played by Jennifer Connelly). {“Book of Jasher, Chapter 5.” Sacred Texts. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/5.htm (accessed April 11, 2014).}  Critics should be happy to know that a reference to The Book of Jasher (Sefer ha-Yashar) appears in Scripture in Joshua 10:13.

Parents seem to forget how much such television screening can impact the life of their child. A view of this world is given to the viewer, which is not always realistic nor in accordance to Judeo-Christian values. Often there is not given a reflection of how we behave or how weak we are.

Noah sees how women are being dragged into tents, presumably to be raped. He notices also how man has become full of lust and egoism, not taking any interest any more in the other. The same as we can notice today. He realizes how bad the world has become and find it high time to let them know how the Creator is indignant. Noah knows it is a justifiable anger of the Divine Creator, because man itself should recognise how man do dishonour God His creation. Noah also realizes that his family will have to die in an environment where they will form a solitude of lovers of God. Because of his insight into the depraved world he chooses, out of his love for his children, to save his seed for the poor, and he thinks the commission of an infanticide security will be for the better of the child. He let his happy beloved son Ham be trampled by a crowd. As such he knows his child will not be part of those people fighting over food, slaughtering animals in grotesque fashion (it’s like an undercover animal rights investigation), and not having to face all the killing of one another going on. He can imagine himself partaking in all of this.  And this brings us some heavy pictures to swallow. In such dreams we can take an attitude we would like to make possible. As such we also get a warning how we have to cope with our thoughts. For the conservative evangelicals it could also be a warning that we all have to be careful not to play for God. Evangelicals may consider that they are correctly following God’s Word and are handling in (blind) obedience to their God. By taking certain actions and proclaiming certain things they think they know for sure what their God thinks. But we should know that it is more what “they think their gods want them to do” based on interpolation of the sacred text, the people are known for terrible things.

Over-thinking everything he sees Noah realizes in that moment that he is no different than any of these people.  He too, is subject to the duality of man. are we not all guilty of certain dreams where we picture ourselves in ‘happy circumstances’? How many of us may not enjoy some films or television series, placing ourselves in the role of the character of the play? How much do we let our ghost wander? How many of us do not like to enjoy such adventures we can see on the little screen? Dreaming or thinking of such events or activities which are not in accordance to the Will of God, are as bad as doing it or taking part of it. And Noah knows that. He for a moment seems to be enjoying such things as well, but he is confronted by the badness of such thoughts. He, like we, should know how much such thoughts are also part of something God does not like. He tells us that already looking with desiring eyes is already a sin.

Parents confront their children with many pictures they themselves often would desire and would not mind dreaming of. They give food to their children with lots of things which they should know are not in unison with the Will of God.

We do not know exactly what God is thinking, but from His Word we can have some idea. People have been known to do terrible things. They regularly have to be warned when they go astray or when some things are going to go really wrong.

Several people may be excited God and Jesus are back on the big screen. Many mega churches call their followers to go to fill the theatres. For the cinema owners it would be good business, but we wonder if it will be good business for God. One good thing is that once again people can speak about God, commandments, Jesus, how we have to behave and live, how the world has to continue. This are good things. People should be more aware of such issues.

The backers of Son of God are hoping for its own Passion of the Christ moment. The 2004 Mel Gibson film was a huge commercial success, grossing over $600 million, despite mixed reviews from critics and very understandable concerns over the portrayal of Jewish people in the film. Son of God has even made an attempt to remove its own potential controversy from its big screen version. The producers cut out scenes with the Satan or Devil when re-formatting their miniseries for the big screen. That’s because, in part, the actor who played the devil bore (for some) a striking resemblance to the current president.

All events of the small or bigger screen can always be related to the real life. All fiction can be used to learn lessons for the world of facts. We may use it but we should be careful what we do want to come in front of our kids.

Integrated Behavior Tree (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our worldview (including what values we adopt and live by) determines whether you will forgive or seek revenge, be generous or stingy, be courteous or rude, be independent or dependent. People with worldviews build or destroy, rescue or torture, join churches or join gangs. Finally, a society’s prevailing worldview shapes its culture, and, of course, the mass media has a powerful impact on every worldview.

Distracted by the cruel shibboleth of “tolerance,” even judicial systems built on Christian principles are now confused about some very basic values.

For instance, in Germany, a man put an ad in the paper asking if anyone wanted to be killed and cannibalized. Surprisingly, several people answered his ad. He chose one, slaughtered him, and ate him. The court in Germany was hard-pressed to find a reason to convict this villain since both men were “mutually consenting adults.”

What kind of moral idiots and mental midgets are we breeding here? How do these people even get high school diplomas, much less college degrees? There, but for the Grace of God, go we!

This case and many others show how low a culture can sink when it rejects the love of God and the love of its neighbour.

True love refuses to tolerate such evil. True love affirms life. True love gives. True love shares. True love does not delight in evil or sinful behaviour, including extra-marital lust.

Lust, on the other hand, consumes. It takes without permission. Lust is never satisfied.

We have moved from a society of love to a society of lust where we tolerate evil in the name of self-gratification, or in the name of trying not to “offend” another person. This is exactly what’s happening when many of our leaders, including church leaders, are asking us to tolerate rampant gang crime in our inner cities, rampant illegal immigration that flouts the nation’s laws, and rampant prostitution and perverse lust on our public streets.

As a result, our culture faces economic, moral, and spiritual collapse, and God is warning us to turn back from the brink of self-destruction by removing His blessing and allowing the alarms of natural and social disasters to sound to wake us from this nightmare of self-destruction. Sadly, like Pharaoh at the time of Moses, the warning alarms of a series of plagues screaming out “let my people go” may be falling on such hardened hearts and tone deaf ears that our current governing powers will not heed the warnings but will persist in America and Western Civilization’s continued self-destruction.

writes Ted Baehr. {Love vs. Lust: Transforming the Culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ}

“Most people dedicated to a particular faith are likely to find the violence, substance abuse, sexual immorality, and mocking of traditional values in most modern movies offensive,”

said Megan Basham, entertainment editor at Christian news site, World Magazine.

“The rare well-made film that offers the opposite is going to appeal to church-goers of every stripe.”

Christians in the world should know were to go and were to look for. They shall have to make choices and direct their children and their loved ones to get to see the right things and come to understand what is good and what is bad. They have to avoid this descent into the personal hell of an intolerable evil and lustful narcissism that destroys body, mind, soul, and spirit. As Baehr rightly says,

those who still love their neighbour must take a stand.

That stand according to him includes:

• Praying for an awakening, for the gifts of a fear of judgement and knowledge of the love of God, as manifested in the free gift of new life offered by God Himself, Jesus Christ, the prophesied messiah for both Jews and Gentiles.
• Reclaiming the role of the church and the family, not the state, in the rule of all matters of faith and values, including godly education and marriage.
• Exposing the fruitless works of darkness and excommunicating those in the church who pretend to be faithful while espousing a politics of “I don’t care what you do” tolerance instead of love. Because they are leading others astray, these callous pretenders need to be reprimanded by a new 95 theses nailed on their doors declaring them unfit for preaching, teaching, discipling, or fellowship.
• Excommunicating those in the church and government who tolerate evil. If they persist, legal action must be brought against them in the church and against government leaders in the courts for violating the inalienable rights of people, for distorting God’s Truth, and for violating the Constitution of the United States of America. We need to stand for God’s Law in the face of the abuse of power to inflict harm by those in civil authority, who know no restraints. Doing anything less is a form of secular, if not demonic, tyranny.

The writer of the article believes vast majority of people have faith and values. Now, they need to exercise love by refusing to tolerate the evils destroying our culture and jeopardizing the future of our children and grandchildren.

Model Behavior (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Moviegoings writes in Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?

Our fallen human nature and brokenness as believers isn’t always manifested in ways as dramatic and overtly evil as the Church turning over a group of innocents for murder and enslavement. Sometimes it looks more like the recent imbroglio over World Vision International, for example, or like producing and praising a “Christian” movie that “takes every available chance to unfortunately stereotype, almost to the point of offensiveness, every people group represented.” Whatever the situation, however grave or seemingly trivial, these are failures of Christian community and Christian love. And when it comes to the mainline evangelical approach to movies, there is also a chronic failure of Christian imagination, impoverished by sanctimony without discernment, and atrophied from lack of use.

Fans of God’s Not Dead might regard the negative reviews on the film as further affirmation of secular hostility towards “the truth,” rather than an informed assessment of the movie’s ham-fisted lack of artistry.

Perhaps most disturbing of all, at least to me, is that this film’s audience is so insular and out-of-touch that they regard a product that is avowedly preaching exclusively to the choir as a valid evangelistic tool.

writes Jared in Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?.

At Movieguide® they are convinced that very strong redemptive content in movies does much better than very strong negative content. We also at From Guestwriters are convinced that we do need much more articles in the world showing the good things and the better ways to live. We also do find we do have to concentrate much more on the old commandment – to love one another, and to show our preparedness to do that in honesty.

God wants us to make our culture more free and more civilized. He wants us to be the light of the world. He wants us to teach our children to love Him because He loves them so much.

So, then, how should we live?

Go into all the world with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ and do not be afraid. For, we are heirs to God’s His kingdom, and we come with faith, with freedom, with thanksgiving, and with the power, love, and joy of the Lord, not the lusts of our sinful nature.

What can we possibly give our children and grandchildren that is more valuable than that, than a culture which honours Jesus Christ and His Gospel of True Love? Nothing!

ends Ted Baehr in his article: Love vs. Lust: Transforming the Culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Related articles

• All Things Truly Wicked Start from Innocence, or “Hey Everyone, I Watched Aronofsky’s NOAH!” (beatlands.com)
  Darren Aronofsky is one of my favorite filmmakers, as he is just so excellent at capturing the human condition.  He is a master of creating complex characters whose private demons will elicit all sorts of feels in the audience and probably shatter your soul a little bit.  NOAH, while not Aronofsky’s finest work (I reserve that spot for Requiem For A Dream) and not necessarily soul-shattering, takes the Biblical deluge myth and makes it relevant to a world in which nature is being threatened by industry—our world.
• Noah: A dissection. (faithandfrustration.wordpress.com)
  How far would you go for God? How sure would you have to be that he was speaking to you? That it wasn’t just some delusion? What is our responsibility as Christians towards the planet? How important are the choices we make?Those are just a few of the questions that Darren Aronofsky’s film Noah asks. And they are all very, very good questions. This review is going to be full of spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, please go see it first. Do be warned, however – it is a dark movie, and quite disturbing at times. You know, kind of like the actual story of Noah.
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  I’m a Christian, and I value the story of Noah. I don’t think it’s literal, but it’s probably based on some very important historical facts. However, this movie is NOT a Christian movie. It’s a Jewish movie. It’s heavily inspired by Jewish Midrash – this is a certain style of reading the Hebrew Scriptures. Essentially (and I might be getting this wrong), midrash is reading the scripture and then interpreting it several different ways, and letting the interpretations sit. It’s not about finding the ‘right’ way to interpret a scripture, but about providing possibilities. Noah is definitely in this vein.
• “Is this the end of everything?” Noah – review. (josaustin91.wordpress.com)
  Being one of many controversial and outrage-inducing elements to irritate church circles and flood the internet (no pun intended) are the film’s supposed biblical inaccuracies and distortions of ‘God’s word’.It seems Hollywood can’t please everyone, as many Christians and others believe that God existed before this beginning, and have also voiced  their unhappiness with the film’s depiction of Noah as a ‘psychopathic killer.’But with atheist director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan) on record as saying that Noah is “the least biblical biblical film ever made” and producers Paramount explaining that the film is “inspired by the story of Noah”, this inevitable religious backlash is something non-believers need not worry about.
• Noah, the Movie (biblescienceguy.wordpress.com)
  Noah’s Flood is the pivotal geological event of all time because it utterly transformed the globe. Mountains, ravines, ocean basins, and continents probably all date from the time of the Flood—they were either formed by or drastically altered by the Flood. Most fossils were probably deposited by the Flood.The Apostle Peter declared the Flood destroyed the world (2 Peter 3:6). The Flood caused geological damage to the earth that defies imagination. Turbulent Flood waters caused massive erosion worldwide. Churning sediments were hydraulically sorted and settled in layers, solidifying during the following decades. Geological adjustments continued for centuries after the Flood. The oceanic, atmospheric, and geologic upheavals of Noah’s Flood exceed man’s capacity to comprehend.
• Movie Review: Noah (infobarrel.com)
  The story is not quite true to the Biblical story, as read in one Bible. Even without considering the similarities to a story in the even older Epic of Gilgamesh,[2] there is a tendency for some to take the entire Bible as gospel (sic) truth, rather than as a parable, even when logic shows that the literal meaning does not work – Noah was building an Ark, not a Tardis, and that many animals for that length of time would have built up a lot of waste. The film does come up with a solution for some of these problems, through the knowledge of herbalism of Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), Noah’s wife.
• ‘Noah’ Movie review: As promised, it’s not a Biblical movie, but worse – it’s not a good movie (theglobaldispatch.com)
  Director Darren Aronofsky promised his film Noah would not be a “very religious story” and he certainly didn’t disappoint in that regards. Later Aronofsky attempted to clarify his statements, attempting not to alienate Evangelical viewers, saying “I think people who are believers will see the ideas and the values that they’re looking for represented in the film…” – more on that Here.
• Movie Review: Noah (reellifewithjane.com)
  I admit I’m not up on my Bible studies as much as I should be, but despite the contrasts between the story told in the Bible and director Darren Aronofsky’s film, I still really liked this movie. I went into it determined to view the movie on its own merit, and in that way, it delivers as an entertaining, well-cast, well-written movie with great special effects.
• Paul Brandeis Raushenbush: Noah: A Midrash by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel (Interview) (huffingtonpost.com)
  When Darren Aronofsky was 13, he wrote a poem inspired by the biblical story of Noah that won an award from the United Nations and was part of a lifelong quest to bring the story to the big screen. After 10 years of trying to develop the project in Hollywood, Darren Aronofsky and co-writer and producer Ari Handel will introduce their interpretation of Noah to the world this Friday when the movie opens across the country.Not surprisingly, there has been controversy around Noah that has featured the Sunday School crowd loudly declaring that they will refuse to see the film because it does not simply tell the story in the Bible. That is, of course, ridiculous. First of all, the Bible is never simple, and any depiction of it that doesn’t acknowledge that complexity is doing the Bible a disservice.I’ve seen Noah, and it is epic, mythic and wrestles with questions of God, creation and the role of humans within it — in other words, it is biblical.That said, the apocalyptic story of Noah that Handel and Aronofsky have rendered will disturb some people — not because it is unbiblical, but because it is a biblical vision to which they object.
• Dear America: A Response to Our Mass Violence Du Jour (anapperscompanion.com)
  In a month or two, someone will lash out, killing or injuring another dozen or two, and we’ll do what we always do: scratch our heads, look for behaviors foretelling violence, and ask what can be done to prevent such a horror from happening again.
• Why Are We Spiteful, Even Though It Bites Us Back? (wnyc.org)
  Why do people willingly inconvenience or even harm themselves in order harm others? And why are some of us more spiteful than others? Being aggressive and lacking empathy might have a lot to do with it, researchers say.”Spite can become very destructive,” says David Marcus, a psychologist at Washington State University and the lead author of a study published in the journal Psychological Assessment.

Walking in the Light of Life

Much more people should come to see the value a belief in God may bring them. The seed implanted in all man, every person has the ability to come to see the light the Divine Creator has given humankind.

It is only for each individual to make the right choices. God has given His only beloved son to the world to bring salvation from struggles, pain and death. People should come to see that beacon of light, and go to it in trust, finding peace and comfort.

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In this message:

• claiming to have fellowship with him and yet walking in the darkness = lie + do not live out the truth.
• having fellowship with one another => blood of Jesus, God his Son, purifies us from all sin.
• claiming to be without sin = liar = we deceive ourselves +> God his word not in us + truth not in us.
• confessing sins => the Faithful and Just will forgive and purify from all unrighteousness.
• do you see light in the dark?
• need to see where we are going = crucial to our safety and comfort.
• Let God light your way today and always.

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Additional reading:

1. Your struggles develop your strengths
2. Trust God to shelter, safety and security

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Related articles

• God Makes a Promise (kenwinton.wordpress.com)
  In the Old Testament, God was primarily revealing sin and the requirements of the Law needing to be fulfilled. In the New Testament, God is primarily revealing His love that covers our sins and the fulfilled Law, through Jesus. In the Old Testament, if you touched a leper you became unclean. In the New Testament, if you touch a leper, the leper becomes clean.
• “If we claim…” (inchristus.wordpress.com)
  Denying how we act and who we are affects our relationship with God. Therefore, having fellowship with God depends an honest view of God and of ourselves.
• Walking in the Light (smallstudentbiggod.wordpress.com)
  When I rededicated my life to Jesus, people seemed to think I had become perfect. No drugs, no partying, back to school… awesome stuff. What they didn’t know was that I struggled with pornography. I had since grade 5, and had done a seamless job of keeping it secret. Don’t get me wrong, I tried to stop immediately; I just failed, and the sin went even more underground than it had been.

  It tore me up inside. When I should have been growing with Jesus, I was sacrificing that intimacy for cheap pleasure. The real problem was this: I didn’t tell anybody. How selfish I was! I would pray to God for deliverance, and always I would be faced with this Scripture: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (James 5:16a) All of me would scream, “NO!” when I read it. I wanted to break out of my addiction, but not bad enough that I was willing to humble myself to that point. People thought I was so clean and godly for my age! They would think me disgusting then!

• Confession and Forgiveness (james1948.wordpress.com)
  Denial of sin poses a great hindrance to a close walk with the Lord, and it does not change the truth that we do, indeed, sin.
  To God, sin looks much like the little boy who was covered in mud after he played in the mud puddle.
• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (hiswordforwisdom.wordpress.com)
  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us
• The King Is Coming Soon (kyrian777.wordpress.com)
  You put on Jesus Christ when you are sanctified through the Truth. – John 17:17.
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  You do not have to mourn as one without a hope. Don’t mourn about your portion in this dispensation.
• Daily verse (donnyprevette.wordpress.com)
  God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Jennifer K Cook

I have a history of depression and anxiety.  Really…I get anxious…then when it gets unbearable I get depressed.  This is more common in people than you think!  I have found many that struggle with this sort of thing among some of my closest friends and family.

Now…what does God’s Word have to say about this?  Plenty!  Today I found this…

1 John 1:5-10

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[a] sin.

⁸ If…

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