Tag Archives: to Worship

Living as Who You Are

We are not sure if Mary’s adherents will be able to do away with the old egoistic way, but only hope they shall learn a lot from the way the young girl put her own selfishness away and by accepting to bring the saviour on earth, knew this would be not an easy job, also bringing a lot of pain to her.

Those being Christian should not only look up to that incredible woman, but should try to become like her son, coming to do the will of the Only One True God, the heavenly Father, and like Jesus worshipped that heavenly Father should also worship only that God of Israel, and not the ‘Virgin Mary‘ or any other saints.

By going for the Biblical Truth people can transform themselves, to become examples and spreaders of the Good News, so that others also can transform with them the world into something much better where their love shall make the difference.

It is good to look forward to the new world. We do not have to wait before taking action. It is now already that we do have to take action and work to accomplish a better world. It is now that we do have to mould, or knead our personality and bend it to the wishes of God. We should be well aware that in this world there is still a lot of work to be done.

MIRACLES EACH DAY

The ultimate accomplishment is living as who you are within the world. But in what kind of world? This is the catch that causes feelings of purposelessness in those who are content to live as who they are within the world. Until they realize the power of reflection, they wonder why they, unlike their brothers and sisters called to ‘do,’ do not have a specific part to play in establishing the world in which all are able to be content with who they are. (ACOL, D:Day19.5)

As forerunners of the way that all of us will be later on, those living in the way of Mary, of being rather than doing, will influence all of us for the better. Jesus discusses the “power of reflection,” (D:Day19.5) which is a mighty power when under the sway of being. Those of the way of Mary will influence all of us to move…

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Hunger of spiritually living Christians

Hunger to worship God


”True Christians truly seek the Kingdom of God first (Mat. 6:33).
Spiritually living Christians hunger for each opportunity to worship God and fellowship with other Christians (cf. Psa. 95:6; Mat. 5:6; Acts 12:12; etc.).
Cross-centered saints do not look for “reasons” to miss worship and Bible study with other saints!
It is incongruous to think of a spiritual-minded person (cf. 1 Pet. 2:5)
battling with the decision (?) of whether or not to attend.
May each of us develop the yearning of David and say,
“I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psa. 122:1).”

~ Allergic To Church? by Neal Pollard

 

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Of interest:

  1. My perspective: Virtual v Physical church attendance
  2. Church indeed critical in faith development
  3. Being Christian in Western Europe at the beginning of the 21st century #1
  4. Germinating small seeds, pebble-stones, small and mega churches and faith
  5. 500 Years of Reformation Divisions Have Lost Much of Their Potency
  6. American secularism is growing — and growing more complicated
  7. The post-Christian world
  8. Unhappy people in empty churches
  9. Jewish millennials between 2013 and 2017
  10. Difficulty in getting new young members
  11. The Field is the World #4 Many who leave the church
  12. Decrease in church attendance not only a recent feature #1 Methodist Church of Victoria and Tasmania
  13. Decrease in church attendance not only a recent feature #5 Necessity of attendance
  14. Less Americans interested in praying
  15. Christians close to falling below 50pc in England
  16. The decline of religion in the US continues unabated
  17. After 2,000 UK Church Buildings Close, New Church Plants Get Creative
  18. Christians are increasingly mixing and matching their faith in unexpected ways
  19. Reasons why Christianity is declining rapidly in America
  20. How to Save the American Church
  21. What sort people of faith do we want to be
  22. Not everyone in the churches of Christ are “ungodly”
  23. Being religious has benefits even in this life
  24. Offering words of hope

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P5 The Empire we’re in: Individualism & Consumerism

In the previous weeks, the government had made sure that the anti-vaxxers had no reason to demonstrate and/or smash things up.

12-storey floor of retail area inside of Berjaya Times Square shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Mainstream churches have also opened their doors to the general public, but as before, the Corona Crisis, the huge shopping centra are and remain the main ‘worship temples’. There, in those shopping malls, people feel most at ease and satisfied that they can buy anything they want to own again.
For them, the big shopping mall is a sacred place to pay homage to their god (Mammon), money.

Consumerism has gone so far that lots of people when they buy something are even not interested in what the ecological footprint might be of what they buy.

Even though most people have become slaves to money, and therefore slaves to their employers, it is up to the Church to make those people realise how they have gone off the rails with their way of life and money-making.

It is up to the believer in the One True God to show people that there are much better ways than the worship of money, by which people are chained.

After the war in the Middle East seemed to have come to an end there was again a new war, the Russians invading Ukraine, we can see that Gog stood up and tries to go south to enlarge its world to get back a Great Russia or USSR. Others wonder who or what that “One World Government” seeking world domination might be.

Many do not want to know about God and His commandments and laugh at the idea of one world government or theocracy. The idea of living in the last days seems for many ridiculous whilst others think we can clearly see the signs indicating we are close to the times of the return of Christ, of experiencing the end of the world, there was something dramatic, inspiring, exciting about it all.

 

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Preceding

Material gain to honour God

Your position about materialistic desires having conquered the world

Looking for the consummation of presents

The Proper Place of Excess

Earth’s pandemic and T-shirts for young people

The meaning of life – Finding purpose

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Additional reading

  1. Looking at an era of international “youth culture”
  2. Looking on what is going on and not being of it
  3. Not everything has to be reciprocated with money
  4. An other trait for faith in Jesus and his God
  5. Good to make sure that you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy
  6. Hamas the modern Philistines
  7. The post-Christian world
  8. Today’s Thought “Flee these things” (May 24)
  9. Today’s Thought “Keep your life free from … ” (June 06)
  10. Today’s thought “Flee these things. Pursue …” (November 23)
  11. Mark 10 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Mark 10:23-31 – The Difficulty of Money
  12. Not created to be on our own (Our world) = Not created to be on our own (Some View on the World)
  13. Missionary action paradigm for all endeavours of the church
  14. True riches
  15. Count your blessings
  16. Sign of the Times and the Last Days #1 The Son of man revealing
  17. Sign of the Times and the Last Days #2 Wars, natural disasters, famine and false Messiahs
  18. Last days and destruction of the flesh
  19. Hope For, But Not In, Evangelicalism

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Related

  1. P1 This might not be the End, but it sure feels like it / A.J. Hendry
  2. What Does Larry Cohen’s THE STUFF Say About How Easily We Are Manipulated and Our Weaknesses Exploited?
  3. America’s Shopping Addiction
  4. The case against consumerism: Part 1 – The real cost of our everyday purchases
  5. Extreme individualism is on the rise
  6. Individualism and Individuation
  7. Individualism in the Age of Social Media
  8. Covid Evidence: Supply Vs Demand Shock
  9. Community or Consumption: Social Ecology in Greater Manchester
  10. Consumerism’s Effect on Creating an Addictive Society – Pt. 3
  11. Time for a radical farewell to overconsumption
  12. Is sustainable consumption fundamentally an issue of inequality?
  13. The Money Problem
  14. The control of money is where the true power lies – but only because of the way we think
  15. On conspiracies, apocalyptic Christian nationalism, and how bad eschatology is ruining the world / Michael Frost
  16. Tightened Covid curbs spark protests, riots across Europe
  17. Be prepared – last-days spiritual warfare is intense
  18. Is this how the End of the World begins?
  19. What Shall Be The Sign Of Thy Coming? And Of The End Of The World?
  20. Food For Thought
  21. A Gate out of hell
  22. In the Miso Soup
  23. Quote of the day (20-Apr-2022)
  24. Make more pies
  25. Which attitude is better for our society?
  26. The importance of the individual and the individual vs the group
  27. Relationships help with resilience, not individualism
  28. 4/1/22 – Individually Individual
  29. Buying Stuff for Stuff
  30. Dang, I shopped.
  31. The Free Gift!!
  32. Green Consumerism: Who Cares About The Environment?
  33. faith in Christ for each other
  34. A Saviour for the world, the Samaritans, and our individualistic selves (Growing Deeper with John 4:27-42)
  35. Saved from what? (And For what?) [Sermon]
  36. Breaking free
  37. How to Buy Less and Buy Better with the Less But Better Method
  38. J.B Mackinnon’s The Day the World Stops Shopping: Book Review

When Lambs Are Silent

This is part 5 in a series where we will be exploring and imagining how faith communities, and our community in general, may need to evolve in order to adapt to our changing times. You can find part 1 herepart 2 here, and part 3 here.

In our last piece we discussed how our society, though regarded as secular, is very much shaped by its own God’s that demand allegiance and require our worship and sacrifice. We named these as Individualism, Consumerism and White Supremacy. In our last piece we dealt with the latter, in this article we will be talking about the former two.

Throughout the lockdown there has been calls to open various shopping centres, lament’s that we have not been free to shop, to browse and buy. And in Auckland last week, as Covid restrictions began to ease, the great Temples of this age…

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Three basic commands

At the (internet) service this morning brother Eric Lowe spoke about people at first following up the CoViD-19 measures strictly. At the first lockdown, the governments of the West-European countries had been giving very clear instructions. That way lots of people kept to the measures and seemed to have fewer difficulties following those instructions than by the second lockdown.

When the governments started to relax the measures and then started giving different signals people started to get confused and we could see that many people were not any more prepared to follow the social restrictions. So many months after the beginning of the corona crisis, people start getting tired and less interested to listen to the advice of the epidemiologists.

In Christendom we can see a similar attitude as in the citizen world. Today we see a lot of people who are not so much interested in listening to wise, and even less to old and new sensible advice. Mr. Lowe said the less people are listening they go by, and remarked:

If you are not listening you can not hear.

And that is just the problem by a lot of people who call themselves Christian. We better would look to the examples in Scriptures, which would all make it so much easier to pass those difficult times of isolation.

If we care not to listen then our listening shuts down.

That is what we see what happened with lots of Christians, not to say with the majority. For many so-called Christians, there is not any more such a good connection with God. They have forgotten that the experience with God depends on our nearness to God and all that would happen in His presence. Many wait for God’s presence to happen, and in the meantime try out their own gods and saints to bow down for and pray for.

Billy Graham warned:

“God doesn’t want us to waste our latter years or spend them in superficial, meaningless pursuits. Instead, He wants us to use them in whatever ways we can to influence those who will come after us. God wants us to finish well. . . .”

When being a Christian people should be as a disciple of Christ, following his teachings and worshipping the same God a Christ. Though many, who call themselves Christian, do not worship the same God as Jesus Christ worshipped. They even do not want to accept the Words of God, Who Himself said that Jesus was His beloved son. God, Who is no liar, never said He is Jesus or never held back to say that He would be Jesus. In case God would be Jesus, then he would naturally have told the people around Jesus a lot of lies, but also to His prophets He would have told lies more than ones.  Already in Jesus time, when there was a genuine and powerful work of God, men did not like to be apart from it, especially if they were religious leaders. Consequently we find both Pharisees and Sadducees coming to John’s baptism. He met them however with prophetic insight. He unmasked them as having the characteristics of the serpent, and warned them that wrath lay before them. He knew that they would boast of being in the proper Abrahamic succession, so he knocked that prop from beneath them, showing that it would not count with God. Nothing would do but repentance, and his baptism was with a view to that; but it must be genuine and manifest itself in fruits that were suitable. James, in his Epistle, insists that faith, if it is real and vital, must express itself in suitable works.

When Jesus got baptised the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, the God of Israel made clear who that Nazarene man standing in the river Jordan was:

3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of יהוה, make his paths straight. (Matt 3:3, NRKJV)

13 Then cometh Yahushua from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Yahushua answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Yahushua, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of Elohim descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matt 3:13-17, NRKJV)

Some months later Jehovah would repeat it and say:

18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. (Matt 12:18-21, NRKJV)

Also today we are in times that many do not want to hear God’s Word and do give preference to words of theologians and people who say they are from God. But they are often wolves in sheep clothes and people fall for their words instead of believing the simple words of the Bible.

Though our brother Eric Lowe, had it this morning about man’s attitude in corona times, we can interpolate it also to the behaviour of many people who call themselves Christian today. The majority of those belonging to Christendom care not to listen to God’s Word. That makes their listening shuts down.

One example of a young girl (teniiiola) who writes:

I know that they’re two different people because the Bible makes it clear that Jesus is seated at the right side of God. Nevertheless, they are the same. As per, they are one. Praising God is equal to praising Jesus (one can’t even access God without Jesus anyway) and praising Jesus is the same as praising God.  {comment on 4 misconceptions that need to be cleared about being a Christian.}

On one side she seems to understand that Jesus and God are two different persons. Though then she, like some other people, sees a proof of Jesus to be God, when is written:

that Jesus is seated at the right side of God

clearly not seeing and not understanding Jesus is not sitting on the throne of God, but is sitting next to God, which indicate he, as another person than God takes the place on the seat next to God.

For following up the Covid-rules simple messages worked, but as soon as complex messages were given confusion started to take master of many people. The same when in Christianity several teachers started using Roman-Greek philosophy and twisted several words of Christ, to please the people who were so used to heathen rites and festivals.

The young girl on her website also says:

Calling Jesus God does not equal to calling God’s name in vain…Jesus wasn’t even on Earth as at the time this instruction was given.   {comment on 4 misconceptions that need to be cleared about being a Christian.}

giving the idea when people were not on earth when a Bible text was written the calling of their name as a god would not be wrong or would be acceptable. That is closing the eyes for reality and for the meaning of God’s Words. Those who have Madonna as their goddess today and honour her name are doing the same fault as those in ancient times, who honoured Apollo as their god.

Today with the pandemic lots of people are like in the wilderness. After Jesus his baptism, after God had declared him to be His son, this son of man also went into a wilderness. There he told the adversary of God “not to tempt God”, something we see many do. Lots of ministers and priests calling their flock to come to gather in their churches, not having to worry, because God would protect them. Some even dare to say:

 Those people who are catching CoViD-19 are those who do not believe enough in Jesus, who saves all who believe in him.

The Bible tells us God can not be tempted and that man can do nothing to Him. But Jesus, all should know, was tempted more than once. When in the wilderness Jesus told a tempter:

7 Yahushua said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt יהוה thy Elohim. (Matt 4:7, NRKJV)

Those who say they are a Christian should pick up such words of Christ. They also should remember Jesus words when the tempter offered an opportunity for Jesus to be worshipped and praised:

10 Then saith Yahushua unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship יהוה thy Elohim, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matt 4:10, NRKJV)

Not Jesus should be worshipped, but all glory, worship and praise should be given to the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, the God Who is above all gods. From his time in the wilderness, we should remember three words as memory joggers. From the story of Jesus in the desert, we should remember three basic commands, which should be the fundamentals of Christian faith.

  1. obey the commands
  2. don’t test God
  3. fear Jehovah God and worship only Him

A true lover of God can’t be double-minded and always shall take the following words of God at heart.

16 Ye shall not tempt יהוה your Elohim, as ye tempted him in Massah. (Deut 6:16, NRKJV)

Being in difficult days we should remember how God was with His people and how He is willing to be with us, in case we want to be with HIm.

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (Ps 95:8-11, NRKJV)

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Spirit saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, (Heb 3:7, NRKJV)

13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! (Ps 81:13, NRKJV)

29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (Deut 5:29, NRKJV)

Jehovah God told very clearly to what we have to keep:

6 I am יהוה thy Elohim, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7 Thou shalt have none other elohim before me. 8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I יהוה thy Elohim am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 11 Thou shalt not take the name of יהוה thy Elohim in vain: for יהוה will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Deut 5:6-11, NRKJV)

Several who call themselves Christians have difficulty with

3 Thou shalt have no other elohim before me. (Exod 20:3, NRKJV)

and have taken Jesus as their god and as if that was not enough also have taken his mother as a goddess and several other human beings as saints to whom they pray and hope they shall fulfil some of their wishes. Praying to someone else than Jehovah God is also taking God’s Name in vain and desecrating it.  Nobody should forget:

11 Who is like unto thee, O יהוה, among the mighty ones? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11, NRKJV)

24 O Sovereign יהוה, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what el is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? (Deut 3:24, NRKJV)

Even Jesus who did such wonderworks could not do anything without God.

19 Then answered Yahushua and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19, NRKJV)

Jesus very well knew Who had saved his People and by Whom he could do all things he did. Jesus as the previous prophets feared and wanted to serve God.

11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 12 Then beware lest thou forget יהוה, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 Thou shalt fear יהוה thy Elohim, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. 14 Ye shall not go after other elohim, of the elohim of the people which are round about you; 15 (For יהוה thy Elohim is a jealous El among you) lest the anger of יהוה thy Elohim be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt יהוה your Elohim, as ye tempted him in Massah. 17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of יהוה your Elohim, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. 18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of יהוה: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which יהוה sware unto thy fathers. 19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as יהוה hath spoken. (Deut 6:11-19, NRKJV)

From his followers, Jesus also demanded that they would follow God’s commandments and that they would do God His Will, like Jesus also did God His Will. For following the commandments of God is for the good of man.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of יהוה your Elohim, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of יהוה your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other elohim, which ye have not known. (Deut 11:26-28, NRKJV)

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of יהוה thy Elohim, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: (Deut 28:15, NRKJV)

The chosen ones by Christ also asked their followers to fulfil the Wish of God and warned what could happen to them who do not keep to God’s commandments.

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, (Rom 2:8, NRKJV)

29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (Deut 5:29, NRKJV)

As with Israel we should also know what Jesus and his God require from us.

12 And now, Israel, what doth יהוה thy Elohim require of thee, but to fear יהוה thy Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve יהוה thy Elohim with all thy heart and with all thy soul, (Deut 10:12, NRKJV)

Like Petrus once was a satan, resisting what God wanted, we too should be very careful not to resist God and not to go against His Laws.

10 Then saith Yahushua unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship יהוה thy Elohim, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matt 4:10, NRKJV)

14 Now therefore fear יהוה, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the elohim which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye יהוה. (Josh 24:14, NRKJV)

It is a simple message and we should not complicate it. We only have to have One God Who is One, and not two or three.

35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that יהוה he is Elohim; there is none else beside him. (Deut 4:35, NRKJV)

6 Thus saith יהוה the King of Israel, and his redeemer יהוה of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no Elohim. (Isa 44:6, NRKJV)

Humanity wants to reverse the complexity and reject the simple because it is too simple and confronting. All people should know that Jesus is getting to the essence of the Old Tetament. Jesus is the way to God and we should be thankfull he managed to do the will of God, putting his own will aside. (In case he would be God he would not have to put his will aside because than he would always have done his own will.) Jesus also was not a schizophrenic god who would say he was someone else and pray to someone else when he would be praying to himself. Jesus did not pray to himself and learned others also not to pray to him, but to his heavenly Father.

Matt 6
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (Matt 6:1-9, NRKJV)

39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. (Luke 22:39-46, NRKJV)

2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (Luke 11:2, NRKJV)

Jesus prefered to do the Will of God, and that is what a Christian, or follower of Christ also should do. We should look forward to God’s Kingdom to come. As followers of Christ we should remember and do likewise Jesus Christ.

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38, NRKJV)

34 Yahushua saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34, NRKJV)

30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30, NRKJV)

Real Christians shall or should follow the teachings of Christ and shall take up the task given by him, namely to go out into the world spreading God’s Word and spreading the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God. Those who want to call themselves “Christian” should do as Jesus Christ asks them to do.

Jesus asks his disciples to make up their mind and to be clear sighted, not about others, but about themselves.

To be clearsighted about ourselves, is to be aware of our own shortcomings, limitations, and challenges. But it also means to be aware of our own gifts and talents. {Seeing Clearly – Br. James Koester}

But Jesus demands a full breath true insight, a proper choice of oneself! He does not want you to follow him because others say so or because others are following him. You have to do it out of own choice and by believing in him and even more important, believing in Him Who sent him.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24, NRKJV)

16 For יהוה so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For יהוה sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17, NRKJV)

It is by believing it was God Who sent His own son, and not that God Himself would have come down to earth to fake His birth, torture, death and resurrection (all parts which do not belong to God).

18 And all things are of יהוה, who hath reconciled us to himself by Yahushua the Messiah, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that יהוה was in the Messiah, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for the Messiah, as though Elohim did beseech you by us: we pray you in the Messiah’s stead, be ye reconciled to יהוה. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of יהוה in him. (2Cor 5:18-21, NRKJV)

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to יהוה by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Rom 5:10, NRKJV)

The gospel may be very simple, do not make it complicated. The Bible speaks a clear language, but we should be willing to hear ait and to see the underlying essence and message.

Faith is simple {Check Yourself, Christian}

so keep it simple and do not unnecessarily complicate things by twisting the words of the Bible; Just take those words like they are written down.

Are there ways in which we may be externally religious—doctrinally sound, outwardly well-behaved, “godly” in character and lifestyle—yet insincere behind the curtain, and before the Lord? {Check Yourself, Christian}

When we are not careful, we can get carried away by all those theologians and people who prefer to keep to human doctrines instead of keeping to Biblical doctrines. Many of them are able to carry a lot of Christians away from the Biblical Truth.

Seeing Biblical truth is only possible when one is willing to listen to God His Word as it is written in the Book of books, the Bible.

Being a good and real Christian requires to see who Christ Jesus is and to believe he is the sent one from God, who really died for the sins of others. God can not die, so in case Jesus would be God he would not only always have done his will, but also would not ever had to be afraid of what the Romans would do with him, because he could not die, so any impalement would not harm him. Al those who say Jesus is God, make of his impalement (or crucifixion) a big farce and make of his appearance on earth a whole farce.

Real Christians recognise what Jesus realy has done, and know what a horrible fear he must have had. Real Christians are also aware how much pain Jesus must have had and as such appreciate it so much more, that he was undergoing all that torture for people he did not know and at a time he could have been unsure if God would be going to help him or taking him out of the dead. At one moment the fear became so high he even cried to his heavenly Father (and not to himself);

46 And about the ninth hour Yahushua cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My Elohim, my Elohim, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matt 27:46, NRKJV)

A person can not leave himself, so Jesus did not ask to himself why he had left himself, but asked his heavenly Father Why He (God) left him (Jesus):

34 And at the ninth hour Yahushua cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My Elohim, my Elohim, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:34, NRKJV)

Yes, after Jesus in fear called to his Father in heaven, as if He would have forsaken Jesus (which He did not), Jesus gave up the spirit, which means that Jesus really died. (Remember that God as an eternal Spirit can not die.) It was not in his own hands that Jesus gave his life, but in the Hands of his heavenly Father, the Only One True God.

46 And when Yahushua had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the Spirit. (Luke 23:46, NRKJV)

When Jesus died, his life finished, but not his story. He had always kept to the three basic commands and lived according to those fundamentals he tried to explain and which each true follower of him should follow.

As society may go further away from God’s command and from Christ’s teachings, real followers should give the example and prepare the way, so that more people may come to see that Jesus is the way to God.

6 Yahushua saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6, NRKJV)

Let us take a piece of advice from a Trinitarian at heart, though even he might not see how he himself is caught up in the chains of this world.

We cannot accept the lies that are popularly accepted, even when progressive “Christians” around us conform to them. The only source of truth is the Word of God and we know that His Word will never change! {Progressive Christianity}

Working full-time as a witness “for his Savior” we only can hope he with his wife Brittany, shall come to recognise the work Jesus did and shall come to follow him wholeheartedly. And that is always possible because people have to grow in the Word of God. We all live in a world where many things are said and where many satans or adversaries of God are at work. Because of the main churches being so strong and so eager to get their false teaching of the trinity across, it is very difficult for people to see the trees in the wood. Though if they would be willing to open their eyes for the simple things and the simple words, clarity will be near.

That is the hope the lovers of God can have. It is never too late to spread the gospel and to show people the real Christ who bore witness of his heavenly Father. the Bible tells us also that this shall happen when we come closer to the end times, and as such we can live by the hope in Christ. He, who even did not know when he would be coming back, because such thing is only known by God (and Jesus not being God as such did not know it) gave us the hope that one day when the kingdom of God would be preached all over the world the Day will arrive that he shall be allowed to judge in the name of God.

19 Then answered Yahushua and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of יהוה: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. 31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. 41 I receive not honour from men. 42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of Elohim in you. 43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from Elohim only? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:19-47, NRKJV)

When we call ourselves “Christian”, let us believe in that sent one from God, who is authorised to speak and act in the Name of God and follow up his given task to instruct all the nations, immersing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe and to give heed to all as much as Jesus has given and commanded his disciples.

18 And Yahushua came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. (Matt 28:18-20, NRKJV)

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Preceding

Do you really know what you say you believe in?

Not About The Name Of The Godhead Of Jesus

Rhetoric and Biblical Truth

Religion and the essence of devotion

The false prophets in the present world

O God, How Long? ~ Psalm 74

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Additional reading

  1. Words in the world
  2. Let us make sure we are not stiff-necked
  3. The Almighty Lord God of gods King above all gods
  4. El-Shaddai God Almighty Who no-one may see and live
  5. Relating to God is it possible
  6. No man see the Almighty God and live
  7. When there is a God is it possible to relate to Him
  8. Only One God
  9. God is One
  10. The Trinity – the Truth about God
  11. How did the Trinity Doctrine Develop
  12. Altered to fit a Trinity
  13. First Century of Christianity
  14. Hellenistic influences
  15. History of the acceptance of a three-in-one God
  16. Preexistence in the Divine purpose and Trinity
  17. The habitual misreading of John 1 and the ‘Word being God’ #2
  18. Yeshua a man with a special personality
  19. Sayings of Jesus, what to believe and being or not of the devil
  20. Entrance of a king to question our position #2 Who do we want to see and to be
  21. Why did Christ not reveal the exact time of his second coming?
  22. Followers with deepening
  23. What Does it Really Mean to Be a Radical Follower of Jesus?
  24. A small company of Jesus’ footstep follower
  25. If you have integrity
  26. Attitude to others important for reaching them
  27. Love and cultivate that which is pure
  28. Who are the Christadelphians

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Related articles

  1. Seeing Clearly – Br. James Koester
  2. Running and pausing with Jesus – Br. Todd Blackham
  3. It’s a privilege
  4. What Does It Mean to be a True Christian?
  5. Being A Cultural Christian Is Not Enough
  6. Being Christian
  7. Effective Christianity
  8. Progressive Christianity
  9. They Will Know We Are Christians By…What?
  10. The History of the Development of the Trinity Doctrine
  11. Is Jesus God? Debate between Pastor Stanley Sjoberg and Sheikh Ahmed Deedat
  12. The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven
  13. Do As I Say
  14. Christians
  15. Peace at any price?

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Filed under Being and Feeling, Headlines - News, Health affairs, History, Lifestyle, Quotations from Holy Scriptures, Religious affairs, Spiritual affairs, World affairs

Not being clones connecting, engaging, praying or worshipping in the same way


We Christians and we humans are not all clones
and so we do not all connect, engage, pray or worship in the same way.
That would be very boring and unbiblical.

No, there is a marvellous uniqueness and variance to our God-given human spirituality which is sadly often overlooked by many charismatic evangelical Christian church leaders and pastors.

~ ‘Come, just as you are to worship’ 

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What is a Christian?

Lots of people do call themselves Christian but are not really real followers of Christ (what they should be when they call themselves Christian).

Being Christian should entail that the person is a follower of the Christ (Kristos) and would follow his teachings and worship the same God as him. Though in the Christian world we do find the majority worshipping another god than the God of Christ. Christ Jesus, born by the Power of God, was brought up in a very devout family who kept to the Torah and worshipped the Only One True God, the God of Israel, Who is also the God of Abraham.

A true Christian should also keep to that Unseen God and like Jesus should obey His Wishes and Commandments. As a follower of Christ a Christian should make sure to live according the rule of the God of Christ and according the teachings of Jesus Christ. Though in many denominations we see lots of so called believers who not take notion of all those things Jesus and God require from believers in God and from lovers of God. Many keep to the false teaching of the trinity (a three-headed god) and even do not mind having graven images of those gods (a blasphemy and an abomination in the eyes of God)
Lots of those calling themselves Christian also do not share the love of Christ and often are racist and not showing their love for others. Many also do not mind taking up weapons or to show aggressiveness towards others.

A real Christian is some one who really tries to live according the teachings of God and His only begotten beloved son Jesus, and like him shows respect and love to every creation of God (plants, animals and people).

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Additional reading

  1. The Nazarene master teacher learning people how they should behave
  2. Words to push and pull
  3. Atonement And Fellowship 2/8
  4. As Christ’s slaves doing the Will of God in gratitude
  5. Not withholding the Good News
  6. Jehovah’s Witnesses Circuit Assembly and a Pillar to freedom
  7. Blogging in the world for Jesus and his Father
  8. Devotees and spotters
  9. Concerning the humans who are a warlike species
  10. ….a powerful way to put the universe on notice….
  11. Days of madness with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils
  12. Living lives in total darkness by lack of understanding the times that lie ahead
  13. An atoneless religious system or a hope giving religious system
  14. Given opportunity to accept Christ as Messiah
  15. A House for God in our 21st century
  16. Torah hanging on two commandments and focussing on a Mashiach
  17. Ambassadors for our faith in Jeshua
  18. Biblical Yeshua/ Jesus or Another European Greco- Roman Jesus ??
  19. Not being saved by faith in Christ alone
  20. Today’s thought “A breach of faith against the LORD” (March 1)
  21. Today’s thought “Being made prosperous and numerous on conditions” (May 13)
  22. Today’s thought “… with all your heart” (May 09)
  23. a Strong Family doesn’t just happen
  24. Eagerness to learn and to teach others
  25. Division, diversity, unity and connection
  26. Jewish and Gentile Disciples
  27. Jews and Christians against Messianics and Jeshuaists
  28. The attitude of Christians to Jews
  29. Working with others behind the scenes
  30. The Most Important Point to be a Jeshuaist
  31. Christadelphian opposite Christian
  32. The clean sweeper of the whole caboodle
  33. Living stones 5 Abraham’s seed and gentiles
  34. Living stones 7 The spiritual house
  35. Today’s thought “Forgive … from your heart” (January 16)
  36. Memorizing wonderfully 45 Living and bearing fruit by dying

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Filed under Being and Feeling, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Religious affairs

God Loves All People

Having presented one prayer today for peace, lets look also at a that Divine Creator Who has a place in His Heart for all and wants nothing more than peace between all people.

The guestwriter forthis prayer is Mary Harwell Sayler who has placed 27 books in all genres with Christian and educational companies and over 2,000 poems, articles, devotionals, and children’s stories with traditional and online publications.

For her, in some of her texts it seems that God is the Only One, though at other places (and in the last part of this prayer) she also takes Jesus to be her god. Though looking at Deuteronomy she created the prayer saying:

Almighty God, You alone
are holy.
You are The One
to Whom all worship
and honor
and glory are due.

Nothing else can compare to You.

Nothing else can bless us like You
or love us like You
or redeem us like You
or forgive us like You can and do.

Help us to hear You. {Hear, O people of God}

but then suddenly goes into the mist of human doctrinal teaching of the Trinity. Though you would think she should know, by reading so many different Bible versions, and she herself saying

Regularly reading the Bible gives us much to say, and practice helps us to say it well, but what about credibility? With it, people pay attention.  They begin to trust our ability to handle God’s Word and their concerns rightly. They might even become more open to God’s Word and work in their lives.

She also writes

We can choose to believe The Word that God has no favorites and, therefore, asks us to love others as we love ourselves. If that’s a problem, keep in check a self-deprecating tone! According to The Word, God loves you, loves other people, and expects us to do the same. That doesn’t mean we have to like ourselves or other people all of the time, but, oh, please, please, never say we never will! {Credible words and The Word}

Let us therefore believe the Words of God, given to us in the Bible and from it come to see that Great Love He has for us, like Jesus also praying to That Most High, and we praying

Dear Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your Word to us that shows us how to live and speak and write in a manner that’s credible, kind, and pleasing to You. Let Your Word to us be our word to ourselves and to those we address in love, truth, and Jesus’ Name.

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Filed under Prayers, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Religious affairs

Ideas about Religiosity

From the Old French religiosete (late 14th century)  and directly from Late Latin religiositas “religiousness,” from religiosus we got religiosity. In 1795 it came only 0.02% as used word. In 1947 it reached 0.1% and got a peak in 1944-45 from 0.17-021%to decline again until 1959 when it reached a deeper point again of 0.12%. From then onwards it got more used, with a frequency of 0.3% in 1978 and climbing to 0.44 in 1996. In2005 it got a boost and was used 0.62%. After a little dip it got again to 0.74% in 2008.

You can wonder if the word became more popular because the time was so bad that people sought more answers and where looking for meaning in their life, but in a time when more people were religious in a way which seemed exaggerated and insincere.

In the 2010 the word became again more popular to denote the way people were either going to be or not be religious. Having to face times where more people are not so much interested in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, a divine Creator and a controller of the universe, the act of those people became also more in the picture and part of debate. This also because many impeach that religion is the base of the many problems we do face today. Lots of people accuse the religious people of creating a situation of hatred between people. The non-religious people inculpate the believers of the different religious or faith groups this world counts, and that are many.

religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe r...

religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe religion map.png for details. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we talk about religion we look at one or an other of the various systems of faith and worship based on such belief. As such we are often confronted with the great religions of the world, being Christendom and Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. the persons belonging to one or another religion we do expect to be bounded to the organisations of that religion and to have a religious life according to the rules of that religion.

When we talk about the religiosity today we think of the manner a person has an awakened sense of the elements we encounter in life. This may be concerning a higher unseen controlling power or powers, with the emotion and morality connected therewith. {Chambers 20th Century dictionary, 1972-1977, p.128,1141} In the 1977 reprint of the Chambers dictionary is still looked at religiosity as some bigotry or blind or excessive zeal, especially in religious matters.

Appropriate to or in accordance with the principles of a religion a person might be religious. In Christianity of or relating to a way of life dedicated to religion by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and defined by a monastic rule. {Collins English Dictionary}

When we talk about the religiosity of some one we think about his religious life or how he is spiritual, holy, sacred, divine, theological, righteous, sectarian, sanctified, doctrinal, devotional, scriptural, devout, believing, godly, committedpractising, faithful, pious, God-fearing, reverent, pure, churchgoing, conscientious, exactrigid, rigorous, meticulous, scrupulous, fastidious, unerring, unswerving, punctilious. {Collins English Dictionary}

The religious person is some one who is taken by religiosity and beliefs in and worships something or someone, mostly a superhuman controlling power or powers, esp. a personal god or God or gods. The person who is religious wants to come to a religious act or have some religious activity, spending time to religiosity or giving time for his belief or practice, forming part of his or her thought about or worship of a divine being.

he has strong religious convictions

both men were deeply religious, intelligent, and moralistic. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

Today when we talk about religiosity and a religious person, not many are going to think straight ahead of

belonging or relating to a monastic order or other group of people who are united by their practice of religion: religious houses were built on ancient pagan sites. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

but are going to think more about the way people are treated or regarded with a devotion and scrupulousness appropriate to worship

I have a religious aversion to reading manuals. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

The religiosity may take on all sorts of forms, going from the simple worshipthe activity of worshipping, to veneration, cultism, also going into the extreme, becoming excessive or irrational devotion to some activity; “made a fetish of cleanliness” or to become a devotion to the doctrine or a cult or to the practices of a cult.

Religiosity mostly has to do with devotion or love, passion, affection, intensity, attachment, zeal, fondness, fervour, adoration, ardour, earnestness, dedication, commitment, loyalty, allegiance, fidelity, adherence, constancy, and faithfulness. It can be seen in the way people act or worship and bring prayers, religious observance, church service, prayer meeting, matins, vespers, divine office.

In its broadest sense today religiosity can be seen as a comprehensive sociological term used to refer to the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief (or religious doctrine)

The Gallup Religiosity Index, 2015. (dark color indicates religious, light nonreligious)

Some like to divide religiosity in six dimensions, others from four to twelve components, based on the understanding that there are at least three components to religious behaviour: knowing (cognition in the mind), feeling (affect to the spirit), and doing (behaviour of the body). Though sociologists have differed over the exact number of components of religiosity.

What can be found in lots of studies is when written by atheists the believer is looked at as a stupid person who believes in things unseen. For the reason such a person accepting what is written in the Bible lots of such researchers do find that they can not be very intellectual because many strong believers do not want to accept certain scientific findings. We can assure you that there are also very intelligent people, scientists, medics, lawyers etc. who are very religious.

Also is known that many do not want to show their religiosity in public and today many are even afraid to show their religiosity to others at all, or dare not to bring up religious matters in public but also not between their own friends or in the family.

For the reason to bring religiosity more in the open the Message Board or Internet Forum Christadelphian has been created in August 2016 on the American Yuku servers of Crowdgather, Inc.. By creating such forum the public has the opportunity to bring up questions and members are allowed to edit or delete their own posts. The posts, when there are more, will be contained in threads, where they appear as blocks one after another. The first post starting the thread; this may be called the TS (thread starter) or OP (original post). Posts that follow in the thread are meant to continue discussion about that post, or respond to other replies. The Christadelphian makers of the board are aware that it is not uncommon for discussions to be derailed, but they do want to give it a chance.

Christadelphian Forum (started August 2016)

At the place Christadelpian where many people may exchange ideas easily hopefully many will bring forth some good subjects also. To start off the following opening articles can be found

  1. Welcome to Christadelphian
  2. Places of interest to get more knowledge about God
  3. Places of interest to get more knowledge about God
  4. Christadelphian a Christian
  5. A god, The God and gods
  6. How do you look at religion
  7. What or which god are you looking at and going for and who or what do you want to worship
  8. Christianity and Religiosity in Europe

 

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Preceding articles

Searching for fulfillment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression

Laboring in the Vineyard or Sitting on the Hillside with Jonah?

 

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Also related

  1. A world with or without religion
  2. Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience
  3. Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life
  4. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
  5. Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual
  6. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
  7. Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro
  8. Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up
  9. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
  10. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
  11. Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion
  12. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
  13. Worship and worshipping
  14. a Place to discuss religious matters and Christadelphianism
  15. Religious matters
  16. Religious people and painful absence of spring of living water
  17. Christianity and Religiosity in Europe
  18. New Christadelphian forum
  19. Finding God amid all the religious externals
  20. Problems attracting and maintaining worshippers
  21. Heaven and hell still high on the believers list showing a religion gender gap
  22. Structuur -structure
  23. A visible organisation on earth

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Further reading

  1. Religion
  2. Religion and ceremonies
  3. Ethics and Morals – the Ten Commandments
  4. Politics is a funny game.
  5. For the little gods’ sake…
  6. Consciousness continues to amaze and elude
  7. Weather or not.
  8. Success
  9. Religious matters
  10. What comes next?
  11. Young immigrants to Canada passionate about spirituality: Todd
  12. the primitive as reaction, pt. 2
  13. Science doesn’t know it all. Neither does Religion.
  14. Cara Wall Scheffler: What anthropology can tell us about the origins of religious behaviour
  15. Religious experience: William James + criticisms from Russell
  16. Religious experience: Otto and the numinous
  17. Religious experience: Ayer
  18. Experiencing God
  19. Belief in moralistic gods makes people generous—towards coreligionists
  20. On Certainty
  21. Stop Saying “I Feel Like …” to Spiritualize Your Desires
  22. Go Ahead and Ask God for Something Really Small
  23. How I Hear God’s Voice

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Spring playing hide and seek

Bold Jumping SpiderPhotographer Mike Powell knows that spring has truly arrived when he starts to walk around with a macro lens on his camera. You may find some nice shots of a Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) on the boardwalk the 4th of April at Huntley Meadows Park in his article Jumping spider in early April.

Northern ShovelerWith new vegetation springing up near the edges of the ponds at Huntley Meadows Park, some of the ducks are now hanging out within range of his camera rather than in the middle of the pond. This past weekend he was able to capture the unusual beauty of this male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). (See: Unusual beauty)

In Belgium the temperatures are still low for the time of year and the sun does not seem to be able to get through the clouds. Hyacinths may stand droopy, but the hortensia (or hydrangea) coloured green in just three days, as soon as we got, at last, some higher temperature. For some kids and adults again a time to play ducks and drakes (throwing flat stones so that they skim along the surface of water)

Belted Kingfisher

Female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) at Mike Powell’s favourite marshland park.

At moments we can see the Great Blue Herons hover over the bare fields, him not having to fear that a Belted Kingfisher would catch our attention, him sitting on a throne of a piece of wood, overlooking everything as a king. (See: Old faithful & Look both ways)

After the terrorist attacks the people living in Belgium are not at all afraid to get some fresh air and to go places. They find lesser tourists on their track. Many of those who had planned their vacation cancelled the trip to France and Belgium, but those who were already underway enjoy the less busy squares and enjoy very much their stay in this small country.

Every season heralds the might and mystery of superior designs emergent on earth and it is up to people to see the beauty of it all or to adapt to them as needed, respecting their place in the botanical, animal and mineral kingdoms, and our place in theirs.

For lovers of God once more every season is a whirlwind of proofs of the Hand behind this wonderful world. By all the changes taking place around us we can see how wonderfully made this nature world is and how it is impossible for man to create himself such a marvellous world.

In certain countries ‘Spring Break’ and ‘Holy Week’ coincided. In Belgium people do have their Easter holiday. Being a so called Catholic country there was the time to reflect with ‘Holy Week’, but where most went to look for sun and warmthin an other country or went on to the traditional Belgian coast Easter holiday.

Having had the pagan Easter Sunday with kids looking for eggs, others went to have a walk in parks.

Sue, a Presbyterian who lives in Missouri, the California girl Lori, living in Kansas and Ruth, living in New Jersey, having no particular religious affiliation, also look at Spring and write

In this part of Missouri, spring is making an appearance.  The land is still a little grim looking, all grey and brown, but there are also signs of growth, signs of hope. {Easter: Making Time for God}

SueBE recognises that it is easier when she is alone and when she has some time to both wander and wonder. she writes

I know, I know. It means I missed time that could have been spent in group worship.  And we missed a dinner.  But I also got to connect with God and having done that I can say it was truly worth it. His message?

Breathe. Just take a moment, stand still, and breathe.

It isn’t a message I would have received in worship or with family but it was definitely a message that I needed to hear.

We can spend time in group worship, but than we also should wonder if we are worshipping the right God and not a human concoction of a three-headed god. Though we do know that also in such groups or churches people can connect with God. there they should come to listen to Him and should follow His Wishes. Often for many living in this materialistic world that is very difficult. Most people prefer to keep to the human traditions, like Easter and Easter bunnies, Christmas and Christmas trees, instead of keeping to the by god given holidays like 14 Nisan or Pesach.

Belgian traditions are full of pagan rituals. All our culture is interwoven with Celtic and Germanic traditions, people having those gods interposed on their Catholic gods and religious figures.

Those looking for God shall have the difficulty to step aside and to leave those human traditions for what they are and abandoning those human teachings which have made integral part of the West European culture for centuries. Not only the Roman Catholic Church made use of those old customs. For man it is not always easy to finish such habits or to come to see that those are not laudable customs but are abominations in the eyes of God.

As Spring is a time of refreshment it is also an ideal time to start a fresh. It is a time to begin a new life, like nature also brings new life in view.

A God called Love, full of Grace and Mercy, tenderly loving us, is looking at this world and hoping His children will come back to Him. He is calling the, every moment of the day and night.

Now the darker days diminish we should come to see more of the beauties God has given this world and should take time to renew our sense of purpose by building the house of our life on the foundation of God’s Word.  {Life with a Purpose}

There are so many things that can affect the flow of God’s word and presence into our lives. Like deep sea divers, we must continually remind ourselves that nothing—nothing—is as important as that life-giving flow. {Pray as if Your Life Depends on It!}

writes Mitch Teemley in one of his ‘Stories with a Message.’

the Belted Kingfisher is a large, conspicuous ...

the Belted Kingfisher is a large, conspicuous and noisy kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But to have God being able to work at you, you shall have to open up yourself and be willing to listen to His Words. We ourselves have to decide if we shall stay connected with this world, being of this world, or wanting to belong to God, being of His world.

Lots of name Christians who as a child had some religious activities have become ‘dried up’. Frustrated with the dryness in their spiritual life they do not know which way to turn. Instead of daring to take a step back and to explore again the magic of this world around them, seeing the Creator His acts in it. when they would go up a mountain or do some long walk and give their mind to nature, they will be surprised to hear something and to feel something special in them. That are the moments we can come close to God, and of which we should take use.

Such photographers like Mike Powell, Cindy Dydyer, Cindy Barton Knoke, and sites like Purple Rays are there on the net to bring beauty for beauty and show those things which are so much greater than a human being, and are the ‘given presence’ of the Greatest Designer of all universe.

If you are limited by the limitations or boundaries of your body, the chains in this life, such writers on the net make it possible to go all over the world and see the beauty of this world. When you are bounded to a wheelchair or not able to move far places, do enjoy their pictures and let you be taken away on a magic journey. Let the pain disappear by enjoying the beautiful pictures and please do take time to let your mind hover over thoughts which can bring you closer to That Maker of everything.

Taking His Book of books shall ad wisdom to it all and bring you to see who is who and what you shall have to believe and how you too can look forward to a much better life than this one you might have in this system of things, this time of this world.

Even if we can not be sure about the seasons, you should know that God is not hiding so that He can not be found. He is there … to be found by you.

Find also to read: All about love, not needing disasters

Preceding: Springtime is coming

 

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Additional reading

  1. Dealing with worries in our lives
  2. In a world which knows no peace sharing blessed hope
  3. Are you looking for answers and Are you looking for God
  4. Why we do not keep to a Sabbath or a Sunday or Lord’s Day #3 Days to be kept holy or set apart
  5. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #7 Prayer #5 Listening Ear
  6. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #8 Prayer #6 Communication and manifestation
  7. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  8. Best intimate relation to look for
  9. God’s never-ending stream of much-needed mercies
  10. Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ
  11. Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection
  12. Exodus 9: Liar Liar
  13. Geert Wilders wants mandatory blackface at Dutch festival
  14. Irminsul, dies natalis solis invicti, birthday of light, Christmas and Saturnalia
  15. Christmas customs – Are They Christian?
  16. Wishing lanterns and Christmas
  17. Christmas trees
  18. Days of nisan – Pesach or Pasach/Pascha
  19. Pesach and a lot of brokenness in the world

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Further related articles:

  1. Fantasia of Spring
  2. Time Out for This Bird
  3. Easter: Making Time for God
  4. Life with a Purpose
  5. Pray as if Your Life Depends on It!

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Filed under Activism and Peace Work, Being and Feeling, Crimes & Atrocities, Ecological affairs, Headlines - News, Lifestyle, Nature, Religious affairs, World affairs

The Proper Place of Excess

The Word of God given to us in the Bible or Holy Scriptures tells us to know Who we should worship and what we should not worship. Idolatry of money has crept into the soul of mankind and has poisoned their hearts.

The wisdom teacher of Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for all things under the sun, no to agree with the excess man loves so much, but as a warning how to behave and how and to what to focus.

For those who want to celebrate Christmas for whatever reason they want to give, Christians should remember that it is originally a pagan festival and should better abstain from it. But we do agree in Wintertime it is ideal to socialise at the dark hours and it may be lovely to exchange presents around the turn of the year.

When we provide presents for others they should be given with joy and when it brings such a stress like we hear many tell on television, than there is certainly something wrong.

In so called Christian countries, we also see lots of Christmas markets, but at those ‘great events’ there is not much to see about what they call would be the “reason of the season”. At most Christmas markets there are not many stall about the nativity of the Nazarene Jew nor about that man’s ransom offering. Jesus Christ his birth they often call the reason for the season, but we can not see him much in that season or in people’s homes. Also the attitude of those people gathering at those markets does not speak of such an attitude that master teacher asked from his followers. Most people strolling around at those markets are more concerned about the food and drink opportunities and in buying (ridiculous) gadgets and not to expensive presents.

So many feel obliged just to find an other gadget or an other extra surprise and do hope they themselves also will receive many presents.

In this society where excess has become a way of life, for many it might well be also a way of understanding the world, a way of being and interacting in the world, but for sure many chapters in the bible warn for such an attitude and ask us to focus on the more important immaterial things.

Those who call themselves Christian should wonder where they fall in the consumer trap of the capitalist society and why they do not keep to the festivals ordained by the Most High? the festival for the goddess of light and a celebration for a Santa Claus for sure are no part of those.

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To remember

Thanksgiving here + gone > too much to eat + drink = Excess = regular part of natural order

Excess > consequences = plays important role in survival process

Survival of the fittest + the fertilized

Northern Hemisphere winter = season of rest + recuperation

ancestral winter seasons > forebears rejoiced in gathered harvest, savored freshly slaughtered meat, + delighted in new beer + wine.

Northern Hemisphere ancestors celebrated = winter solstice = December 21 = marking the rebirth of the sun = traditionally been associated with feasts + festivals replete with excesses => secular Christmastime holiday = direct descendant of these revelries.

Roman Saturnalia + misrule, centered on feasting + gift-giving > societal role reversals where servants + peasants became lords + ladies for a day or short season => usually steady tables of fortune turned for a moment

misrule (common in European societies and colonial America) individuals of low socioeconomic status demanded wealthier neighbors + patrons treat them – the servants + peons of society – as if they were the wealthy + deserving

Puritans of Massachusetts infamously outlawing Christmas in late 1600s =/= legendary anniversary of the Savior’s birth > simultaneous misrule celebrations that exalted excesses, some acceptable + others decidedly distasteful.

1800s, misrule evolved > new type of social inversion > persisted to our own day => Christmas made for children

children = miniature adults = occupied bottom rung of social hierarchy along with peasants + servants

Modern secular Christmas – family celebration – created at this time with children becoming focus of charity + goodwill

starting with Black Friday Eve (used to be called Thanksgiving) + continuing through New Year’s Day celebrations = unmatched devotion to consumerism, materialism, consumption, waste, and over-indulgence.

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Preceding

The Culture of Excesses- Losing Humanity

Learning that stuff is just stuff

Material wealth, Submission and Heaven on earth

Looking for the consummation of presents

One can buy a lot in the supermarket, but not hope

 

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Additional reading

  1. A time for everything
  2. The truth is very plain to see and God can be clearly seen
  3. Irminsul, dies natalis solis invicti, birthday of light, Christmas and Saturnalia
  4. Holidays, holy days and traditions
  5. A new year with hopes and challenges
  6. Opportunity!
  7. A season of gifts
  8. How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace
  9. Material wealth, Submission and Heaven on earth

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Further reading

  1. Presents, Presents, and more Presents.
  2. Christmas Stress
  3. Buying All the Gifts
  4. Christmas time!
  5. The spirit of Christmas
  6. Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~J.L.W. Brooks
  7. It’s the Thought that Counts?
  8. 30 Ways to Have Yourself a Thrifty Little Christmas
  9. 17 Things Only Girls Who Hate Shopping Understand
  10. How The Garden Grinch Saved Your Christmas
  11. 2015 Holiday Gift Guide
  12. My Christmas Gift Guide 2015
  13. 15 ways to get into the Christmas Spirit
  14. A Special Package
  15. The Gift & the Giver
  16. Baby Jesus Brings the gifts
  17. Blogmas Day 14: Christmas Gift Guide 2015
  18. On the 14th day of Christmas…
  19. Dear Santa
  20. Secret Santa!
  21. Why we don’t do Santa
  22. Nativity?
  23. Christmas Blogging Challenge Day 2 – My Favourite Christmas Tradition
  24. The Gift That Keeps on Giving
  25. The Holiday Gifting Struggle
  26. Do you search? ✨BlogMas✨
  27. Finding God
  28. Why Not Do Something Different This Christmas

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The T. Carlos Blog

Thanksgiving, once again, is here and gone. I know I had too much to eat and drink. How about you?

Excess is a regular part of the natural order. Our bodies turn excess calories into fat cells – technically, stored energy for later use. Most excess weight, however, is simply lugged around serving unwittingly as a contributing factor to health problems. Alcohol, on the other hand, is eliminated by the body. But a morning-after dehydration headache, caused by excessive drinking, lets you know you overdid it. Long-term excessive drinking, of course, will kill you.

Excess has its consequences.

Excess, nevertheless, plays an important role in the survival process. You and I are here thanks to an excessive amount of spermatozoa, from which emerged one little victor to join forces with an ovum. Survival of the fittest and the fertilized! And not only that, some of the plants which provide food, oxygen, and beauty upon the earth produce seeds for their own reproduction numbering in excess of hundreds…

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Filed under Being and Feeling, Economical affairs, Food, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Religious affairs, Social affairs

On the Affirmation of Scripture

On the tenth of October 2015 in the United Kingdom there took place a debate on the dwindling numbers of community members.

Small” and “big” may be relative, but for certain faith groups in Christendom they can not ignore that they are a tiny group. The groups of Christianity who keep to the teachings of Jesus and who believe what he and his Father say are also “small” compared to the mainline churches of Christendom.

The Christadelphians, who are a very small group in Christianity its non-trinitarian groups had all the reason to come together at Dudley college to look at their society.

The Christadelphians were once an outspoken, vibrant, edgy “Christian” group who spread their urgent end-times message far and wide. They grew exponentially in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but their heyday is long past. For several decades now they resemble a heavy rusty old steam locomotive that is running out of speed as it lumbers along ill-kept tracks, but still tries to muster the motion needed to take on steep mountain slopes.

recognised Arne Roberts who looked at the community of Dr. John Thomas who inspired many Bible Students from which later came such today better know and much bigger groups like the International Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Al over the world we may find big churches and in the United States of America we even can find mega churches. What we can see and hear at those churches and institutions that often they have gone far away from the Biblical Truth.

Many people may think the big churches and those who have the classical church building are the real good churches. On what do they base themselves for making that judgement? Is it really the looks outside that make the Church of God. are those places with shining gold and many pictures and statues the right temples god wanted to have build for Him? And in those huge places is there done a worship of the right god and in the right way, according to God’s Wishes?

Often it is better to be a small church, with people so loving the Word of God that they really spent enough time studying it and living according to it. The only danger with a small church is that with being small there can be a small mindset or that people do not feel enough encouragement and start loosing interest.

A small group (12-15 people) is the perfect environment for people to share needs of being able to talk to people, to share ideas, to feel common ground and to find an intimate environment.  In fact, this is the size of group Jesus himself also used for discipleship and his disciples also came together in small groups at each-others houses. they did not have especially build worship places outside the synagogue. For their bible study and worship of God those who were not a Jew, but followed the teachings of Jesus, gathered regularly in public and private places. They were not looking for big numbers but were happy to meet with like minded followers of Christ.

Let believers always assure that they go hand in hand with each other, looking for the biblical knowledge and wisdom entrusting the elder-ship, leadership or guidance of their church by people who are really founded in the truth, continuing to study that Word of God and putting it in the first place plus knowing where and how to go to.

In that small church may be a strong feeling of togetherness where the leader of the group does not as a dictator but is willing to share his vision and hopes that can inspire and affirm what God is stirring in the hearts of that small community.

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Additional readings

  1. a little church
  2. Is your church small?
  3. The Big Conversation
  4. The Big Conversation follow up
  5. The Big conversation – Antagonists
  6. The Big conversation – Recognition and refocus
  7. Having a small church mentality
  8. Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church
  9. Follower of Jesus part of a cult or a Christian
  10. To remove the whitewash of the Jehovah Witnesses as being the only true Bible Students and Bible Researchers
  11. Vision blurred by cumulative burden of divisions
  12. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
  13. Why we do not have our worship-services in a church building
  14. Four Pressing Needs in Rural Communities, and How the Church Should Respond

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Further reading

  1. What is God’s Will For Your Life?
  2. On the Affirmation of Scripture
  3. Walking in Total Dependence Upon God
  4. Walking With Intentionality
  5. Deacon Selection In the Small Church
  6. If It’s All About Relationship…
  7. Advice to Pastors from Nanny McPhee
  8. Just Try a Few Things
  9. Seven Critical Factors in Bringing About Change
  10. For the Bookshelf: The Apathetic and Bored Church Member
  11. A Snapshot of the Church in America
  12. Jesus and the Church Growth Gurus
  13. What’s in It for Me?
  14. What’s my line?
  15. A major problem in the church.
  16. Overcome division with core values
  17. Why Churches Must Plant Churches That Plant Churches (Part II)
  18. How do you eat an elephant?
  19. “When Faith Goes, All Good Things Go”

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The Wittenberg Door

With respect to the authority of Scripture, the greatest challenge facing Bible-believing churches today is not the disbelief aimed at the Bible from outside the faith; nor is it the attack against it from unbelieving theologians cloaked with Christian terminology.

The greatest challenge facing Christians are pulpits where the inerrant Word is wholeheartedly affirmed but routinely side-stepped and ignored. If your preacher is not preaching the text, he is not preaching the Bible, and functionally denies its authority. It does little for the church to affirm the authority of the Scriptures, if the church’s preachers are not shaped by it. If the preachers and elders of the church are not fed on the Word of God, with what do they feed the sheep entrusted to them?

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Israeli leaders delight in Europe’s cruelty toward refugees

Many people in the capitalist countries are afraid the asylum seekers will be able to conquer their countries and impose their religion onto them.

English: The Ethnic composition of Muslims in ...

The Ethnic composition of Muslims in the United States, according to the United States Department of State based on the publication of Being Muslim in America as of March 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In case they would strongly believe in One True God they should not have to fear the Muslims, because they also believe in the same One God of Abraham.
Though many Christians and Muslims have gone far away from the teachings of the Holy Writings and have given preference to human philosophical writings and human traditions.

Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying, what many so called Christians also think, that Muslim refugees must be kept out of Europe “to keep Europe Christian,” does not understand that when those Christians would be really following the teachings of Jesus Christ, they should have nothing to fear. Then they also would be able to show the Muslims that they share the love of Christ and worship the same One God of Abraham. But the majority of so called Christians do not believe at all or do not do much with their faith. The majority also has gone far away from the real faith and worships, when they do that, a triune god instead of keeping to that One True God, Jehovah, the divine Creator of heaven and earth.

It is true that the that the people who are coming here grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture, but when we can let them feel welcome and show them they do not have to fear our culture and our believes and let them know that in our regions we allow freedom of thought and freedom of religion and that those who come to live here shall have to give those rights of freedom to all people as well, than there should be no problem.
Those who do not want to have others the freedom of thought should know they are not obliged to stay here and can go to other places.

Problem only can arise when the states give in too much and would allow restriction to certain people, like wearing limiting clothing in public, or having imposing of certain religious traditions on others, like allowing sounds coming out of loudspeakers to call everybody to prayer, than others could come to be annoyed or bothered with those Muslims, the same as they can be angry with the bells in the morning of churches, making them awake when they want to sleep.

protest1.jpg

Protesters from far right organisations hold a banner which reads, “Stop the Islamization of Europe” during their protest against refugees in Krakow (Image: Reuters)

Europe and European culture have Christian roots and nothing should be against it to protect those. but our Judeo-Christian values should be grounded in our faith and be presented by the real Judeo-Christian attitude the God of Abraham would like us to show.

The xenophobic and anti-Muslim views that appear to lie at the heart of current Hungarian government policy and the negative reactions all over Europe clearly show how many so called Christians are missing the lesson of the Samaritan, Jesus told.

The people who call themselves Christian should know they do not have to fear man or other religions, but God. when they really would stand firm in their shoes of faith, they should not have to worry at all about a Muslim invasion, because then they would be able to convince Muslims of their faith. Problem with many Christians is that they went the wrong way, believe in a triune god in stead of the Only One True God and like several sorts of Muslims are carried away by human teachings and traditions instead of keeping themselves to the Biblical teachings.

Perhaps this is a good time for many Christians to consider which way they want to go in this world and how they want to treat other people, in the light of that what God wants from His people.

Let us show our good heart and help those in need, but let them also feel that we do want to help them without them having to rule over us. They should be welcome but have to know they cannot impose their laws over our world. It are they who should adapt to our culture and not we to theirs. When every body makes this clear and when they really got to know this from the beginning there should be no problem. Then they do know what to expect and then they still have the choice to stay or to leave. Nobody of the asylum seekers is obliged to come and live here.

protest3.jpg

Right-wing demonstrators gather on a square in the old town of in Warsaw (Image: AFP)

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To take note of:

worst refugee crisis since the Second World War

some Israeli officials are quietly reveling in the chaos

Dore Gold, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, expressed optimism > refugee influx will shift Europe to the right, making it more sympathetic to Israel’s “security” justification for its ongoing colonization of Palestine.

European perspective beginning to sound a little bit more like Israel’s perspective on security issues, compared to what it was in the past

Images of refugees corralled in trains, tracked with numbers on their forearms, locked away and fed like zoo animals in overcrowded camps and blocked with razor wire fences from entering Hungary = recall memories of Europe’s darkest chapter

right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban provoked most widespread revulsion

Orban’s ruling party, Fidesz, smitten with Israel, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party

Orban declared “Likud is our natural ideological partner.”

deaths = direct consequence of European border policies designed to make migration as unsafe as possible

Orban launched a Hungarian Birthright program for North Americans of Hungarian descent => sends young Jews on free trips to Israel in hopes they will immigrate

Fidesz deepened ties with far right + openly anti-Semitic Jobbik party

in Israel, fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team unfurled a giant banner that read, “Refugees not welcome!

Netanyahu announced construction of a wall along the Jordanian border to block a potential influx of Syrian refugees => Israel will be entirely walled off.

Of the five states that border Syria, Israel = only one that has not taken in any Syrian refugees for reasons identical to Hungary’s.

Israel barred Palestinian refugees from returning and labeled those who tried to come back as “infiltrators.”

millions of Palestinians continue to languish in squalid refugee camps scattered across the Middle East nearly 70 years later + longest running refugee crisis in modern history

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leaders in Poland appealing to widespread anti-Muslim sentiment among the populace

people have suggested reopening Auschwitz and sending the refugees there

right-wing protesters clutching the national flag assembled on the streets in the capital of Warsaw + chanted slogans including “Today refugees, tomorrow terrorists!“ and ”Poland, free of Islam!“

Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity freedom movement in the 1980s, pledged to host refugees at his home

Gniewino, a county near the Baltic Sea coast =first place in the nation to offer to offer jobs to three Syrian families, with parishioners in the western city of Poznan showing support by collecting over 24,000 zlotys (£4,186) to help accommodate refugees.

protest10.jpg

Signs reading ‘Refugees welcome’ and ‘No one is illegal’ in Warsaw (Image AFP)

All the Jews should take the words of the leader of the opposition Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog, at heart

“You’ve forgotten what it means to be Jews. Refugees. Persecuted. The prime minister of the Jewish people does not close his heart and the gate when people are fleeing for their lives from persecution, with their babies in their hands.”

And the European citizens should remember the 1st and 2nd World Wars and that what Jesus Christ thought.

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Preceding articles:

Still Hope though Power generating long train of abuses

Daring to speak in multicultural environment

Refugees At The Border- A Blessing Or Burden?

Poster: Please Help The Refugees

The World Wide Refugee and Migrant Crisis and a possible solution for it

Social media and asylum seekers

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Additional reading:

  1. Concerning gospelfaith
  2. Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
  3. Do you believe in One God
  4. Epitome of the one faith
  5. Faith moving mountains
  6. Full authority belongs to God
  7. God is one
  8. God’s design in the creation of the world
  9. God’s promises
  10. God’s measure not our measure
  11. God’s promises to us in our suffering
  12. God of gods
  13. God’s hope and our hope
  14. God’s salvation
  15. Hope for the future
  16. Incomplete without the mind of God
  17. Is God hiding His face when He is seemingly silent
  18. Israel in God’s purpose
  19. Life with God
  20. Looking for blessed hope
  21. Meaning of life
  22. Miracles in our time of suffering
  23. Moving mountains
  24. Not sure there exist a God
  25. Nurturing a close relationship with God
  26. Only one God
  27. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  28. Our way of life
  29. Plain necessary food of the gospel
  30. Reasons that Jesus was and is not God
  31. Sayings around God
  32. Second exodus
  33. Sects, why so many
  34. Suffering
  35. Suffering through the apparent silence of God
  36. Suffering continues
  37. Suffering leading to joy
  38. Surprised by joy
  39. Surprised by time in joys & sufferings
  40. Words from God about suffering
  41. Working of the hope
  42. Seems no future in suffering
  43. Vatican against Opponents of immigration
  44. Paris World Summit of Conscience, International interfaith gathering #1
  45. Meeting to focus on humanitarian issues for Syria
  46. Men of faith
  47. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #4 Mozaic and Noachide laws
  48. Sharing a common security and a common set of values
  49. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  50. Faith related boycotts
  51. Mocking, Agitation and Religious Persecution
  52. Economic crisis danger for the rise of political extremism
  53. Americans wrongly informed about situation in Europe
  54. Fitting the bill in the North and in the East
  55. The Protester named Person of the Year 2011 by Time Magazine
  56. Cool Person of the year 2011
  57. 2014 Social contacts
  58. Rampaging, demolishing sacred sites and cultural heritage
  59. Continues Syrian conflict needing not only dialogue
  60. Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
  61. Public not informed enough about Jihad terrorism in Belgium
  62. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
  63. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
  64. State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
  65. Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
  66. Europe’s refugees just follow the ancient routes for the peopling of Europe in the Neolithic
  67. Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
  68. Propaganda war and ISIS
  69. African misery and women inequality
  70. Because of doing too much social work put to silence

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Further reading:

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Dispatches from the Underclass

Crossposted from The Electronic Intifada

As most of the world looks on in horror at Europe’s atrocious response to refugees escaping war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa, some Israeli officials are quietly reveling in the chaos.

Dore Gold, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, expressed optimism that the refugee influx will shift Europe to the right, making it more sympathetic to Israel’s “security” justification for its ongoing colonization of Palestine.

“Israel always faced the problem in the past that its national security perspective was completely out of sync with how Europeans were viewing the emergence of the European community and the borderless world that was emerging,” the American-born hardliner told The Jerusalem Post.

“In the European models that existed 25 or 30 years ago, it is kind of difficult to hear an Israeli argument. But now things may be beginning to change a little,”…

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