And It's Exemption
The Freeze for the federal employees should not apply to anyone making under 50k a year.
Landlords don't freeze their rent increases. The grocery stores don't freeze their price inflations.
The banks don't freeze their fees. The Gas station doesn't freeze it's gas prices.
If your employer is the US Government and you make less than 50k a year you probably support a lot of the friends and family hardest hit by the recession- you probably loaned someone money, you probably bunked someone unexpectedly who had to move in a hurry as they were laid off- you probably had to eat the gas driving someone somewhere.
You don't need your salary frozen for TWO years. You and your extended family are the people who Obama is trying to help.
-----
Recalculate the savings if you exclude everyone making under 50k. See how much you save and get it somewhere else. Announce the austerity exemption before Christmas.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
If I Were President
Got your Attention Didn't I
Two things I would never cut or freeze from the Federal budget no matter how hard the republicans hollared or threatened to: Federal salaries of federal employees making under 50k a year and any benefits to children who receive school lunches, or federal benefits of any kind of a certain identified low income family or background.
First of all, all those republicans clammoring for 'pro Life' have to understand that it has a price tag. To be truly Pro -Life you can't just be about lipservice, you have to be about actually helping feed little mouths. The existent Federal assistance to impoverished children is hardly a boondoggle - it is subsistence. How do you expect expectant mothers who are in school and trying pregnant trying to get any paltry job (whether or not it comes with maternity benefits of paid time off and the like) if we don't help those women with basic issues?
Sure there are instances of waste, and people selling grocery cards for drugs. We are not stupid. But there are ways and controls that this can be stopped- like identification issues appended to the cards so we are sure the person to whom it was issued was the only one who can cash out at the store and the like...That makes it less portably transferrable. If that is the issue there is a better solution than just cutting benefits.
Back to the first issue. The Federal Freeze- Dumb. Across the board with no base salary indicated? Really Dumb.
Those are your employees. They make less than private work when you can get it anyway. They have to pay rent in some cases in high market areas too- like around DC. How else can you think to demoralize the people working for you? How much money did you pledge to India? How much do we give in foreign "Aid" to countries like Kuwait?
Freezing federal pay raises (which are like under 4 percent anyway)- is D-U-M-B dumb. I don't care what the CATO report said on cutting the budget and how the republicans are clammoring for smaller government.
Those are the people you need cheering in your corner the most- your employees.
Two things I would never cut or freeze from the Federal budget no matter how hard the republicans hollared or threatened to: Federal salaries of federal employees making under 50k a year and any benefits to children who receive school lunches, or federal benefits of any kind of a certain identified low income family or background.
First of all, all those republicans clammoring for 'pro Life' have to understand that it has a price tag. To be truly Pro -Life you can't just be about lipservice, you have to be about actually helping feed little mouths. The existent Federal assistance to impoverished children is hardly a boondoggle - it is subsistence. How do you expect expectant mothers who are in school and trying pregnant trying to get any paltry job (whether or not it comes with maternity benefits of paid time off and the like) if we don't help those women with basic issues?
Sure there are instances of waste, and people selling grocery cards for drugs. We are not stupid. But there are ways and controls that this can be stopped- like identification issues appended to the cards so we are sure the person to whom it was issued was the only one who can cash out at the store and the like...That makes it less portably transferrable. If that is the issue there is a better solution than just cutting benefits.
Back to the first issue. The Federal Freeze- Dumb. Across the board with no base salary indicated? Really Dumb.
Those are your employees. They make less than private work when you can get it anyway. They have to pay rent in some cases in high market areas too- like around DC. How else can you think to demoralize the people working for you? How much money did you pledge to India? How much do we give in foreign "Aid" to countries like Kuwait?
Freezing federal pay raises (which are like under 4 percent anyway)- is D-U-M-B dumb. I don't care what the CATO report said on cutting the budget and how the republicans are clammoring for smaller government.
Those are the people you need cheering in your corner the most- your employees.
Life or Death
That is the Simple Question.
All Judges have to deal with the "I am personally against the death penalty but I have to uphold the law" conundrum when they have a capital case appearing before them in a capital punishment state. That is why the law has to be changed. It is too easy an excuse to defer the issue.
We have to abolish the death penalty everywhere in America.
It can be done by Executive Order, can't it? What is to stop Obama from issuing an executive order stating that henceforth, there will be no more state executions in America for any crimes committed (aside from the gun lobby second amendment wing nuts using it in every republican commercial in 2012?) Who is going to sponsor this bill?
The Political will has to change over this issue - because clearly it is not acceptable to keep hiding behind an evil law...."I am against it but the law says kill the jerk.."
The Pro Life ethic has to be consistent. The Pope is in agreement with the San Egidio community in working to abolish legalized killing of criminals everywhere. They lit the town up Monday night on a huge "light up Night" in protest, lighting monuments around Rome.
No civilized European country kills off their criminals. It is uncivilized. Barbaric even.
How we can have so many vegans and so many nutjobs in favor of the death penalty at the same time in the same country is a mystery. Life in Jail and half in the hole is misery enough don't you think?
We have something supposedly better than the Europeans. We have a US Constitution (they have a European one that borrowed some things from ours but our is supposed to be far superior if you talk to all those people who don't even want to consider international law precedent) In our US Constitution we have an explicit prohibition against 'cruel and unusual ' punishment. If you took a seventh grade trip to Williamsburg, Virginia you probably had your picture taken in the stockades where public humiliation was dished out by locking your head and hands in a wooden sort of gizmo while chaining your feet for public scorn in the middle of town. Cruel and unusual. It was practiced before the Constitutional prohibition. Other things practiced? Visit the museum of torture in San Gimiano Italy (I may have that spelled wrong)-
things like chairs and beds of nails, ripping out of the tongue for heresy accusations, the rack that stretched your bones till they snapped, and the like. Torture. Cruel and Unusual. That is why we are are signatories to torture laws. That is why they should PROSECUTE the torturers of the last administration and not give them a free pass if the 8th Amendment and international conventions have any meaning at all.
So if all that is 'cruel and unusual' under the 8th Amendment- how is just killing them off not? How is injecting them with enough drugs that they are sent to the bye and bye or sending enough electricity through them that their hair, skin and brain ganglia all fry not? It is absurd.
I stand corrected
Wuerl makes ten or eleven appearances at "his" Cathedral
Previously I objected to the sparsity of Archbishop citings in his own ostensible hood the Cathedral of Saint Matthews. After looking on the website I note that he hits about ten or eleven major holidays. But that is it and I don't think my point is diminished. He is a figurehead talking head, not a parish priest. He probably could not tell you the names of three daily mass goers at Saint Matthews. His policy focus has been overwhelmingly on suburban catholic elementary schools and he sent a few of the best priests out to administer them whether they wanted to or not be exhiled to the burbs.
McCarrick who speaks fluent Spanish established an enormous ministry for hispanics in the area who are overwhelmingly immigrant (some refugees from the earlier civil wars in places like guatemala and el salvador). He established a huge hispanic catholic center out in the suburbs. Each Archbishop has a particular focus. This one is big on Catholic schools in the suburbs.
These things are not intrinsically wrong, they just cause neglect of other areas and other parts of the body and create a distorted priority focus if one thing is sacrificed to satisfy another.
It also creates a lot of misery and unhappiness unnecessarily if a particular priest has skills and talents elsewhere and he is forced to be an administrator for a catholic school. This used to be in some quarters considered a stepping stone to Bishop if one does this well.
It leaves a vacuum of a bit of despondency in the city however where large numbers of people have nothing to do with catholic suburban schools, either because they are empty nesters who have returned to the city, they are single and childless, or they don't particularly want to send their kids to exclusively catholic schools for a variety of reasons.
We do need an Archbishop who is in tune with the downtown DC dwelling population. New Evangelism should start at home.
It is not everyone's American Dream to get a mortgage you have to pay for 30 years with a long traffic congested commute, mow the lawn and send your kids to catholic schools. Sorry.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Why I am Pro Life
Meet Ryan Elizabeth. Her mother, my niece is a 24 year old single white woman. Ryan's daddy is African American and they are not married. There were a thousand reasons why this "unplanned" pregnancy should never see the light of day. And one reason trumped them all: RYAN ELIZABETH, my great niece. It's her first Christmas this year. If you want to send her a Merry Christmas Card please send to Ryan, c/o Butler at 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW P.O. Box. 323, Washington, DC 20006. 
The Record
Speaks for itself and Speaks for a new DC Archbishop
If you read the popular press or pick up a Catholic Standard (the PR propaganda paper of the DC Archdiocese) you will get a sense of the priorities of this DC Archbishop. Catholic schools in the suburbs. All over the press. Good for them. Catholic Schools in the suburbs are doing marvelously.
Now what have you done for us lately?
You will also get a picture of how inept and incompetent his team of players appears to be on a variety of fronts: 1. They lost all the Gay Marriage litigation- big time. They didn't lose a few legal points (that were better won in other States) but they did it in such an arrogant manner that they lost friends and made enemies. They took positions people were compelled to argue against from a Catholic perspective- they incited whole groups of bloggers to trash them they were so arrogant.
2. They lost the public funding for DC Schools and all congressional support. This is not because the argument was bad, it was how it was presented. It was the ineptitude of the lobbyists I would argue taking their que from the arrogance of the Archbishop.
3. They had to pay out at least one reported scandal settlement which they mysteriously say didn't come from contributions (so one wonders if the sold schools have anything to do with it.)
4. They totally lost the PR battle-and it only gets worse- is that PR chick looking for another job yet?
5. They ran Saint Matthews Cathedral-supposed to be the head seat of the Archbishop- into such a budget problem they had to let go their social justice minister director and give all her duties to the already overworked saintly Fr. Evelio.
...and I could go on...... (that's only the public information stuff- the secret stuff would curl your toes and straighten my hair.)
And then Wuerl at the Red Mass has the nerve to preside over a blessing of all the gathered lawyers and judges who have been practicing in DC for years and years before he ever got here, after fighting the DC Human Rights Act --proclaiming his fondness for the 'Rule of Law. '
ARCHBISHOP GONZALES FOR DC.
If you read the popular press or pick up a Catholic Standard (the PR propaganda paper of the DC Archdiocese) you will get a sense of the priorities of this DC Archbishop. Catholic schools in the suburbs. All over the press. Good for them. Catholic Schools in the suburbs are doing marvelously.
Now what have you done for us lately?
You will also get a picture of how inept and incompetent his team of players appears to be on a variety of fronts: 1. They lost all the Gay Marriage litigation- big time. They didn't lose a few legal points (that were better won in other States) but they did it in such an arrogant manner that they lost friends and made enemies. They took positions people were compelled to argue against from a Catholic perspective- they incited whole groups of bloggers to trash them they were so arrogant.
2. They lost the public funding for DC Schools and all congressional support. This is not because the argument was bad, it was how it was presented. It was the ineptitude of the lobbyists I would argue taking their que from the arrogance of the Archbishop.
3. They had to pay out at least one reported scandal settlement which they mysteriously say didn't come from contributions (so one wonders if the sold schools have anything to do with it.)
4. They totally lost the PR battle-and it only gets worse- is that PR chick looking for another job yet?
5. They ran Saint Matthews Cathedral-supposed to be the head seat of the Archbishop- into such a budget problem they had to let go their social justice minister director and give all her duties to the already overworked saintly Fr. Evelio.
...and I could go on...... (that's only the public information stuff- the secret stuff would curl your toes and straighten my hair.)
And then Wuerl at the Red Mass has the nerve to preside over a blessing of all the gathered lawyers and judges who have been practicing in DC for years and years before he ever got here, after fighting the DC Human Rights Act --proclaiming his fondness for the 'Rule of Law. '
ARCHBISHOP GONZALES FOR DC.
For the Good of All HIS Church
I nominate Bishop Gonzales as Archbishop of Washington, DC
Bishop Gonzales has been in DC for many years. Hailing originally from Spain, he is bilingual and DC has an enormous Spanish population. He can better reach out to an international community-he understands global issues better, he connects with people on a very basic earthy level, but more to the point:
He is a really good man, a very good Bishop, a holy man and very appealing.
Someone as a foreigner in DC has insights into immigration issues--they have insights into discrimination issues that a white guy from blue collarville in Pittsburgh does not. Sorry. But it's true.
It is very unlikely that someone who came to this country with another language as his first language who interacted with those experiencing job discrimination and other slights would not grasp the enormity of the fall out of statements inviting comparisons of pederasty to women's equality and liberation. Just wouldn't happen I venture to guess (probably the biggest downfall of Wuerl in hindsight that he will never live down unless the Pope writes another 'clarification'.)
[It's not that we don't understand, it's that we don't agree.]
He has lived in DC a number of years so he isn't a transplant that barely rooted. This is his community. He understands the fundamental basic need to have good caring kind Parish priests who tend to the flock, not eat them.
I once heard him give a homily in which he described growing up in Spain during the Spanish civil war where there were shortages, famines and lots of violence around. He said what drew him to the priesthood was his local Parish priest who would give his last meal to someone starving, but in such a manner that it did not feel like 'charity.' The person did not feel stigmatized or lesser for being in want. This showed in Gonzales a real discerning sensitivity that I find totally lacking in someone who would to avoid a losing litigation battle just cancel all the spousal insurance for everyone working in Catholic charities. (Note to Board; if someone is 'working for' catholic charities as opposed to contributing to it, they need the job and they may even be the sole breadwinner in that household for whose members you just cancelled medical coverage. 'Not nice' is an understatement)
Gonzales is someone who emanates kindness. He has an amazingly fun great sense of humor. He is fun to be around. You want to buy him a beer- or send him a case of the best wine you found on your trip to France. He is down to earth nice guy. Isn't that what you want in a priest? Someone not so otherworldly he can't hold a conversation ? Gonzales doesn't strike you as a money-man just angling up to the biggest donors and highest positions. He seems a 'common man's man' - someone who loves all God's creatures great and small. Friendly and approachable.
Someone like that can mingle as well with the Spanish royal family living in Bethesda as they can with the El Salvadoran immigrant in Mount Pleasant. Someone like that would attract a bigger international experience pool in the priesthood in DC which is what is needed.
Someone like that would invigorate the DC Archdiocese to do great and wonderful things bringing much more of the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Bishop Gonzales has been in DC for many years. Hailing originally from Spain, he is bilingual and DC has an enormous Spanish population. He can better reach out to an international community-he understands global issues better, he connects with people on a very basic earthy level, but more to the point:
He is a really good man, a very good Bishop, a holy man and very appealing.
Someone as a foreigner in DC has insights into immigration issues--they have insights into discrimination issues that a white guy from blue collarville in Pittsburgh does not. Sorry. But it's true.
It is very unlikely that someone who came to this country with another language as his first language who interacted with those experiencing job discrimination and other slights would not grasp the enormity of the fall out of statements inviting comparisons of pederasty to women's equality and liberation. Just wouldn't happen I venture to guess (probably the biggest downfall of Wuerl in hindsight that he will never live down unless the Pope writes another 'clarification'.)
[It's not that we don't understand, it's that we don't agree.]
He has lived in DC a number of years so he isn't a transplant that barely rooted. This is his community. He understands the fundamental basic need to have good caring kind Parish priests who tend to the flock, not eat them.
I once heard him give a homily in which he described growing up in Spain during the Spanish civil war where there were shortages, famines and lots of violence around. He said what drew him to the priesthood was his local Parish priest who would give his last meal to someone starving, but in such a manner that it did not feel like 'charity.' The person did not feel stigmatized or lesser for being in want. This showed in Gonzales a real discerning sensitivity that I find totally lacking in someone who would to avoid a losing litigation battle just cancel all the spousal insurance for everyone working in Catholic charities. (Note to Board; if someone is 'working for' catholic charities as opposed to contributing to it, they need the job and they may even be the sole breadwinner in that household for whose members you just cancelled medical coverage. 'Not nice' is an understatement)
Gonzales is someone who emanates kindness. He has an amazingly fun great sense of humor. He is fun to be around. You want to buy him a beer- or send him a case of the best wine you found on your trip to France. He is down to earth nice guy. Isn't that what you want in a priest? Someone not so otherworldly he can't hold a conversation ? Gonzales doesn't strike you as a money-man just angling up to the biggest donors and highest positions. He seems a 'common man's man' - someone who loves all God's creatures great and small. Friendly and approachable.
Someone like that can mingle as well with the Spanish royal family living in Bethesda as they can with the El Salvadoran immigrant in Mount Pleasant. Someone like that would attract a bigger international experience pool in the priesthood in DC which is what is needed.
Someone like that would invigorate the DC Archdiocese to do great and wonderful things bringing much more of the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Smart-A for a Reason
Telling it like it is
To add insult to accolades, let me say that my personal perception of Wuerl after having met him in person, shaken his hand a few times, seen him in action at a few events is that he has the
personal warmth of a brillo pad. He does not engender me to want to work with or for him.
A marked contrast is Dolan who looks like if you put wings on him he could fly and light the top of your Christmas tree. He looks cherubic and you want to hug his picture.
Aside from personality- please, Dearest Nuncio, and Benoit the Brilliant, consider the below remarks concerning why we need a new ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON, DC.
To add insult to accolades, let me say that my personal perception of Wuerl after having met him in person, shaken his hand a few times, seen him in action at a few events is that he has the
personal warmth of a brillo pad. He does not engender me to want to work with or for him.
A marked contrast is Dolan who looks like if you put wings on him he could fly and light the top of your Christmas tree. He looks cherubic and you want to hug his picture.
Aside from personality- please, Dearest Nuncio, and Benoit the Brilliant, consider the below remarks concerning why we need a new ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON, DC.
More on the Point To the Point
Note to Nuncio
DC is a great city. It is the capital of arguably the leader of the free world. It has wonderful free Smithsonian museums, galleries and a vibrant arts community, the Kennedy Center, Congress and the White House.
We have seen Cardinals come and go- Hickey, McCarrick and now Wuerl just in my little time there since law school. The last two were imports- McCarrick from New Jersey and Wuerl from Pittsburgh. Wuerl when he came to DC gave little comfort that he even knew how to ride the Metro much less that he had a clue about what people in DC deal with. The Church imports these ambitious guys, demonstrates 'loyalty' by punishing 'dissenters'- in Wuerl's case he appalled people by canceling benefit insurance coverage for everyone who worked for Catholic Charities, after running from the scandal mess in Pittsburgh where they wanted to get rid of him too- and they made him a Cardinal.
We really do need our own Archbishop in DC. It isn't something optional at this point if the crisis in faith is to be resolved in favor of those who don't wish to see the Secularists rule the day.
How long are we going to have to wait? Until McCarrick passes to the by and bye.
The noble thing that could happen is that McCarrick go on 'Senior Status' to borrow a Federal judiciary phrase, or 'Emeritus' status, paving the way for Wuerl to be the Cardinal in Maryland so that another slot can be appointed in the District of Columbia- which some would like to call NEW COLUMBIA. This would be a great start.
DC is a great city. It is the capital of arguably the leader of the free world. It has wonderful free Smithsonian museums, galleries and a vibrant arts community, the Kennedy Center, Congress and the White House.
We have seen Cardinals come and go- Hickey, McCarrick and now Wuerl just in my little time there since law school. The last two were imports- McCarrick from New Jersey and Wuerl from Pittsburgh. Wuerl when he came to DC gave little comfort that he even knew how to ride the Metro much less that he had a clue about what people in DC deal with. The Church imports these ambitious guys, demonstrates 'loyalty' by punishing 'dissenters'- in Wuerl's case he appalled people by canceling benefit insurance coverage for everyone who worked for Catholic Charities, after running from the scandal mess in Pittsburgh where they wanted to get rid of him too- and they made him a Cardinal.
We really do need our own Archbishop in DC. It isn't something optional at this point if the crisis in faith is to be resolved in favor of those who don't wish to see the Secularists rule the day.
How long are we going to have to wait? Until McCarrick passes to the by and bye.
The noble thing that could happen is that McCarrick go on 'Senior Status' to borrow a Federal judiciary phrase, or 'Emeritus' status, paving the way for Wuerl to be the Cardinal in Maryland so that another slot can be appointed in the District of Columbia- which some would like to call NEW COLUMBIA. This would be a great start.
Dear Nuncio
Can we please have our own Archbishop now?
Now that Cardinal Wuerl has a head larger than Mount Rushmore and would like his carved there, we need another Washington, DC Archbishop. Just for DC-all of it.The Archdiocese of Washington covers Metropolitan Washington, DC (which has more people in it than the US States of Wyoming and around as much as Vermont) and all the Maryland suburbs up until the Baltimore Archdiocese. It is HUGE- and it is not fair.
If you have an Archbishop whose whole schtick is he's for Catholic schools, it excludes the enormous population of single adults who mostly live in downtown DC. When people marry they tend to go to the suburbs to get more land and cheaper schools (the city good ones are private for the most part and expensive.) They start working more in the suburbs or have long commutes-they have suburban property tax issues and deal with a host of things that need a different sort of attention.
The Archbishop of 'Washington, DC" who might just as well be called the Archbishop of Potomac -Bethesda-Chevy Chase, actually makes a ceremonial appearance at 'his' downtown Cathedral of Saint Matthews only about four or five times a year for holiday and special occasion Masses. That's it. I guarantee you he does not even know the name of the 70+ year old Sacrestan who does pretty much everything to get a Mass ready there. I know he can't tell you who three quarters of the lectors are there. He wouldn't recognize them if they walked up to him. The staff there pretty much function without having to pay him much mind (except the Monsignor whom I hope gets some help from him.)
People with families, kids, have a totally different orientation and lifestyle than those without-those DC students, young professionals, single adults, hard working hard traveling folks often have a different orientation than the plopped stuck in the suburbs folks. It isn't that they are trying to stay single, it's that they are trying to survive in a big city which has its own serious challenges-like affordable housing.
It is not fair for the "Archbishops Appeal" to go in huge numbers towards subsidizing catholic schools (elementary-grade schools) when they are for the most part largely in the suburbs and single people don't use them.
The suburbs tend to be wealthier on balance (if you include land in asset profiles certainly) and they tend to be families with multiple breadwinners in a household, or if not, people making larger salaries to support it. There are decidedly different demographic features to the people living in the burbs than those in the city- the challenges are quite different. The needs are different. There have been huge numbers of sociological studies on all of this that I need not go into here.
The Catholics in the city feel neglected, ignored, short-changed and ripped off. We need an Archbishop who has a clue about folks living inside the city-not just the really impoverished clients of Catholic Charities in Anacostia, but hard working people in the city who would be more church going if they felt the church were more for them and they were not subsidizing the churches in the wealthy suburbs. Not everyone wants to move to Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
We need an Archbishop who actually makes appearances regularly in downtown DC.--Like every month. There are beautiful churches there- lots of them. Historic registry churches- Perhaps we could get an Archbishop who knows a few Sacristan names downtown.
It is time with the population explosion in and around DC to carve another Archdiocese. DC has Catholic University, Georgetown, and the Shrine- (which could use more budgetary attention I am told) Saint Matthews Cathedral, Saint Patricks Cathedral, Holy Trinity, and a lot more churches that are underserved, understaffed, underpaid, underattended, and underappreciated.
We need a DC Archdiocese and a DC Archbishop. Let Wuerl trot around the globe making world peace. Please give us someone who cares about the Neighborhood.
Let me give you further facts that may convince you-and this is a serious post intended to start a buzz and serious discussion.
DC has a number of colleges. The traditionally 'catholic' ones are Georgetown and Catholic U. We also have American University, GW, University of the District of Columbia, and a trade school named Strayer. Those students need more than the 'Neuman Center' at GW to explore Catholic thought with their peers. They need more than the GW 'chaplain' to tend to their special needs. There should be a lot more action and activities and resources allocated to young single people for business networking, job searching and creation, retreats, etc.
DC also has a large gay population. They can now legally be married whether you like that or not. They can also legally adopt children whether you like that or not. Are you not going to baptize those children? People in DC tend to be less homophobic. Wuerl has made a number of people uncomfortable, if not enemies with his style. Large numbers of people, lets be honest, just don't like him. Sorry. Hate to tell you but it's true. He has alienated a lot of people who would normally be big fans of any Archbishop.
He has shown an insensitivity to the people in the very parish where he is supposed to be the Chair. Dupont Circle has probably the largest gay population per capita outside San Francisco.
Some of them have been loyal customers of the Cathedral for years. What are you going to do-tell them all to stop going to Mass now? Lots of Single women love gay men-they are part of their social network and help in many ways. The Archbishop burned bridges with his litigation, among other of his legal strategies.
Another reason we need a Washington DC Archbishop is that the homeless population in DC is unlike anything in the suburbs. It is a very special crisis-especially as the foreclosure banking crisis is exposed for what it was with illegal evictions on the part of people motivated by pure GREED. People in the suburbs actually feed off that very same greed. This poses a spiritual conflict of interest of sorts for one governing body to be in spiritual charge of all of it.
It causes there to be profound hurt towards one part of the body to profit another part.
DC also has a serious diplomatic community and World Bank community. People working in DC socialize and network with people of multiple languages and faiths well in the different Embassy communities. They tend to be less xenophobic, more cosmopolitan (urbaine if you will) and tend to enjoy meeting people of other backgrounds more. You therefore want to have a priestly community that has similar background or experiences- more international. Not just people who grew up in Bowie Maryland and lived their entire lives in the Maryland suburbs.
You need to attract a different type of person to serve those people. If everyone eventually gets shuffled off to the suburbs, who wants that job?
Please seriously consider this. Please forward this post far and wide. I know a lot of unhappy people who are considering moving from DC all together to New York, the West Coast or overseas and it would help if the spiritual direction was a little more on point and a little less
seemingly exploitative.
Now that Cardinal Wuerl has a head larger than Mount Rushmore and would like his carved there, we need another Washington, DC Archbishop. Just for DC-all of it.The Archdiocese of Washington covers Metropolitan Washington, DC (which has more people in it than the US States of Wyoming and around as much as Vermont) and all the Maryland suburbs up until the Baltimore Archdiocese. It is HUGE- and it is not fair.
If you have an Archbishop whose whole schtick is he's for Catholic schools, it excludes the enormous population of single adults who mostly live in downtown DC. When people marry they tend to go to the suburbs to get more land and cheaper schools (the city good ones are private for the most part and expensive.) They start working more in the suburbs or have long commutes-they have suburban property tax issues and deal with a host of things that need a different sort of attention.
The Archbishop of 'Washington, DC" who might just as well be called the Archbishop of Potomac -Bethesda-Chevy Chase, actually makes a ceremonial appearance at 'his' downtown Cathedral of Saint Matthews only about four or five times a year for holiday and special occasion Masses. That's it. I guarantee you he does not even know the name of the 70+ year old Sacrestan who does pretty much everything to get a Mass ready there. I know he can't tell you who three quarters of the lectors are there. He wouldn't recognize them if they walked up to him. The staff there pretty much function without having to pay him much mind (except the Monsignor whom I hope gets some help from him.)
People with families, kids, have a totally different orientation and lifestyle than those without-those DC students, young professionals, single adults, hard working hard traveling folks often have a different orientation than the plopped stuck in the suburbs folks. It isn't that they are trying to stay single, it's that they are trying to survive in a big city which has its own serious challenges-like affordable housing.
It is not fair for the "Archbishops Appeal" to go in huge numbers towards subsidizing catholic schools (elementary-grade schools) when they are for the most part largely in the suburbs and single people don't use them.
The suburbs tend to be wealthier on balance (if you include land in asset profiles certainly) and they tend to be families with multiple breadwinners in a household, or if not, people making larger salaries to support it. There are decidedly different demographic features to the people living in the burbs than those in the city- the challenges are quite different. The needs are different. There have been huge numbers of sociological studies on all of this that I need not go into here.
The Catholics in the city feel neglected, ignored, short-changed and ripped off. We need an Archbishop who has a clue about folks living inside the city-not just the really impoverished clients of Catholic Charities in Anacostia, but hard working people in the city who would be more church going if they felt the church were more for them and they were not subsidizing the churches in the wealthy suburbs. Not everyone wants to move to Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
We need an Archbishop who actually makes appearances regularly in downtown DC.--Like every month. There are beautiful churches there- lots of them. Historic registry churches- Perhaps we could get an Archbishop who knows a few Sacristan names downtown.
It is time with the population explosion in and around DC to carve another Archdiocese. DC has Catholic University, Georgetown, and the Shrine- (which could use more budgetary attention I am told) Saint Matthews Cathedral, Saint Patricks Cathedral, Holy Trinity, and a lot more churches that are underserved, understaffed, underpaid, underattended, and underappreciated.
We need a DC Archdiocese and a DC Archbishop. Let Wuerl trot around the globe making world peace. Please give us someone who cares about the Neighborhood.
Let me give you further facts that may convince you-and this is a serious post intended to start a buzz and serious discussion.
DC has a number of colleges. The traditionally 'catholic' ones are Georgetown and Catholic U. We also have American University, GW, University of the District of Columbia, and a trade school named Strayer. Those students need more than the 'Neuman Center' at GW to explore Catholic thought with their peers. They need more than the GW 'chaplain' to tend to their special needs. There should be a lot more action and activities and resources allocated to young single people for business networking, job searching and creation, retreats, etc.
DC also has a large gay population. They can now legally be married whether you like that or not. They can also legally adopt children whether you like that or not. Are you not going to baptize those children? People in DC tend to be less homophobic. Wuerl has made a number of people uncomfortable, if not enemies with his style. Large numbers of people, lets be honest, just don't like him. Sorry. Hate to tell you but it's true. He has alienated a lot of people who would normally be big fans of any Archbishop.
He has shown an insensitivity to the people in the very parish where he is supposed to be the Chair. Dupont Circle has probably the largest gay population per capita outside San Francisco.
Some of them have been loyal customers of the Cathedral for years. What are you going to do-tell them all to stop going to Mass now? Lots of Single women love gay men-they are part of their social network and help in many ways. The Archbishop burned bridges with his litigation, among other of his legal strategies.
Another reason we need a Washington DC Archbishop is that the homeless population in DC is unlike anything in the suburbs. It is a very special crisis-especially as the foreclosure banking crisis is exposed for what it was with illegal evictions on the part of people motivated by pure GREED. People in the suburbs actually feed off that very same greed. This poses a spiritual conflict of interest of sorts for one governing body to be in spiritual charge of all of it.
It causes there to be profound hurt towards one part of the body to profit another part.
DC also has a serious diplomatic community and World Bank community. People working in DC socialize and network with people of multiple languages and faiths well in the different Embassy communities. They tend to be less xenophobic, more cosmopolitan (urbaine if you will) and tend to enjoy meeting people of other backgrounds more. You therefore want to have a priestly community that has similar background or experiences- more international. Not just people who grew up in Bowie Maryland and lived their entire lives in the Maryland suburbs.
You need to attract a different type of person to serve those people. If everyone eventually gets shuffled off to the suburbs, who wants that job?
Please seriously consider this. Please forward this post far and wide. I know a lot of unhappy people who are considering moving from DC all together to New York, the West Coast or overseas and it would help if the spiritual direction was a little more on point and a little less
seemingly exploitative.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Gut Check
It's a Quiz
Have you ever found a mouse in your house?
If you found a mouse in your kitchen, and it was caught on a trap, still alive, but squeeling its head off, looking up at you as you saw it try to get out of the trap, would you:
A. Kill it immediately to put it out of its misery.
B. Put it and the trap in a plastic bag and immediately throw it out back.
C. Dump the nearest cat on top of it.
D. Release it from the trap.
Think hard now........
What's your answer?
If you found out you were pregnant with a live human embryo in your stomach what would you do?
If you said you would release the mouse but kill the embryo you need help.
Luckily we have it.
There is something called the Gabriel Project in most catholic churches around DC and suburbs where pregnant women can go for help. Your child is not a mouse. It is not a 'peanut', it is not a stomach cramp, it is not a blob of tissue, it is not a tumor. It is your child. Get Help.
Have you ever found a mouse in your house?
If you found a mouse in your kitchen, and it was caught on a trap, still alive, but squeeling its head off, looking up at you as you saw it try to get out of the trap, would you:
A. Kill it immediately to put it out of its misery.
B. Put it and the trap in a plastic bag and immediately throw it out back.
C. Dump the nearest cat on top of it.
D. Release it from the trap.
Think hard now........
What's your answer?
If you found out you were pregnant with a live human embryo in your stomach what would you do?
If you said you would release the mouse but kill the embryo you need help.
Luckily we have it.
There is something called the Gabriel Project in most catholic churches around DC and suburbs where pregnant women can go for help. Your child is not a mouse. It is not a 'peanut', it is not a stomach cramp, it is not a blob of tissue, it is not a tumor. It is your child. Get Help.
If You Live Long Enough
Enemies Can Become Friends, I am Told.
That is why I started praying for that 'Godless' 'don't you dare smear my blog with your book google adverts' Ann Coulter when I found out she couldn't see the Bushes for the Whacked during the 2004 election.
And now, it appears we agree on something. Vaguely. Only one thing, don't get too excited.
It's not my particular rant but I am a bit sympathetic. Unlike her I am not trying to scourge Obama with any government waste and abuse I can think of- he didn't start Iraq, he didn't invent the fiscal banking crisis, he didn't get AIG in all that trouble, and he didn't make obsolete car designs more expensively than the imports.
But he is in charge of the TSA and it does appear that people are getting annoyed at the intrusiveness. That Saturday night live skit was hilarious!
Everyone needs to calm down though. It's not that anyone lost their Virginity to a TSA wand (ok-too graphic), nor that anyone is innocently getting patted down who doesn't wear an underwire- but really folks- who wants all their x-rayed love handles showing up on a TSA screen that can be emailed to Joe sixpack or the Director of the CIA? Isn't that a little Kafkesquie, Satrequeish, Orwellianly too much?
There ought to be a line- or a law, or something. Should you be made to take out body parts (like an artificial limb) or your teeth? Look ma-no jaws. I find it dreadful when I have to take off my shoes when I haven't had a decent pedicure. Imagine being made to take off your leg! Isn't there a medical card or something we can allow people to carry for an exemption? Oh no-then we would have everyone trafficking cocaine in their plastic legs back from Afghanistan apparently.
Perhaps we can assign people categories like "low risk" "mild to moderate risk" and "really big risks" based on a set of stereotypical profiling. On second thought. Maybe we could let Ann Coulter guess who might be hiding explosives in their Air Jordans on Jordan Air.
The difficulty is, as Obama phrased it- that apparently there are still snakes in the skies who would like us all to die- so it becomes prudent to be overly cautious and the rest of us have to be patient and miss our flights. Usually it is the Coulter corner who is really insistent on the magnitude of the threat and saying we don't do enough to protect ourselves. I think her rule of open mouth insert foot operates just as a knee jerk tirade to anything Obama does. Because he is younger than she is and he got to be President. Plus, Michele knows how to straighten her hair just as well as she does.
That is why I started praying for that 'Godless' 'don't you dare smear my blog with your book google adverts' Ann Coulter when I found out she couldn't see the Bushes for the Whacked during the 2004 election.
And now, it appears we agree on something. Vaguely. Only one thing, don't get too excited.
It's not my particular rant but I am a bit sympathetic. Unlike her I am not trying to scourge Obama with any government waste and abuse I can think of- he didn't start Iraq, he didn't invent the fiscal banking crisis, he didn't get AIG in all that trouble, and he didn't make obsolete car designs more expensively than the imports.
But he is in charge of the TSA and it does appear that people are getting annoyed at the intrusiveness. That Saturday night live skit was hilarious!
Everyone needs to calm down though. It's not that anyone lost their Virginity to a TSA wand (ok-too graphic), nor that anyone is innocently getting patted down who doesn't wear an underwire- but really folks- who wants all their x-rayed love handles showing up on a TSA screen that can be emailed to Joe sixpack or the Director of the CIA? Isn't that a little Kafkesquie, Satrequeish, Orwellianly too much?
There ought to be a line- or a law, or something. Should you be made to take out body parts (like an artificial limb) or your teeth? Look ma-no jaws. I find it dreadful when I have to take off my shoes when I haven't had a decent pedicure. Imagine being made to take off your leg! Isn't there a medical card or something we can allow people to carry for an exemption? Oh no-then we would have everyone trafficking cocaine in their plastic legs back from Afghanistan apparently.
Perhaps we can assign people categories like "low risk" "mild to moderate risk" and "really big risks" based on a set of stereotypical profiling. On second thought. Maybe we could let Ann Coulter guess who might be hiding explosives in their Air Jordans on Jordan Air.
The difficulty is, as Obama phrased it- that apparently there are still snakes in the skies who would like us all to die- so it becomes prudent to be overly cautious and the rest of us have to be patient and miss our flights. Usually it is the Coulter corner who is really insistent on the magnitude of the threat and saying we don't do enough to protect ourselves. I think her rule of open mouth insert foot operates just as a knee jerk tirade to anything Obama does. Because he is younger than she is and he got to be President. Plus, Michele knows how to straighten her hair just as well as she does.
What Paul Meant To Say
Instead of 'Bishops should be the husband of one wife' with their households in order.
Bishops should not be richer than their congregations combined (or they need to give some back or to starving orphans), run-around-Sams, or pompous overlords with personalities of SpongeBobSquarepants.
Bishops should not be richer than their congregations combined (or they need to give some back or to starving orphans), run-around-Sams, or pompous overlords with personalities of SpongeBobSquarepants.
Contextualism
* Jus Trium Liberorum is the term frequently used to describe what is more accurately called the Lex Papia Poppaea, A.D. 9, which granted special privileges to men with many children and punished celibacy by limiting the rights of single men. This can account for Paul's discussions on celibacy which should not be taken as encouraging celibacy but as defending the right of a man or woman to voluntarily choose marriage instead of feeling compelled to marry by government decree.
The Lex Papia Poppaea decreed punishments such as the loss of inheritance rights for those who remained single after having attained puberty up to the age of fifty for women and sixty for men.
A man or woman was given one hundred days to get married upon finding out they were the beneficiary of an inheritance or forfeit the inheritance. The Lex Papia Poppaea also specified certain forbidden marriages because of class distinctions.
There are many more interesting details of this Roman law which I'll address in another article.
References: A Systematic and Historical Exposition -
ROMAN LAW - In the Order of a Code by W. A.Hunter EMBODYING THE INSTITUTES OF GAIUS AND THE INSTITUTES OF JUSTINIAN, TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY J. ASHTON CROSS, B.A. of Balliol College, Oxford, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, Fourth Edition 1803Note: Pastor Don Milton received his Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Washington in 1987, has studied five languages and regularly speaks a language other than his own.
The Lex Papia Poppaea decreed punishments such as the loss of inheritance rights for those who remained single after having attained puberty up to the age of fifty for women and sixty for men.
A man or woman was given one hundred days to get married upon finding out they were the beneficiary of an inheritance or forfeit the inheritance. The Lex Papia Poppaea also specified certain forbidden marriages because of class distinctions.
There are many more interesting details of this Roman law which I'll address in another article.
References: A Systematic and Historical Exposition -
ROMAN LAW - In the Order of a Code by W. A.Hunter EMBODYING THE INSTITUTES OF GAIUS AND THE INSTITUTES OF JUSTINIAN, TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY J. ASHTON CROSS, B.A. of Balliol College, Oxford, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, Fourth Edition 1803Note: Pastor Don Milton received his Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Washington in 1987, has studied five languages and regularly speaks a language other than his own.
"I hope the Cardinal's party at the Basillica, which is likely to be a smorgasborg of feastie delights under a big tent is paid for by all the lawyers who made a small fortune fighting -and losing-all the Equal Marriage litigation in DC. At least they can give back something useful in the way of pastries and bean dip."
(Anonymous for a reason.)
(Anonymous for a reason.)
Does that go for Womankind Too?
In speaking of the value of the fetus, (half of which are female) the Pope said last night:
(see the Vatican Radio link to right)
Believing in Jesus Christ also means having a new outlook on man, a look of trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and reason show that the human being is a subject capable of discernment, self-conscious and free, unique and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly things, that must be recognized in his innate value and always accepted with respect and love. He has the right not to be treated as an object of possession or something to manipulate at will, not to be reduced to a mere instrument for the benefit of others and their interests. The human person is a good in and of himself and his integral development should always be sought.
Now substitute the feminine everytime "man" or "him" or "himself" appears.
Believing in jesus christ also means having a new outlook on WOMAN, a look of trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and reason show that the human being is a subject capable of discernment, self-conscious and free, unique and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly things, that must be recognized in HER innate value and always accepted with respect and Love. SHE has the right not to be treated as an object of possession or something to manipulate at will, not to be reduced to a mere instrument for the benefit of others and their interests. The human person is a good in and of HERSELF and HER integral development should always be sought.
Knocking on your head I say-Is anyone home?
(see the Vatican Radio link to right)
Believing in Jesus Christ also means having a new outlook on man, a look of trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and reason show that the human being is a subject capable of discernment, self-conscious and free, unique and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly things, that must be recognized in his innate value and always accepted with respect and love. He has the right not to be treated as an object of possession or something to manipulate at will, not to be reduced to a mere instrument for the benefit of others and their interests. The human person is a good in and of himself and his integral development should always be sought.
Now substitute the feminine everytime "man" or "him" or "himself" appears.
Believing in jesus christ also means having a new outlook on WOMAN, a look of trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and reason show that the human being is a subject capable of discernment, self-conscious and free, unique and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly things, that must be recognized in HER innate value and always accepted with respect and Love. SHE has the right not to be treated as an object of possession or something to manipulate at will, not to be reduced to a mere instrument for the benefit of others and their interests. The human person is a good in and of HERSELF and HER integral development should always be sought.
Knocking on your head I say-Is anyone home?
Motown is Rockin
On the Ecumenical Evangelican Front
They have a very inspiring Seminary-i just got this email.
Here is where you want to be:
Where:
Ecumenical Theological Seminary
2930 Woodward AveDetroit, MI 48201Driving Directions
When:Thursday December 2, 2010 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM ESTAdd to my calendar
Please join us! The Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit has collaborated with Detroit Public Television to develop programming and local activities to engage the public in connection with the national broadcast this fall of the documentary: God in America. It was produced by PBS through the efforts of the award-winning programs American Experience and Frontline, explores the 400-year history of religion in the public life of America. Our discussion will center on the segment of the documentary which looks at the role of churches during the Civil Rights struggle, with particular attention to the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "We are inviting people of all religious traditions to participate in this unique, unequalled opportunity for interfaith cooperation and to join the national conversation about the role of religion and contemporary spirituality in America," according to Rev. Robert Hart, co-chair of the IFLC education committee and interim pastor of Christ Church Episcopal in Dearborn. This discussion will be led by the Rev. Dr. Tony Henderson, who teaches practical theology at ETS (Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Downtown Detroit, Michigan), and is currently teaching a course on the Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Henderson advocates for the intentional integration of spiritual/ theological principles with ministerial and ecclesiastical practice as the minister and the congregation look critically and honestly at the church's mission against the landscape of devastating social, political, educational, economic, and justice issues that manifest themselves daily in the life of our communities.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the event.
Thank you for your interest in our programs. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Lilly Heidt
Ecumenical Theological Seminary
sheidt@etseminary.edu
313 831 5200 ext 223
They have a very inspiring Seminary-i just got this email.
Here is where you want to be:
Where:
Ecumenical Theological Seminary
2930 Woodward AveDetroit, MI 48201Driving Directions
When:Thursday December 2, 2010 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM ESTAdd to my calendar
Please join us! The Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit has collaborated with Detroit Public Television to develop programming and local activities to engage the public in connection with the national broadcast this fall of the documentary: God in America. It was produced by PBS through the efforts of the award-winning programs American Experience and Frontline, explores the 400-year history of religion in the public life of America. Our discussion will center on the segment of the documentary which looks at the role of churches during the Civil Rights struggle, with particular attention to the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "We are inviting people of all religious traditions to participate in this unique, unequalled opportunity for interfaith cooperation and to join the national conversation about the role of religion and contemporary spirituality in America," according to Rev. Robert Hart, co-chair of the IFLC education committee and interim pastor of Christ Church Episcopal in Dearborn. This discussion will be led by the Rev. Dr. Tony Henderson, who teaches practical theology at ETS (Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Downtown Detroit, Michigan), and is currently teaching a course on the Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor Henderson advocates for the intentional integration of spiritual/ theological principles with ministerial and ecclesiastical practice as the minister and the congregation look critically and honestly at the church's mission against the landscape of devastating social, political, educational, economic, and justice issues that manifest themselves daily in the life of our communities.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the event.
Thank you for your interest in our programs. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Lilly Heidt
Ecumenical Theological Seminary
sheidt@etseminary.edu
313 831 5200 ext 223
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Karma- not a breakfast cereal
Doing Unto Others.
Imagine if in this life your soul is being perfected toward a state of Godliness- purified as in a refiners fire. Imagine if you are georgeous but have a compulsion to abuse people doggedly then you go through the test at the pearly gates where they play back the tapes and they see that your being has a compulsion to dog people-do them dirty then ditch and run around on them. You might, according to the laws of Karma get to come back - a Golden Retriever. Don''t laugh. I have met a few golden retrievers who were nicer to be around than a few people.
This isn't catholic orthodoxy- but lets assume, arguendo that Karma operates like this.
Jesus said-and old testament scripture also affirms- do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The unwritten part is -because that is a spiritual law of gravity that is going to happen anyway.
Anyway- unless you get more MERCY than what you deserve- more GRACE to overcome what you should get.
Imagine if you had a compulsion to keep putting women down- you may get to come back as a woman. Imagine if you had a compulsion to keep shouting profanities in a family of pious people who can't get you to control your foul mouth- you then get to come back as the pious person having to listen to all of that every day. You may not have to go very far to 'come back' to experience what you dished out. It could come back in this life or the next.
What does God say about giving and doing good? You put it out there it comes back to you a hundred fold more. What does he say about forgiveness- same deal. That's what they call "more abundantly than you can imagine." The 'prosperity gospel' guys get a lot of flack for repeating it, but they know something. The gravitational laws of God's Mercy and Grace operate in a world where he knows everything, owns everything (the whole world and everything in it) and we are kingdom heirs after his promise. Children of the Most High. You think he has a plastic Charlie Brown Christmas Tree with nothing under it for you? How good are you? Now, How Good is GOD.
Imagine if in this life your soul is being perfected toward a state of Godliness- purified as in a refiners fire. Imagine if you are georgeous but have a compulsion to abuse people doggedly then you go through the test at the pearly gates where they play back the tapes and they see that your being has a compulsion to dog people-do them dirty then ditch and run around on them. You might, according to the laws of Karma get to come back - a Golden Retriever. Don''t laugh. I have met a few golden retrievers who were nicer to be around than a few people.
This isn't catholic orthodoxy- but lets assume, arguendo that Karma operates like this.
Jesus said-and old testament scripture also affirms- do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The unwritten part is -because that is a spiritual law of gravity that is going to happen anyway.
Anyway- unless you get more MERCY than what you deserve- more GRACE to overcome what you should get.
Imagine if you had a compulsion to keep putting women down- you may get to come back as a woman. Imagine if you had a compulsion to keep shouting profanities in a family of pious people who can't get you to control your foul mouth- you then get to come back as the pious person having to listen to all of that every day. You may not have to go very far to 'come back' to experience what you dished out. It could come back in this life or the next.
What does God say about giving and doing good? You put it out there it comes back to you a hundred fold more. What does he say about forgiveness- same deal. That's what they call "more abundantly than you can imagine." The 'prosperity gospel' guys get a lot of flack for repeating it, but they know something. The gravitational laws of God's Mercy and Grace operate in a world where he knows everything, owns everything (the whole world and everything in it) and we are kingdom heirs after his promise. Children of the Most High. You think he has a plastic Charlie Brown Christmas Tree with nothing under it for you? How good are you? Now, How Good is GOD.
Bishops
Should be the Husband of ONE Wife.
Look it up. I know you have a concordance-or a 'googler.' Why? Why is this a COMMAND.
It is a BIBLICAL COMMAND for a number of reasons to stop a number of anticipated perversions of thoughtlife or behavior if it is not followed. You don't have to be a genius to figure it out. Most all the protestant world has. It's called Grow Up Get a Real Life time.
Let's take the NO WIVES situation:
1/ The Groupiefication of Church Women.
One reason there needs to be clerical leaders who have one wife is so that they don't mislead flocks of the fold down the primrose path to delusion. Women for the most part want to follow the commandment to be fruitful and multiply-and when you have a groupiefying priest leading lots of women on none of them are obedient to that commandment. It is inconsiderate.
It is too too tempting to be a groupiefying priest for the ego flattery (all the attention, none of the demands of a real relationship like fixing the car, taking out the trash, picking up the check and dealing with a scumbag landlord or a fraudulent mortgage company or having to save money for kids education or someone else's dental bills...)
Priests can start trading on looks if theirs are anything worth looking at. That is not what the church should be 'selling.' It turns priests into whores.
Priests can also start wondering how else, if they can't deal with women they are going to take care of burning needs. Hence, the perversions that have so far cost around 2 bil -and you cannot tell me that the prohibition on married priests has anything to do with that.
2/ Multiple Wives makes for Mayhem and Adultery is Against the Law.
Some priests inspire multiple fake church basement wives to inspire service to do all the stuff for free that has to be done when there is no money to pay anyone salaries. This is basically common law emotional adultery at its finest. If you have ever been in a sorority house for more than a day you know that the rivalries and jealousies of 'get a life' church women in these situations is anything but Holy and inspires sin upon sin upon sin.
The wisdom in the Bible in REQUIRING as a COMMAND that a BISHOP be a man married to ONE woman with his household in order is so sound it is amazing that the church has thrown the baby out with the Mikvah waters. It is easy to blame the women -and some self-loathing women like to do that to others. But the institutional practices have to be aligned with the Biblical mandates to make it work the way God wanted it to.
The Catholic Church is just 'off' as they say-like a bit of bad milk -when it comes to this sort of blatant persecution of women who threaten their illusions. I therefore repeat my request that if you must go celebrate Wuerl being Cardinal, please wear PINK or Chartreuse, Or Burgundy or something a wee bit off the standard Cardinal Red. Because they think the Holy Family were androgenous or that 'family' only means all men, living with men, effectively common law married to men calling themselves 'holy.' You won't see me there- sorry.
You know exactly what I am talking about. Church secretaries from an era where men did marry their secretaries acting like pissants towards other women they think like "their" priest, old 'Watergate widows' treating grown men like their on-call pet priestly poodles, check-writing, committee chair Sera ladies emotionally bribing effectively priests, and various and sundry other seductrices playing church with graduate degrees in things like theology 'of the body' reminding them how sexy they are and how superior they think they are to all the rest of the groupies vying for budgetary dollars and attention.
If men can't view women as other than Groupies, check-writing bankrollers, or temptation, they have no business calling themselves priests much less Bishops. You must have had mothers people. A sister maybe? Would they stand for that crap? Pick One or sit down and shut up is what I want to say after watching a parade of chest-protruding sychophants try to snag a priest who is probably Gay anyway ladies.
If they could marry- you could tell quicker couldn't you.
Now I wish to be left alone in my 'I was happier Presbyterian' phase- those guys were normal.
Look it up. I know you have a concordance-or a 'googler.' Why? Why is this a COMMAND.
It is a BIBLICAL COMMAND for a number of reasons to stop a number of anticipated perversions of thoughtlife or behavior if it is not followed. You don't have to be a genius to figure it out. Most all the protestant world has. It's called Grow Up Get a Real Life time.
Let's take the NO WIVES situation:
1/ The Groupiefication of Church Women.
One reason there needs to be clerical leaders who have one wife is so that they don't mislead flocks of the fold down the primrose path to delusion. Women for the most part want to follow the commandment to be fruitful and multiply-and when you have a groupiefying priest leading lots of women on none of them are obedient to that commandment. It is inconsiderate.
It is too too tempting to be a groupiefying priest for the ego flattery (all the attention, none of the demands of a real relationship like fixing the car, taking out the trash, picking up the check and dealing with a scumbag landlord or a fraudulent mortgage company or having to save money for kids education or someone else's dental bills...)
Priests can start trading on looks if theirs are anything worth looking at. That is not what the church should be 'selling.' It turns priests into whores.
Priests can also start wondering how else, if they can't deal with women they are going to take care of burning needs. Hence, the perversions that have so far cost around 2 bil -and you cannot tell me that the prohibition on married priests has anything to do with that.
2/ Multiple Wives makes for Mayhem and Adultery is Against the Law.
Some priests inspire multiple fake church basement wives to inspire service to do all the stuff for free that has to be done when there is no money to pay anyone salaries. This is basically common law emotional adultery at its finest. If you have ever been in a sorority house for more than a day you know that the rivalries and jealousies of 'get a life' church women in these situations is anything but Holy and inspires sin upon sin upon sin.
The wisdom in the Bible in REQUIRING as a COMMAND that a BISHOP be a man married to ONE woman with his household in order is so sound it is amazing that the church has thrown the baby out with the Mikvah waters. It is easy to blame the women -and some self-loathing women like to do that to others. But the institutional practices have to be aligned with the Biblical mandates to make it work the way God wanted it to.
The Catholic Church is just 'off' as they say-like a bit of bad milk -when it comes to this sort of blatant persecution of women who threaten their illusions. I therefore repeat my request that if you must go celebrate Wuerl being Cardinal, please wear PINK or Chartreuse, Or Burgundy or something a wee bit off the standard Cardinal Red. Because they think the Holy Family were androgenous or that 'family' only means all men, living with men, effectively common law married to men calling themselves 'holy.' You won't see me there- sorry.
You know exactly what I am talking about. Church secretaries from an era where men did marry their secretaries acting like pissants towards other women they think like "their" priest, old 'Watergate widows' treating grown men like their on-call pet priestly poodles, check-writing, committee chair Sera ladies emotionally bribing effectively priests, and various and sundry other seductrices playing church with graduate degrees in things like theology 'of the body' reminding them how sexy they are and how superior they think they are to all the rest of the groupies vying for budgetary dollars and attention.
If men can't view women as other than Groupies, check-writing bankrollers, or temptation, they have no business calling themselves priests much less Bishops. You must have had mothers people. A sister maybe? Would they stand for that crap? Pick One or sit down and shut up is what I want to say after watching a parade of chest-protruding sychophants try to snag a priest who is probably Gay anyway ladies.
If they could marry- you could tell quicker couldn't you.
Now I wish to be left alone in my 'I was happier Presbyterian' phase- those guys were normal.
Ridiculous
We Must Be All Men Because We Need To Feed People.
Well, excuse me. After failing to come up with a rational reason why catholic priests must be all men out of any theological justification having anything to do with aptitude to grasp scripture or discern meaning of historic events tied thereto, or ability to deliver a good sermon or ability to pray (in tongues or otherwise charistmatically) or heal people with touch or words, or comfort the afflicted, or visit those in prison (women can do all of that quite well and more)- the Catholic church now wants you to think that because they have the monopoly on the true eucharist that they have to feed to the true flock they all must truly be men. Because they have to feed people and what-have the magic words memorized and Jesus will listen only to a baritone and a base reciting it? Tenors if they can hit a High A- keep the boy sopranos in the choir.
Or is there something they have not told us that is part of the mystery of the eucharist. They drop male sweat hormones over it and voila it is magically transfigured?
Who makes the wafers? What are they made of? Protestants are content to pass around a loaf of wholewheat or rye and everyone takes a bit off and passes around-but of course that doesn't capture the unleavened effect that mirrors the bread grabbed at the Seder for the Passover which is supposed to look more like matzo crackers and have no leavening because they had no time to wait for it to rise to knead the bread. So what goes in it-these eucharistic wafers? Some form of wheat I assume- it looks processed so it is probably the cheap stuff (those with wheat allergies can actually specially request a gluten free substitute I found out while lecturing and a strange soul brought his own special gluten free one for blessings and special distribution so he wouldn't convulse in allergies-even though it is only supposed to Look like a trisquit not actually be one.) I imagine it has to have a touch of water if they are baked. What else goes in it? No Baking soda or baking powder? It doesn't come in many varieties-you don't find it in the grocery store under "sacred eats." It doesn' t have flavor like "almond crunch wafer" or "vanilla wafer"- it is pretty bland to the taste, even while some will say that it melts in their mouth like a piece of flesh (get your head around that one.)
What about maleness in serving the eucharist (a thanksgiving memorial) requires it be male.
Inquiring minds and a few Smart-As want to know. Excuse the vulgarity but is there a secret sect or order in Rome of celibate priests jacking off in the batter somewhere as the secret ingredient that turns it into Jesus? Do they get extra credit for it?
Seriously. We need clarity- because this no women priests thing seems a total crock of beef batter jerky.
Well, excuse me. After failing to come up with a rational reason why catholic priests must be all men out of any theological justification having anything to do with aptitude to grasp scripture or discern meaning of historic events tied thereto, or ability to deliver a good sermon or ability to pray (in tongues or otherwise charistmatically) or heal people with touch or words, or comfort the afflicted, or visit those in prison (women can do all of that quite well and more)- the Catholic church now wants you to think that because they have the monopoly on the true eucharist that they have to feed to the true flock they all must truly be men. Because they have to feed people and what-have the magic words memorized and Jesus will listen only to a baritone and a base reciting it? Tenors if they can hit a High A- keep the boy sopranos in the choir.
Or is there something they have not told us that is part of the mystery of the eucharist. They drop male sweat hormones over it and voila it is magically transfigured?
Who makes the wafers? What are they made of? Protestants are content to pass around a loaf of wholewheat or rye and everyone takes a bit off and passes around-but of course that doesn't capture the unleavened effect that mirrors the bread grabbed at the Seder for the Passover which is supposed to look more like matzo crackers and have no leavening because they had no time to wait for it to rise to knead the bread. So what goes in it-these eucharistic wafers? Some form of wheat I assume- it looks processed so it is probably the cheap stuff (those with wheat allergies can actually specially request a gluten free substitute I found out while lecturing and a strange soul brought his own special gluten free one for blessings and special distribution so he wouldn't convulse in allergies-even though it is only supposed to Look like a trisquit not actually be one.) I imagine it has to have a touch of water if they are baked. What else goes in it? No Baking soda or baking powder? It doesn't come in many varieties-you don't find it in the grocery store under "sacred eats." It doesn' t have flavor like "almond crunch wafer" or "vanilla wafer"- it is pretty bland to the taste, even while some will say that it melts in their mouth like a piece of flesh (get your head around that one.)
What about maleness in serving the eucharist (a thanksgiving memorial) requires it be male.
Inquiring minds and a few Smart-As want to know. Excuse the vulgarity but is there a secret sect or order in Rome of celibate priests jacking off in the batter somewhere as the secret ingredient that turns it into Jesus? Do they get extra credit for it?
Seriously. We need clarity- because this no women priests thing seems a total crock of beef batter jerky.
Would Muhammed Make
Five Orphans Because His Feelings Were Hurt?
Where does this defense of the honor of Muhammed end? Is there no free thought or speech in Pakistan? Apparently the mother of five who spoke something insulting is not out of hot water so much as over boiling oil now that the Sunnis are up in arms to defend Muhammed's 'honor'.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/pakistani-muslims-threaten-chaos-christian-woman-executed-blasphemy/
This is another reason we need to sign on to the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
Do the scriptures not say (the First Testamant, also adhered to and recognized by the Muslims for the most part) that the very definition of JUSTICE is that we tend to the WIDOW and the ORPHAN and welcome the stranger?
Who is stranger than a Christian to them? And Would Muhammed Make 5 Orphans because his feelings were hurt by a woman?
This does not even make sense in terms of their own theology.
Let the woman Live in Peace.
Where does this defense of the honor of Muhammed end? Is there no free thought or speech in Pakistan? Apparently the mother of five who spoke something insulting is not out of hot water so much as over boiling oil now that the Sunnis are up in arms to defend Muhammed's 'honor'.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/pakistani-muslims-threaten-chaos-christian-woman-executed-blasphemy/
This is another reason we need to sign on to the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
Do the scriptures not say (the First Testamant, also adhered to and recognized by the Muslims for the most part) that the very definition of JUSTICE is that we tend to the WIDOW and the ORPHAN and welcome the stranger?
Who is stranger than a Christian to them? And Would Muhammed Make 5 Orphans because his feelings were hurt by a woman?
This does not even make sense in terms of their own theology.
Let the woman Live in Peace.
INTENTIONS
Praying for all the Dead Fetuses
Sorry to be so blunt and graphic but do you all realize how many dead fetuses have been generated since 1973 in America alone, let alone the Western world? Piles and piles of them that if stacked together would reach the moon (if they weren't dismembered and body parts sent to pharmaceutical type labs for Goering like experimentation). I am sorry but 45 Million in America alone is a Holocaust. These beings are human beings. They are not animals, or pesky rodents that you should toss in the dumpster because you don't want them underfoot in your kitchen. They are your offspring. They came from the place in the Heavens where God sends souls to earth. Each abortion is an act of rebellion against God the giver of all Life, inspired by the Fallen Angel of Rebellion.
November is the day where clergy pray typically for the dead all month. There are intentions cards where remembrances are made to loved ones who passed away. The last day in November, every year, everywhere in the World should be marked as Pray for Dead Fetus day and End Abortion Day. Don't sanitize it by calling it "prayer for life"- or something marshmallowy inoffensive- PRAY FOR DEAD FETUSES. November 30 falls on a Tuesday this year. Mark your calendar. If your parish doesn't do it (give them a fiver) then you remember yourself in your quiet intentions. Ask the Priest to say an intention for the Mass he offers on November 30th during the Mass.
NOVEMBER 30- DAY OF THE DEAD FETUS.
Sorry to be so blunt and graphic but do you all realize how many dead fetuses have been generated since 1973 in America alone, let alone the Western world? Piles and piles of them that if stacked together would reach the moon (if they weren't dismembered and body parts sent to pharmaceutical type labs for Goering like experimentation). I am sorry but 45 Million in America alone is a Holocaust. These beings are human beings. They are not animals, or pesky rodents that you should toss in the dumpster because you don't want them underfoot in your kitchen. They are your offspring. They came from the place in the Heavens where God sends souls to earth. Each abortion is an act of rebellion against God the giver of all Life, inspired by the Fallen Angel of Rebellion.
November is the day where clergy pray typically for the dead all month. There are intentions cards where remembrances are made to loved ones who passed away. The last day in November, every year, everywhere in the World should be marked as Pray for Dead Fetus day and End Abortion Day. Don't sanitize it by calling it "prayer for life"- or something marshmallowy inoffensive- PRAY FOR DEAD FETUSES. November 30 falls on a Tuesday this year. Mark your calendar. If your parish doesn't do it (give them a fiver) then you remember yourself in your quiet intentions. Ask the Priest to say an intention for the Mass he offers on November 30th during the Mass.
NOVEMBER 30- DAY OF THE DEAD FETUS.
Stumbling Blocks
The Catholic Clergy would have about a thousand percent more credibility on the LIFE issue if it did not use the issue as a wedge Republican fundraising rally cry, if they had actual families themselves so experienced anything like the pressures that might compel an abortion, if Father Pavone and his cadre gave half their lobbying budget to actual pregnant mothers, and if they did not try to form their priests after the Order of Miriam instead of Melchizedek.
(anonymous for a reason)
(anonymous for a reason)
It is a Holocaust
Make No Mistake
When one third of all pregnancies ends in abortion- the bloody excising of a growing human fetus- the devil has insidiously waged a massive campaign against humanity and enscripted co-conspirators.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=442366
Wake Up.
Human Rights mean nothing if hundreds of millions of humans don't count and aren't counted.
Tonight starts the Advent season with a Vigil-and the Pope is dedicating it to ending the
scourge of abortion and asking everyone to pray.
Too often pregnancies are viewed as inconveniences, mistakes, accidents, or 'unplanned' annoyances rather than what they really are: LIFE growing. HUMAN LIFE growing.
In which heavenly realm or planet do you think all the slaughtered innocent fetuses and embryos wait to meet their mothers after their souls leave this life?
When one third of all pregnancies ends in abortion- the bloody excising of a growing human fetus- the devil has insidiously waged a massive campaign against humanity and enscripted co-conspirators.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=442366
Wake Up.
Human Rights mean nothing if hundreds of millions of humans don't count and aren't counted.
Tonight starts the Advent season with a Vigil-and the Pope is dedicating it to ending the
scourge of abortion and asking everyone to pray.
Too often pregnancies are viewed as inconveniences, mistakes, accidents, or 'unplanned' annoyances rather than what they really are: LIFE growing. HUMAN LIFE growing.
In which heavenly realm or planet do you think all the slaughtered innocent fetuses and embryos wait to meet their mothers after their souls leave this life?
Friday, November 26, 2010
Calling Spades
Male Chauvinist Trough Snorting Pig-Holes.
When I hit a certain age I felt compelled to speak my mind. I now feel like Jesus turning the money changers out of the temple angry. If you can append happily the term "sexist" to yourself, feel free to add on "PIECE OF GARBAGE". I don't care with what you prefix your name, as in Dr. or Honorable or Father or
even Cardinal so and so...Piece of Garbage. Because in this day and age, to be remotely discriminatory against women or sexist in any fashion is pure EVIL. There is no excuse for it, there is no justification for it, there is no higher purpose to it. EVIL. Stop excusing yourselves, stop deluding yourselves, stop justifying yourselves. Swampland of pure EVIL. I don't care if your beanie yarmulke is pink or red.
Women are the majority breadwinners in huge numbers of households in America. Divorce is at higher than half the marriages in America. Men die and leave families to care for themselves. Sometimes families of all women. ---All Christian Women in some cases.
Women get less jobs, make less money than male counterparts when they do, shoulder more burdens of domestic duties combined with working lives and raise children.
Comments or statements that remotely suggest that sexually assaulting or molesting or sodomizing a child is a lesser crime or evil than giving a woman a clerical job is just disgusting.
I don't know where you people were raised but I find that so offensive that I still can't get over that there has been no 'clarification' or retraction of that. I feel no affinity toward anyone with that attitude -who doesn't even harbor it secretly and shamedly but boldly goes around campaigning about it- and certainly don't want to work for them in any capacity- free or not.
The sexism in the catholic clergy frankly runs rather deep. It is not just that they don't allow women clergy (as if they can't read the Bible also or that they can't pray as hard) or that they stupidly think that women can't marry priests from a twisted after the fact made up false theology- when they have from the beginning and the Eastern Rite and Maronites all do (being closer to the original First Century church) but I once actually heard a priest openly say that if a woman was not married by the time she was 40 she should start 'discerning' which convent she should check herself into. I have a sister who married just after her 40th birthday, had a child at age 43 and is the President of a major corporation. I know plenty of women who conceived children in their 40s. --it's not impossible for some even in their fifties--and women who do not bear children are not good for nothing after any age.
These attitudes foster oppression against women that in turn can lend itself to even greater violence against women as men seek to put them 'in their place' -all across the world.
This HAS to be the last generation of misogynist clergy or the church is just done if Jesus doesn't come back soon because there will be no more faith on earth.
GET BEHIND ME SATAN.
When I hit a certain age I felt compelled to speak my mind. I now feel like Jesus turning the money changers out of the temple angry. If you can append happily the term "sexist" to yourself, feel free to add on "PIECE OF GARBAGE". I don't care with what you prefix your name, as in Dr. or Honorable or Father or
even Cardinal so and so...Piece of Garbage. Because in this day and age, to be remotely discriminatory against women or sexist in any fashion is pure EVIL. There is no excuse for it, there is no justification for it, there is no higher purpose to it. EVIL. Stop excusing yourselves, stop deluding yourselves, stop justifying yourselves. Swampland of pure EVIL. I don't care if your beanie yarmulke is pink or red.
Women are the majority breadwinners in huge numbers of households in America. Divorce is at higher than half the marriages in America. Men die and leave families to care for themselves. Sometimes families of all women. ---All Christian Women in some cases.
Women get less jobs, make less money than male counterparts when they do, shoulder more burdens of domestic duties combined with working lives and raise children.
Comments or statements that remotely suggest that sexually assaulting or molesting or sodomizing a child is a lesser crime or evil than giving a woman a clerical job is just disgusting.
I don't know where you people were raised but I find that so offensive that I still can't get over that there has been no 'clarification' or retraction of that. I feel no affinity toward anyone with that attitude -who doesn't even harbor it secretly and shamedly but boldly goes around campaigning about it- and certainly don't want to work for them in any capacity- free or not.
The sexism in the catholic clergy frankly runs rather deep. It is not just that they don't allow women clergy (as if they can't read the Bible also or that they can't pray as hard) or that they stupidly think that women can't marry priests from a twisted after the fact made up false theology- when they have from the beginning and the Eastern Rite and Maronites all do (being closer to the original First Century church) but I once actually heard a priest openly say that if a woman was not married by the time she was 40 she should start 'discerning' which convent she should check herself into. I have a sister who married just after her 40th birthday, had a child at age 43 and is the President of a major corporation. I know plenty of women who conceived children in their 40s. --it's not impossible for some even in their fifties--and women who do not bear children are not good for nothing after any age.
These attitudes foster oppression against women that in turn can lend itself to even greater violence against women as men seek to put them 'in their place' -all across the world.
This HAS to be the last generation of misogynist clergy or the church is just done if Jesus doesn't come back soon because there will be no more faith on earth.
GET BEHIND ME SATAN.
There is a God
I am still savoring this.....I now have a new God-Son-In-Law
When he gets back from his Honeymoon in St.Lucia, Obama should call this UVA engineer at the Patent Office (one of his employees) in to discuss how international copyright and trademark laws may be amended to curb piracy and intellectual property theft of US manufactured goods to improve the balance of trade as a special envoy from the US Patent Office. I am serious. Tim Wilhelm. I am guessing he is listed in Obama's directory.
Irish Film Festival
It's what's happening. See below entry from the Washington Film Institute and people who love John Hanshaw.
Empty the Cache
Friday, November 26, 2010
If we really think about it everything we have that’s good in our lives came from the Creator. After all, is there any other way it could come to us? When gratitude is in our consciousness we expand the opening for more abundance to fill our lives. Everyone, no matter how challenged, has many things to be grateful for. Make a gratitude list today and see how life changes.
Visit:
www.yehudaberg.com
Friday, November 26, 2010
If we really think about it everything we have that’s good in our lives came from the Creator. After all, is there any other way it could come to us? When gratitude is in our consciousness we expand the opening for more abundance to fill our lives. Everyone, no matter how challenged, has many things to be grateful for. Make a gratitude list today and see how life changes.
Visit:
www.yehudaberg.com
Left Behind
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,they were eating and drinking,marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the househad known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”
At the mill? or at the Well maybe? In the field? In the kitchen? Where do you want to be?
I am pretty sure I want to be dressed for action and not in my PJs-how bout you?
If Hillary can't stop the North Koreans (I'm holding my breath) do you think Jesus would want
to save anyone from a cosmic nuclear meltdown before it happens?
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,they were eating and drinking,marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the househad known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”
At the mill? or at the Well maybe? In the field? In the kitchen? Where do you want to be?
I am pretty sure I want to be dressed for action and not in my PJs-how bout you?
If Hillary can't stop the North Koreans (I'm holding my breath) do you think Jesus would want
to save anyone from a cosmic nuclear meltdown before it happens?
Kiss Him
He's Irish. (now you are Reeeeallly famous;-)
John Hanshaw. He's also terminally cute. Director of the DC Guerilla Film Festival and Founder of the Washington Film Institute. He is putting on an Irish Film Festival in DC to mirror the one in Rome going on.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=442271
For more on the Washington Film Institute and the DC Film Crowd:
FB GROUP
JOIN LIST
CLASSES
TWITTER
ABOUT
CONTACT
PHOTOS
You can volunteer and go for free (but you might have to schlep large crates of alcoholic beverages and pour it-I have even done ticket duty before and it is good Face-Time to see the Washington glitteratti and paparazzi wannabees.)
Having trouble viewing this? Click here
WFI@CAPITAL IRISH FILM FEST: "DUBLIN NOIR SERIES" + DRINKS (because we're Irish:-)
GATHERING
SATURDAY 12/4 Goethe-Institut (7th & Eye, NW) / MAP
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! contact John Hanshaw
PERRIER'S BOUNTY (Screens 4:30pm) directed by ian fitzgibbon comedy/action run time: 88 minutes
michael owes money to dublin's meanest gangster, darren perrier. when the debt is called in brenda, michael's recently "dumped" and suicidal best friend, accidentally shoots dead one of his goons. to make matters worse michael's estranged father, jim, arrives just in time to witness the scene.
SAVAGE (Screens 7:30pm)directed by brendan muldowneythriller / run time: 84 minutes finding himself the victim of an attack on the wrong side of the tracks of a crime-ridden city, paul graynor, a press photographer who works exploiting the tabloid news, finds himself the focus of it. he tries to come to terms with his attack, though the scars, both psychological and physical, prove impossible to heal.
BETWEEN THE CANALS (Screens 9:30pm)directed by mark o' connordrama / run time: 74 minutes
between the canals follows three small time criminals from dublin's north inner city as they each aspire to be somebody in a fast changing society: liam a small time dealer who wants to quit his life of crime to become an electrician and provide for his girlfriend and son; dots, a crazy, irresponsible thug with ambitions to become a big time dealer and scratchcard, a drug user with no ambitions but to stay on social welfare and watch the world go by.
Ticket Includes All Complimentary Drinks Gathering 6:00 - 10:00pm
John Hanshaw. He's also terminally cute. Director of the DC Guerilla Film Festival and Founder of the Washington Film Institute. He is putting on an Irish Film Festival in DC to mirror the one in Rome going on.
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=442271
For more on the Washington Film Institute and the DC Film Crowd:
FB GROUP
JOIN LIST
CLASSES
ABOUT
CONTACT
PHOTOS
You can volunteer and go for free (but you might have to schlep large crates of alcoholic beverages and pour it-I have even done ticket duty before and it is good Face-Time to see the Washington glitteratti and paparazzi wannabees.)
Having trouble viewing this? Click here
WFI@CAPITAL IRISH FILM FEST: "DUBLIN NOIR SERIES" + DRINKS (because we're Irish:-)
GATHERING
SATURDAY 12/4 Goethe-Institut (7th & Eye, NW) / MAP
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! contact John Hanshaw
PERRIER'S BOUNTY (Screens 4:30pm) directed by ian fitzgibbon comedy/action run time: 88 minutes
michael owes money to dublin's meanest gangster, darren perrier. when the debt is called in brenda, michael's recently "dumped" and suicidal best friend, accidentally shoots dead one of his goons. to make matters worse michael's estranged father, jim, arrives just in time to witness the scene.
SAVAGE (Screens 7:30pm)directed by brendan muldowneythriller / run time: 84 minutes finding himself the victim of an attack on the wrong side of the tracks of a crime-ridden city, paul graynor, a press photographer who works exploiting the tabloid news, finds himself the focus of it. he tries to come to terms with his attack, though the scars, both psychological and physical, prove impossible to heal.
BETWEEN THE CANALS (Screens 9:30pm)directed by mark o' connordrama / run time: 74 minutes
between the canals follows three small time criminals from dublin's north inner city as they each aspire to be somebody in a fast changing society: liam a small time dealer who wants to quit his life of crime to become an electrician and provide for his girlfriend and son; dots, a crazy, irresponsible thug with ambitions to become a big time dealer and scratchcard, a drug user with no ambitions but to stay on social welfare and watch the world go by.
Ticket Includes All Complimentary Drinks Gathering 6:00 - 10:00pm
Be Thou My Vision
Oh Lord of My Heart
One of my favorite songs. The Vision thing- without it a people perish. It is something Dolan (above-doesn't he look just really happy to be whatever he is doing? Can't you see him in a Santa suit?), the new Bishop's Conference head has- in particular, for the Middle East Christians and the faith reconciliation work done by the organization he assists. http://communio.stblogs.org/2010/04/dolan-reflects-on-his-visit-to.html.
The Catholic Near East Welfare Assn.
is concerned with what is going on to stop violence in the Middle East, particularly as it affects some of the oldest Christian faith communities in the Middle East.
They should team up jointly with the RUMI FORUM, http://www.rumiforum.org/ to involve themselves earnestly in interfaith Christian-Muslim dialogue. A lovely Turkish gentleman living in Washington, DC named Emre can help.
EMRE [at] RUMIFORUM.org
He will invite you over for lunch if you are nice enough.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/deaconsbench/2010/11/christianity-survived-in-the-middle-east-because-of-married-priests.html
The Real Moral Majority
Is comprised of women and those who truly love them truly.
Sadly a third of you don't apparently. According to the statistic on Vatican Radio (see right link) one in three (1 in 3) women is assaulted or raped in their lifetime. Where? On average everywhere, in the Congo?? It is said to be more dangerous to be a woman in the Congo than a soldier for all the rape statistics. http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=441960
We are in the middle of a human rights campaign (women's rights ARE human rights) to stop violence against women that last a novena like time of 16 days.
If you need more proof of the prayer to elevate the sisterhood read here about this Notre Dame tragedy that the wingnuts completely missed:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/25/notre-dames-shameful-punt-in-the-probe-of-lizzy-seebergs-sad-d/
(thanks for explaining that when forced to cheer for the bastards that did her over she was found dead OD'ed on anti-depressants-do you hear that.)
Clearly the US should be a signer to the CEDAW, UN Convention to Eradicate Discrimination Against Women.
Without heathy safe women what happens to babies? You can't just be for babies without being for women. Non-sequitor. Jesus didn't come without Mary.
http://www.cedaw2010.org/
Sadly a third of you don't apparently. According to the statistic on Vatican Radio (see right link) one in three (1 in 3) women is assaulted or raped in their lifetime. Where? On average everywhere, in the Congo?? It is said to be more dangerous to be a woman in the Congo than a soldier for all the rape statistics. http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/EN2/Articolo.asp?c=441960
We are in the middle of a human rights campaign (women's rights ARE human rights) to stop violence against women that last a novena like time of 16 days.
If you need more proof of the prayer to elevate the sisterhood read here about this Notre Dame tragedy that the wingnuts completely missed:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/25/notre-dames-shameful-punt-in-the-probe-of-lizzy-seebergs-sad-d/
(thanks for explaining that when forced to cheer for the bastards that did her over she was found dead OD'ed on anti-depressants-do you hear that.)
Clearly the US should be a signer to the CEDAW, UN Convention to Eradicate Discrimination Against Women.
Without heathy safe women what happens to babies? You can't just be for babies without being for women. Non-sequitor. Jesus didn't come without Mary.
http://www.cedaw2010.org/
I look
Only For The Good Things
Even after they killed her husband. Still full of Joie de Vivre, a Holocaust Survivor turns 107.
The world is still full of kindness if that is what you choose to look upon.
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/life-is-beautiful-for-holocaust-survivor-alice-herz-sommer-who-turns-107/19732458?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C186415
Even after they killed her husband. Still full of Joie de Vivre, a Holocaust Survivor turns 107.
The world is still full of kindness if that is what you choose to look upon.
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/life-is-beautiful-for-holocaust-survivor-alice-herz-sommer-who-turns-107/19732458?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C186415
Schismatic
or Aromatic?
That is the question. Breathing room against the suffocation of wrong dead doctrine or strife-stirrer, that is the question.
People who view themselves as conservatives tend to have a strong view against
people challenging the orthodox status quo. They think that their way is correct and it is must be the best right way because it always has been that way. Change scares them. Boat rockers are not viewed kindly. People who view themselves as progressives tend to think that we have not hit heaven on earth yet, corruption and evil still pervades in dark places -even high places-and the powers and principalities of the air are still waging an ugly war on earth and have even infected doctrine in parts.
They like game changers and change agents. They don't view them as schismatics but as saints sometimes.
The admonition against those who wage controversy for the sake of ego-stroking controversy does not apply when someone is trying to right an obvious wrong. I may now openly cite as example those who fought the doctrine against any form of contraception to guard against transmission of HIV/AIDS. Counted amongst them are a few prominent outspoken Bishops who won the day in the end (Bishop of Montreal). Anyone with a contrary opinion to an established doctrine is not a 'schismatic' much less a 'heretic.' Some are Bishops.
The Film Amazing Grace tells the story of Wilberforce, a British MP who valiantly for years fought a political battle in Britain, in spite of personal defeats, humiliations and insults and against very powerful monied interests to abolish the slave trade in the British Isles. He saw an evil and gave everything he had to stop it. Heroic. This is a person who was viewed by the orthodoxy as a schismatic because he challenged long established doctrine (that even had a footing in some scriptural references; slaves be submissive to your masters....) that had well heeled monied advocates who depended on this form of social oppression economically.
Oppression never happens unless someone profits economically from it. Those people resist tooth and nail any alteration of their scheming.
There are other Forces of a Wilber nature out there. They are not Schismatics. They may be Saints in disguise. They are persecuted at eternal peril to their persecutors.
That is the question. Breathing room against the suffocation of wrong dead doctrine or strife-stirrer, that is the question.
People who view themselves as conservatives tend to have a strong view against
people challenging the orthodox status quo. They think that their way is correct and it is must be the best right way because it always has been that way. Change scares them. Boat rockers are not viewed kindly. People who view themselves as progressives tend to think that we have not hit heaven on earth yet, corruption and evil still pervades in dark places -even high places-and the powers and principalities of the air are still waging an ugly war on earth and have even infected doctrine in parts.
They like game changers and change agents. They don't view them as schismatics but as saints sometimes.
The admonition against those who wage controversy for the sake of ego-stroking controversy does not apply when someone is trying to right an obvious wrong. I may now openly cite as example those who fought the doctrine against any form of contraception to guard against transmission of HIV/AIDS. Counted amongst them are a few prominent outspoken Bishops who won the day in the end (Bishop of Montreal). Anyone with a contrary opinion to an established doctrine is not a 'schismatic' much less a 'heretic.' Some are Bishops.
The Film Amazing Grace tells the story of Wilberforce, a British MP who valiantly for years fought a political battle in Britain, in spite of personal defeats, humiliations and insults and against very powerful monied interests to abolish the slave trade in the British Isles. He saw an evil and gave everything he had to stop it. Heroic. This is a person who was viewed by the orthodoxy as a schismatic because he challenged long established doctrine (that even had a footing in some scriptural references; slaves be submissive to your masters....) that had well heeled monied advocates who depended on this form of social oppression economically.
Oppression never happens unless someone profits economically from it. Those people resist tooth and nail any alteration of their scheming.
There are other Forces of a Wilber nature out there. They are not Schismatics. They may be Saints in disguise. They are persecuted at eternal peril to their persecutors.
An Entire Race-Families
Evolved as Priests.
Did you see the movie Avatar? I highly recommend it. There is cast a new race of beings-very clever.
Did you know that God's idea of the Priesthood is that his family would evolve into a new race of Priests. A Priesthood Race of People.
Recently I received this:
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Difficulty Reading? Click Here http://hethathasanear.com then on the article to change to larger type.
"…let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Garden of God." Revelation 2:7
A Nation of Priests The Kingdom Series - Part Three
by haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." Exodus 19:5-6
"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation - indeed you have tasted that YHVH is good. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of YHVH chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to YHVH through Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah).
For it stands in Scripture: 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.' (Isaiah 28:16, click on highlighted verse to see scripture) "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.' (Isaiah 8:14) They stumble because they disobey the WORD (YHVH), as they were set in place to do.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light. Once you were not a people, but now you are YHVH’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1Peter 2:1-10 From the Beginning, the Plan and Purpose of YaHoVeH has been to have a Kingdom of Priests, wholly set apart and dedicated to serving Him alone. These Priests were to be a Holy Nation, a Holy Family bearing the image of His Name manifested in the attributes of that Name to the other nations of the world. This was to be a Family of Priests where each member, in his own right through the keeping of YHVH's Covenant, enjoyed this relationship of echad (the Hebrew word for One) with the Father of Life that, in and through them, might be shown forth the Light of His Life into the darkness that enslaved the rest of the world - a Light to the Nations. This Book (which we call the Bible) is the story, the chronology of YHVH's involvement with a peculiar people, a chosen race, born through the lineage created in the first Son, Adam, and culminating in the second Son, Yahshua, to accomplish that singular Purpose. The Kingdom of Elohiem (God), as depicted in the first installment of this series, is the restoration of the opportunity to enter into the relationship initially experienced in Gan Edan (Hebrew for the Garden of Eden) between the first son of YHVH, Adam, and the Source of Life. This relationship was to be the inheritance enjoyed by subsequent Sons birthed out of this union of echad - being One with the Father. The relationship manifested in the Garden was accomplished through a covenant agreement which resulted in being One with the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the Kingdom of Elohiem should be considered to be any containment comprised of the Family of YHVH - the House of Israel (house, from the Greek word oikos meaning any fixed residence or abode, i.e., any building, palace or tabernacle holding the inhabitants of a family, a fold). Peter's remarks above were merely a restating of the initial Plan and Purpose of YHVH to those embracing the manifestation of His Attributes in their lives now restored through the Resurrected Life of His Second Son, Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah - notice that salvation in this passage is something we "grow up into" by coming into the Presence of YHVH, not something to be acquired or taken). There are three criteria for interpreting scripture and they all have to do with context - the actual contextual meaning contained in the individual words used, the context of the passage those words are encased in, and, finally, the context of the audience those words are spoken to. Most Christians read the passage from 1Peter above and believe it was written yesterday and is directed only to them when, in fact, the opening salutation of Peter's letter makes it clear who he is writing to: "To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…" - the same people James addresses in the opening lines of his letter: "To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion…" They are both writing to the twelve Hebrew tribes of Israel who have embraced Yahshua as their Messiah and who have been scattered across the globe due to the horrific persecution of all Jews by the Roman Empire. There were no "Christians" around when these letters were penned. From the Resurrection through the next two hundred years or so, these believers in Yahshua as the Hebrew Messiah were considered a sect of Judaism known as haDerek Notzarim (Hebrew for the Way of the Nazarene referred to by the apostle Paul in Acts 24:14).
We must constantly be reminded that every letter in the Book was written by Hebrews from a Hebrew mindset out of a Hebrew culture to a Hebrew audience. Therefore, in scripture there are only two classifications of people - the Hebrew family of YHVH, know as the House of Israel and "other". These "others" are known as goyim (Hebrew for Gentiles) - the other nations. The term "Gentile believer" is an oxymoron (a concept that is made up of contradictory words) because to be a "Gentile" (from a Hebrew context) is to be a worshipper of pagan gods. A person is either a believer in the One True God of Israel OR they are a Gentile, an "other" - there is no middle ground. So, the context of Peter's letter was addressed to the "chosen race" of Hebrews - Jews who embraced Yahshua as the long-awaited Messiah of YaHoVeH. They were the "treasured possession" of the God of Creation to be a Kingdom of Priests. At the same time, any foreigner could be adopted into YHVH's family by embracing the standards of the family - obeying His Voice and keeping His Covenant. In that adoption, however, he was no longer considered a foreigner but a member of the family of Israel (as illustrated by the life of Caleb who was not born a Hebrew). Thus, the Holy Temple that held the Presence of YHVH and located in Jerusalem is described in Isaiah 56:7 as a "house of prayer for all nations", substantiating YHVH's Plan and Purpose. The definition of prayer has been described as "communication between two people who love each other" – an intimate relationship. Another way the Hebrew word for prayer, tephillah, is used is for the Psalms of David as a hymn or sacred song coming from the depth of the relationship David enjoyed with YHVH. The protocol for coming into the Presence of the Almighty in the Holy Temple is established in Psalm 100, requiring first that coming through the entry gates be accompanied with the sacrifice of thanksgiving on our lips - the acknowledgment of His Good in and for our lives. Then, we enter into His courts with the sacrifice of praise in our spirit - the affirmation of the fullness of His Provision actively at work in our lives. Only then do we find ourselves in His Presence as the singing of His Praises reverberates from the depth of our being into His welcoming ears. The outer courtyards of the Temple were open and welcoming to any and all throughout the nations who came to worship the One True God of Israel. However, with them came the culture, the customs and the traditions of those nations that often conflicted with the Holy Name - the Name set apart because of the distinguished character of His Nature. For many, this simple acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the Almighty while still clinging to the things of the world is as close as they ever came to the Present Presence. In order to come closer into the inner courtyard required becoming part of His Family - the image bearers of His Name. The inner courtyards of the Holy Temple were open only to the Family of Israel. Whether born naturally into that family or adopted, they were the ones who kept the covenant, the Commandments. Within the inner courtyards sat the Sanctuary (Hebrew, the Kodesh – meaning "holy"), open only to the Kohanim (Priests), those born from the lineage of the family of Levites. Within the Kodesh, was contained the Holy of Holies, into which only the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) entered once a year. While the Holy of Holies is the place of intimacy with YaHoVeH that has been restored for all to be able to access, the protocol by which His Presence is accessed has not changed. Christians have been taught that everything west of the book of Matthew has been done away with and replaced by a new order, but in Hebrews 7:12 the Greek word metatithemi used for "change" is the same word used a little further on for "translated". This passage is not saying that YHVH "replaced" Enoch; rather, it is stating that he was "changed" into a better Enoch - but still possessing the same character and attributes that made him pleasing to the Father to begin with. So it is with the Priesthood and with the Temple. In keeping with the transformative Nature of the Holy One of Israel, the Temple and the Priesthood have not been "replaced", but elevated into something better while still possessing the attributes exemplified with the former that made it acceptable to the Father. As we have seen, however, simply being a believer in the One True God does not automatically translate into priesthood and, thus, entrance into the Kodesh. Until Yahshua, entrance into the Priesthood was attained only by right of birth. The Priesthood spoken of in 1Peter above, however, is not that of the Levitical priesthood, as many assume; but is the priesthood embodied by Yahshua after the order, the manner of Malkiy-Tsedeq (Hebrew for Melchizedek) which means "King of Righteousness". We are not told much about Melchizedek except that he has no genealogy and that his introduction into scripture is as a servant, offering bread and wine. Likewise, the prayers of sacrifice offered by the priests within the Kodesh were not for themselves. Their prayers were offerings of sacrifice as servants to the Most High on behalf of the rest of the Family of YHVH. With Yahshua's Sacrifice as the kinsman redeemer to restore the Kingdom of Elohiem where each member of the Family is called to be a Priest in his own right, YaHoVeH translated the Priesthood out of the order of the Levites into the order of Melchizedek. He did not replace it - He made it better. YHVH's Resurrection of Yahshua caused Him to become the High Priest who now permanently resides in the Holy of Holies, seated at the right hand of the Father - not born of the lineage of Levi, but from the family of Judah (meaning Praise). Yahshua restored the relationship enjoyed in Gan Edan, opening the Way for all who are birthed of this same Spirit of Melchizedek. To those who embrace, who follow after the order of, i.e., those who practice the righteousness exemplified in Yahshua's Life of a servant of the One True God - these are the ones that are called into the Priesthood of Ruach haKodesh (Hebrew for the Holy Spirit) after the order, the fashion of that same Priesthood. The Priesthood embodied by Yahshua has then become the example, the chief cornerstone around which the rest of the abode of the family is to be constructed. With the translation of the Priesthood came the necessity for the translation of the Sanctuary within the Temple, the Kodesh. As with the Priesthood, however, it was not done away with - it was made better. By the baptism of (immersion into Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit) the Temple has now been translated from a containment of stone into a containment of human vessels. Our bodies have become the Holy Temple and the inner chamber of our spirit is now the residence, the abode of the Holy One of Israel. What we, as Priests, are called to place a guard over, as it was in the beginning with Adam in Gan Edan, is the sanctity of His Name. It is in the Temple where the Father says to worship Him and it is from the inner chambers of the Sanctuary, the Kodesh, that worship is then personified by our behavior. The place of abode has been changed, translated and restored into something better but the manner of guardianship has remained the same.
"He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of YHVH so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean." 2Chronicles 23:19 The function of a Priest was to guard the Kodesh ("the Holy"), the habitation of YaHoVeH, from becoming contaminated by anything that was impure - to keep the vibrancy of His Name pure among the Family. This purpose can be seen from the beginning with the creation of Adam - to be, as described in Ezekiel 28:12-15, an anointed keruvb (Hebrew for cherub), the guardian of YHVH's purposes for righteousness. We tend to think of cherubs as angels with wings, but Ezekiel tells us that Adam was anointed as a cherub to guard (cover) the Garden, the embodiment of YHVH’s Name. He was to be the first of a family of keruvbim (anointed cherubs). But Adam chose to listen to the voice of another god than to the Voice of the Father, thus causing a separation from the intimacy of that relationship and necessitating the placement of a flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life. That sword is the Word of YHVH contained in the Ten Commandments - a stumbling block to all who would not obey them. This has become the same stumbling block around which the now translated abode of YHVH is constructed.
"So the Torah (instruction in righteousness) is holy, and the Commandment is holy and righteous and good." the apostle Paul in Romans 7:12 The doorways, the gates to the inner courts of this translated Temple are the eyes, the ears and the thoughts of the mind. These gates are what connect the happenings and conduct of the outer courts of our bodies to the inner areas of our spirit. As Priests, as Gatekeepers, we have been given the Keys to the Kingdom by which we guard the entryways into the Holy of Holies. These doors are the key places in the Kingdom the Priests are called to guard. In the same way what food we consume through our mouths becomes a part of our body, the stuff we watch, listen to and think about affects the state of our spirit. This is why we are instructed, as Gatekeepers, as Priests, to keep them well - uncompromising and uncorrupted whatever the cost. How we choose to resist determines our worship - and our station within the courts of the Kingdom. Just how, then, do we resist? How do we guard the sanctity of His Name? The Hebrew word for "hear" is shama`. In Isaiah 1:19, however, this Hebrew word is also translated as "obedient". In Hebrew to hear IS to obey, to obey IS to hear. James 4:7. also speaks of this duality of action. In the same way hearing and obeying are the same action, it is IN the submission to the Commandments of YHVH that resistance to the devil occurs. Most become intimidated by the devil because we do not fully comprehend the Power YHVH has made available to us. The enemy does not attack the strongest, most fortified position in the fence, but the weakest - beginning in the same manner as he did with Eve, "…did God say?" Did God say to "obey My Voice and keep My Commandments?" in order to come into His Kingdom of Priesthood? Rather than fearing the attack, we should thank the Father for using the enemy to expose our weaknesses that we may work on strengthening them. Notice this verse from James does not say to submit to Yahshua, but to YHVH. We submit to the Father by obeying His Voice and keeping His Commandments - the same way Yahshua, as our example, did. This is how we keep the testimony of Yahshua The Authority we have been given is contained in the definition of the Greek word, ecksousia - the "power of choice". The power we have been afforded is to choose in any given moment what thoughts we allow to be pre-eminent in our mind. (Revelation 19:10, John 10:27-30, John 14:21-24, John 15:10).
"For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God's power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments, reasonings and every arrogant thought that raises itself up against the true knowledge of God; we take every thought and purpose captive to bring it into the obedience of the Way of the Messiah. And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience." 2Corinthians 10:3-6 This passage explains that the the battlefield we wage war upon is not in the world but in the mind - our thoughts. Thus, we find the necessity to put on the helmet of salvation and to take up the shield of faith to quench the fiery thoughts thrown at us on the battlefield of our mind. To have a thought is not a sin. Where sin enters in is when we choose to be enticed and are drawn away of our own natural desires. We resist by exercising the power to choose to take our thoughts captive and bring them into the obedience of the example of the Master, "keeping the testimony of Yahshua" - by obeying the Voice of the Father and keeping the Commandments. What thoughts do we take captive? Any thought that would exalt itself over the true knowledge of YHVH. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us explicitly what thoughts to guard against that results in behavior by which no one will enter the Kingdom. The demons of darkness that surround us have not, will not, nor will they ever overcome Light (John 1:5). Those demons only have as much power over us as we allow them to have by our choices of behavior. As we begin to embrace the Light of the Spirit of YaHoVeH and resist the influences of darkness, that darkness has no choice but to dissipate - not flee. The same way there is no struggle for light to become pre-eminent when a switch is thrown in a darkened room at night, the darkness in our soul dissipates when His Light is loosed within us. But, one must believe that the Father loves us and is faithful in this regard - regardless of what we see, of what we hear, of what we feel, or of what we think; to just believe YHVH is Good and wants to see us delivered more than we do. The Hebrew duality of action shows up again in the definition of "salvation" (to deliver) and "deliverance" (to save). To be delivered from darkness IS our salvation. As we submit to the Father by obeying His Voice and keeping His Commandments, we become His Temple of Light, we become the fence - first in our own lives and, subsequently for the sheep who have not yet learned how to erect their own fence. Are you afraid of darkness? The Father wants those who possess the Kingdom, who are the vessels bearing the Essence of His Name to BE the fence, the guardians of separation between Light and darkness - standing immovable and uncompromising in the face of darkness. When we choose to take part in any form of sexual fornication, sensuality of pornography, idols of covetousness or divisions over doctrines; we allow the carnality of our old nature to taint the Holy dwelling place within our spirit by compromising with the fleeting pleasures of the flesh. What Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) speaks of in this passage of Galatians 5 is merely an amplification of what is contained in the Ten Commandments. We deceive ourselves when we lay down our guard to allow these things to plunder the Sanctuary of His Temple and think we are immune to the consequences. It is by Yeshua's example of hearing/obeying the Commandments of the Father that keeps us in His Hand - His Fold. Anyone who would try to convince you otherwise is a plunderer. Over a period of time (and that space is determined by our resolve to live in the Light of His Presence), even our thoughts He is not going to do it for us, however - it does not just happen. Nowhere is scripture is it recorded that Yahshua healed or delivered any of the disciples. Rather, He empowered His disciples to heal and deliver others as He showed them how to cultivate Virtue in their lives as He did in His own Life. We have to own this revelation that we are a child of the King and possess the Kingdom. We have to want this Life He offers more than life itself. As we become Light, we will see that Life manifested, first in us and, subsequently, toward others, The Plan and Purpose of YHVH to have a Nation, a Family of Priests bearing His Image has never changed - it has never left the heart of the Father. Consequently, the necessity of the second son to be born was created by the disobedience of the first son in order to restore the Plan and fulfill the Purpose originally envisioned for the Family of YHVH. To believe in the One True God of Israel means to recognize the sovereignty of YHVH over all other gods by embracing the standards established within His Family AND to believe Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah) was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (lost because their birthright had been sold away through the disobedience of the first Son) as the only kinsman redeemer who was equipped with the ability to pay the ransom legally required to redeem, to buy back that lost inheritance (called a birthright). To believe He was sent to restore the access to Gan Edan - the Garden of Light, and to resume the Plan and Purpose initiated by the Father in the beginning - to extend the offering of His Light to the rest of the nations through and by way of, His Family with Yahshua being the first-born among many brethren. To Yahshua's Hebrew audience, this was the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Elohiem. There is to be one sheepfold and one shepherd. Once we have come into obedience, then we are ready to join with others to bring that power of choice to bear as gatekeepers of the Kingdom. The gatekeeper is at once an individual and Israel, both representing the whole community which carries to its supreme point the purpose of the nation. By calling each person to enter individually into that purpose, it becomes the purpose of the nation and not merely the individual.
The Kingdom SeriesPart One: the Gospel Part Two: Gatekeepers Part Three: A Nation of Priests
"…until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom." Daniel 7:22
On A Personal Note Thank you for your interest in revisiting the recent interview I was invited to participate in and broadcast by satellite on God's Learning Channel. You may see the entire interview by clicking on the picture to the upper left
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love you." (Psalm 122:6)(prosper - from the Hebrew, "shalav", meaning "to be at rest") Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for other articles and videosor for information if you feel led to contribute to this ministry. Click here to watch the short movie Maranatha!.
Shalom Alechem B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach. (Peace be unto you in the Name of Jesus the Messiah) haRold Smith Jerusalem • Israel http://hethathasanear.com harold@hethathasanear.com
Forward this to a friend
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postscript:
Part of this is incorrect: of course it is recorded in scripture that Jesus healed -himself, not just empowering disciples to do it-many times. Mary Magdalene was a disciple and close follower and he cast seven demons out of her. So I have to say if a 'prophet' got that major thing wrong he has to be a false prophet-but some of the insights are worth considering, especially scriptural references. Jesus-cured a blind beggar, healed a man at the waters of bethesda, cast out demons from a demoniac (numerous times) raised Lazarus from death, cast demons from Mary Magdalene, etc....many many references to Jesus curing people. And of course he raised himself from the dead. Jesus did not need to 'cultivate' virtue in his own life in himself (as though he were a bad teenager at some point), he was virtue personified incarnate.
I know this is a long chewy passage but you have a four day holiday. Think about it.
Did you see the movie Avatar? I highly recommend it. There is cast a new race of beings-very clever.
Did you know that God's idea of the Priesthood is that his family would evolve into a new race of Priests. A Priesthood Race of People.
Recently I received this:
---------
Difficulty Reading? Click Here http://hethathasanear.com then on the article to change to larger type.
"…let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Garden of God." Revelation 2:7
A Nation of Priests The Kingdom Series - Part Three
by haRold Smith
from Jerusalem, Israel
"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." Exodus 19:5-6
"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation - indeed you have tasted that YHVH is good. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of YHVH chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to YHVH through Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah).
For it stands in Scripture: 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.' (Isaiah 28:16, click on highlighted verse to see scripture) "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.' (Isaiah 8:14) They stumble because they disobey the WORD (YHVH), as they were set in place to do.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light. Once you were not a people, but now you are YHVH’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1Peter 2:1-10 From the Beginning, the Plan and Purpose of YaHoVeH has been to have a Kingdom of Priests, wholly set apart and dedicated to serving Him alone. These Priests were to be a Holy Nation, a Holy Family bearing the image of His Name manifested in the attributes of that Name to the other nations of the world. This was to be a Family of Priests where each member, in his own right through the keeping of YHVH's Covenant, enjoyed this relationship of echad (the Hebrew word for One) with the Father of Life that, in and through them, might be shown forth the Light of His Life into the darkness that enslaved the rest of the world - a Light to the Nations. This Book (which we call the Bible) is the story, the chronology of YHVH's involvement with a peculiar people, a chosen race, born through the lineage created in the first Son, Adam, and culminating in the second Son, Yahshua, to accomplish that singular Purpose. The Kingdom of Elohiem (God), as depicted in the first installment of this series, is the restoration of the opportunity to enter into the relationship initially experienced in Gan Edan (Hebrew for the Garden of Eden) between the first son of YHVH, Adam, and the Source of Life. This relationship was to be the inheritance enjoyed by subsequent Sons birthed out of this union of echad - being One with the Father. The relationship manifested in the Garden was accomplished through a covenant agreement which resulted in being One with the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the Kingdom of Elohiem should be considered to be any containment comprised of the Family of YHVH - the House of Israel (house, from the Greek word oikos meaning any fixed residence or abode, i.e., any building, palace or tabernacle holding the inhabitants of a family, a fold). Peter's remarks above were merely a restating of the initial Plan and Purpose of YHVH to those embracing the manifestation of His Attributes in their lives now restored through the Resurrected Life of His Second Son, Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah - notice that salvation in this passage is something we "grow up into" by coming into the Presence of YHVH, not something to be acquired or taken). There are three criteria for interpreting scripture and they all have to do with context - the actual contextual meaning contained in the individual words used, the context of the passage those words are encased in, and, finally, the context of the audience those words are spoken to. Most Christians read the passage from 1Peter above and believe it was written yesterday and is directed only to them when, in fact, the opening salutation of Peter's letter makes it clear who he is writing to: "To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…" - the same people James addresses in the opening lines of his letter: "To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion…" They are both writing to the twelve Hebrew tribes of Israel who have embraced Yahshua as their Messiah and who have been scattered across the globe due to the horrific persecution of all Jews by the Roman Empire. There were no "Christians" around when these letters were penned. From the Resurrection through the next two hundred years or so, these believers in Yahshua as the Hebrew Messiah were considered a sect of Judaism known as haDerek Notzarim (Hebrew for the Way of the Nazarene referred to by the apostle Paul in Acts 24:14).
We must constantly be reminded that every letter in the Book was written by Hebrews from a Hebrew mindset out of a Hebrew culture to a Hebrew audience. Therefore, in scripture there are only two classifications of people - the Hebrew family of YHVH, know as the House of Israel and "other". These "others" are known as goyim (Hebrew for Gentiles) - the other nations. The term "Gentile believer" is an oxymoron (a concept that is made up of contradictory words) because to be a "Gentile" (from a Hebrew context) is to be a worshipper of pagan gods. A person is either a believer in the One True God of Israel OR they are a Gentile, an "other" - there is no middle ground. So, the context of Peter's letter was addressed to the "chosen race" of Hebrews - Jews who embraced Yahshua as the long-awaited Messiah of YaHoVeH. They were the "treasured possession" of the God of Creation to be a Kingdom of Priests. At the same time, any foreigner could be adopted into YHVH's family by embracing the standards of the family - obeying His Voice and keeping His Covenant. In that adoption, however, he was no longer considered a foreigner but a member of the family of Israel (as illustrated by the life of Caleb who was not born a Hebrew). Thus, the Holy Temple that held the Presence of YHVH and located in Jerusalem is described in Isaiah 56:7 as a "house of prayer for all nations", substantiating YHVH's Plan and Purpose. The definition of prayer has been described as "communication between two people who love each other" – an intimate relationship. Another way the Hebrew word for prayer, tephillah, is used is for the Psalms of David as a hymn or sacred song coming from the depth of the relationship David enjoyed with YHVH. The protocol for coming into the Presence of the Almighty in the Holy Temple is established in Psalm 100, requiring first that coming through the entry gates be accompanied with the sacrifice of thanksgiving on our lips - the acknowledgment of His Good in and for our lives. Then, we enter into His courts with the sacrifice of praise in our spirit - the affirmation of the fullness of His Provision actively at work in our lives. Only then do we find ourselves in His Presence as the singing of His Praises reverberates from the depth of our being into His welcoming ears. The outer courtyards of the Temple were open and welcoming to any and all throughout the nations who came to worship the One True God of Israel. However, with them came the culture, the customs and the traditions of those nations that often conflicted with the Holy Name - the Name set apart because of the distinguished character of His Nature. For many, this simple acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the Almighty while still clinging to the things of the world is as close as they ever came to the Present Presence. In order to come closer into the inner courtyard required becoming part of His Family - the image bearers of His Name. The inner courtyards of the Holy Temple were open only to the Family of Israel. Whether born naturally into that family or adopted, they were the ones who kept the covenant, the Commandments. Within the inner courtyards sat the Sanctuary (Hebrew, the Kodesh – meaning "holy"), open only to the Kohanim (Priests), those born from the lineage of the family of Levites. Within the Kodesh, was contained the Holy of Holies, into which only the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) entered once a year. While the Holy of Holies is the place of intimacy with YaHoVeH that has been restored for all to be able to access, the protocol by which His Presence is accessed has not changed. Christians have been taught that everything west of the book of Matthew has been done away with and replaced by a new order, but in Hebrews 7:12 the Greek word metatithemi used for "change" is the same word used a little further on for "translated". This passage is not saying that YHVH "replaced" Enoch; rather, it is stating that he was "changed" into a better Enoch - but still possessing the same character and attributes that made him pleasing to the Father to begin with. So it is with the Priesthood and with the Temple. In keeping with the transformative Nature of the Holy One of Israel, the Temple and the Priesthood have not been "replaced", but elevated into something better while still possessing the attributes exemplified with the former that made it acceptable to the Father. As we have seen, however, simply being a believer in the One True God does not automatically translate into priesthood and, thus, entrance into the Kodesh. Until Yahshua, entrance into the Priesthood was attained only by right of birth. The Priesthood spoken of in 1Peter above, however, is not that of the Levitical priesthood, as many assume; but is the priesthood embodied by Yahshua after the order, the manner of Malkiy-Tsedeq (Hebrew for Melchizedek) which means "King of Righteousness". We are not told much about Melchizedek except that he has no genealogy and that his introduction into scripture is as a servant, offering bread and wine. Likewise, the prayers of sacrifice offered by the priests within the Kodesh were not for themselves. Their prayers were offerings of sacrifice as servants to the Most High on behalf of the rest of the Family of YHVH. With Yahshua's Sacrifice as the kinsman redeemer to restore the Kingdom of Elohiem where each member of the Family is called to be a Priest in his own right, YaHoVeH translated the Priesthood out of the order of the Levites into the order of Melchizedek. He did not replace it - He made it better. YHVH's Resurrection of Yahshua caused Him to become the High Priest who now permanently resides in the Holy of Holies, seated at the right hand of the Father - not born of the lineage of Levi, but from the family of Judah (meaning Praise). Yahshua restored the relationship enjoyed in Gan Edan, opening the Way for all who are birthed of this same Spirit of Melchizedek. To those who embrace, who follow after the order of, i.e., those who practice the righteousness exemplified in Yahshua's Life of a servant of the One True God - these are the ones that are called into the Priesthood of Ruach haKodesh (Hebrew for the Holy Spirit) after the order, the fashion of that same Priesthood. The Priesthood embodied by Yahshua has then become the example, the chief cornerstone around which the rest of the abode of the family is to be constructed. With the translation of the Priesthood came the necessity for the translation of the Sanctuary within the Temple, the Kodesh. As with the Priesthood, however, it was not done away with - it was made better. By the baptism of (immersion into Ruach haKodesh (the Holy Spirit) the Temple has now been translated from a containment of stone into a containment of human vessels. Our bodies have become the Holy Temple and the inner chamber of our spirit is now the residence, the abode of the Holy One of Israel. What we, as Priests, are called to place a guard over, as it was in the beginning with Adam in Gan Edan, is the sanctity of His Name. It is in the Temple where the Father says to worship Him and it is from the inner chambers of the Sanctuary, the Kodesh, that worship is then personified by our behavior. The place of abode has been changed, translated and restored into something better but the manner of guardianship has remained the same.
"He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of YHVH so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean." 2Chronicles 23:19 The function of a Priest was to guard the Kodesh ("the Holy"), the habitation of YaHoVeH, from becoming contaminated by anything that was impure - to keep the vibrancy of His Name pure among the Family. This purpose can be seen from the beginning with the creation of Adam - to be, as described in Ezekiel 28:12-15, an anointed keruvb (Hebrew for cherub), the guardian of YHVH's purposes for righteousness. We tend to think of cherubs as angels with wings, but Ezekiel tells us that Adam was anointed as a cherub to guard (cover) the Garden, the embodiment of YHVH’s Name. He was to be the first of a family of keruvbim (anointed cherubs). But Adam chose to listen to the voice of another god than to the Voice of the Father, thus causing a separation from the intimacy of that relationship and necessitating the placement of a flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life. That sword is the Word of YHVH contained in the Ten Commandments - a stumbling block to all who would not obey them. This has become the same stumbling block around which the now translated abode of YHVH is constructed.
"So the Torah (instruction in righteousness) is holy, and the Commandment is holy and righteous and good." the apostle Paul in Romans 7:12 The doorways, the gates to the inner courts of this translated Temple are the eyes, the ears and the thoughts of the mind. These gates are what connect the happenings and conduct of the outer courts of our bodies to the inner areas of our spirit. As Priests, as Gatekeepers, we have been given the Keys to the Kingdom by which we guard the entryways into the Holy of Holies. These doors are the key places in the Kingdom the Priests are called to guard. In the same way what food we consume through our mouths becomes a part of our body, the stuff we watch, listen to and think about affects the state of our spirit. This is why we are instructed, as Gatekeepers, as Priests, to keep them well - uncompromising and uncorrupted whatever the cost. How we choose to resist determines our worship - and our station within the courts of the Kingdom. Just how, then, do we resist? How do we guard the sanctity of His Name? The Hebrew word for "hear" is shama`. In Isaiah 1:19, however, this Hebrew word is also translated as "obedient". In Hebrew to hear IS to obey, to obey IS to hear. James 4:7. also speaks of this duality of action. In the same way hearing and obeying are the same action, it is IN the submission to the Commandments of YHVH that resistance to the devil occurs. Most become intimidated by the devil because we do not fully comprehend the Power YHVH has made available to us. The enemy does not attack the strongest, most fortified position in the fence, but the weakest - beginning in the same manner as he did with Eve, "…did God say?" Did God say to "obey My Voice and keep My Commandments?" in order to come into His Kingdom of Priesthood? Rather than fearing the attack, we should thank the Father for using the enemy to expose our weaknesses that we may work on strengthening them. Notice this verse from James does not say to submit to Yahshua, but to YHVH. We submit to the Father by obeying His Voice and keeping His Commandments - the same way Yahshua, as our example, did. This is how we keep the testimony of Yahshua The Authority we have been given is contained in the definition of the Greek word, ecksousia - the "power of choice". The power we have been afforded is to choose in any given moment what thoughts we allow to be pre-eminent in our mind. (Revelation 19:10, John 10:27-30, John 14:21-24, John 15:10).
"For although we do live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God's power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments, reasonings and every arrogant thought that raises itself up against the true knowledge of God; we take every thought and purpose captive to bring it into the obedience of the Way of the Messiah. And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience." 2Corinthians 10:3-6 This passage explains that the the battlefield we wage war upon is not in the world but in the mind - our thoughts. Thus, we find the necessity to put on the helmet of salvation and to take up the shield of faith to quench the fiery thoughts thrown at us on the battlefield of our mind. To have a thought is not a sin. Where sin enters in is when we choose to be enticed and are drawn away of our own natural desires. We resist by exercising the power to choose to take our thoughts captive and bring them into the obedience of the example of the Master, "keeping the testimony of Yahshua" - by obeying the Voice of the Father and keeping the Commandments. What thoughts do we take captive? Any thought that would exalt itself over the true knowledge of YHVH. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us explicitly what thoughts to guard against that results in behavior by which no one will enter the Kingdom. The demons of darkness that surround us have not, will not, nor will they ever overcome Light (John 1:5). Those demons only have as much power over us as we allow them to have by our choices of behavior. As we begin to embrace the Light of the Spirit of YaHoVeH and resist the influences of darkness, that darkness has no choice but to dissipate - not flee. The same way there is no struggle for light to become pre-eminent when a switch is thrown in a darkened room at night, the darkness in our soul dissipates when His Light is loosed within us. But, one must believe that the Father loves us and is faithful in this regard - regardless of what we see, of what we hear, of what we feel, or of what we think; to just believe YHVH is Good and wants to see us delivered more than we do. The Hebrew duality of action shows up again in the definition of "salvation" (to deliver) and "deliverance" (to save). To be delivered from darkness IS our salvation. As we submit to the Father by obeying His Voice and keeping His Commandments, we become His Temple of Light, we become the fence - first in our own lives and, subsequently for the sheep who have not yet learned how to erect their own fence. Are you afraid of darkness? The Father wants those who possess the Kingdom, who are the vessels bearing the Essence of His Name to BE the fence, the guardians of separation between Light and darkness - standing immovable and uncompromising in the face of darkness. When we choose to take part in any form of sexual fornication, sensuality of pornography, idols of covetousness or divisions over doctrines; we allow the carnality of our old nature to taint the Holy dwelling place within our spirit by compromising with the fleeting pleasures of the flesh. What Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) speaks of in this passage of Galatians 5 is merely an amplification of what is contained in the Ten Commandments. We deceive ourselves when we lay down our guard to allow these things to plunder the Sanctuary of His Temple and think we are immune to the consequences. It is by Yeshua's example of hearing/obeying the Commandments of the Father that keeps us in His Hand - His Fold. Anyone who would try to convince you otherwise is a plunderer. Over a period of time (and that space is determined by our resolve to live in the Light of His Presence), even our thoughts He is not going to do it for us, however - it does not just happen. Nowhere is scripture is it recorded that Yahshua healed or delivered any of the disciples. Rather, He empowered His disciples to heal and deliver others as He showed them how to cultivate Virtue in their lives as He did in His own Life. We have to own this revelation that we are a child of the King and possess the Kingdom. We have to want this Life He offers more than life itself. As we become Light, we will see that Life manifested, first in us and, subsequently, toward others, The Plan and Purpose of YHVH to have a Nation, a Family of Priests bearing His Image has never changed - it has never left the heart of the Father. Consequently, the necessity of the second son to be born was created by the disobedience of the first son in order to restore the Plan and fulfill the Purpose originally envisioned for the Family of YHVH. To believe in the One True God of Israel means to recognize the sovereignty of YHVH over all other gods by embracing the standards established within His Family AND to believe Yahshua haMaschiach (the Messiah) was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (lost because their birthright had been sold away through the disobedience of the first Son) as the only kinsman redeemer who was equipped with the ability to pay the ransom legally required to redeem, to buy back that lost inheritance (called a birthright). To believe He was sent to restore the access to Gan Edan - the Garden of Light, and to resume the Plan and Purpose initiated by the Father in the beginning - to extend the offering of His Light to the rest of the nations through and by way of, His Family with Yahshua being the first-born among many brethren. To Yahshua's Hebrew audience, this was the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Elohiem. There is to be one sheepfold and one shepherd. Once we have come into obedience, then we are ready to join with others to bring that power of choice to bear as gatekeepers of the Kingdom. The gatekeeper is at once an individual and Israel, both representing the whole community which carries to its supreme point the purpose of the nation. By calling each person to enter individually into that purpose, it becomes the purpose of the nation and not merely the individual.
The Kingdom SeriesPart One: the Gospel Part Two: Gatekeepers Part Three: A Nation of Priests
"…until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom." Daniel 7:22
On A Personal Note Thank you for your interest in revisiting the recent interview I was invited to participate in and broadcast by satellite on God's Learning Channel. You may see the entire interview by clicking on the picture to the upper left
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love you." (Psalm 122:6)(prosper - from the Hebrew, "shalav", meaning "to be at rest") Please visit the website http://hethathasanear.com for other articles and videosor for information if you feel led to contribute to this ministry. Click here to watch the short movie Maranatha!.
Shalom Alechem B'Shem Yeshua HaMashiach. (Peace be unto you in the Name of Jesus the Messiah) haRold Smith Jerusalem • Israel http://hethathasanear.com harold@hethathasanear.com
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postscript:
Part of this is incorrect: of course it is recorded in scripture that Jesus healed -himself, not just empowering disciples to do it-many times. Mary Magdalene was a disciple and close follower and he cast seven demons out of her. So I have to say if a 'prophet' got that major thing wrong he has to be a false prophet-but some of the insights are worth considering, especially scriptural references. Jesus-cured a blind beggar, healed a man at the waters of bethesda, cast out demons from a demoniac (numerous times) raised Lazarus from death, cast demons from Mary Magdalene, etc....many many references to Jesus curing people. And of course he raised himself from the dead. Jesus did not need to 'cultivate' virtue in his own life in himself (as though he were a bad teenager at some point), he was virtue personified incarnate.
I know this is a long chewy passage but you have a four day holiday. Think about it.
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