Bible lessons for lent
drummit - discussion of percussion
2008.06.01 20:49 drummit - discussion of percussion
Drums - The subreddit where drummers of all skill levels can discuss the world of percussion and share their grooves with the friendliest community on Earth.
2016.10.22 04:58 The Teachings of Neville Goddard
Devoted to the teachings of Neville Goddard.
2009.05.08 18:29 The Bible Says.... wait, what????
The Bible is full of contradictions, crazy stories, magic, and some things that are just plain horrifying. Post it here. Also post people cherry picking what parts they decide should be followed vs ignored.
2024.05.11 10:30 False_Doubt_8402 Advice for Monday from an English Literature senior examiner
Hi! I work for AQA as a senior examiner (Lit Paper 2, but I have marked Paper 1 and the way they are marked is essentially the same), and thought you might appreciate a few tips. Most of it is probably stuff you already know, but if this can help anyone for the exam, then it's worth typing up.
Assessment Objectives Thought it might be best to start with an overview of the AOs. AO1 refs (6 marks) - this is how well you have used references in your answer AO1 task (6 marks) - this is how well you have answered the question as a whole. If you don't refer to both the extract and the whole text, you can only get 2 marks for this AO. AO2 (12 marks) - this is how well you have analysed language methods, such as metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, characterisation, single words, symbolism etc, as well as structural methods, such as rhythm, rhyme, iambic pentameter, order of events, caesura etc. (note: you DO NOT have to do BOTH language AND structure) AO3 (6 marks) - this is your understanding of the writers' ideas and the context in which the text was written / set AO4 (4 marks) - this will only be given for the Shakespeare section and is your spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Start with a thesis statement A thesis is an argument that you pose, and you then spend the rest of the essay proving why you are right. Let's say you get a question about how Shakespeare presents Romeo as a character who is passionate. You can spend your whole essay showing and explaining the ways in which Romeo is passionate, but that wouldn't be a thesis; Romeo's passion is a given, so it's no challenge to give examples of it. What isn't a given is the purpose of Romeo's passion. So for this question, your thesis could be: Romeo's passion, and his inability to control and contain it, is what makes him responsible for most of the bad things that happen in the play. You'd want to extend on that a little in the first paragraph, but that would be a good start to a thesis statement. Another thesis statement that would work for this question is: Romeo's passion comes from the deep love that he is capable of, and this love is ultimately a healing force that works for the good of the community and teaches us a lesson about the power of love and the evils of hatred. Both of these statements are very different - one sets out to argue that Romeo's passion is a negative thing, whilst the other presents it as a positive. Either of these could be argued in a convincing way. Some good sentence starters for thesis statements are: - In this text, we go on a journey of understanding that... - We are prompted to consider the universal concepts of... (universal concepts could be life, death, love, relationships, family, order, chaos etc, and LOADS more) - We are made to think about the duality of... (love/hate, chaos/order, old/young, innocence/experience etc) - By the end of the text, we learn / understand / are left questioning...
Use the extract for AO2 AO2 - the analysis of writers' methods - is one of the most commonly missed assessment objectives in both Lit papers. It's also the one with the most weight - you get a potential 12 marks for this AO, so that's what you lose if you forget it. But on Paper 1, you have an advantage - there is an extract right there in front of you, and there will 100% be a method in there that you can use. This will save you the trouble of having to remember a specific metaphor, simile or personification to analyse in your answer. If you struggle to find methods, then there are a couple of workarounds to access AO2. The first is to pick a single word from the extract that you've been given, and analyse the heck out of it. For example, Macduff refers to Macbeth as a "hell-hound". This word (or words) is perfect for single word analysis because of the connotations of "hell"; it emphasises evil, it connects to Christian ideas about morality, and plays on the superstitions of the audience. When connected with the word "hound", we can interpret Macbeth's status (in Macduff's eyes) as a servant of the devil, a mindless creature, and we see him stripped of his humanity by being referred to as a savage animal. Because of the religious implications, you can also link all of this to the witches. Another way to ensure that you include AO2 is to write about characters as tools that the writer is using. For example, you could speak about how the creature in Frankenstein is used to explore ideas about the nature of humanity, specifically ideas about isolation and love. The key word here is "used". If you can speak about the characters as a tool that the writer is using to explore ideas, to illicit a reponse from the audience, to send a message, to make the audience think or consider new concepts, then you are in AO2 territory.
AO3 This is another commonly missed assessment objective. AO3 is all about context, but that doesn't just mean the stuff that was going on at the time the text was written. Sure, that is part of it, but another is the writer's ideas. This is something that you can put in your thesis statement. Consider what the writer is trying to teach the audience. Think how this might translate to an audience in 2024. For example, A Christmas Carol is a text about morality. Dickens wants us to consider how we can be better human beings and work towards a better future by showing kindness to others, by sharing our wealth, and by recognising that those who are less fortunate than us are not always to blame for their circumstances in life. He communicates these ideas through the theme of Christmas to remind people of their Christian faith, values and obligations: to love your fellow man, to look after your neighbour, to be generous of spirit. All of this is fantastic AO3 stuff.
Literally, Metaphorically, Symbolically Some of you may have used this before, but I find it a useful tool for getting my students to squeeze as much as they can out of a reference. When you use a reference (AO2 or not, doesn't matter), you can first explore the literal meaning, which means to take the words at their most basic meaning. Then, you look at the figurative meaning, what is implied. Lastly, you take the reference out of the context of the text and think of the symbolic meaning. This is an excellent way to include AO3. Here's an example: Romeo refers to Juliet as an "angel". Literally, this means that she is a creature from heaven, and a servant of God himself. Metaphorically, we can interpret this as meaning that Romeo regards her as something pure and holy, something that cannot be corrupted. According to the Bible and religious belief at the time, angels spoke truth and were creatures of great beauty, which tells us the high regard in which Romeo holds Juliet. She is perfect to him. It could also mean that he believes she has been sent to him from God, in much the same way that angels were sent to Earth to spread God's word, so he perhaps views her as a gift or a blessing. Symbolically, we understand from Romeo's use of the word "angel" that the love he has for Juliet is good and pure, which links to the message that Shakespeare had for his audiences regarding the power of love and the pitfalls of hatred. If we are able to understand that Romeo and Juliet's love is pure, then we are much more likely to sympathise with them and support their struggle against the toxic patriarchcal system that drives them apart. By the same token, we can understand that this system is corrupt, evil and destructive. If we do gain this understanding, then by the end of the play, we are likely to have learnt the lesson that Shakespeare is trying to teach us.
References don't have to be quotations One of the assessment objectives is AO1 refs (short for references). But references do not have to be direct quotations. For example, if you want to talk about the death of Macbeth, you don't have to sit in the exam hall desperately searching your brain for the exact words from that moment. Simply saying "When Macbeth dies..." is enough as a reference. You can use this for analysis, too, for example: Mercutio's death is a turning point in the play because... Mercutio's death represents... Mercutio's death shows us... In fact, that particular example verges on AO2, as well, as it talks about an event in the play which acts as a trigger / catalyst for what happens next. This is probably a good time to tell you that AO2 can also be marked as AO1 refs, but this is not always true the other way around.
Conclusions are not necessary Don't waste your time repeating yourself, which is what often happens with a conclusion. You don't have the time for that. Set out your thesis, and provide multiple examples of how your thesis is correct. Then finish.
Do not retell the story We know the story. Please don't waste your time retelling it. You have far more important things to write about than regurgitating a story we already know. Focus on analysis.
I hope this helps a bit. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I will do my best to help you. Good luck!
submitted by False_Doubt_8402 to GCSE [link] [comments]
Assessment Objectives Thought it might be best to start with an overview of the AOs. AO1 refs (6 marks) - this is how well you have used references in your answer AO1 task (6 marks) - this is how well you have answered the question as a whole. If you don't refer to both the extract and the whole text, you can only get 2 marks for this AO. AO2 (12 marks) - this is how well you have analysed language methods, such as metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, characterisation, single words, symbolism etc, as well as structural methods, such as rhythm, rhyme, iambic pentameter, order of events, caesura etc. (note: you DO NOT have to do BOTH language AND structure) AO3 (6 marks) - this is your understanding of the writers' ideas and the context in which the text was written / set AO4 (4 marks) - this will only be given for the Shakespeare section and is your spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Start with a thesis statement A thesis is an argument that you pose, and you then spend the rest of the essay proving why you are right. Let's say you get a question about how Shakespeare presents Romeo as a character who is passionate. You can spend your whole essay showing and explaining the ways in which Romeo is passionate, but that wouldn't be a thesis; Romeo's passion is a given, so it's no challenge to give examples of it. What isn't a given is the purpose of Romeo's passion. So for this question, your thesis could be: Romeo's passion, and his inability to control and contain it, is what makes him responsible for most of the bad things that happen in the play. You'd want to extend on that a little in the first paragraph, but that would be a good start to a thesis statement. Another thesis statement that would work for this question is: Romeo's passion comes from the deep love that he is capable of, and this love is ultimately a healing force that works for the good of the community and teaches us a lesson about the power of love and the evils of hatred. Both of these statements are very different - one sets out to argue that Romeo's passion is a negative thing, whilst the other presents it as a positive. Either of these could be argued in a convincing way. Some good sentence starters for thesis statements are: - In this text, we go on a journey of understanding that... - We are prompted to consider the universal concepts of... (universal concepts could be life, death, love, relationships, family, order, chaos etc, and LOADS more) - We are made to think about the duality of... (love/hate, chaos/order, old/young, innocence/experience etc) - By the end of the text, we learn / understand / are left questioning...
Use the extract for AO2 AO2 - the analysis of writers' methods - is one of the most commonly missed assessment objectives in both Lit papers. It's also the one with the most weight - you get a potential 12 marks for this AO, so that's what you lose if you forget it. But on Paper 1, you have an advantage - there is an extract right there in front of you, and there will 100% be a method in there that you can use. This will save you the trouble of having to remember a specific metaphor, simile or personification to analyse in your answer. If you struggle to find methods, then there are a couple of workarounds to access AO2. The first is to pick a single word from the extract that you've been given, and analyse the heck out of it. For example, Macduff refers to Macbeth as a "hell-hound". This word (or words) is perfect for single word analysis because of the connotations of "hell"; it emphasises evil, it connects to Christian ideas about morality, and plays on the superstitions of the audience. When connected with the word "hound", we can interpret Macbeth's status (in Macduff's eyes) as a servant of the devil, a mindless creature, and we see him stripped of his humanity by being referred to as a savage animal. Because of the religious implications, you can also link all of this to the witches. Another way to ensure that you include AO2 is to write about characters as tools that the writer is using. For example, you could speak about how the creature in Frankenstein is used to explore ideas about the nature of humanity, specifically ideas about isolation and love. The key word here is "used". If you can speak about the characters as a tool that the writer is using to explore ideas, to illicit a reponse from the audience, to send a message, to make the audience think or consider new concepts, then you are in AO2 territory.
AO3 This is another commonly missed assessment objective. AO3 is all about context, but that doesn't just mean the stuff that was going on at the time the text was written. Sure, that is part of it, but another is the writer's ideas. This is something that you can put in your thesis statement. Consider what the writer is trying to teach the audience. Think how this might translate to an audience in 2024. For example, A Christmas Carol is a text about morality. Dickens wants us to consider how we can be better human beings and work towards a better future by showing kindness to others, by sharing our wealth, and by recognising that those who are less fortunate than us are not always to blame for their circumstances in life. He communicates these ideas through the theme of Christmas to remind people of their Christian faith, values and obligations: to love your fellow man, to look after your neighbour, to be generous of spirit. All of this is fantastic AO3 stuff.
Literally, Metaphorically, Symbolically Some of you may have used this before, but I find it a useful tool for getting my students to squeeze as much as they can out of a reference. When you use a reference (AO2 or not, doesn't matter), you can first explore the literal meaning, which means to take the words at their most basic meaning. Then, you look at the figurative meaning, what is implied. Lastly, you take the reference out of the context of the text and think of the symbolic meaning. This is an excellent way to include AO3. Here's an example: Romeo refers to Juliet as an "angel". Literally, this means that she is a creature from heaven, and a servant of God himself. Metaphorically, we can interpret this as meaning that Romeo regards her as something pure and holy, something that cannot be corrupted. According to the Bible and religious belief at the time, angels spoke truth and were creatures of great beauty, which tells us the high regard in which Romeo holds Juliet. She is perfect to him. It could also mean that he believes she has been sent to him from God, in much the same way that angels were sent to Earth to spread God's word, so he perhaps views her as a gift or a blessing. Symbolically, we understand from Romeo's use of the word "angel" that the love he has for Juliet is good and pure, which links to the message that Shakespeare had for his audiences regarding the power of love and the pitfalls of hatred. If we are able to understand that Romeo and Juliet's love is pure, then we are much more likely to sympathise with them and support their struggle against the toxic patriarchcal system that drives them apart. By the same token, we can understand that this system is corrupt, evil and destructive. If we do gain this understanding, then by the end of the play, we are likely to have learnt the lesson that Shakespeare is trying to teach us.
References don't have to be quotations One of the assessment objectives is AO1 refs (short for references). But references do not have to be direct quotations. For example, if you want to talk about the death of Macbeth, you don't have to sit in the exam hall desperately searching your brain for the exact words from that moment. Simply saying "When Macbeth dies..." is enough as a reference. You can use this for analysis, too, for example: Mercutio's death is a turning point in the play because... Mercutio's death represents... Mercutio's death shows us... In fact, that particular example verges on AO2, as well, as it talks about an event in the play which acts as a trigger / catalyst for what happens next. This is probably a good time to tell you that AO2 can also be marked as AO1 refs, but this is not always true the other way around.
Conclusions are not necessary Don't waste your time repeating yourself, which is what often happens with a conclusion. You don't have the time for that. Set out your thesis, and provide multiple examples of how your thesis is correct. Then finish.
Do not retell the story We know the story. Please don't waste your time retelling it. You have far more important things to write about than regurgitating a story we already know. Focus on analysis.
I hope this helps a bit. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I will do my best to help you. Good luck!
2024.05.11 09:17 lvk-m We are what we eat. Same goes with the media we consume.
I saw a post a few weeks back requesting channels to follow in order to be more productive, happy, healthy, in short more adult. I already had this list at the time, but it was all over the place with no labels or descriptions. Some are super serious, some are cringey at first, most are very informative and entertaining (for me)
In short I wasn't able to pitch in, but I really wanted to share my list with them cos changing my media diet helped me be consistent with my new life direction. I've placed classifications and some descriptions, you can skip the headers and creators you're not interested in or already know, but I especially recommend going thru those with *** sa title.
Happy adulting
Note to mods: I don't own or know any of these creators, I'm not promoting these for any personal gain, I just want to share these that helped me, for educational purpose. If this breaks any rules please let me know how I can fix it
YouTube:
Gcflearnfree.Org
**Productivity Dan Koe - *digital business model, this guy is a bit intense but has some good ideas Ali abdaal - digital tools, personal productivity systems Thomas frank - time management tips Alex Hormozi - intense entrepreneur but also some useful ideas Jim Kwik - study/learning tips ADHD Jesse - helping people with short attention span be more productive, understanding and coping with ADHD Canva - everyone should know how to use to some degree Y Combinator - docs about startups
**Psychology: Charisma on demand - *speaking skills Psych2go - bite-sized psych lessons, some are useful Ana Psychology - in-depth documentaries, but easy to understand Cinema Therapy - using movies to undestand psych
***Useful general info - Documentaries: Big think Ted Ed / Talks Talks at Google Khan academy Better than yesterday Principles by ray dalio WELT Docs Veritasium
**Money skills: Next level life - *Personal Finance Charm de Leon / Ready2adultph - Personal Finance for Pinoys Mr Money Moustache - FIRE movement, defunct channel but good
**Life advice/Philosophy: Dry creek wrangler school - *cowboy with wisdon Wisdom of the ages - Quotes The School of Life - contemporary life philosophy Daily Stoic - life philosophy based on the Roman stoics Briefed - Ancient Greek philosophy, in simple terms Legendary Lore - similar to briefed
Motivation and gym playlist: Poetry and motivation by billy alsbrooks Walter bond Et the hiphoppreacher Marcus elevation Taylor
Bible-based: Grace for purpose Above inspiration
Lifestyle skills for men: Real men real style Gentleman's gazette GQ Dad, how do I? - cool dad teaching those without dad's how to fix things, I still use this even if I have a dad lol
Money docus Old Money Documentaries - mostly entertainment but good to know the rise and fall of old rich The Competitive Investor - like old money docs but pinoy The Swedish investor - moguls in their early years
Housing in the PH: Slater Young - construction guy explains building houses and stuff
Gym/Health: Athlean x - body building Hybrid calisthenics - same as Athleanx, but different Squat University - many useful exercises to help with chronic aches and pains
More on health: Dr. Eric Berg - diet based health Dr. Andrew Huberman - neurologist for health tips Prep Medic - first aid, mostly entertaining maybe a bit useful
Useful Random Info NegotiationMastery - Black Swan Group negotiation tips SumSub - General internet documentaries Jim Browning - Scam buster expert (more on entertainment)
Science (to help you stay sharp): Be Smart - sciency PBS Eons - sciencier Real Science - SciShow Practical Engineering Smarter Everyday
News: Behind Asia/ behind Philippines
Websites: https://liwanagan.com/2022/11/29/free-online-learning-resources/?amp=1
IG: @thejamiebrindle - tips for freelancers thekarangupta - AI stuff travisbrown - side hustle stuff, some are too radical some are doable razvanpb - Youtube Automation the.business.temple lifegiveusalemon - quotes and feel good stuff
submitted by lvk-m to adultingph [link] [comments]
In short I wasn't able to pitch in, but I really wanted to share my list with them cos changing my media diet helped me be consistent with my new life direction. I've placed classifications and some descriptions, you can skip the headers and creators you're not interested in or already know, but I especially recommend going thru those with *** sa title.
Happy adulting
Note to mods: I don't own or know any of these creators, I'm not promoting these for any personal gain, I just want to share these that helped me, for educational purpose. If this breaks any rules please let me know how I can fix it
YouTube:
Gcflearnfree.Org
**Productivity Dan Koe - *digital business model, this guy is a bit intense but has some good ideas Ali abdaal - digital tools, personal productivity systems Thomas frank - time management tips Alex Hormozi - intense entrepreneur but also some useful ideas Jim Kwik - study/learning tips ADHD Jesse - helping people with short attention span be more productive, understanding and coping with ADHD Canva - everyone should know how to use to some degree Y Combinator - docs about startups
**Psychology: Charisma on demand - *speaking skills Psych2go - bite-sized psych lessons, some are useful Ana Psychology - in-depth documentaries, but easy to understand Cinema Therapy - using movies to undestand psych
***Useful general info - Documentaries: Big think Ted Ed / Talks Talks at Google Khan academy Better than yesterday Principles by ray dalio WELT Docs Veritasium
**Money skills: Next level life - *Personal Finance Charm de Leon / Ready2adultph - Personal Finance for Pinoys Mr Money Moustache - FIRE movement, defunct channel but good
**Life advice/Philosophy: Dry creek wrangler school - *cowboy with wisdon Wisdom of the ages - Quotes The School of Life - contemporary life philosophy Daily Stoic - life philosophy based on the Roman stoics Briefed - Ancient Greek philosophy, in simple terms Legendary Lore - similar to briefed
Motivation and gym playlist: Poetry and motivation by billy alsbrooks Walter bond Et the hiphoppreacher Marcus elevation Taylor
Bible-based: Grace for purpose Above inspiration
Lifestyle skills for men: Real men real style Gentleman's gazette GQ Dad, how do I? - cool dad teaching those without dad's how to fix things, I still use this even if I have a dad lol
Money docus Old Money Documentaries - mostly entertainment but good to know the rise and fall of old rich The Competitive Investor - like old money docs but pinoy The Swedish investor - moguls in their early years
Housing in the PH: Slater Young - construction guy explains building houses and stuff
Gym/Health: Athlean x - body building Hybrid calisthenics - same as Athleanx, but different Squat University - many useful exercises to help with chronic aches and pains
More on health: Dr. Eric Berg - diet based health Dr. Andrew Huberman - neurologist for health tips Prep Medic - first aid, mostly entertaining maybe a bit useful
Useful Random Info NegotiationMastery - Black Swan Group negotiation tips SumSub - General internet documentaries Jim Browning - Scam buster expert (more on entertainment)
Science (to help you stay sharp): Be Smart - sciency PBS Eons - sciencier Real Science - SciShow Practical Engineering Smarter Everyday
News: Behind Asia/ behind Philippines
Websites: https://liwanagan.com/2022/11/29/free-online-learning-resources/?amp=1
IG: @thejamiebrindle - tips for freelancers thekarangupta - AI stuff travisbrown - side hustle stuff, some are too radical some are doable razvanpb - Youtube Automation the.business.temple lifegiveusalemon - quotes and feel good stuff
2024.05.11 08:12 jossmilan7412 Revelation 12 The woman, the child and the Dragon
Recently I have seen some people thinking that Mary, Jesus mom, does represent the woman present in Revelation 12, but that’s not the case, it does depict Israel. Is easy to get fooled if you don't know exactly was being told in Revelation 12, but still that’s not the case. Let me tell you why. First, in order to understand the Bible and make an association between one part of it and something else we need the relation bible-bible that is going to help to us to contrast our verses.
In this case Revelation 12 says:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth
As seen here, there is a sun, his father Israel, the moon, his mother, and 11 stars, which represent all his brothers, while he, Joseph, is the star #12, just like his brothers. So all this Sun, Moon and 12 stars represent Israel. But I know you can still see Mary here, because the bible is talking about a woman that is pregnant and is about to give birth and is easy to think about Mary once again, but slow down a little bit more. If you read (Isaiah 54:1-6, Jeremiah 3:20, Ezequiel 16:8-14, y Hosea 2:19-20) you'll see that Israel is represented as a woman. Then why is Israel and not Mary crying out in pain? How can this be Israel? Well, Revelation talks about the ending times, in this case this crying in pain represents the great tribulation that is going to be present at the ending times. And Israel (the woman) coming from Heaven is going to give birth to Jesus (his second coming) See a little bit further the 144000
So, who is this dragon? Well this dragon is Satan himself, some say that he is going to lead the Roman Empire of this era (The European Union) The 7 heads are 7 hills or countries/territories and also 7 kings, 5 have fallen, one is and the other one has not yet come, the 7 horns are 7 kings that haven’t received a kingdom yet, but they will, as seen in Revelation 17:7-12. But why is this Satan? Easy, the verse 9 let us know that: 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Now who are these 1/3 of the stars. Once again, easy, the verse 7 let us know that, these are Satan’s angels, the ones who rebelled against God. Regarding this, remember Satan being called the Morning Star in Isaiah 14:12.
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Here, before Jesus mentioned this part, he pointed out all the signals of the end times and then you can see his sign appearing in heaven, the same mentioned in Revelation 12; but also you can see the final part "this generation will certainly not pass until all this things have happened" Which is this generation? People from Israel who do not believe him and not recognize Jesus as their King. Regarding this, you can see in the Old Testament in the book of 1 Kings (chapters 14 from 1 Kings until 2 Kings 23) a lot of "generations"; a "generation" that followed God and right after another "generation" that worshipped false gods, another "generation" following God and another one worshipping statues, until they lose the war against Babylon in 2 Kings 24. The current “generation” that “is not going to past until the end times” is the people from Israel that we have in this present day (and since Jesus came and will be until the end times) that does not believe in Jesus as the son of God.
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
As we can see in this part this child is Jesus, who is going to “rule all the nations with an iron scepter” as seen in Psalms 2:7-9: I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery and also in Revelation 19:15: 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. He is taken by God and the woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God.
Let’s see Revelation 7:4-8
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. 5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000
Revelation 14
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless
As seen here, once Jesus comes back he is going to do so with 144000 virgins of Israel (just like Mary). Satan or the Dragon is trying to kill him right after he comes back with a third of the stars of the sky (1/3 of the angels in Heaven, in this case, the fallen ones who followed Satan is his rebellion against God). And the woman (144000) goes to a selected place in which God is going to guard his people for 3.5 years (42 months or 1260 days). The Angel Michael and the remaining 2/3 stars in Heaven (God’s Angels) fight and defeat Satan and his angels, who are send to earth and the final part of the end times starts.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.*
Let’s separate this a little bit, in verses 10-12 the loud voice is celebrating that Satan has no more business with heaven, as he can’t keep accusing people before our God – Regarding this you can see Zechariah 3:1-2 - (1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[a] standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”), but warns the people on earth as he is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short. Verses 13 and 14 are a continuation of verse 6: “The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days”. In verse 14 the woman is given two wings of a great eagle (this is not United States btw) which represents God’s protection, a similar part is mentioned in Exodus 19:4: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. After he liberate Israel from Egypt. He keep them in the wilderness for 1 time=1 year, times=2 years and half a time=0.5 years (1+2+0.5=3.5 years, 42 months or 1260 days). In verse 15, Satan, now on earth, spewed water like a river, what does this river represents? Thanks to Revelation 17:15 we can see that the water represents a lot of people: 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” But this people couldn’t reach this 144000 because (now in verse 16) God is going to send an earthquake that is going to kill that people, as seen in Revelation 11:13 after Elijah and Moses, the two witnesses, died: 13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. This is the earth opening his mouth and swallowing the water. And finally, we can see in verse 17 that Satan leave Israel alone and goes after the rest of the world in order to start the great tribulation, by setting himself as God and putting the abomination of desolation in place that people is going to be forced to worship or Satan is going to kill them, in this same period is he going to put the mark of the beast on the people or they are not going to able to buy things as seen in Revelation 13:14-18: “Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
Finally, why the witnesses are Moses and Elijah?
In Revelation 11:6 we can see that ”6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying (just like Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:1); and they have power to turn the waters into blood (just like Moses did in Exodus 14:25) and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want (just like Moses did in Exodus chapters 7-11). They were the only ones who could divide the waters, Moses in Exodus 14:23-31 and Elijah in 2 Kings 2:8 (Elisha did the same in 2 Kings 2:14, but it was because he “inherit a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit, also, the waters of the Jordan River were separated before the ark of the Lord in Joshua 3:1-17) Also, both, Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) were the only ones who fasted for 40 days, just like Jesus did in Matthew 4:2-4. They also appeared with Jesus in Matthew 17:1-8 when Jesus transfigured before Peter, James, John and the brother of James. And most importantly Jesus announced that Elijah will come once again and will restore all the things in Matthew 17:10-11 and we also know that Michael fought against the devil in order to retrieve Moses body in Jude 1:9.
As seen here, Elijah and Moses are going to come back to this world, as seen in Revelation 11, just before the second coming of Christ, as they are going to be the 2 witnesses necessaries to put to death Satan and his followers, as seen in Deuteronomy 17:6-7
6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
Also, if you remember, in Genesis 19, which contains the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, 2 angels were sent to see what was happening in the cities, as they were the 2 witnesses that were needed to put the city and its people to death. In this story, Abraham asked to God for mercy for the cities and asked him what he would do if he found 10 righteous people in there and God (Jesus) said that for the sake of ten he would not destroy it, as seen in Genesis 18:20-33
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
When the 2 angels went to the city they only found 4 righteous people: Lot, his wife and his 2 daughters, and once the angels help them to get out of the city (Lot’s wife was converted in a statue of salt for turning back and seeing what happened to the city, for not abandoning its sinful ways), fire came from heaven and the 2 cities, Sodom and Gomorrah and its people were "put to death". A similar situation can be found in Revelation 19:4-8 with the destruction of Babylon the great (USA, the Catholic Church and the deity of Mary -not the person who gave birth to Jesus, but the deity that was created after her, without her consent-). In the ending times, this city who was used for everyone to become rich, the city who killed many prophets and the great prostitute after who all the kings of the earth committed adultery is going to be destroyed by fire coming from heaven, but first, all the righteous were called to get out of the city, just like Lot, (his wife) and his daughters did in Genesis 19.
Revelation 19:4-8
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. 7 Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ 8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
Related to all this, Jesus said in the New Testament, in John 8:54-59
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
This day, which is a day that happened and is going to happen again (as seen in Revelation 18-19) can be seen in Genesis 19:27-29, just after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
As seen here, the one who talked with Abraham in Genesis 18 is Jesus (God) and he showed him his day, the day that happened and is going to happen again, because if you pay attention and you take Genesis from the end to the beginning (chapters 50 to 1) and Revelation from the beginning to the end (chapters 1 to 22) they match perfectly.
In Genesis the world starts with God creating the earth and heaven and the man free of sin, humans become wicked and God destroyed the whole world with the flood (Genesis 7 and 8), the city of Babel (after which comes, Babylon –which conquered Israel in the times of the prophet Daniel- and Babylon the great, which is a city, a religious system –the catholic church- and a deity, in this case Mary) was created, in this days the world only talked one language and they were building a "tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and the world" and the world suffered famines, earthquakes, (as the world was divided after the flood, as seen in 1 Chronicles 1:19 which ties Genesis 11:16, which happened after the flood and the confusion of languages in Babel) and wars and in the book of Revelation the world is going to suffer famines, earthquakes and wars (Matthew 24:7), there is going to be a nation that is going to make the whole world rich, that is going to be the mother of all abominations (Revelation 17:5), just like USA (biggest producer of porn, drugs are legal now, abortions are legal now, guns are everywhere, all TV shows feature as many blasphemies as possible, allow procedures that "change" the sex of kids, the whole country is build around money and we cannot follow God and money at the same time, as we are going to value one more than the other -Matthew 6:24-) that is going to kill many saints (just like the catholic church has been doing –and will do- across the story) that sits over 7 mountains (Revelation 17:9) just like Rome, city in which is located the Vatican, she "was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries" (Revelation 17:4) just like the deity of Mary is portrayed in many paintings and statues about her, she is also described as a great prostitute, just like the deity of Mary, because when Israel was following other gods, they were, according to God, prostituting themselves with these gods (an example of this can been in Judges 2:16-19.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Something similar can be seen in the book of Hosea, when God said to Hosea to go and marry a promiscuous woman and to have kids with her and to even love her when she commit adultery against Hosea, just like God was going to do with Israel even after they turn to other gods, as seen in Hosea 3:1-3) and is a city that is going to rule over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:18), just like USA does now and how Babylon did when they conquered Israel when the Israelites forgot about God and the Israelites were sent to exile. This kingdom of Babylon was this big that when Daniel interpreted a dream of his king Nebuchadnezzar he said in Daniel 2:37-38
37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
USA is the country of the skyscrapers (just like the tower of Babel, which was trying to reach the heavens) they have a language that is the universal language, English, and once that every one talk it, they are going to follow the steps of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Babylon the Great is going to die, as fire coming from heaven is going to destroy it, as seen in Revelation 18:8 (just like it happened in Genesis 19 in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah).
Later, Jesus is going to come back and is going to execute judgment over the world and all the wicked ones are going to die, as seen in Revelation 19:11-21 (just like it happened in Genesis 7 and 8 during the flood) and finally, the world is going to be reunited with God, all the saints, free of sin, after accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our LORD are going to take possession of the world, and all of us, the saved, are going to be reunited with the LORD once again for 1000 years, as seen in Revelation 20:1-6 and in Genesis 2:7-25 when God rested in the 7 day:
2 Peter 3:8
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
After that, Satan is going to be freed from his prison and is going to fool the nations, as seen in Revelation 20:7-10 when Satan was freed and in Genesis 3 when Satan tempted Eve to sin against God and finally, the whole heaven and earth are going to disappear, as seen in Revelation 20:11, and a new heaven and earth are going to be created, as seen in Revelation 21:1 and in Genesis 1:1 when God created the heavens and earth.
What do you think?
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In this case Revelation 12 says:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head
In this section we can see that this woman is clothed with the sun, the moon and 12 stars, just as Mary is depicted in most pictures, figures, paintings, etc. Which can fool anyone, but don't be deceived by Satan, because he is playing with these paintings to fool the people, why? Well, as i told you before in order to understand the Bible we need the Bible itself, in this case, where is another reference to the sun, the moon and 12 stars in the Bible? In Genesis 37:5-11 we see:Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth
As seen here, there is a sun, his father Israel, the moon, his mother, and 11 stars, which represent all his brothers, while he, Joseph, is the star #12, just like his brothers. So all this Sun, Moon and 12 stars represent Israel. But I know you can still see Mary here, because the bible is talking about a woman that is pregnant and is about to give birth and is easy to think about Mary once again, but slow down a little bit more. If you read (Isaiah 54:1-6, Jeremiah 3:20, Ezequiel 16:8-14, y Hosea 2:19-20) you'll see that Israel is represented as a woman. Then why is Israel and not Mary crying out in pain? How can this be Israel? Well, Revelation talks about the ending times, in this case this crying in pain represents the great tribulation that is going to be present at the ending times. And Israel (the woman) coming from Heaven is going to give birth to Jesus (his second coming) See a little bit further the 144000
Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
Now, here comes the fun and the trickiest part that can eat you alive if you don't pay attention. Revelation 12:3-4 lets us know that this moment is also tied with the birth of Jesus, as seen in the gospels. It is describing all the demons that were present when Jesus started his ministry in this world (as seen in Matthew 8:28-34 and Mark 5:1-17), but weren't present anywhere else in the bible, as just when Jesus came to this world demons manisfested in this way (aside from Genesis 6:1-8). If we continue with the gospels then we can say that this dragon was Herod (who represented the Roman Empire) who tried to kill Jesus as soon as he was born by killing every single kid who was two years and under in Israel, as seen in Matthew 2:13-16; and this part also explains the first part of verse 4 “Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.”So, who is this dragon? Well this dragon is Satan himself, some say that he is going to lead the Roman Empire of this era (The European Union) The 7 heads are 7 hills or countries/territories and also 7 kings, 5 have fallen, one is and the other one has not yet come, the 7 horns are 7 kings that haven’t received a kingdom yet, but they will, as seen in Revelation 17:7-12. But why is this Satan? Easy, the verse 9 let us know that: 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Now who are these 1/3 of the stars. Once again, easy, the verse 7 let us know that, these are Satan’s angels, the ones who rebelled against God. Regarding this, remember Satan being called the Morning Star in Isaiah 14:12.
The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born
What does this mean? As we know, people from Israel killed Jesus back in the day and even today they do not believe that he is the son of God, and therefore his King. So, in this same vein this son being born is not Jesus being born once again as a Baby, is the 2nd coming of Jesus. Is Jesus being recognized as the son of God, as their King and savoir. Israel (144000) is the one “giving birth” to him. Where we can see this? In Revelation 14:1: Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:4-5 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. And also in Matthew 24:30-35.30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Here, before Jesus mentioned this part, he pointed out all the signals of the end times and then you can see his sign appearing in heaven, the same mentioned in Revelation 12; but also you can see the final part "this generation will certainly not pass until all this things have happened" Which is this generation? People from Israel who do not believe him and not recognize Jesus as their King. Regarding this, you can see in the Old Testament in the book of 1 Kings (chapters 14 from 1 Kings until 2 Kings 23) a lot of "generations"; a "generation" that followed God and right after another "generation" that worshipped false gods, another "generation" following God and another one worshipping statues, until they lose the war against Babylon in 2 Kings 24. The current “generation” that “is not going to past until the end times” is the people from Israel that we have in this present day (and since Jesus came and will be until the end times) that does not believe in Jesus as the son of God.
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
As we can see in this part this child is Jesus, who is going to “rule all the nations with an iron scepter” as seen in Psalms 2:7-9: I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery and also in Revelation 19:15: 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. He is taken by God and the woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God.
Now, the most polemic part of this, why this 144.000 do represent Israel giving birth to Jesus?
6 “The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.Let’s see Revelation 7:4-8
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. 5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000
Revelation 14
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless
As seen here, once Jesus comes back he is going to do so with 144000 virgins of Israel (just like Mary). Satan or the Dragon is trying to kill him right after he comes back with a third of the stars of the sky (1/3 of the angels in Heaven, in this case, the fallen ones who followed Satan is his rebellion against God). And the woman (144000) goes to a selected place in which God is going to guard his people for 3.5 years (42 months or 1260 days). The Angel Michael and the remaining 2/3 stars in Heaven (God’s Angels) fight and defeat Satan and his angels, who are send to earth and the final part of the end times starts.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.*
Let’s separate this a little bit, in verses 10-12 the loud voice is celebrating that Satan has no more business with heaven, as he can’t keep accusing people before our God – Regarding this you can see Zechariah 3:1-2 - (1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[a] standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”), but warns the people on earth as he is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short. Verses 13 and 14 are a continuation of verse 6: “The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days”. In verse 14 the woman is given two wings of a great eagle (this is not United States btw) which represents God’s protection, a similar part is mentioned in Exodus 19:4: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. After he liberate Israel from Egypt. He keep them in the wilderness for 1 time=1 year, times=2 years and half a time=0.5 years (1+2+0.5=3.5 years, 42 months or 1260 days). In verse 15, Satan, now on earth, spewed water like a river, what does this river represents? Thanks to Revelation 17:15 we can see that the water represents a lot of people: 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” But this people couldn’t reach this 144000 because (now in verse 16) God is going to send an earthquake that is going to kill that people, as seen in Revelation 11:13 after Elijah and Moses, the two witnesses, died: 13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. This is the earth opening his mouth and swallowing the water. And finally, we can see in verse 17 that Satan leave Israel alone and goes after the rest of the world in order to start the great tribulation, by setting himself as God and putting the abomination of desolation in place that people is going to be forced to worship or Satan is going to kill them, in this same period is he going to put the mark of the beast on the people or they are not going to able to buy things as seen in Revelation 13:14-18: “Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
Finally, why the witnesses are Moses and Elijah?
In Revelation 11:6 we can see that ”6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying (just like Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:1); and they have power to turn the waters into blood (just like Moses did in Exodus 14:25) and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want (just like Moses did in Exodus chapters 7-11). They were the only ones who could divide the waters, Moses in Exodus 14:23-31 and Elijah in 2 Kings 2:8 (Elisha did the same in 2 Kings 2:14, but it was because he “inherit a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit, also, the waters of the Jordan River were separated before the ark of the Lord in Joshua 3:1-17) Also, both, Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) were the only ones who fasted for 40 days, just like Jesus did in Matthew 4:2-4. They also appeared with Jesus in Matthew 17:1-8 when Jesus transfigured before Peter, James, John and the brother of James. And most importantly Jesus announced that Elijah will come once again and will restore all the things in Matthew 17:10-11 and we also know that Michael fought against the devil in order to retrieve Moses body in Jude 1:9.
As seen here, Elijah and Moses are going to come back to this world, as seen in Revelation 11, just before the second coming of Christ, as they are going to be the 2 witnesses necessaries to put to death Satan and his followers, as seen in Deuteronomy 17:6-7
6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
Also, if you remember, in Genesis 19, which contains the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, 2 angels were sent to see what was happening in the cities, as they were the 2 witnesses that were needed to put the city and its people to death. In this story, Abraham asked to God for mercy for the cities and asked him what he would do if he found 10 righteous people in there and God (Jesus) said that for the sake of ten he would not destroy it, as seen in Genesis 18:20-33
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
When the 2 angels went to the city they only found 4 righteous people: Lot, his wife and his 2 daughters, and once the angels help them to get out of the city (Lot’s wife was converted in a statue of salt for turning back and seeing what happened to the city, for not abandoning its sinful ways), fire came from heaven and the 2 cities, Sodom and Gomorrah and its people were "put to death". A similar situation can be found in Revelation 19:4-8 with the destruction of Babylon the great (USA, the Catholic Church and the deity of Mary -not the person who gave birth to Jesus, but the deity that was created after her, without her consent-). In the ending times, this city who was used for everyone to become rich, the city who killed many prophets and the great prostitute after who all the kings of the earth committed adultery is going to be destroyed by fire coming from heaven, but first, all the righteous were called to get out of the city, just like Lot, (his wife) and his daughters did in Genesis 19.
Revelation 19:4-8
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. 7 Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ 8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
Related to all this, Jesus said in the New Testament, in John 8:54-59
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
This day, which is a day that happened and is going to happen again (as seen in Revelation 18-19) can be seen in Genesis 19:27-29, just after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
As seen here, the one who talked with Abraham in Genesis 18 is Jesus (God) and he showed him his day, the day that happened and is going to happen again, because if you pay attention and you take Genesis from the end to the beginning (chapters 50 to 1) and Revelation from the beginning to the end (chapters 1 to 22) they match perfectly.
In Genesis the world starts with God creating the earth and heaven and the man free of sin, humans become wicked and God destroyed the whole world with the flood (Genesis 7 and 8), the city of Babel (after which comes, Babylon –which conquered Israel in the times of the prophet Daniel- and Babylon the great, which is a city, a religious system –the catholic church- and a deity, in this case Mary) was created, in this days the world only talked one language and they were building a "tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and the world" and the world suffered famines, earthquakes, (as the world was divided after the flood, as seen in 1 Chronicles 1:19 which ties Genesis 11:16, which happened after the flood and the confusion of languages in Babel) and wars and in the book of Revelation the world is going to suffer famines, earthquakes and wars (Matthew 24:7), there is going to be a nation that is going to make the whole world rich, that is going to be the mother of all abominations (Revelation 17:5), just like USA (biggest producer of porn, drugs are legal now, abortions are legal now, guns are everywhere, all TV shows feature as many blasphemies as possible, allow procedures that "change" the sex of kids, the whole country is build around money and we cannot follow God and money at the same time, as we are going to value one more than the other -Matthew 6:24-) that is going to kill many saints (just like the catholic church has been doing –and will do- across the story) that sits over 7 mountains (Revelation 17:9) just like Rome, city in which is located the Vatican, she "was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries" (Revelation 17:4) just like the deity of Mary is portrayed in many paintings and statues about her, she is also described as a great prostitute, just like the deity of Mary, because when Israel was following other gods, they were, according to God, prostituting themselves with these gods (an example of this can been in Judges 2:16-19.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Something similar can be seen in the book of Hosea, when God said to Hosea to go and marry a promiscuous woman and to have kids with her and to even love her when she commit adultery against Hosea, just like God was going to do with Israel even after they turn to other gods, as seen in Hosea 3:1-3) and is a city that is going to rule over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:18), just like USA does now and how Babylon did when they conquered Israel when the Israelites forgot about God and the Israelites were sent to exile. This kingdom of Babylon was this big that when Daniel interpreted a dream of his king Nebuchadnezzar he said in Daniel 2:37-38
37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
USA is the country of the skyscrapers (just like the tower of Babel, which was trying to reach the heavens) they have a language that is the universal language, English, and once that every one talk it, they are going to follow the steps of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Babylon the Great is going to die, as fire coming from heaven is going to destroy it, as seen in Revelation 18:8 (just like it happened in Genesis 19 in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah).
Later, Jesus is going to come back and is going to execute judgment over the world and all the wicked ones are going to die, as seen in Revelation 19:11-21 (just like it happened in Genesis 7 and 8 during the flood) and finally, the world is going to be reunited with God, all the saints, free of sin, after accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our LORD are going to take possession of the world, and all of us, the saved, are going to be reunited with the LORD once again for 1000 years, as seen in Revelation 20:1-6 and in Genesis 2:7-25 when God rested in the 7 day:
2 Peter 3:8
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
After that, Satan is going to be freed from his prison and is going to fool the nations, as seen in Revelation 20:7-10 when Satan was freed and in Genesis 3 when Satan tempted Eve to sin against God and finally, the whole heaven and earth are going to disappear, as seen in Revelation 20:11, and a new heaven and earth are going to be created, as seen in Revelation 21:1 and in Genesis 1:1 when God created the heavens and earth.
What do you think?
2024.05.11 00:43 BGodInspired What Can Joseph's Journey Teach Us About Overcoming Trials and Holding Onto Faith?
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Introduction to Joseph: The Dreamer Who Became a Deliverer
Have you ever felt like your dreams were too big? Or perhaps you’ve faced setbacks that made you question your path? The story of Joseph, a key figure in the Bible, is a testament to the power of faith, perseverance, and divine providence. It’s a story that captivates not just because of its dramatic twists and turns, but because it mirrors our own struggles and triumphs. Let’s dive into the life of Joseph and uncover how his extraordinary journey from dreamer to deliverer can inspire us today.
The Early Years: Dreams and Betrayal
Born into a family of twelve brothers, Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob, which sowed seeds of jealousy and strife. His ability to interpret dreams, combined with his father’s overt favoritism (symbolized by the famous coat of many colors), eventually led to his brothers conspiring against him. Sold into slavery and taken to Egypt, Joseph’s early life was marked by hardship and betrayal.
What’s truly remarkable about Joseph’s story is not just his eventual rise to power but how he conducted himself amidst adversity. Despite being falsely accused and imprisoned, Joseph’s unwavering faith and integrity catch the attention of the Pharaoh, leading to his appointment as the second-most powerful man in Egypt. His journey teaches us the importance of maintaining our character and faith, even in the darkest of times.
The climax of Joseph’s story is not his ascent to power but his reunion with his brothers during a famine. In a position to seek revenge, Joseph instead chooses forgiveness, providing for the brothers who wronged him and reconciling his fractured family. This act of forgiveness is a powerful reminder of the healing and redemptive power of grace and love.
Joseph’s story, filled with unforeseen detours and remarkable triumphs, encourages us to stay faithful and hopeful, no matter our circumstances. Like Joseph, we can dream big, hold onto our integrity, and choose forgiveness, trusting that God has a plan through every trial and triumph.
Are you inspired by Joseph’s journey? How can you apply the lessons from his life to your own? Share your thoughts and reflections with us, and let’s continue to encourage each other through the timeless wisdom found in the Bible.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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Introduction to Joseph: The Dreamer Who Became a Deliverer
The Early Years: Dreams and Betrayal
- Genesis 37:3-4 – Joseph’s relationship with his brothers begins to sour.
- Genesis 37:23-28 – The pivotal moment of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery.
Rise to Power: Faithfulness in Adversity
- Genesis 41:39-40 – Pharaoh recognizes Joseph’s wisdom and appoints him as his right-hand man.
The Famine: A Test of Forgiveness and Redemption
- Genesis 45:4-5 – Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers and forgives them.
Key Takeaways from Joseph’s Journey
- Resilience: Joseph’s journey from favored son to slave, from prisoner to powerful leader, exemplifies resilience and faith.
- Integrity: Even when faced with injustice, Joseph remained true to his values and beliefs, a testament to his character.
- Forgiveness: Joseph’s decision to forgive his brothers shows the transformative power of forgiveness and the importance of reconciliation.
Conclusion: Embracing Our Own Journey
Are you inspired by Joseph’s journey? How can you apply the lessons from his life to your own? Share your thoughts and reflections with us, and let’s continue to encourage each other through the timeless wisdom found in the Bible.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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2024.05.10 18:42 BGodInspired Faith Credited as Righteousness: What Does Genesis 15:6 Teach Us About True Faith?
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Take the leap of faith today — let Abraham’s story in Genesis 15:6 inspire you to deepen your trust in God, regardless of the circumstances. Remember, it’s your faith that God values and sees as righteousness. Let’s make our journey of faith one that not only pleases God but also transforms us, leading us to a deeper understanding and relationship with Him.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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Unleashing the Power of Faith in Genesis 15:6
Welcome to an uplifting dive into one of the Bible’s most powerful verses, Genesis 15:6, which encapsulates the essence of faith and belief in God. This exploration is designed to not only educate but also to inspire and uplift your spirit. Whether you’re new to the Bible or seeking deeper insights, there’s something here for everyone. Let’s discover together the boundless strength found in unwavering faith!Understanding Genesis 15:6
Genesis 15:6 stands as a monumental verse in the Bible, showcasing the depth of Abraham’s faith in God. It reads, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” This verse is significant for several reasons. It illustrates the moment Abraham puts his full trust in God’s promises, despite his circumstances. It’s a testament to the idea that faith alone, in the eyes of God, is deemed as righteousness. But what does this mean for us today?The Lesson of Faith and Righteousness
The story of Abraham is not just a tale from the past; it’s a living, breathing lesson on the power of faith. Genesis 15:6 is a clear demonstration that our trust and belief in God are valued above all else. Here’s why this message is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago:- **Faith Over Fear:** Abraham chose faith over fear, even when the promise seemed impossible. His example teaches us to lean on our faith, especially in challenging times.
- **Righteousness through Faith:** This verse underlines that our righteousness comes from believing in God’s word and promises, not merely our deeds or actions.
- **Trust in God’s Timing:** Abraham’s story is a reminder that God’s promises unfold in His perfect timing, encouraging us to patiently rely on Him.
Applying Genesis 15:6 Today
Incorporating the lesson of Genesis 15:6 into our lives means walking in Abraham’s footsteps — choosing belief in the face of uncertainty and maintaining unwavering faith. How can we do this?- **Cultivate a Personal Relationship with God:** Spend time in prayer and reading the Bible to understand His promises and strengthen your faith.
- **Practice Trust in Daily Life:** When faced with decisions or difficulties, lean on your faith, remembering that God’s view and plans are beyond our understanding.
- **Share Your Journey:** Encourage others by sharing how faith has played a role in your life, embodying the spirit of Genesis 15:6 as a living testimony.
Summing Up the Journey of Faith
Genesis 15:6 is more than a verse; it’s a pivotal moment in biblical history that continues to inspire and guide us. Abraham’s example of steadfast belief teaches us the transformative power of faith — a faith that God acknowledges and honors as righteousness. In our daily walk, let us embrace this powerful principle, trusting in God’s promises and timing with all our heart.Take the leap of faith today — let Abraham’s story in Genesis 15:6 inspire you to deepen your trust in God, regardless of the circumstances. Remember, it’s your faith that God values and sees as righteousness. Let’s make our journey of faith one that not only pleases God but also transforms us, leading us to a deeper understanding and relationship with Him.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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2024.05.10 16:59 Snoo-84645 RELIGION
If Wine is acceptable because Jesus turned water into it....(my first thought is...should of been boy...lol) and wine is essential a lesson potent opiate affecting same part of brain.....how could or does the Bible make a case for it being a sin to use?
Religious or not....do you think it's a sin?
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Religious or not....do you think it's a sin?
2024.05.10 12:42 BGodInspired What Does the Lord Require of Us? Unpacking the Profound Journey of Micah 6:8
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Engaging with this verse encourages us to look beyond our own needs and desires, focusing instead on how we can contribute to a more just, merciful, and humble world. It’s a powerful antidote to the challenges of modern living, offering clarity, purpose, and a path towards true fulfillment.
Are you ready to take up this challenge? Let Micah 6:8 be your guide as you navigate life, and watch as your actions ripple outwards, touching the lives of others in beautiful, unexpected ways. Let’s make living by these divine principles a daily reality and see the transformation it brings about in our lives and communities!
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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Unwrapping the Gift of Micah 6:8: A Timeless Call to Action
Welcome to our exploration of one of the Bible’s most powerful and succinct messages about how to live a life that pleases God. Today, we’re diving into the heart of Micah 6:8, a verse that holds profound wisdom in just a few words. If you’re looking for guidance that is as pertinent today as it was thousands of years ago, you’re in the right place!What Does Micah 6:8 Actually Say?
Before we delve deeper, let’s look at the verse itself: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” At its core, Micah 6:8 is a clear and powerful directive towards a lifestyle that balances justice, mercy, and humility in our walk with God.The Invaluable Lessons of Micah 6:8
- Acting Justly: This calls us to live with integrity and fairness towards others, ensuring our actions reflect the justice of God.
- Loving Mercy: Mercy is at the heart of God’s character. To love mercy means to extend forgiveness and compassion towards others, just as God does towards us.
- Walking Humbly with God: Humility allows us to recognize our reliance on God, keeping us in a posture of obedience and openness to His leading.
Applying Micah 6:8 in Today’s World
So, how can we live out the wisdom of Micah 6:8 in the modern world? Here are a few practical suggestions:- Seek opportunities to advocate for justice, whether in your community or through global initiatives.
- Show compassion and kindness in your day-to-day interactions, remembering that everyone is facing their own battles.
- Maintain a spirit of humility, remembering that everything we have and are is because of God’s grace.
Why Micah 6:8 Matters Today More Than Ever
In a world where injustice, selfishness, and pride often seem to dominate, Micah 6:8 stands as a beacon of hope and a call to action. It reminds us that at the end of the day, what God desires from us is not complicated rituals or offerings but a heart that seeks to emulate His love, mercy, and humility.Engaging with this verse encourages us to look beyond our own needs and desires, focusing instead on how we can contribute to a more just, merciful, and humble world. It’s a powerful antidote to the challenges of modern living, offering clarity, purpose, and a path towards true fulfillment.
Embrace the Call: Live Out Micah 6:8
As we wrap up our exploration of Micah 6:8, let’s embrace its call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Imagine the impact if each of us took this verse to heart and lived it out in our daily lives. We have the opportunity to make a significant difference in our world, all while drawing nearer to the heart of God.Are you ready to take up this challenge? Let Micah 6:8 be your guide as you navigate life, and watch as your actions ripple outwards, touching the lives of others in beautiful, unexpected ways. Let’s make living by these divine principles a daily reality and see the transformation it brings about in our lives and communities!
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
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2024.05.10 11:00 AutoModerator May 10, 2024 - Weekly FAQ and Beginner Q&A Thread If you are new to Neville, please post your questions here! How do I manifest X? What does Y mean?
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See also: Revision: The Complete Guide
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New to Neville's teachings? Start here!
The below links contain essentially the entirety of Neville's teachings.Frequently Asked Questions
Can I manifest xyz?
Yes, anything is possible.How do I manifest xyz?
All manifestations use the same technique(s). To get good simply takes practice and imagination.Neville's Basic Manifestation Techniques:
What scene should I choose?
Any scene which you believe you would encounter after your wish is fulfilled.What should I start reading?
We recommend The Law and The Promise or The Power of Awareness first for beginners. This is because Neville includes several examples and success stories from students, in addition to being lighter on Bible references, which can be off-putting or confusing to beginners.If you want a physical copy of his books, publishers continue publishing new copies of Neville's works. Please check your library, locally owned book store, or search online for Neville's works. If you purchase a new physical copy, we recommend The Power of Imagination: The Neville Goddard Treasury, as it contains all of Neville's books in one volume.
All of Neville’s books and lectures are in the public domain and can be searched online for free, and are included in the Wiki and Sidebar links mentioned previously.
What is an SP?
Specific Person. Usually in reference to a person’s romantic interest or crush. The term was popularized by so-called, self-professed online manifestation coaches and "experts". /NevilleGoddardSP is a dedicated, expert subreddit for that.What is a Mental Diet?
Avoiding negative conversation and media, paying attention to positive conversation and media.What is SATS?
State Akin To Sleep (SATS) refers to the deep state of consciousness during meditation or just before falling asleep. In SATS, the body is relaxed, but control over the mind is retained. It is used to create vivid visualizations in imagination for the purposes of manifesting.After you have decided on the action which implies that your desire has been realized, then sit in your nice comfortable chair or lie flat on your back, close your eyes for the simple reason it helps to induce this state that borders on sleep. The minute you feel this lovely drowsy state, or the feeling of gathered togetherness, wherein you feel- I could move if I wanted to, but I do not want to, I could open my eyes if I wanted to, but I do not want to. When you get that feeling you can be quite sure that you are in the perfect state to pray successfully.
Neville Goddard, 1948 Lecture Series, Lesson 4
What is the Lullaby Method?
In SATS, instead of visualizing, repeat an affirmation to oneself again and again, building the feeling of it being true.What is Revision?
Revision is revising in imagination events that have happened in the past as a way of mitigating their effects in the future.See also: Revision: The Complete Guide
What is Door Slamming/You are in Barbados/Living in the End/State of the Wish Fulfilled?
Closing your mind to any other possibility besides your outcome. Assuming your desire is true and not questioning it.Do we have Free Will?
Yes, and no. It’s complicated. See here.What is "Everyone is You Pushed Out" (EIYPO)?
On a practical level, what you believe is what you get. The world only shows you your own beliefs. On a metaphysical level, we are all the same God interacting with Itself through an infinite number of different points.The whole vast world is no more than man's imagining pushed out. I must qualify that by saying that the world outside of man is dead, but Man is a living soul, and it responds to man, yet man is sound asleep and does not know it. The Lord God placed man in a profound sleep, and as he sleeps the world responds as in a dream, for Man does not know he is asleep, and then he moves from a state of sleep where he is only a living soul to an awakened state where he is a life-giving Spirit. And now he can himself create, for everything is responding to an activity in man which is Imagination. "The eternal body of man is all imagination; that is God himself." (Blake)
Neville Goddard, The Law lecture
What if everything is going wrong? What if I am manifesting the opposite of my desire?
Failure is generally due to a lack of consistent faith or belief in the outcome, not feeling as though it had already happened. However, if the one has consistently been loyal to their faith, then we are reminded that all manifestations have their appointed hour (Hab 2:3). Neville writes about the causes of failure here.What about (my sick mom, my crazy grandpa, the homeless, starving children, etc.)?
In Neville's view, there is one being that is God (who is pure imagination), and has split Itself into infinite smaller forms to undergo a series of good/bad experiences across lifetimes until these smaller pieces realize they are God and reintegrate. The less fortunate are to be helped, not looked down upon, but understanding it is necessary for God to realize Itself (to experience bad and good).What happens after I die? What is The Promise?
Neville’s prophetic vision of an individual’s reintegration with God.Can I manifest multiple things at once?
Yes. Here is Neville's answer regarding how to manifest multiple things from Lessons Q&A:\5. Question: Is it possible to imagine several things at the same time, or should I confine my imagining to one desire?
Answer: Personally I like to confine my imaginal act to a single thought, but that does not mean I will stop there. During the course of a day I may imagine many things, but instead of imagining lots of small things, I would suggest that you imagine something so big it includes all the little things. Instead of imagining wealth, health and friends, imagine being ecstatic. You could not be ecstatic and be in pain. You could not be ecstatic and be threatened with a dispossession notice. You could not be ecstatic if you were not enjoying a full measure of friendship and love.
What would the feeling be like were you ecstatic without knowing what had happened to produce your ecstasy? Reduce the idea of ecstasy to the single sensation, "Isn't it wonderful!" Do not allow the conscious, reasoning mind to ask why, because if it does it will start to look for visible causes, and then the sensation will be lost. Rather, repeat over and over again, "Isn't it wonderful!" Suspend judgment as to what is wonderful. Catch the one sensation of the wonder of it all and things will happen to bear witness to the truth of this sensation. And I promise you, it will include all the little things.
What if I have another question?
Please use Reddit's search feature or post it here in the Q&A thread.2024.05.10 08:10 daphone77 I feel rejected by every church I go to because I’m a working married woman.
To start this. I’m trying to make this a political debate. I’m simply stating my problem.
I met my husband, the son of a reformed pastor, last year. He is amazing and everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We have the same goals and wants for our lives. We just fit perfectly. Until church comes into play.
My husband is outgoing and friendly. He could make friends with anyone. We started visiting churches after moving recently and he really took a liking to this PCA church. I felt like from the second they heard that his father was a pastor, the church members and leaders grabbed onto him. He gets invited somewhere every week. Has conversations with the pastor. Meanwhile, I’m ignored.
I have tried to talk to these people. Tried to relate. Inserted myself in my husbands outings, and to no avail. They have no interest in getting to know me. There have been instances where they have forgotten my name after weeks of attendance. I am never asked about anything but surface level questions. Like how my job is every week? Nothing changes and we’ve been at this church for five months now.
My husband agrees with me. But he’s sad about trying a different church because he has friends there.
They have a women’s ministry, but I don’t need to be spoon fed the same proverbs 31 Bible study for the 100,000th time in my life. I want lessons. I want to learn deeper biblical truth instead of the same patriarchal practices I’ve been around my entire life. This makes me sad about what we’ve boiled biblical womanhood down to.
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I met my husband, the son of a reformed pastor, last year. He is amazing and everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We have the same goals and wants for our lives. We just fit perfectly. Until church comes into play.
My husband is outgoing and friendly. He could make friends with anyone. We started visiting churches after moving recently and he really took a liking to this PCA church. I felt like from the second they heard that his father was a pastor, the church members and leaders grabbed onto him. He gets invited somewhere every week. Has conversations with the pastor. Meanwhile, I’m ignored.
I have tried to talk to these people. Tried to relate. Inserted myself in my husbands outings, and to no avail. They have no interest in getting to know me. There have been instances where they have forgotten my name after weeks of attendance. I am never asked about anything but surface level questions. Like how my job is every week? Nothing changes and we’ve been at this church for five months now.
My husband agrees with me. But he’s sad about trying a different church because he has friends there.
They have a women’s ministry, but I don’t need to be spoon fed the same proverbs 31 Bible study for the 100,000th time in my life. I want lessons. I want to learn deeper biblical truth instead of the same patriarchal practices I’ve been around my entire life. This makes me sad about what we’ve boiled biblical womanhood down to.
2024.05.10 06:40 BGodInspired Can Letting Go of the Past Truly Propel Us Toward Our Future Goals?
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Are you ready to take this challenge? Let’s embark on this journey together, pressing forward, and aiming high. Remember, in every step, God is with you, cheering you on, offering His guidance and strength. Press on, dear friend, for the prize is glorious, and the journey is worth every effort.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
Source =
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Introduction: Finding Your Stride in Faith
Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads, looking back at past mistakes or pondering the what-ifs? It’s a common experience for many of us. Yet, there’s a powerful passage in the Bible, Philippians 3:13-14, that serves as a beacon of hope and guidance for those yearning to focus on the journey ahead. This discussion aims to unlock the treasures within these verses, offering insights and encouragement for pressing forward with faith and tenacity.The Heart of Philippians 3:13-14
In Philippians 3:13-14, Apostle Paul shares an intimate moment of reflection and determination with his readers. He says, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Let’s unravel this rich tapestry of words to discover the profound lessons hidden within.Embracing the Future with Open Arms
- Forgetting What is Behind: Paul emphasizes the importance of letting go of the past. This doesn’t mean ignoring our experiences, but rather, not allowing them to hinder our future progress. It’s about learning from our journeys, each stumble, and victory, then moving forward with wisdom.
- Straining Toward What is Ahead: This vivid imagery of straining illustrates the effort and dedication required to pursue our goals. The Christian life is depicted as a race, demanding focus, endurance, and the relentless pursuit of what lies ahead—our heavenly calling in Christ.
The Goal and The Prize
Paul’s “goal” and “prize” reference the ultimate objective for every believer: to live in a manner worthy of the call we’ve received in Christ and attain the eternal prize—salvation and eternal life with God. This pursuit encompasses our entire being and all aspects of our lives, urging us to live intentionally and purposefully in faith and service.Applying Philippians 3:13-14 to Your Life
- Identify what “past” you need to release to move forward. It could be regret, a failure, or even a success you’ve become too comfortable in.
- Set your eyes on your spiritual goals. What areas in your faith journey need more attention? How can you grow closer to God?
- Commit to pressing on, no matter the difficulties. Recognize that the journey will have challenges but remember the prize worth pursuing.
Conclusion: Your Journey Ahead
Philippians 3:13-14 isn’t just about forgetting the past; it’s a call to action for living a life that’s ever-reaching toward the future that God has prepared for us. It encourages us to shake off the burdens that hold us back and to run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let these verses inspire you to press on, to aim for excellence in your faith, and to never stop pursuing the heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.Are you ready to take this challenge? Let’s embark on this journey together, pressing forward, and aiming high. Remember, in every step, God is with you, cheering you on, offering His guidance and strength. Press on, dear friend, for the prize is glorious, and the journey is worth every effort.
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
Source =
2024.05.10 05:36 The_Way358 Essential Teachings: The Political and Cultural Context of the New Testament
The End of the Old Testament
Beginning in 606 BC, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon launched the first of three successive attacks upon the city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. During the second attack (597 BC), Ezekiel, Daniel, and about 10,000 other inhabitants of Jerusalem were carried into captivity. During the third attack (587-586 BC) Jerusalem was completely destroyed. Her walls were broken down. The gates were burned. The temple was destroyed. The city was left desolate in shambles.While in captivity, Daniel foretold that the Babylonian Empire would be overtaken by the Medes and the Persians, the Medes and the Persians would be conquered by the Greeks, the Greeks would be conquered by the Maccabeans (Hasmoneans), and the Hasmoneans would be conquered by the Romans. The Romans later installed the Herodians as vassal (or "client") kings of Rome over Judea. Daniel further foretold that the establishment of the kingdom of God would take place during the days of the this mixed empire (Dan. 2:41-44); this empire began near the end of the "intertestamental period," spilling over into the times of the New Testament.
The Intertestamental Period
The time between the last writings of the Old Testament and the appearance of Christ is known as the “intertestamental” (or “between the testaments”) period. It lasted from the prophet Malachi’s time (about 400 BC) to the preaching of John the Baptist (about AD 25). The political, religious, and social atmosphere of Israel changed significantly during this period. Again, much of what happened was predicted by the prophet Daniel. (See Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8, and 11 and compare to historical events.)Israel was under the control of the Persian Empire about 539–332 BC. The Persians allowed the Jews to practice their religion with little interference. They were even allowed to rebuild and worship at the temple (2 Chron. 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4). This span of time included the last 100 years of the Old Testament period and about the first 100 years of the intertestamental period. This time of relative peace and contentment was just the calm before the storm.
During the intertestamental period, Alexander the Great defeated Darius of Persia, bringing Greek rule to the world. Alexander was a student of Aristotle and was well-educated in Greek philosophy and politics. Alexander required that Greek culture be promoted in every land that he conquered. As a result, the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, becoming the translation known as the Septuagint. Most of the New Testament references to Old Testament Scripture use the Septuagint phrasing. Alexander did allow religious freedom for the Jews, though he still strongly promoted Greek lifestyles. This was not a good turn of events for Israel, since the Greek culture was very worldly, humanistic, and ungodly. As a result, many in the Jewish population would begin to adopt increasingly Hellenistic views and ways of thinking about God and the Scriptures.
After Alexander died, Judea was ruled by a series of successors, culminating in the Selucid king Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus did far more than refuse religious freedom to the Jews. Around 167 BC, he overthrew the rightful line of the priesthood and desecrated the temple, defiling it with unclean animals and a pagan altar (see Mark 13:14 for a similar event to take place in the then future). Antiochus’ act was the religious equivalent of rape. Eventually, Jewish resistance to Antiochus, led by Judas Maccabeus and the Hasmoneans, restored Jewish priests and rescued the temple. The period of the Maccabean Revolt was one of war, violence, and infighting.
Around 63 BC, Pompey of Rome conquered Israel, putting all of Judea under control of the Caesars. This eventually led to Herod being made the vassal (or "client") king of Judea by the Roman emperor and senate. This is the nation that taxed and controlled the Jews and eventually executed the Messiah on a Roman cross. Roman, Greek, and Hebrew cultures were now mixed together in Judea.
The years of Herod’s rule were a time of turmoil for the Jewish people. He was an Idumean. His ancestors had been forced to convert to Judaism, but the Jews never accepted Herod. In fact, they resented him. He was the representative of a foreign power. Scheming, jealous, and cruel, he killed two of his own wives and at least three of his own sons. Just five days before his own death, Herod had his oldest son, Antipater, put to death. Augustus once said that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son (a wordplay, since the Greek words for pig, hus, and for son, huios, sound very much alike). His relations with Rome were sometimes troubled due to the unsettled conditions in the empire. Herod was a strong supporter of Antony, though he could not tolerate Cleopatra with whom Antony had become enamored. When Antony was defeated by Octavian (31 BC), Herod pledged his full support to Octavian.
Herod proved himself an efficient administrator on behalf of Rome. He kept the peace among a people who were hard to rule. He was a cruel and merciless man. Yet, during a time of great famine, he used his own funds to feed the people. Among his many building projects in Jerusalem, his greatest contribution to the Jews was the beautification of the Temple in Jerusalem. This beautification seems to have largely been an attempt to conciliate his subjects. The Temple, decorated with white marble, gold, and jewels, became proverbial for its splendor: “Whoever has not seen the temple of Herod has seen nothing beautiful.”
It was during the reign of Herod that Jesus was born (Matt. 2:1-18, Luke 1:5). Herod was the king who ordered the execution of the male babies in Bethlehem, for fear of being usurped by the prophesied Messiah (Matt. 2:16-18).
Major Political Events of the New Testament
At his death (4 BC), Herod left his kingdom to three of his sons. Antipas became tetrarch (“ruler of a fourth”) of Galilee and Perea (4 BC–AD 39). Philip became tetrarch of the Gentile regions to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee (4 BC—AD 34). Archelaus was to be king of Judea and Samaria, but Rome refused to give him the title of king. He was ethnarch (“ruler of the people”) of these two territories. He proved to be a poor ruler and was deposed (6 AD). His territories were placed under the direct rule of Roman procurators under the control of the governor of Syria.John the Baptist rebuked Antipas for divorcing his wife in order to marry Herodias, the wife of Philip, his half brother. In retaliation, Herodias induced her dancing daughter to demand the head of John the Baptist. Antipas yielded to the grisly request (Mark 6:17-29, Matt. 14:3-12). Jesus once referred to Antipas as “that fox” (Luke 13:32). Later Jesus stood trial before him (Luke 23:7-12).
Except for brief periods, Roman governors ruled Archelaus’s former territory. The fifth procurator appointed to rule over Judea was Pontius Pilate, before whom Jesus stood trial prior to his crucifixion. Interestingly, three times Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent, yet he lacked the courage to set him free for fear of the angry mob whipped up by the enemies of Christ (John 18).
Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, executed James, the apostle and son of Zebedee, and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1-5). He was smitten of God when he accepted the praise of the people, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” Luke tells us that because “he gave not God the glory,” “the angel of the Lord smote him" and "he was eaten of worms," and died (Acts 12:21-23).
The governor Felix heard the apostle Paul preach the gospel and trembled at the word, yet postponed obeying the gospel (Acts 24–25). He hoped that Paul would bribe him with money, but Paul never did and remained a prisoner for two years under the governor Felix.
Festus, who took the place of Felix, also heard Paul’s case (Acts 25). Willing to do the Jews a favor, Festus suggested that Paul return to Jerusalem to stand trial. Being a Roman citizen, and knowing that the Jews intended to kill him, Paul appealed his case to Caesar.
This presented a problem for Festus. He had no choice but to send Paul to Rome. The problem was that he did not have any charges to write in the papers to accompany Paul to Rome. Thus, he asked Herod Agrippa II, great-grandson of Herod the Great, to listen to Paul’s self-defense and see if he could determine what charges should be written against Paul before sending his case to Rome. Agrippa heard Paul’s self-defense and was “almost” persuaded to become a Christian himself (Acts 26:28).
Upon the death of Festus, Albinis and then Florus were appointed governors of Judea. It was during Florus' reign that the Jewish revolt of AD 66-70 took place, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.
Groups, Peoples, and Philosophies of the Day
During the span of the Greek and Roman occupations, some important political/religious groups emerged in Israel. In a study of the New Testament, it is important to consider the historical background and significance of some of the Jewish groups in Palestine at the time, whose names are familiar as participants in the drama of early Christianity. These were the groups with whom Christ Jesus had to deal as he observed and often challenged their views. Entrenched in positions of authority and leadership through anciently established hierarchy, tradition, or inheritance, their resistance to change was almost inevitable.Most familiar of the New Testament parties and groups in political and religious life were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the scribes. The nationalistic and revolutionary Zealots are also mentioned. The Herodians were exclusively a political party, members and supporters of the family of the Herods, whose titular authority was permitted by Rome. Finally, there's the Galileeans and the Samaritans, who weren't necessarily attached to any of the aformentioned ideologies, but were citizens of their respective states.
Jews and Samaritans were to have no dealings with each other, so Samaritans technically had no dog in this fight between the Jews' themselves and their own ideologies, but it's important to mention them because they contribute to the narrative of the New Testament through Jesus' dealings with them, and his famous parable of "the Good Samaritan."
THE SADDUCEES
The Sadducees constituted a conservative priestly party among the Jews. Their name probably derived from Zadok, the high priest who anointed Solomon as king (1 Kings 1:39). Comprised of high-priestly families from the Jewish aristocracy, who had come into power largely during the Maccabean War, they were educated and wealthy men, fairly few but wielding great power. No man who was unable to trace his descent from a priestly family could offer sacrifice in the Temple. The Sadducees represented the aristocrats and the wealthy. The Sadducees, who wielded power through the Sanhedrin, rejected all but the Mosaic books of the Old Testament. They refused to believe in resurrection and were generally shadows of the Greeks, whom they greatly admired.
While upholding the spread of Greek culture, the Sadducees stressed the letter of the Mosaic Law, or Torah. They denied the authority even of ancient tradition, and rejected the current concepts of angels, immortality, resurrection, and final judgment (Mark 12:18‐27, Acts 4:1-2; 23:8). They jealously guarded Temple worship and sacrificial rites, objecting to Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, which infringed their religious authority. After the destruction of the Second (or Herod's) Temple in 70 AD, when the Jewish state came to an end, their sway virtually ceased. In the absence of the Temple, the office of priest became obsolete, to be succeeded by that of the rabbi in the synagogue.
THE PHARISEES
It was when the people were in exile, Solomon's Temple having been destroyed, that the need arose for local gathering places, which became the forerunners of the synagogue. Even after some of the exiles returned to Palestine, and the Second (or Zerubbabel's) Temple was built, the continued dispersion of many Jews and the demand for Scriptural knowledge that came with the religious reformation of Ezra and Nehemiah made the synagogue and its school increasingly necessary. In New Testament times they prevailed in all cities and towns where Jewish people resided.
The beginnings of Pharisaism go back to the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, who lived about 450 years before the New Testament era. Ezra did much to bring stability to his nation in a period of downfall and discouragement. He upheld two main concepts, which formed, as it were, the heart of Pharisaism. First, he erected a distinct barrier between Jew and Gentile. The Jews he regarded as God's holy people. Intermarriage between them and others of mixed ancestry', such as the Samaritans, was not to be tolerated. Also, he made the Law of Moses the central point of Jewish religion, virtually establishing it as the constitution of the Jewish people.
In their objection to the Hellenizing of Judaism, after the rise of Alexander the Great, many Jews became even more strict in their desire to maintain the purity of their law and tradition. Thus it is easy to see how they came to be called Pharisees (Hebrew Perushim), meaning literally "separatists." These were the ones who adopted, or popularized, a prescriptive method of interpreting the Law of Moses, as opposed to the "descriptive wisdom" methodology of Jesus as seen in the New Testament.
Contributing a democratic influence in Judaism, Pharisees were basically laymen, coming from all walks of life, often including scribes and priests. Like the Sadducees, they sought to uphold the Mosaic Law, but their concern was to adapt its teachings to current situations, and their influence was primarily in the synagogue.
Much of the strength of Pharisaism came from the adaptability of this movement to changing conditions, a tendency which helped in preparing for Christianity. It was the Pharisees who were largely responsible for taking the Messianic idea and keeping it alive in the hopes of the people. Also, it was they who upheld the belief in immortality and the resurrection, to which the Sadducees took great exception. Unlike the Zealots, they generally rejected violence as a means to national liberation.
While modern research is providing justification for more favorable opinions concerning the Pharisees' role in history, there was ample room for Jesus' repeated denunciations of the abuses and inconsistencies he observed. The Pharisees added to the Law of Moses through oral tradition and eventually considered their own laws more important than God’s (Mark 7:1-23). While Christ’s teachings often agreed with the Pharisees, he railed against their hollow legalism and lack of compassion. Nevertheless, Pharisees such as Nicodemus (John 3:1; 19:39), Gamaliel (Acts 5:34) and his famous pupil, Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3) certainly represented the highest thought in Judaism.
THE SCRIBES
The powerful seventy-one-member Sanhedrin or Council, the highest Jewish court, was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees, with the high priest as president.
The scribes, strictly speaking, formed a legal profession rather than a party. They—and a nearly identical group, the lawyers—were usually Pharisees, though occasionally there were Sadducean scribes as well. They were professional teachers who were interpreters and transcribers of the Law at a time when hand-copying was the only method of preserving any document.
So insistent were the Jews upon maintaining the absolute accuracy of their sacred Scriptures that the work of the scribes demanded exceptional skill and mastery of the text. The Jews considered the Law of Moses to be the infallible standard, God's own law. It was their national, civil, moral, and religious law in one.
The scribes not only transmitted but contributed to "the tradition of the elders"—an ever-increasing body of legalistic detail, which, when committed to writing, formed the Talmud.
It was usual for the scribes to have another occupation to supplement their unpaid teaching and writing work. Their work combined the many functions of judge, lawyer, preacher, teacher, and scholar. The office of the scribe gradually merged into that of the rabbi, for when the canon of the Old Testament was finally settled in 90 AD—largely the result of the Pharisees' work—the need for the scribes as interpreters of the Law diminished.
There are many references to scribes in the Old Testament, but clearly "Ezra the scribe" (Neh. 8:1; 12:26) was the true antecedent of those referred to in the New.
THE ZEALOTS
The Zealots were members of a first-century political movement among Judean Jews who sought to overthrow the occupying Roman government. The word zealot derives from the Greek zelotes, meaning “emulator or (zealous) follower.”
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the Zealots “agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord" (Antiquities 18.1.6).
Hezekiah, under whose leadership the Zealots arose, was martyred by Herod. Their appearance on the political horizon of Palestine came early in the Roman occupation. According to Josephus, they "were particularly active in AD 6 during the revolt of Judas of Gamala, in Galilee, who maintained that compliance with the Roman demand for a census would constitute an act of enslavement 'among Palestinians." Josephus was apparently unaware of the role played by Hezekiah in the rise of the Zealots. This appears from his reference to Judas as their author.
They "were most influential in Galilee and later in Jerusalem, especially from the time of Herod (37 BC –AD 4) until the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70)."
"They refused to pay taxes and considered it a sin to acknowledge loyalty to Ceasar." They "harassed the Roman administration with every means at their disposal." They "relentlessly opposed the Roman attempt to bring Judea under her idolatrous rule."
It was from among the Zealots that the extreme Sicarri arose. The Sicarii were famous for hiding their daggers in their cloaks and using them to secretly target their enemies during the festivals (Antiquities 20.8.10). Some sources make a sharp distinction between the Zealots and the Sicarii, while others do not. It seems fair to say that the Sicarii were part of the Zealot movement, but not all Zealots were Sicarii. Thus, “Zealot” was an umbrella term for the revolutionaries who rebelled against Rome.
Some sources say that those who belonged to the family dynasty of Hezekiah were all Sicarii. Wikipedia designates the Sicarii as “a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots.” The Sicarii are mentioned in Acts 21:38, where Paul was asked if he was the Egyptian who had led 4000 assassins (or “dagger-bearers”) into the wilderness.
Of importance in New Testament history, the Zealots led a rebellion when Rome introduced imperial cult worship. The Great Jewish Revolt began in AD 66. The Zealots successfully overtook Jerusalem, but their revolt was ultimately unsuccessful. In AD 70, the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. A remnant of the Zealots then took refuge in Masada.
Josephus records many of the atrocities committed by the Zealots when they possessed Jerusalem, blaming them for being the ones truly responsible for its destruction, as the city was left quite desolate and chaotic by the time the Roman general Titus even came to finish it off.
It is my belief that there are, in fact, 5 kingdoms which precede the kingdom of God in Daniel chapter 2, and not 4, as commonly taught. It is also my belief that the fourth kingdom was the Hasmonean (Maccabean) Dynasty, and that the fifth kingdom (thus, the "Beast" of Revelation; see Daniel 7) wasn't Rome, but apostate Israel instead. It is my belief that the Beast represents apostate Israel as a whole, the culmination of which was the Zealots. This explains how it had authority over every nation (the Jewish Diaspora) and how it conquered the saints (same). The Zealots were just a symptom of the disease, but John’s vision focuses on them more because they were the ones who brought about the eschatological war.
THE HERODIANS
The Herodians held political power, and most scholars believe that they were a political party that supported King Herod Antipas, the Roman Empire’s ruler over much of the land of the Jews from 4 BC to AD 39. The Herodians favored submitting to the Herods, and therefore to Rome, for political expediency. This support of Herod compromised Jewish independence in the minds of the Pharisees, making it difficult for the Herodians and Pharisees to unite and agree on anything. But one thing did unite them—opposing Jesus. Herod himself wanted Jesus dead (Luke 13:31), and the Pharisees had already hatched plots against him (John 11:53), so they joined efforts to achieve their common goal.
The first appearance of the Herodians in Scripture is Mark 3:6, "And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." Jesus had been doing miracles, which caused some of the people to believe in him for salvation, and that threatened the power and position of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians. The Herodians again joined with the Pharisees to challenge Jesus, to see if they could trap Jesus in his words by a trick question, to either discredit him or to get him to stop preaching (Matt. 22:15-22).
Jesus regarded the two groups as in unity against him and warned his followers against them: "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." (Mark 8:15b). Yeast in this context is false teaching, the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, and hypocrisy. Many scholars believe that the Herodians looked to Herod as a messiah, a savior of sorts who would put the Jewish land in favor with the Roman Empire and bring blessings to them. Jesus’ presentation of himself as the Messiah was a threat to the Herodians' attempt to make Herod the influential political power in the land.
In the then future (now past; we're Preterists), the Bible tells us that many would be deceived by an Antichrist figure and would view this Antichrist as a "messiah." He would be a political leader as well as a false religious leader, and he would promise peace and prosperity through policy. The Herodians at the time of Jesus were also focused on political goals rather than the eternal goals that Jesus proclaimed. They thought Herod might bring peace politically. But Jesus came to bring us salvation from our sins. The lesson we learn from the error of the Herodians is that we are not to trust in man's devices or politicians, as they trusted in Herod (Psa. 118:8). We are to put our trust in the Lord.
THE GALILEEANS
A Galilean was an inhabitant of the area in Israel near the Sea of Galilee. In the time of Christ, Galilee was the northernmost of the three provinces of Israel, above Samaria in the middle and Judea in the south. Approximately 700 years before Christ, Galilee’s Israelite inhabitants were conquered by Assyria. Most of the Jews living there were relocated to Assyria, while non-Jewish immigrants moved into Galilee (2 Kin. 15:29–17:24). This is why the Bible sometimes refers to the area as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Isa. 9:1, Matt. 4:13-16).
Judeans tended to look down on Galileans, viewing them as uneducated and of questionable ancestry (John 1:46; 7:52). Galileans also had a reputation of being rabble-rousers, as they often took part in protests and uprisings against the Roman occupiers. It is significant that Jesus grew up in Galilee (Matt. 2:19‐23) and in Galilee recruited most of his disciples, started his ministry, and performed his first miracles (Matt. 4:17-23, John 2:11). Being Galilean, Jesus “was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isa. 53:3).
We see glimpses in Scripture of how Galilee may have been a trouble spot for Roman rule. Gamaliel mentioned a failed revolt led by “Judas the Galilean” in Acts 5:37. In Luke 13:1-3, some people told Jesus about an incident involving Galileans: “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices” (vs. 1). Neither Scripture nor secular history gives any more details regarding this massacre, but it is likely that the Galileans, visiting Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, had been caught up in a nationalistic fervor and started a commotion on the temple mount. The Roman governor Pilate quickly and violently quelled the disturbance, killing the Galileans along with their sacrificial animals, perhaps as a public demonstration of how violators must “atone” for their “sins” against Rome.
Jesus responded to hearing about the massacre of the Galileans with a warning: “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2b-3). Instead of conjecturing on the Galileans’ sin, Jesus said to his audience that they needed take care of their own sin. They all needed to repent.
Peter, being a Galilean, spoke in a northern Aramaic dialect, and his accent and vocabulary gave him away when he was trying to remain anonymous on the night of Jesus’ arrest. As Peter was sitting in a courtyard during one of Jesus’ trials, a servant girl came up to him and said, “Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee” (Matt. 26:69c). Later, another servant girl said, “This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth” (vs. 71). A short time later, others said to Peter, “Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee” (vs. 73). Galileans naturally stood out to the people of Jerusalem.
The fact that Jesus lived and ministered in Galilee is yet another example of his identification with those the world rejects. He came to seek and to save the lost. Those who follow his example will likewise proclaim his message and live out his teachings among culture’s outcasts and minister to “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40).
THE SAMARITANS
A Samaritan was a person from Samaria, a region north of Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea shunned the Samaritans, viewing them as a mixed race who practiced an impure, half-pagan religion.
Samaritans, as a people distinct from the Jews, are first mentioned in the Bible during the time of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 4:17, Neh. 2:10). Both Ezra chapter 4 and a fifth-century BC Aramaic set of documents called the Elephantine Papyri point to a schism between the Jews and Samaritans during this Persian period.
The Samaritans saw themselves as the keepers of the Torah and the true descendants of Israel, from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. They had their own unique copy of the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses, and believed they alone preserved the original Mosaic religion. Samaritans also had a unique religious system and established their primary worship site on Mount Gerizim. They considered the Jerusalem temple and the Levitical priesthood illegitimate.
The historian Josephus and Jewish tradition trace the origin of the Samaritans to the captivity of the northern kingdom under Assyria in 721 BC. Jews of the northern kingdom intermarried with Assyrians after the captivity and produced the half-Jewish, half-Gentile Samaritan race. When the Jews accused Jesus of being a “Samaritan” in John 8:48, they were rudely suggesting that he was a half-breed, born of an unfaithful mother.
In New Testament times, the Jews despised Samaritans and would have nothing to do with them. The Samaritans were still living primarily around Mount Gerizim (John 4:1-42), but also kept to their own villages (Matt. 10:5, Luke 9:52). Scripture mentions encounters with Samaritans in towns bordering Samaria (Luke 17:11-19) and on roads between Jerusalem and Jericho (Luke 10:29-37).
Jesus met with difficulty when ministering to people in Samaritan villages (Luke 9:52-53) and at one point told his disciples not to enter them (Matt. 10:5-6). Nonetheless, Christ shared the good news with Samaritans, ministering to a Samaritan woman (John 4:4-26) and healing a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19).
The most recognized Samaritan in the Bible is the one in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). A Jewish legal expert had put Jesus to the test, asking him to explain the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself”; specifically, he asked Jesus to define the word neighbor.
That’s when Jesus told his parable of a man in need, portraying the Samaritan as the hero in the story. In the lawyer’s eyes, the Samaritan was the least likely candidate to act lovingly and compassionately to his neighbor. As intended, the story shocked Christ’s audience of prejudiced Jews. Jesus showed that authentic love must transcend all human boundaries of race, religion, nationality, economic class, and educational status.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be his witnesses in Samaria. In Acts chapter 8 the prophecy was fulfilled, and Samaria became an early mission field for the spreading of the Church.
The Shammaite and Hillelite Interpretations of Mosaic Law
Shammai and Hillel were two influential Jewish rabbis whose commentaries on the Torah shaped Jewish theology and philosophy for hundreds of years. The Shammaite and Hillelite schools were the two dominant approaches to Jewish Law during the years of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Unfortunately, the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD resulted in the loss of most records relating to the debates between these two groups. The Hillelite school quickly gained dominance after the Temple was razed, so much of what we know about first-century Hillelite and Shammaite law comes exclusively from later Hillelite writers. These writers portray the Shammaite-Hillelite divide in a manner similar to modern two-party politics, with each side seemingly bound and determined to contradict the other on everything.According to tradition, Shammai was a Pharisee who taught in the years just prior to Jesus’ birth. In his commentary on the Law, he emphasized the need for Temple rituals, and his interpretation is characterized as strict, literalist, and Israel-centric. The school that followed those interpretations is referred to as the Shammaite interpretation of Jewish Law.
Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Shammai, was less concerned with temple worship. His commentary is seen as being more liberal, tolerant, and accepting of Gentiles. Hillel was also known for codifying traditional patterns for exegesis into seven individual rules. His Hillelite school was a rival to the Shammaite approach. After the destruction of the Temple, the influence of the Shammaite school faded, and Hillel’s philosophy became the dominant approach to Jewish Law for more than 400 years.
Scholars are unsure how many of the differences between the Shammaite and Hillelite schools are factual and how many are the products of revisionist history. While Jewish scholars prior to 70 AD make frequent reference to the disagreements between these two groups, the vast majority of surviving records are from Hillelite writers. It’s possible that the Hillelites exaggerated some of the differences between Shammai and Hillel in order to portray Hillel in a more heroic light.
Even with such open questions, it’s clear that the interplay between Shammai and Hillel influenced Judaism during the early Christian era. The rivalry between the two schools greatly contributed to Judaism’s growing belief that the oral law—such as promoted in the Shammaite or Hillelite schools—was as authoritative as the written Torah.
Some scholars debate which school, Shammaite or Hillelite, had a greater influence on the theology of the New Testament. Jesus’ restrictive rules on divorce echo those of Shammai, while Hillel allowed for a wider range of acceptable reasons to end a marriage. Jesus also phrased the “Golden Rule” using a more challenging, positive expression, in contrast to Hillel’s lighter, negative expression of the same basic idea. At the same time, Jesus was welcoming of non-Jewish people and often castigated the Pharisees for their excessive legalism. The fact is that Jesus presented the truth, and his agreement with either Shammai or Hillel was secondary and coincidental. Jesus spoke the Father’s Word, and his teaching cannot be seen as a defense of any rabbi (John 12:49).
There is also an academic debate over the influence of Shammai and Hillel on the theology of the apostle Paul. On one hand, Paul was a student of Gamaliel, who came from the Hillelite school and might have even been Hillel’s grandson. But, prior to his conversion, Paul (Saul) was hardly a tolerant, Gentile-friendly Pharisee. Rather, in opposition to Gamaliel’s teaching, Paul took a severe stance. And in his letters Paul expresses an Israel-centric, all-or-nothing obedience to the Law (Rom. 3:19-28; cp. James 2:10), which many scholars would identify more with Shammai. Of course, as he was writing inspired Scripture, Paul was not concerned with what rabbi might have had a past influence upon him; he was “moved by the Holy Ghost” and wrote what the Spirit wanted (2 Pet. 1:21).
The Ediomite Lineage of Christ's Enemies
Around 63 BC, the Roman Triumvirate Pompey brought Judea under Roman Rule. He pushed all the Jews into the areas of Gallilee, Jericho and Jersalem. Then he settled Greeks and Syrians in the rest of the land of Palestine. Originally, Galilee was settled by the tribe of Benjamin who always followed the tribe of Judah.A few years earlier, Hyrcanus, a descendant of the Maccabees, conquered the land of Idumea. Idumea was the home land of the Edomites. He forced all the Edomites to be circumcised and follow the Jewish laws.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1903 edition, says under the heading Edom:
The Edomites were the descendants of Esau. Esau married into the families of the Canaanites. The Canaanites were the people that God told Moses and the Israelites to kill and drive out of the land of Canaan. They were warned never to mix or marry with the Canaanites. God gave Edom the land south of Judea. They were driven westward by the Natabeans to the area that became Idumea. Their border was only 19 miles from Jerusalem."They were then incorporated with the Jewish nation, and their country was called by the Greeks and Romans “Idumea” . . . From this time the Idumeans ceased to be a separate nation, though the name “Idumea” still existed (in) the time of Jerome."
Flavus Josephus who lived from 37 AD to 100 AD confirms Edomite occupation in southern Judea:
The word “Jews” in Scripture often refers to the inhabitants of the land of Judea. But it can also mean the tribe of Judah in some cases, or those who simply follow the Jewish religion (Judaism). The name for the land of Palestine was called Judea because they combined the name Judah and Idumea.“That country is also called Judea, and the people Jews; and this name is given also to as many as embrace their religion (Judaism), though of other nations. But then upon what foundation so good a governor as Hyrcanus (grandson of Mattathias patriarch of the Maccabees, a family of Judahite patriots of 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.) took upon himself to compel these Idumeans (Edomites) either to become Jews or to leave their country, deserves great consideration. I suppose it was because they had long ago been driven out of the land of Edom, and had SEIZED ON AND POSSESSED THE TRIBE OF SIMEON (their land not the people), AND ALL THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, WHICH WAS THE PECULIAR INHERITANCE OF THE WORSHIPERS OF THE TRUE GOD WITHOUT IDOLATRY…”
Now at the time of the Messiah, the Sadducees were in control of the Temple. Pharisees were the synagogue leaders. According to the Ency. Britannica and Philo, there were 6,000 Pharisees during the time of the Messiah.
Some had to be non-Jews and Edomites. When Herod came to power, he solidified his position by bringing in relatives from Idumea and appointing many non-Jews to important positions. And he killed the entire Sanhedrin except Hillel and Shammai. Herod was practicing Judaism, as many Edomites and Nabateans had been commingled with the Jews and adopted their customs.
The Edomites were called the Herodians in Scripture, and were politically aligned with Herod. As shown earlier, they plotted with the Pharisees to kill the Messiah.
The Bible also shows that some of the Pharisees were Edomites. Notice the verse below:
"They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?"-John 8:33The Pharisees told the Messiah that they had never gone into bondage. This could only apply to the Edomites because the tribe of Judah was taken into captivity in around 586 BC by Babylon. They would have never told the Messiah that they never went into captivity. This verse proves that the Edomites were mixed among the Pharisees.
In the time of Christ, there were two Sanhedrins operating in Jerusalem, the first of which was a 23-member court run by the Sadducees that handled local affairs. Its larger counterpart, the Great Sanhedrin, was comprised of 70 elders with a president, who in the time of Jesus was Gamaliel. Acts 5:25 shows this group and the Great Sanhedrin coming together to discuss the problem of the Christians. The Great Sanhedrin functioned much like a combination of the Senate and Supreme Court, and most of its members at the time of the crucifixion were Pharisees from the school of Shammai.
You will note in the Book of Acts that Gamaliel, the president of the Great Sanhedrin, encouraged tolerance of the Christians. But because he and his followers were outnumbered by the aristocratic Sadducees and the Shammai-oriented Pharisees, the Great Sanhedrin ultimately elected to persecute the Christians. At the trial of Jesus before the elders of Israel, Gamaliel may not have been present. If he had, the circumstances may have turned out quite differently. The trial held to try Jesus was hurriedly assembled and included almost across the board members who were either Sadducees, or else Pharisees from the school of Shammai. It is possible that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea represented the school of Hillel.
Conclusion
It's important to keep in mind when studying all this that Jesus came to establish the New Covenant, which is about a heavenly Jerusalem, not an earthly one like the Zealots and Pharisees of Jesus' day thought or like how Zionists today think: "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21). Jesus even said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36b).2024.05.10 05:36 Rude_Nobody_5650 Hear me NOW!
So im currently still a member of Inc, l have post here before on this si subReddit. So ayun nag dadalawang isip pa din ako umalis dito.
Handog kasi ako, and I still have hope na sana bumalik ang dating Inc na kilala ko. Iba kasi noong ang Inc eh, lalo na sa time ni ka erdy. I would dis agree na sasabihin nila na cultic ang time ng pamamahala ni ka erdy, kasi noon very spiritual yung time nag kanyang pamamahala. Hindi yun about sa pera, at grabe yung mga lesson very noon very related about sa God,tamang buhay Kristiyano, How to overcome your problems, Bible story and thier lesson at paano mo ito e apply sa current days na meron tayo ngayon. Basta puno puno ako ng spiritual essence at that time, at my Young age pa noong bata pa ako noon ha, ramdam ko talaga ang pagiging Inc, parang feeling ko nga e mas malapit pa ako noon sa dios kesa ngayon.
Problema kasi ngayon kaya nawawalan kayo ng miyembro is D kayo transparent, tapos mga issue na pinaparatang sa inyo D nyo sinasagutan.
Tsaka anu yang philippine arena? Kala ko ba for WS lang yan ba’t ang dami na nag concert dyan? Anyare?
Please hear this out. This is a wake UP call sa inyo, masmarami pang mawawala ngayong miyembro sa inyo lalo na graduating na mga 4th college's ngayon at di tatagal e nakakahanap yan ng mga trabaho at nakaka tayo sa sarili nilang mga paa at aalis na sa pagiging Inc, ngayon kasi nasa silong pa kami ng aming mga magulang.
This is a wake up call for you, and I still have hopes na sana bums lol na sa dati ang Inc ma nakilala ko.
Gusto yung dati na sisimba ako dahil sa May dios na nag aantay sa akin.
Hindi yung sisimba ako dahil pag pag hindi e May dadalaw sa akin at sasabihin ma may tanging handogan worldwide, d man lang kinamusta ang buhay namin ang sitwason namin kung at kung bakit d kami naka simba anu dahilan May problema ba sa financial or May sakit ba sa pamilyang nyo?
At yung panalangin more pa binibigkas name ni AVM kesa sa mga sitwason ng mga kapatid and so on so for.
Ramadan ko na talaga na pa hirap na pa hirap na kayo dito kasi sa locale namin mag rereklamo na ang ministro e 1 time ksi May puking isang diakono lang dumating.
Sa sobrang busy ngayon sa buhay at hirap sa buhay, d nyo pwde e force yung tao na parating unahin ang pagsamba. Nanalangin po kami sa dios na sana "tulungan po kami, lalo na pagdating sa financial"
Wag nyo sabi na Baka na bulag na kami sa pera bcz in the first place unang pumapasok sa aming utak eh kung paano kami makapaghandog ng Malaki kung ganto lang income namin, tapos May world wide tanging handogan pa at pang local and so on so for.
Dapat kasi d na kayo Makiki sabay pa. d nmn tinitignan ng dios ang halaga ng handog, kundi kung ano laman ng puso.
(Baka sabihin nyo...I forgot the verse on the Bible )
"Yung babae nga naghandog nang higit pa, na kung saan e yun na sana ang bubuhay sa kanya sa isang araw"
Well first of all iba na ang panahon noon at ngayon, at d ako babae "PAMINTA PO AKO💅🏼" ahahaha
submitted by Rude_Nobody_5650 to exIglesiaNiCristo [link] [comments]
Handog kasi ako, and I still have hope na sana bumalik ang dating Inc na kilala ko. Iba kasi noong ang Inc eh, lalo na sa time ni ka erdy. I would dis agree na sasabihin nila na cultic ang time ng pamamahala ni ka erdy, kasi noon very spiritual yung time nag kanyang pamamahala. Hindi yun about sa pera, at grabe yung mga lesson very noon very related about sa God,tamang buhay Kristiyano, How to overcome your problems, Bible story and thier lesson at paano mo ito e apply sa current days na meron tayo ngayon. Basta puno puno ako ng spiritual essence at that time, at my Young age pa noong bata pa ako noon ha, ramdam ko talaga ang pagiging Inc, parang feeling ko nga e mas malapit pa ako noon sa dios kesa ngayon.
Problema kasi ngayon kaya nawawalan kayo ng miyembro is D kayo transparent, tapos mga issue na pinaparatang sa inyo D nyo sinasagutan.
Tsaka anu yang philippine arena? Kala ko ba for WS lang yan ba’t ang dami na nag concert dyan? Anyare?
Please hear this out. This is a wake UP call sa inyo, masmarami pang mawawala ngayong miyembro sa inyo lalo na graduating na mga 4th college's ngayon at di tatagal e nakakahanap yan ng mga trabaho at nakaka tayo sa sarili nilang mga paa at aalis na sa pagiging Inc, ngayon kasi nasa silong pa kami ng aming mga magulang.
This is a wake up call for you, and I still have hopes na sana bums lol na sa dati ang Inc ma nakilala ko.
Gusto yung dati na sisimba ako dahil sa May dios na nag aantay sa akin.
Hindi yung sisimba ako dahil pag pag hindi e May dadalaw sa akin at sasabihin ma may tanging handogan worldwide, d man lang kinamusta ang buhay namin ang sitwason namin kung at kung bakit d kami naka simba anu dahilan May problema ba sa financial or May sakit ba sa pamilyang nyo?
At yung panalangin more pa binibigkas name ni AVM kesa sa mga sitwason ng mga kapatid and so on so for.
Ramadan ko na talaga na pa hirap na pa hirap na kayo dito kasi sa locale namin mag rereklamo na ang ministro e 1 time ksi May puking isang diakono lang dumating.
Sa sobrang busy ngayon sa buhay at hirap sa buhay, d nyo pwde e force yung tao na parating unahin ang pagsamba. Nanalangin po kami sa dios na sana "tulungan po kami, lalo na pagdating sa financial"
Wag nyo sabi na Baka na bulag na kami sa pera bcz in the first place unang pumapasok sa aming utak eh kung paano kami makapaghandog ng Malaki kung ganto lang income namin, tapos May world wide tanging handogan pa at pang local and so on so for.
Dapat kasi d na kayo Makiki sabay pa. d nmn tinitignan ng dios ang halaga ng handog, kundi kung ano laman ng puso.
(Baka sabihin nyo...I forgot the verse on the Bible )
"Yung babae nga naghandog nang higit pa, na kung saan e yun na sana ang bubuhay sa kanya sa isang araw"
Well first of all iba na ang panahon noon at ngayon, at d ako babae "PAMINTA PO AKO💅🏼" ahahaha
2024.05.10 00:40 BGodInspired What Can Amos Teach Us About Justice and Righteousness Today?
https://bgodinspired.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1715293762.png
If you’ve ever felt the pull to stand up for what’s right or have been moved by the power of justice and truth, the story of Amos in the Bible is one you can’t afford to miss. Amos wasn’t your typical prophet; he was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore figs who was called by God to deliver a potent message of justice, righteousness, and the importance of true worship. This article will take you through the life and lessons of Amos, weaving through his humble beginnings to his powerful messages that resonate even today.
Engage with the story of Amos and more by exploring the Bible deeper. Share your thoughts and how you’re applying the lessons of Amos in your life in the comments below or join a community committed to living out the teachings of the Bible in today’s world. Let’s make a difference, one act of justice at a time!
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
Source =
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Discovering Diligence and Justice with Amos the Shepherd Prophet Introduction: Who Was Amos, and Why Does He Matter?
If you’ve ever felt the pull to stand up for what’s right or have been moved by the power of justice and truth, the story of Amos in the Bible is one you can’t afford to miss. Amos wasn’t your typical prophet; he was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore figs who was called by God to deliver a potent message of justice, righteousness, and the importance of true worship. This article will take you through the life and lessons of Amos, weaving through his humble beginnings to his powerful messages that resonate even today.The Message of Amos: A Call to Justice and Righteousness
At the heart of Amos’s prophecy is a compelling call to social justice and a return to genuine worship. Unlike his contemporaries, Amos’s background as a shepherd gave him a grounded perspective on the injustices suffered by the poor and marginalized. Through his words, we are reminded of the following poignant messages:- Justice should “roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24). This vivid imagery encourages us to envision a society where fairness and virtuousness are abundant and endlessly flowing.
- The importance of sincerity in worship. Amos criticized the empty rituals and complacencies of his society, urging a return to a worship that’s based on ethics, justice, and the love of God and neighbor.
- The consequences of ignoring social inequalities and the exploitation of the vulnerable. Through Amos’s visions, we are shown the dire outcomes of turning a blind eye to injustice.
Living Out the Lessons of Amos Today
Incorporating the teachings of Amos into our lives today can take many forms, but it starts with an understanding that our worship and faith ought to inspire a commitment to justice. Here’s how we can begin this journey:- By seeking to understand the injustices present in our communities and taking actionable steps to address them.
- Ensuring our worship is genuine and reflects a heart committed to God and His commandments, including love for our neighbor.
- Being stewards of the truth and standing up for righteousness, even when it’s challenging or unpopular.
Conclusion: Answering the Call of Amos in Our Lives
The prophet Amos’s story is a powerful testament to the impact one person can have when they courageously stand up for righteousness and justice. His life reminds us that regardless of our backgrounds or occupations, we are all called to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Let us be inspired by Amos to examine our hearts, our worship, and our actions in the world. May his prophetic words move us to become agents of change, tirelessly working towards a future where justice and righteousness are a reality for all. Are you ready to take up the mantle of Amos in your community? Let’s journey together towards a life of purpose, grounded in the timeless wisdom of God’s Word.Engage with the story of Amos and more by exploring the Bible deeper. Share your thoughts and how you’re applying the lessons of Amos in your life in the comments below or join a community committed to living out the teachings of the Bible in today’s world. Let’s make a difference, one act of justice at a time!
If you want to want to research more Bible Answers on your own, please try our Bible Answers GPT. It’s easy to get lost in the interesting responses you’ll find… every search is like a new treasure hunt 🙂
Source =
2024.05.09 23:25 Hot-Friendship-7545 Tim Keller's, The Meaning of Marriage, Chapter 8, The Glory of Sex
Hi All,
First, I would like to state as a Christian husband, the book had some great insights of a Christian marriage and I am thankful for the Kellers to author the Book. Second, I would like to present this text from the the last chapter and last section of Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage, because there was an interesting statement that Keller made, that brought me to meditate more on the Scripture.
"The Glory of Sex
Sex is glorious. We would know that even if we didn’t have the Bible. Sex leads us to words of adoration—it literally evokes shouts of joy and praise.
Through the Bible, we know why this is true. John 17 tells us that from all eternity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been adoring and glorifying each other, living in high devotion to each other, pouring love and joy into one another’s hearts continually (cf. John 1:18; 17:5, 21,24–25).
Sex between a man and a woman points to the love between the Father and the Son (1 Corinthians 11:3).
It is a reflection of the joyous self-giving and pleasure of love within the very life of the triune God. Sex is glorious not only because it reflects the joy of the Trinity but also because it points to the eternal delight of soul that we will have in heaven, in our loving relationships with God and one another. Romans 7:1ff tells us that the best marriages are pointers to the deep, infinitely fulfilling, and final union we will have with Christ in love. No wonder, as some have said, that sex between a man and a woman can be a sort of embodied out-of-body experience. It’s the most ecstatic, breathtaking, daring, scarcely-to-be-imagined look at the glory that is our future." - Keller
I respect the Word of God to be truth. My lesson from the book of Job has taught not to question God. With that said, Keller is not God and there are definitely some questions that arise from Keller's statement,
"Sex between a man and a woman points to the love between the Father and Son"
This statement is then referenced to 1 Corinthians 11:3:
"But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I wonder if this reference was misplaced or out of context. To me, it fits more under the relationship between the family and the church.
"the head of every man is Christ" This part emphasizes the authority and leadership of Christ over men, that men should submit to Christ's authority in their lives, both personally and within the church.
"the head of the woman is man" This part reveals a hierarchical relationship within marriage, where the husband is seen as the head of the wife. I do not see this within the context dominance or oppression, but within the context of mutual love, respect, and submission within marriage.
"the head of Christ is God" This part highlights the submission of Jesus Christ (head of man, Son of God) to God (the Father). It emphasizes the hierarchical relationship within the Trinity, with God the Father being the ultimate authority over all, including the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
I don't see anywhere in this text let alone the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians where it mentions the intimate act of sexual intercourse or orgasmic glorious sex. To me, orgasmic penis thrusting clitoris massaging glory doesn't point me to "Father and Son". Where does it state Father and Son in an eros context?
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
submitted by Hot-Friendship-7545 to TrueChristian [link] [comments]
First, I would like to state as a Christian husband, the book had some great insights of a Christian marriage and I am thankful for the Kellers to author the Book. Second, I would like to present this text from the the last chapter and last section of Keller's book, The Meaning of Marriage, because there was an interesting statement that Keller made, that brought me to meditate more on the Scripture.
Sex is glorious. We would know that even if we didn’t have the Bible. Sex leads us to words of adoration—it literally evokes shouts of joy and praise.
Through the Bible, we know why this is true. John 17 tells us that from all eternity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been adoring and glorifying each other, living in high devotion to each other, pouring love and joy into one another’s hearts continually (cf. John 1:18; 17:5, 21,24–25).
Sex between a man and a woman points to the love between the Father and the Son (1 Corinthians 11:3).
It is a reflection of the joyous self-giving and pleasure of love within the very life of the triune God. Sex is glorious not only because it reflects the joy of the Trinity but also because it points to the eternal delight of soul that we will have in heaven, in our loving relationships with God and one another. Romans 7:1ff tells us that the best marriages are pointers to the deep, infinitely fulfilling, and final union we will have with Christ in love. No wonder, as some have said, that sex between a man and a woman can be a sort of embodied out-of-body experience. It’s the most ecstatic, breathtaking, daring, scarcely-to-be-imagined look at the glory that is our future." - Keller
"Sex between a man and a woman points to the love between the Father and Son"
This statement is then referenced to 1 Corinthians 11:3:
"But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I wonder if this reference was misplaced or out of context. To me, it fits more under the relationship between the family and the church.
"the head of every man is Christ" This part emphasizes the authority and leadership of Christ over men, that men should submit to Christ's authority in their lives, both personally and within the church.
"the head of the woman is man" This part reveals a hierarchical relationship within marriage, where the husband is seen as the head of the wife. I do not see this within the context dominance or oppression, but within the context of mutual love, respect, and submission within marriage.
"the head of Christ is God" This part highlights the submission of Jesus Christ (head of man, Son of God) to God (the Father). It emphasizes the hierarchical relationship within the Trinity, with God the Father being the ultimate authority over all, including the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
2024.05.09 20:44 anon00088888 Be wary of sleeping with/dating ppl who will bring up past guilt from purity culture. Their attitude may set you back.
It’s a hard truth to digest but I’ve realized how important it is to be wary of sleeping with/dating ppl who will bring up past guilt from growing up in purity culture. Especially for us women. I just ended things with a guy I was seeing and truly had feelings for partly due to how he approached sex. We had sex on the first date, but he neglected to tell me about his feelings about sex and religion until after we’d slept together twice. We both shared the feeling that we rushed into sex too quickly, but it seems for different reasons. He told me he didn’t want to keep seeing me if I just wanted sex, and I agreed, thinking he was implying a future relationship. It was surprisingly emotional for me to discuss sex with him. I shared all of my religious trauma and how I do believe in god, just not the god my church led me to believe in. A quote that he later expressed he didn’t like was “I don’t believe that God would care who I slept with. I know I’m a good person, and there are so many unimaginable things happening in this world that are so much more important than whether I had consensual sex in a monogamous relationship before marriage.” I told him it wasn’t a deal breaker for me and that I’d wait to have sex again if he wanted. After we had this talk he told me that he really enjoyed having sex with me and he truly likes me as a person. That his feelings for me were not just lust, he knows that. Then he initiated sex. Afterwards he told me “it just keeps getting better and better.” There were other red flags I was seeing, and I could tell he was pulling away. When I ended things with him he told me that we have different goals in life. He wants someone who will encourage him to “be a better person” and that he thinks I couldn’t handle abstaining from sex. That we both want it, so it’ll happen. He said that even acts other than intercourse are still “lust” and therefore sin. He doesn’t think he could do it. This hurt me a lot. It makes me feel blamed for the decisions that we both made. That if I was just a good christian woman who wanted to wait we could work out. It made me feel so dirty and shameful of my natural sexual desire and needs. That was truly the only incompatibility we had, which is hard for me to see as a true incompatibility, bc we had amazing sexual chemistry. What I overlooked tho was how much it would’ve still weighed on me if we had continued seeing each other. It’s not my responsibility to keep him from sinning and he shouldn’t have put that on me. I know I’ll be okay and recover, it was just painful to have those feelings come back. I’ve learned now that it’s not someone being Christian that’s a dealbreaker, it’s their view on purity culture. Religious guilt is infectious. I believe there are lots of good lessons in the Bible to guide us, but that’s all it should be, gentle guidance. It was written by humans thousands of years ago and doesn’t always practically apply to modern life. I believe many churches have built an idol to sexual purity. Part of me continues to feel bad for him, bc I know this experience must’ve been confusing and difficult for him too. But I am entitled to continue staying on the path that makes me feel happy and comfortable, which is deconstruction.
TLDR: Be wary of someone who hasn’t fully worked through their own religious guilt regarding sex and neglects communicating this to you early on. Even if you have healed someone who hasn’t may put that guilt on you which can bring up intense feelings of shame from your past brought up in purity culture. Choose what’s best for yourself.
submitted by anon00088888 to exchristian [link] [comments]
TLDR: Be wary of someone who hasn’t fully worked through their own religious guilt regarding sex and neglects communicating this to you early on. Even if you have healed someone who hasn’t may put that guilt on you which can bring up intense feelings of shame from your past brought up in purity culture. Choose what’s best for yourself.
2024.05.09 20:01 ImADudeDuh 20th Century Piano Men: Greatest Hits (Billy/Elton/Stevie)
Intro
No one knows when the piano was invented. We have pianos surviving as early as 1726 and records of them existing by 1700, leaving their creation sometime in the late 17th century. However, it’s hard to imagine modern music without it. It’s a very versatile instrument, showing up in music from early ragtime and jazz to modern electronic and hip-hop. In the 20th century, it was a mainstay instrument in what we consider “pop music.” During that time, three men became ubiquitous with the instrument: Billy Joel, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder. I am ImADudeDuh and over the course of the next month, we will be determining which hit of these legends' is the best!Billy Joel
Billy Joel is so entwined with the piano that he is known as “The Piano Man.” With his father as a pianist and starting piano lessons at 4 years old, the piano and Billy have been together for most of his life. After not graduating high school, he made the choice to pursue a music career, eventually signing to Columbia records. His first hit single for the label was “Piano Man,” a song that perfectly defines his legacy for the next 50 years. Billy became known for his lyrical storytelling, his piano playing, and for being the quintessential New Yorker. Joel has sold out Madison Square Garden 100 times, with the 100th being the subject of a recent TV special.Records Sold: over 150 million #1 Hits: 3 Hot 100 Hits: 43 Platinum Albums: 20 Grammy Nominations: 23 Grammy Wins: 5 Specialties: heartfelt ballads, Motown-esque throwbacks, and love songs cheesier than a dish at an Italian restaurant.
Songs:
- Piano Man
- New York State of Mind
- Just the Way You Are
- Vienna
- Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
- Only the Good Die Young
- She's Always a Woman
- Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
- My Life
- You May Be Right
- It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
- Tell Her About It
- Uptown Girl
- The Longest Time
- We Didn't Start the Fire
- The River of Dreams
Elton John
Elton John is probably the most “relevant” artist of the three today, with him currently sitting at over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify. From albums of duets in 1993 and 2021, and soundtracking classic films like The Lion King and Gnomeo & Juliet, Elton has lent his talents to others, which may have helped keep up his musical prestige throughout the years. He’s a very versatile performer, dabbling in genres from glam rock to blues to country. In 2023, he received all the awards necessary to earn an EGOT. Elton is most known for his extravagant style of showmanship, but don’t let the feathers fool you, he can sing some heartbreaking songs.Records Sold: over 300 million #1 Hits: 9 Hot 100 Hits: 73 Platinum Albums: 31 Grammy Nominations: 35 Grammy Wins: 5 Specialties: doing the most on piano, doing the least on piano, and totally 100% heterosexual love songs
Songs:
- Your Song
- Tiny Dancer
- Rocket Man
- Crocodile Rock
- Daniel
- Saturday Night's Alright
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Candle in the Wind
- Bennie And the Jets
- The Bitch is Back
- Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee)
- Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word
- I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
- Nikita
- I'm Still Standing
- Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (with George Michael)
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder started his career by breaking a world record. His first charting single, ‘Fingertips Pt. 2,’ got him the record for the Youngest Solo Artist to Hit #1 at 13 years old, a record that still holds today. Throughout the latter half of the 60s. Stevie cemented himself as a Motown legend. However, in the mid-1970s, Stevie started his golden era. His album run from Talking Book to Songs in the Key of Life is one of the most legendary 4 album runs in music history, a time where Stevie became the only person to win Album of the Year for 3 consecutive releases. He was known as one of the best Soul and Funk artists ever. Even after that historic period, Stevie still managed several hits and even #1s throughout the 80s, and is still one of the most beloved artists of all time.Records Sold: over 125 million #1 Hits: 10 Hot 100 Hits: 63 Platinum Albums: 5 Grammy Nominations: 74 Grammy Wins: 25 Specialties: Funk, Soul, whatever you call his stuff in the 80s
Songs:
- Fingertips Pt.2
- Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
- For Once in My Life
- My Cherie Amour
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)
- You Are the Sunshine in My Life
- Superstition
- I Wish
- Sir Duke
- As
- Isn't She Lovely
- Higher Ground
- Do I Do
- I Just Called to Say I Love You
- Part-Time Lover
- Master-Blaster (Jammin')
Rate Rules
credit to whoever made this originally, these have been used for so many rates- Listen to every song listed and give it a score between one (1) and ten (10). Decimal points are allowed, but only to one place (ex. 7.1 is acceptable, but not 7.15). Hosts do not care what score you give the songs as long as it is between those two numbers.
- You have to rate every single song in the rate. If you skip any and do not give me a score when I ask you for one, your ballot will not be counted. This is because the program used to determine the results will break if scores are not successfully put in and I will have a mental breakdown if the program doesn't work because it will be a pain in the ass to do this manually.
- You may give one song a zero (0) and one song an eleven (11). These should be reserved for your favorite track and least favorite track. If you do use either your zero (0) or your eleven (11), it is strongly encouraged to leave a comment on the track. It can be as short or as long as you want, but please leave one; it will help the sub understand if you should be canceled or not when the rate is being revealed.
- Please use the prepared link to submit your scores! That is the only form of ballot we will accept. We spent a lot of time and effort on it, so please use it.
- Note: if you're trying to access on a mobile device or on the new reddit layout, it may not work; I have made it so the link will take you to old.reddit.com, so you should use a computer to send in your scores (if possible)!
- If you desire to change any of the scores after you have already submitted them, simply message me and I will be glad to help!
- If we believe your scores include any form of sabotage (which would be weird for a Billy Joel/Elton John/Stevie Wonder rate), we reserve the right to reject your ballot. Sabotage is defined as extremely low overall average(s) that shows a clear bias towards or against one artist within the rate. If you truly hate the songs given low scores, we strongly encourage you to write comments on them. This indicates to us that you are not trying to rig the results, meaning everything will go smoothly. :)
- Your scores should not be considered confidential! Don't be scared to share them. Go nuts. Campaign for whatever song you gave an eleven to. Or not. This whole thing really is not that deep.
Commenting Guideline
It is also highly encouraged that you add song comments to your ballot! Do this by adding a space after the score and then typing to your heart's desire, like this:Your Song: 10 I can tell everybody this is a bop!You can also leave comments for artists! In order to do so, just add a colon after the artist you’d like to comment on and leave a comment like this:
Artist: Billy Joel: Wow, he’s so good, I wish New York was real.Any format other than this is NOT good and you will deeply hurt me if you do not follow the example given here. This includes:
Superstition: 1: this is scarily bad!
We Didn’t Start The Fire: This song is FIRE 🔥🔥🔥PUT IT OUT 🔥🔥🔥1
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart: I’m giving this a 9 cause I’m a Kiki Dee stan for life.
Mi Cherie Amour: 10, Even the French jumpscare can’t bring this song down!
YouTube Playlist
Spotify Playlist
Submit Scores
Backup Pastebin
2024.05.09 19:18 Yurii_S_Kh Orthodox Church in Viña del Mar (Chile): Mission on the shores of the Pacific Ocean
 | Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Viña del Mar; Chile) submitted by Yurii_S_Kh to SophiaWisdomOfGod [link] [comments] Viña del Mar is a Chilean resort town located 120 kilometers northwest from Santiago. There are regular buses from the capital of Chile, transporting passengers from the huge, chaotic Santiago to the more peaceful Pacific coast. Life in Viña flows more measured and comfortable than in the capital metropolis - including thanks to a more smooth climate (there is no unbearable heat, as in the capital) and a more favorable environment. Of course, Vigne also has its natural nuances: they are eloquently evidenced by the city's signposts indicating the way of evacuation in the case of a cataclysmic tsunami. A person coming from Europe to this seemingly lost at the end of the world town, it is pleasant and a little surprising to learn that there is an Orthodox church here. Not just a community renting a corner from Catholics or Protestants (as it often happens), but a separate complex with a church building and additional premises. It is worth noting that the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Viña del Mar is already approaching its 60th anniversary - it was built through the efforts of patrons and parishioners in the 1960s. The Arab and Greek Diaspora, led by Juan Massu and George Moustakis, played a special role in the construction of the church. The church was consecrated on February 14, 1965. The temple is located at 420 1 Poniente Street (1st West), about a half-hour walk from the bus station and a 10-minute walk from the ocean. You can guess that this is an Orthodox church by the mosaic icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the facade of the building. Priest Jorge (George) Suez has been serving here for almost 20 years. I was fortunate to be able to communicate with the priest during a short trip to Chile, which included a visit to Viña del Mar. Portraits by Juan Massou and Georgios Moustakis
Priest Jorge Suez performs the sacrament of Baptism
One of the factors contributing to Chileans coming to Orthodoxy is that they see a married priest who has children.And one of the factors contributing to Chileans coming to Orthodoxy is that they see a married priest who has children. They see me with my family at the market, at the supermarket - and they realize that the priest is a person just like them, living a normal life. People can talk to me more freely about their daily problems, about what is troubling them.
In schools, children are taught a tolerant attitude towards same-sex marriageOf course, secular schools do not have all this, there are no religious lessons there, just ethics. In such schools children are taught a tolerant attitude, for example, to same-sex marriage. And we witness children declaring their homosexuality at the age of 14 and entering into same-sex relationships.
was interviewed by Sergey Mudrov |
2024.05.09 13:38 dwredbaker Hail, master; and kissed him~a Kiss of unbelief!
Matthew 26:47-56~"And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled."
We see in these verses the cup of our Lord Jesus Christ's sufferings beginning to be filled. We see Him betrayed by one of His disciples, forsaken by the rest, and taken prisoner by His deadly enemies. Never surely was there sorrow like His sorrow! Never may we forget, as we read this part of the Bible, that our sins were the cause of these sorrows! Jesus was "delivered for our offences." (Rom. 4:25.)
Let us notice, for one thing, in these verses, what gracious condescension marked our Lord's communion with His disciples.
We have this point proved by a deeply touching circumstance at the moment of our Lord's betrayal. When Judas Iscariot undertook to guide the multitude to the place where his Master was, he gave them a sign by which they might distinguish Jesus in the dim moonlight from his disciples. He said, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he." And so, when he came to Jesus, he said, "Hail! master, and kissed him." That simple fact reveals the affectionate terms on which the disciples associated with our Lord. It is an universal custom in Eastern countries, when friend meets friend, to salute one another with a kiss. (Exod. 18:7; 1 Sam. 20:41.) It would seem therefore, that when Judas kissed our Lord, he only did that which all the apostles were accustomed to do, when they met their Master after an absence.
Let us draw comfort from this little circumstance for our own souls. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a most gracious and condescending Savior. He is not an "austere man," repelling sinners, and keeping them at a distance. He is not a being so different from us in nature, that we must regard Him with awe rather than affection. He would have us rather regard Him as an elder Brother, and a beloved Friend. His heart in heaven is still the same that it was upon earth. He is ever meek, merciful, and condescending to men of low estate. Let us trust Him and not be afraid.
Let us notice for another thing, how our Lord condemns those who think to use carnal weapons in defense of Him and His cause. He reproves one of His disciples for striking a servant of the high priest. He bids him "put up his sword into his place." And he adds a solemn declaration of perpetual significance, "all those who take the sword shall perish by the sword."
The sword has a lawful office of its own. It may be used righteously in the defense of nations against oppression. It may become positively necessary to use it, to prevent confusion, plunder, and rapine upon earth. But the sword is not to be used in the propagation and maintenance of the Gospel. Christianity is not to be enforced by bloodshed, and belief in it extorted by force. Happy would it have been for the Church if this sentence had been more frequently remembered! There are few countries in Christendom, where the mistake has not been made of attempting to change men's religious opinions by compulsion, penalties, imprisonment, and death. And with what effect? The pages of history supply an answer. No wars have been so bloody as those which have arisen out of the collision of religious opinions. Often, mournfully often, the very men who have been most forward to promote those wars, have themselves been slain. May we never forget this! The weapons of the Christian warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. (2 Cor.10:4.)
Let us notice for another thing, how our Lord submitted to be made a prisoner of His own free will. He was not taken captive because he could not escape. It would have been easy for Him to scatter His enemies to the winds, if he had thought fit. "Do you think," He says to a disciple, "that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
We see in those words the secret of His voluntary submission to His foes. He came on purpose to fulfill the types and promises of Old Testament Scriptures, and by fulfilling them to provide salvation for the world. He came intentionally to be the true Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb. He came to be the Scapegoat on whom the iniquities of the people were to be laid. His heart was set on accomplishing this great work. It could not be done without the "hiding of his power" for a time. To do it he became a willing sufferer. He was taken, tried, condemned, and crucified entirely of His own free will.
Let us observe this. There is much encouragement in it. The willing sufferer will surely be a willing Savior. The almighty Son of God, who allowed men to bind Him and lead Him away captive, when He might have prevented them with a word, must surely be full of readiness to save the souls that flee to Him. Once more then let us learn to trust Him, and not be afraid.
Let us notice, in the last place, how little Christians know the weakness of their own hearts, until they are tried. We have a mournful illustration of this in the conduct of our Lord's apostles. The verses we have read conclude with the words, "Then all the disciples forsook him and fled." They forgot their confident assertions made a few hours before. They forgot that they had declared their willingness to die with their Master. They forgot everything but the danger that stared them in the face. The fear of death overcame them. They "forsook him, and fled."
How many professing Christians have done the same? How many, under the influence of excited feelings, have promised that they would never be ashamed of Christ! They have come away from the communion table, or the striking sermon, or the Christian meeting, full of zeal and love, and ready to say to all who caution them against backsliding, "Is your servant a dog that he should do this thing?" And yet in a few days these feelings have cooled down and passed away. A trial has come and they have fallen before it. They have forsaken Christ.
Let us learn from the passage lessons of humiliation and self-abasement. Let us resolve by God's grace to cultivate a spirit of lowliness, and self-distrust. Let us settle it in our minds, that there is nothing so bad that the best of us may not do it, unless he watches, prays, and is held up by the grace of God. And let it be one of our daily prayers, "Hold me up, and I shall be safe." (Psalm 119:117.)
submitted by dwredbaker to OldPaths [link] [comments]
We see in these verses the cup of our Lord Jesus Christ's sufferings beginning to be filled. We see Him betrayed by one of His disciples, forsaken by the rest, and taken prisoner by His deadly enemies. Never surely was there sorrow like His sorrow! Never may we forget, as we read this part of the Bible, that our sins were the cause of these sorrows! Jesus was "delivered for our offences." (Rom. 4:25.)
Let us notice, for one thing, in these verses, what gracious condescension marked our Lord's communion with His disciples.
We have this point proved by a deeply touching circumstance at the moment of our Lord's betrayal. When Judas Iscariot undertook to guide the multitude to the place where his Master was, he gave them a sign by which they might distinguish Jesus in the dim moonlight from his disciples. He said, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he." And so, when he came to Jesus, he said, "Hail! master, and kissed him." That simple fact reveals the affectionate terms on which the disciples associated with our Lord. It is an universal custom in Eastern countries, when friend meets friend, to salute one another with a kiss. (Exod. 18:7; 1 Sam. 20:41.) It would seem therefore, that when Judas kissed our Lord, he only did that which all the apostles were accustomed to do, when they met their Master after an absence.
Let us draw comfort from this little circumstance for our own souls. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a most gracious and condescending Savior. He is not an "austere man," repelling sinners, and keeping them at a distance. He is not a being so different from us in nature, that we must regard Him with awe rather than affection. He would have us rather regard Him as an elder Brother, and a beloved Friend. His heart in heaven is still the same that it was upon earth. He is ever meek, merciful, and condescending to men of low estate. Let us trust Him and not be afraid.
Let us notice for another thing, how our Lord condemns those who think to use carnal weapons in defense of Him and His cause. He reproves one of His disciples for striking a servant of the high priest. He bids him "put up his sword into his place." And he adds a solemn declaration of perpetual significance, "all those who take the sword shall perish by the sword."
The sword has a lawful office of its own. It may be used righteously in the defense of nations against oppression. It may become positively necessary to use it, to prevent confusion, plunder, and rapine upon earth. But the sword is not to be used in the propagation and maintenance of the Gospel. Christianity is not to be enforced by bloodshed, and belief in it extorted by force. Happy would it have been for the Church if this sentence had been more frequently remembered! There are few countries in Christendom, where the mistake has not been made of attempting to change men's religious opinions by compulsion, penalties, imprisonment, and death. And with what effect? The pages of history supply an answer. No wars have been so bloody as those which have arisen out of the collision of religious opinions. Often, mournfully often, the very men who have been most forward to promote those wars, have themselves been slain. May we never forget this! The weapons of the Christian warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. (2 Cor.10:4.)
Let us notice for another thing, how our Lord submitted to be made a prisoner of His own free will. He was not taken captive because he could not escape. It would have been easy for Him to scatter His enemies to the winds, if he had thought fit. "Do you think," He says to a disciple, "that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
We see in those words the secret of His voluntary submission to His foes. He came on purpose to fulfill the types and promises of Old Testament Scriptures, and by fulfilling them to provide salvation for the world. He came intentionally to be the true Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb. He came to be the Scapegoat on whom the iniquities of the people were to be laid. His heart was set on accomplishing this great work. It could not be done without the "hiding of his power" for a time. To do it he became a willing sufferer. He was taken, tried, condemned, and crucified entirely of His own free will.
Let us observe this. There is much encouragement in it. The willing sufferer will surely be a willing Savior. The almighty Son of God, who allowed men to bind Him and lead Him away captive, when He might have prevented them with a word, must surely be full of readiness to save the souls that flee to Him. Once more then let us learn to trust Him, and not be afraid.
Let us notice, in the last place, how little Christians know the weakness of their own hearts, until they are tried. We have a mournful illustration of this in the conduct of our Lord's apostles. The verses we have read conclude with the words, "Then all the disciples forsook him and fled." They forgot their confident assertions made a few hours before. They forgot that they had declared their willingness to die with their Master. They forgot everything but the danger that stared them in the face. The fear of death overcame them. They "forsook him, and fled."
How many professing Christians have done the same? How many, under the influence of excited feelings, have promised that they would never be ashamed of Christ! They have come away from the communion table, or the striking sermon, or the Christian meeting, full of zeal and love, and ready to say to all who caution them against backsliding, "Is your servant a dog that he should do this thing?" And yet in a few days these feelings have cooled down and passed away. A trial has come and they have fallen before it. They have forsaken Christ.
Let us learn from the passage lessons of humiliation and self-abasement. Let us resolve by God's grace to cultivate a spirit of lowliness, and self-distrust. Let us settle it in our minds, that there is nothing so bad that the best of us may not do it, unless he watches, prays, and is held up by the grace of God. And let it be one of our daily prayers, "Hold me up, and I shall be safe." (Psalm 119:117.)
2024.05.09 13:24 f9706kje What is Religion. Lesson 03: The Creator
Good day every one.
As requested by the moderators, for whom I am thankful, know that I am muslim.
This is the third lesson in this series. If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
The Boundary
Intuitively, you can carry it. If you can not, you can sense it. If you can not, you can trace it. If you can not, you can define it. If you can not, you can imagine it. If you can not, you can scribble it, simply call it 'x'. If you can not, you hit the boundary.
Mathematically, you can count it. If you can not, you can order it. If you can not, you can pick it. If you can not, you hit the boundary.
Fundamentally, if you can not begin to point it out, you hit the boundary.
The World
By definition, the boundary and all that is in it, is the world.
The world includes the Realizable, and the not realizable. Remember that the not realizable can still be pointed out, otherwise its existence would not be implied, a proof of existence would not be.
The thing
All that is within the boundary, including the boundary, is called thing.
The word thing can be applied to all, hence it is the abstract of every thing.
The word thing can be applied to each of all, therefore each is unique. This is a fundamental law, and is the key to all knowledge. If two things are the same, it would be a contradiction, because you managed to count them.
Nothing
Nothing means no thing at all. In other words, it is not within the boundary. However, nothing is a thing, because I managed to point it out.
While I can point out the concept of nothing, I can never capture the whole. Hence, nothing is not realizable. In simpler terms, you see it. It is presence. You do not see it. It is absence. That absence that you see is a thing. Nothing includes the absence of presence and absence, and that you can not begin to see. (Note that "see" is the action of the mind, not the eye. We look to see.)
The Creator
By definition, a creator is one that brings the thing from nothing. No thing comes from nothing. However, we have thing. This is a contradiction. Therefore, creator.
If a creator can only create certain things, it is a contradiction. This is because he did not start with nothing, but started with the bounds that do not allow him to create other things, and bounds are a thing. Hence a creator can create everything; there is no partial creator.
If there are two creators, we can tell them apart, we can count them, a contradiction. This is because if they can be counted, they are not from nothing because count is a thing.
While creator can be proved to exist, it is not realizable. However, being not realizable makes it part of the world, a contradiction. The Realizable, and the not realizable are still things, and there is no partial creator.
The Will
The implied will because of the premise, and the premise, a thing, will because of the Creator, the bringer of thing from nothing. Hence, we can say that the Creator willed the premise, but can we say the premise willed the implied? The implied is a thing, and therefore it was created. If the premise willed it, it would have to be the one who created it, and that would make it a partial creator, because it did not start out with nothing, but started with implication, and implication is a thing. This is a contradiction. Furthermore, because there is no count to creator, the premise and the implied are both willed by the Creator.
The Will, the Creator, is truth as shown above, but is also truth under all contexts. Given a context with a single premise, if that premise denies the Creator, it would be a contradiction, because the premise itself is a thing, a created. Note that if the Creator is defined as the primary cause, then he would be truth under the context of fact only, which leads to contradictions.
An implication of the above is that all will is the Creator.
The word thing in the old language comes from the root SH Y A, and essentially means the willed.
(Note that my usage of the English word "World" is a misuse of the word if I remember correctly when I analyzed it and if I was not wrong then. But I am sticking to the more contemporary usage for now, which makes the usage more 'correct' but a corruption.)
UPDATE: 10-MAY-2024
Apologies everyone. The moderator, RECIPR0C1TY, finally convinced himself he can remove the lessons. Lesson four, which I posted today was removed.
If any one knows an alternative sub reddit where I can post these lessons let me know. It should be one where I am not addressing one religion, and people are welcome by the moderators, and not stopped, to make up their own minds.
The moderator has already been reported to the site admins.
And I tried to contact the other moderators. The following is the message that I sent,
submitted by f9706kje to theology [link] [comments]
As requested by the moderators, for whom I am thankful, know that I am muslim.
This is the third lesson in this series. If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
The Boundary
Intuitively, you can carry it. If you can not, you can sense it. If you can not, you can trace it. If you can not, you can define it. If you can not, you can imagine it. If you can not, you can scribble it, simply call it 'x'. If you can not, you hit the boundary.
Mathematically, you can count it. If you can not, you can order it. If you can not, you can pick it. If you can not, you hit the boundary.
Fundamentally, if you can not begin to point it out, you hit the boundary.
The World
By definition, the boundary and all that is in it, is the world.
The world includes the Realizable, and the not realizable. Remember that the not realizable can still be pointed out, otherwise its existence would not be implied, a proof of existence would not be.
The thing
All that is within the boundary, including the boundary, is called thing.
The word thing can be applied to all, hence it is the abstract of every thing.
The word thing can be applied to each of all, therefore each is unique. This is a fundamental law, and is the key to all knowledge. If two things are the same, it would be a contradiction, because you managed to count them.
Nothing
Nothing means no thing at all. In other words, it is not within the boundary. However, nothing is a thing, because I managed to point it out.
While I can point out the concept of nothing, I can never capture the whole. Hence, nothing is not realizable. In simpler terms, you see it. It is presence. You do not see it. It is absence. That absence that you see is a thing. Nothing includes the absence of presence and absence, and that you can not begin to see. (Note that "see" is the action of the mind, not the eye. We look to see.)
The Creator
By definition, a creator is one that brings the thing from nothing. No thing comes from nothing. However, we have thing. This is a contradiction. Therefore, creator.
If a creator can only create certain things, it is a contradiction. This is because he did not start with nothing, but started with the bounds that do not allow him to create other things, and bounds are a thing. Hence a creator can create everything; there is no partial creator.
If there are two creators, we can tell them apart, we can count them, a contradiction. This is because if they can be counted, they are not from nothing because count is a thing.
While creator can be proved to exist, it is not realizable. However, being not realizable makes it part of the world, a contradiction. The Realizable, and the not realizable are still things, and there is no partial creator.
The Will
The implied will because of the premise, and the premise, a thing, will because of the Creator, the bringer of thing from nothing. Hence, we can say that the Creator willed the premise, but can we say the premise willed the implied? The implied is a thing, and therefore it was created. If the premise willed it, it would have to be the one who created it, and that would make it a partial creator, because it did not start out with nothing, but started with implication, and implication is a thing. This is a contradiction. Furthermore, because there is no count to creator, the premise and the implied are both willed by the Creator.
The Will, the Creator, is truth as shown above, but is also truth under all contexts. Given a context with a single premise, if that premise denies the Creator, it would be a contradiction, because the premise itself is a thing, a created. Note that if the Creator is defined as the primary cause, then he would be truth under the context of fact only, which leads to contradictions.
An implication of the above is that all will is the Creator.
The word thing in the old language comes from the root SH Y A, and essentially means the willed.
(Note that my usage of the English word "World" is a misuse of the word if I remember correctly when I analyzed it and if I was not wrong then. But I am sticking to the more contemporary usage for now, which makes the usage more 'correct' but a corruption.)
UPDATE: 10-MAY-2024
Apologies everyone. The moderator, RECIPR0C1TY, finally convinced himself he can remove the lessons. Lesson four, which I posted today was removed.
If any one knows an alternative sub reddit where I can post these lessons let me know. It should be one where I am not addressing one religion, and people are welcome by the moderators, and not stopped, to make up their own minds.
The moderator has already been reported to the site admins.
And I tried to contact the other moderators. The following is the message that I sent,
Hello. I am the author of the series, What is Religion. I contacted you before hand before I attempted to post the lessons. The following is a copy of our conversation.The above is so that you may bear witness. Are people not free to make up their own mind!
Hello.The following was the response of one of your moderators,
I wish to post a series of lessons titled "What is religion". I am muslim, but the series do not mention the Quran, nor the Sunnah, nor the prophets. They do mention an unnamed language, but otherwise can be seen to be talking in Logic and philosophy. They are aimed at people of all backgrounds.
It has been a frustrating experience so far on reddit. I hope that you are more welcoming. I already tried to post the lessons on "religion", and "philosophy" and others but the moderators would reject them before even reading them.
If you agree, there are roughly 9 lessons. But I need a guarantee that they would be kept up should I post them. No more than one per day shall be posted. Also please note that this is a new account. The guarantee needs to extend to that as well. I would need the posts made available immediately to the public without having to contact a moderator, because otherwise, by the time a post is up, it is likely too late for it to have exposure. If not clear, new accounts seem to be automatically banned from posting without a moderator's clearance.
If you are unsure, I could send you a copy of these lessons for review before I post them.
If you disagree, it is appreciated that you also let me know.
I think that is perfectly fine to post here so long as it is clear that this is from a Muslim perspective, and so long as it is not video lessons. I don't want the sub spammed with videos. Everyone and their mother has a podcast. If this is written, then go for it.I have been harassed by the moderator, RECIPR0C1TY. I already compiled evidence against them, citing the site wide reddit code of conduct pertaining to moderators that they violated, and citing the rules of theology, and sent them to the site wide administrators.
RECIPR0C1TY has removed the lesson I posted today. As usual, RECIPR0C1TY posted the first message aiming to taunt to entrap,
Do you have any false beliefs at all, or do you know perfect truth?Later he posted,
so you arent interested in answering my question?By the time I saw I was indeed not because their intention was clear. See the third lesson. "https://old.reddit.com/theology/comments/1cnuvjy/what_is_religion_lesson_03_the_creato"
A user PopePae, who appear to have come to aid but I do not know, posted the following,
A large part of this comes across as gibberish, to be honest. “Soul in the old language comes from the root, N F S.” could you explain which “old language” you’re even talking about? Arabic? What does this have to do with anything else you’ve said? You will have a few sentences that make some sense like 2-3 describing what “soul” or “nature” are - but then you go right back to making no sense at all.Note that in lesson three I already provided guidelines if people wish me to respond. In simple terms, they need to be asking question about the lessons, not anything else.
Basically, I think your arguments could hold some weight but your writing is very unclear and makes many assumptions that are either irrelevant (and therefore make your writing even harder to follow) or are relevant and you don’t spend any time trying to explain those things further - which then doesn’t provide any insight because the reader is left to fill in the blanks.
I know you call these “lessons” but I think you need to heavily revise these and probably consult some scholars or relevant literature before posting.
I responded with,
You may present a valid rigorous statement or proof of contradiction if you wish.RECIPR0C1TY then responded, not PopePae,
As for the old language, it shall remain unnamed. Its significance, a test, to be understood by those who understood the lessons. However, you may ask me again when the lessons are done. And and from these lessons, my cousin, is understanding who your Creator is.
If you are here to learn, feel free to ask, and did I need to say stay on topic. And if you know it all, I am wasting your time.
(Please note that I shall be not responding further. Feel free to ask other questions at the top comment level.)
No, that is not the way things work in this subreddit. I have now mentioned to you multiple times that this is a discussion forum. You do not get to force people to respond to you under your specific parameters. You are not interested in discussing, you are only interested in using this subreddit as your soapbox. This post will be removed, and we are requesting that you no longer post your lessons here. You are still welcome to engage with the subreddit and enter into discussions.Forgive me for saying this, but strange to find the character of a christian, not that of Jesus peace be upon him in the gospels, but that of his enemies as they are trying to entrap him and silence him. And when that is the case, the bible has not passed your lips.
I do not think that RECIPR0C1TY is the same as the one who gave his word. I ask that your word be kept. Please bring back the forth lesson, https://old.reddit.com/theology/comments/1conif7/what_is_religion_lesson_04_the_discoverers/. If not, I ask that all remaining lessons be removed. You may quote me to the reddit admins should they ask about why the remaining lessons were removed.
It is possible that RECIPR0C1TY answers this message. In which case, we will not be hit except by what the Creator wrote for us. And the coverer knows himself, and shall be reminded.
Note that I have saved a copy of this message.
2024.05.09 11:05 thumbsonbeavers Is it bad to read other wisdom literature/philosophy?
Hi all! I am a believer in Jesus Christ and enjoy reading my Bible. I honestly don't go to church often but am searching for a home. I love studying history and religious beliefs of other cultures. In my studies I've come to enjoy and derive pleasure and profound life lessons from these religious texts, especially Vedic literature such as the Gita & Upanishads and also the Greco-Roman texts from Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, etc. I've conversed with lay believers and listened to scholars over these texts as well for my own life application. I do not believe the Forms of Plato literally, nor the pantheon of the Vedas but to finalize my question....
Is it heretical and wrong for me to find positive value in these texts and thoughts and even compare some similarities to biblical literature & my own Christian soul?
Thank you
submitted by thumbsonbeavers to Christianity [link] [comments]
Is it heretical and wrong for me to find positive value in these texts and thoughts and even compare some similarities to biblical literature & my own Christian soul?
Thank you
2024.05.08 21:29 PolicyUseful2764 Pastor upset everyone after my wedding
Hello Charlotte! I’m a recent subscriber of your YouTube channel. I’ve been binge watching your videos, particularly the ones about weddings and bridezillas ever since January of this year. They have been truly entertaining to listen to. Though I found them a great watch, I never thought any of those things would actually happen to me. This is going to be a long story. Let me give you a little background. My husband and I met 2 years ago due to his dad’s persistent pestering of us. He had tried getting us to meet sooner but we had different people in our lives and it wasn’t the right time. Well, fast forward, we introduced ourselves to each other through facebook messenger and automatically clicked. Turns out that we were both equally yoked in personality and on the same page of what we wanted in life. I couldn’t ask for anyone better. On last Christmas Eve, he proposed. It was a pleasant surprise. He had put a lot of thought into the proposal and a couple of family members were there to see it happen. Everything was great! We are simple people and didn’t want to drag out the time planning for an extravagant wedding. We wanted to focus more on the reception party and honeymoon, so we decided to have a small courthouse wedding. The plans were to have the courthouse wedding in spring with a few close friends and family members, go to some restaurant to eat, and have our official wedding reception party with more of our extended family and friends at a later time in the summer. But as you would have it, our plans had to be readjusted. For some reason, our city’s courthouse no longer does courthouse wedding ceremonies. You can only purchase your license through them. Not sure why. To say the least, I was a little bummed but I knew of some alternative methods.
In the early days of our engagement people had been encouraging us to seek spiritual counseling before exchanging our vows. It’s a tradition in both sides of our family and in our religion. We both saw nothing wrong with it and thought it might even be a great starting point. Of course we would be seeking this counseling from my pastor. My husband was not a member of any church yet, though he does share the same religious beliefs as me.
After the failed courthouse wedding idea, we ultimately decided to have a church wedding. The pastor of the church I attended was a friend of my late father, even going as far to telling everyone since my father’s passing, for years, that my dad was his best friend. So needless to say, it wasn’t too difficult a decision to ask him if he could both counsel and marry us. It made sense and would feel more intimate.
I was a bit on the Fritz about him marrying us, because ever since Covid, I had not been as active in church as I had been before. Though I do attend, just not as regularly as I did before. Also, many of the people that attend there are very judgmental and nosy and I would just rather stay away from all of that. Despite all of this, we asked the pastor and he agreed and told us the thing he required to marry us was him providing marriage counseling. We already knew this and agreed.
We told him that we were planning our small wedding for March. He said it was fine and because of his work schedule outside of the church and me and my husband’s work hours, we made adjustments according to what would work best for all of us. He scheduled for us to meet 4 sessions, though he said he usually required 8. He said it was because of the closeness of our wedding. To my husband and I, because our wedding ceremony was going to be very small and non- traditional, either 4 or 8 sessions, would of been fine. We told him this. We would have just pushed back the ceremony date. No biggie. He said it was okay and that 4 sessions would be more than enough. We understood and started our counseling in early January. Before starting, he told us that as a member of the church, I am entitled to use the church sanctuary without paying. However, we would have to pay to use the multi-purpose room if we had a reception there. Red flag number 1. It didn’t sound right to me considering the entire church building was practically donated by non church members and that it should be a given that a sanctuary should be free for any believer to use. But I stayed quiet because nothing he said would have negatively impacted us anyway. We were not planning our reception there, but at another facility at a later date.
I went into the sessions excited to learn but was underwhelmed and disappointed. The sessions were not very helpful. I am not one to knit-pick or who loves complaining but we did not get anything new, helpful, or useful out of those meetings. The counseling consisted of us doing most of the talking. No inputs or critiques from him or anything. When we first met with him he asked us if we had any questions even though we had yet to cover anything. I thought maybe it was an icebreaker to loosen the nerves of talking about our relationship with someone other than ourselves. However, it was 1 of literally a few things he ever really said to us. There was nothing new or really helpful we learned during our times there. Other than him praying and saying to “keep God first”, “follow your husband “, “protect your wife”, handing us a marriage book with no particular instructions on what chapter or lessons to read, and him telling us to watch Fireproof (a Christian-related marriage movie), there was nothing constructive. Some may think it was because our session amounts were only 4. I would be inclined to agree if those sessions in themselves had not been shortened and rushed by him. Let me break it down. We had 4 sessions. The first session lasted 45 minutes, the second session lasted 10 minutes, the third session lasted an hour, the last session lasted 5 minutes (in which he 30 minutes late). The sessions that lasted the longest were the ones in which we did all or most of the talking and telling him about what chapters and lessons WE chose to read from the book. There was not much discussion or feedback, just us telling him everything.
We didn’t expect him to have the same quality as someone with a PHD, but before getting started with the “counseling” this man emphasized how he had the qualifications and as a man who has been married for 40 plus years, we were in the right direction. We got more insight from listening to our own relatives than we got from our sessions from him.
Well anyways let me give you some insight on why I had chosen the title for this post. Beyond the awful counseling, I should have seen the other signs as they were there. I sometimes just try and brush things off and give people the benefit of the doubt. Not overthink all the time.
After our last session (the 5 minute one), my mom, who was with us and waiting in the lobby, told him that even though it’s going to be small she would still like to decorate a little. He said that it was okay but then tried to encourage us to use an old crusty metal arch and candelabra for the price of $100 total. Red flag number 2. My mom, having had been a former member there years ago, remembered how it was donated by some people years ago. He reintegrated that not only did he buy it, but owns it but charges people to use it. Using the Lord’s house to make a profit doesn’t exactly sit well with us so we declined. She told him that there was no need because we had our own items.
The day before the wedding, when my mom and I went to decorate the sanctuary we were met with the pastor’s wife and the pianist, who were talking in the sanctuary. The pastor had texted me earlier and said the church would be open for us to decorate. As we entered, the two of them looked at us like we had grown 3 heads. It’s not like they hadn’t seen me around before and I assumed the pastor had told his wife that we had come to decorate. She acted like she had no idea why we were even there. To eliminate the confusion, we told her. With her not being a very friendly person to begin with, she acted icily towards us and continued her conversation with the pianist. We ignored her coldness and did what we came there to do. We were not going to use the pianist for the wedding. We were just going to use my husband’s Bluetooth speaker, pick a pretty intro song, and call it a day.
The day of the wedding was on a Friday. It was the best and most anxious time of my life. My appearance was everything I had ever wanted! Simple yet elegant! My husband was so handsome. Everything was great until the pastor started talking. I don’t consider myself a bridezilla but I do expect the officiant to know what they are going to say beforehand or at least have something written up to read or marked. The pastor completely rushed the ceremony. He left out important parts of what you traditionally say to the bride and groom during the ceremony, such as the reciting and repeating of the ring vow and the speak now or forever hold your peace part. He had my husband say his ring vow but forgot to have me say mine. He kept losing his spots and frantically flipping through pages all over his bible. He stuttered through almost the entire ceremony. FYI, I am someone who also grew up stuttering and had to take classes from the age of 3 to 15. His stuttering came from rushing, not nervousness. There were no more than 10 people in that room. He has preached to hundreds. By the grace of God, we had the foresight to write our own vows. Thank goodness. That at least was something.
After the ceremony was over, we were headed to a nearby area to take pictures. Everyone was in their cars, except for my husband who was far off on the other end of the parking lot, giving his best man directions on where to go (he had came from out of state). I was getting ready to get in the car when the pastor bursted out of the church, yelled my name frantically, and ran towards me. I was confused and thought something had happened. I thought maybe I had forgotten our marriage license. But nothing could have prepared me for what he would say next. I asked him what was the problem. He said “are you gonna give me a little something, something “. I was confused and said “a little something, something?” He said “Are you going to bless me?” I told him, we had a gift coming for him in the mail and that we would bless him with that and make a donation to the church. He yelled at me and said “No! You don’t give money to the church, you give that money to ME! I LABOREDI set aside a lot of time! You owe me! That’s my money!” I was so taken back. This man, who always tells everyone that he’s my deceased father’s best friend couldn’t wait until, at the very least, another day to say that to me. I was already emotional not having my dad there and this man, who makes probably 5 times more than me and my husband combined AND has a daughter our age, had his hand out demanding money. He did not tell us that we had to pay him. Never even hinted at it. There was no contract or talk about his fee. I assumed his pastor fee was covered in my membership tithes and offerings. He told us that it was an honor to marry his best friend’s daughter. He only said we’d have to pay if we used the multi-purpose room and that rusted arch and candelabra. Even though that in itself sounded strange. Without going into great detail about what this pastor’s job is outside of church, he works in a very profitable profession that allows him to purchase things and go places that we cannot afford.
Back to the story, I tried to stay calm even though I was shaking with hurt and rage and told him that I could give him the gift and a financial “blessing” but he would first have to wait because #1 the item had not come in the mail yet #2 he had to wait until I got paid again in another week because due to unforeseen circumstances my husband had gotten laid off of his job the week prior. My husband works fast and had gotten hired by another job 5 days after, but wouldn’t start the job till the next week after the wedding and not receive a paycheck for another 2 to 3 weeks. The pastor didn’t care and kept repeating the same thing. I lost it and yelled, “well I already told you what I could do!” He grumbled and stormed back to the church, slamming, and locking the front door. My husband rushed to me to see what was wrong and I told him. My mom and wedding party were confused as to why we hadn’t left yet and what was all the yelling about. I told them. My mom was pissed to say the least. I searched in my regular purse, that I had chosen to bring alongside my wedding purse, just in case, for any kind of money I might have to give to this greedy man. Luckily I found $40. My last $40 and I went to my mom and told her that I was going to give him this and wash my hands of this situation. Like I said before, she was pissed! Probably more pissed than me. She said, “let me do it for you” and grabbed the money and went to the entrance. The door was locked so she went to the back of the building, where there was another entrance door, leading to his office. I wasn’t there but she told me that she had told him how disappointed she was with him and asked how he could do that on such an important day (literally 20 minutes after the ceremony). He showed no empathy or remorse so she told him that he obviously needs this money more than us and threw the money at him and left. Needless to say, his actions put a damper on the day. I cried so much after we went home. I was so let down. I had him in such a high regard. Had my dad been alive he wouldn’t have done that.
To make it all worst, I found out the next day that he was indeed trying to take advantage charge us for things he was not supposed to. A long story short, due to the confusion and stress of the wedding day, we had misplaced some items and thought we had left them at the church. I contacted my uncle’s ex wife who is a prominent worker in the church and asked her if she could meet us at the church to retrieve the items. She agreed and I told her what had happened. The irony is, she was actually the church event planner. She had taken on that role for the last 6 months. She had no idea that we were even getting married the day we were. She said the pastor had not discussed anything with her. After going into detail about what happened she said that I should not have been told that I’d be charged for anything because literally everything was donated, including multi-purpose room, the arch, and candlabra. She said she didn’t understand why the pastor didn’t send us to her from the start. She even went as far as to say that we didn’t even have to use the pastor to marry us in the church. We could have used someone, anyone else. The church is for anyone to use and not confined to only one minister. We had been under the assumption that the pastor and the church were a package deal. She said no. She said that he should have been upfront from the beginning, especially if he was expecting a “blessing”. Also, she said that the word “blessing” should have been worded differently, because a blessing is special and not just specific to money. He should have said “this is my fee”, I charge this for my services. That way, people will know their expectations. She apologized for his behavior and said that he was as wrong as “2 left shoes.” She and people from the wedding party, that I later told about this, said if we are judging his fee or “blessing” based on his quality of service $40 was way too generous.
That Sunday I was over to my mom’s house when she called the church to set up an appointment to talk to him herself again. This time with his deacons present to address his behavior. I told her not to worry about it but she insisted that it was not going to be a conversation primarily on our behalf but also the wedding party’s. They were impacted and drained by the incident too. My husband and I, however, were going to talk to him ourselves once we were emotionally ready at a later time. Well anyways, once she got him on the phone she was civil with him and asked if he would be willing to meet and talk about what happened. She took it as personal as I did, considering he was always boasting about how he was her husband’s (my father’s) best friend. She added that he needed to apologize to my husband and I, the wedding party, and to his congregation for his recent behavior. He got defensive and said that he didn’t owe us anything and that we owed him. After my mom asked him what exactly we owed him, considering we gave him our last $40. He went silent for second and countered, “your daughter doesn’t even attend church regularly”. My mom being the person that she is remarked to him “I could say the same about yours. Your own daughter doesn’t even attend your church and she lives in the same town as you”. He went silent again. She said “Pastor, you sure have changed”. He replied “Damn right I have!” And hung up the phone.
I was dumbstruck. The entire conversation was on speaker phone and with that I did something rather petty. I have no regrets. The church goes live every Sunday on Facebook for people to watch the service. I have attended quite a few online during the times I couldn’t go in person. While he was preaching about helping people, being kind to others, and how he lives by the book, I flooded the comment section in Bible quotes and scriptures about greed and love of money. There were A LOT! The person managing the live feed, commented dryly, to only leave comments related to the sermon, ending with a “thank you”. I mean, they actually were related to the sermon, more so than anyone realized.
Well, on the following Monday guess who texted me an apology. The pastor did. It was very short, so you could tell he was probably made to do it, but at least it was something. One thing that did bother me though was the spelling of my husband’s name in the message. At first I thought it was a grammatical cellphone typo, but I just had to be sure. That day we were taking our marriage licenses to the courthouse. I looked at our license, where he wrote our names and lo and behold he spelled my husband’s name wrong. His name is one of the most simple names out there. I had to go in with a pen and fix his name on the document before we turned it in. It’s by the grace of God he sent me that text, because I would not of not even had the mindset to look. Luckily I managed to fix it and we turned it in that day.
This is only one story out of two wedding dramas that happened to me but I’ll share the second one another time. Thank you for reading. Still healing from the trauma of it.
submitted by PolicyUseful2764 to CharlotteDobreYouTube [link] [comments]
1 Go to a different town to get married (thinking back, I probably should have)
2 Ask a friend or family member to get quick ordained minister license
3 Get married at the church you grew up at
We chose #3In the early days of our engagement people had been encouraging us to seek spiritual counseling before exchanging our vows. It’s a tradition in both sides of our family and in our religion. We both saw nothing wrong with it and thought it might even be a great starting point. Of course we would be seeking this counseling from my pastor. My husband was not a member of any church yet, though he does share the same religious beliefs as me.
After the failed courthouse wedding idea, we ultimately decided to have a church wedding. The pastor of the church I attended was a friend of my late father, even going as far to telling everyone since my father’s passing, for years, that my dad was his best friend. So needless to say, it wasn’t too difficult a decision to ask him if he could both counsel and marry us. It made sense and would feel more intimate.
I was a bit on the Fritz about him marrying us, because ever since Covid, I had not been as active in church as I had been before. Though I do attend, just not as regularly as I did before. Also, many of the people that attend there are very judgmental and nosy and I would just rather stay away from all of that. Despite all of this, we asked the pastor and he agreed and told us the thing he required to marry us was him providing marriage counseling. We already knew this and agreed.
We told him that we were planning our small wedding for March. He said it was fine and because of his work schedule outside of the church and me and my husband’s work hours, we made adjustments according to what would work best for all of us. He scheduled for us to meet 4 sessions, though he said he usually required 8. He said it was because of the closeness of our wedding. To my husband and I, because our wedding ceremony was going to be very small and non- traditional, either 4 or 8 sessions, would of been fine. We told him this. We would have just pushed back the ceremony date. No biggie. He said it was okay and that 4 sessions would be more than enough. We understood and started our counseling in early January. Before starting, he told us that as a member of the church, I am entitled to use the church sanctuary without paying. However, we would have to pay to use the multi-purpose room if we had a reception there. Red flag number 1. It didn’t sound right to me considering the entire church building was practically donated by non church members and that it should be a given that a sanctuary should be free for any believer to use. But I stayed quiet because nothing he said would have negatively impacted us anyway. We were not planning our reception there, but at another facility at a later date.
I went into the sessions excited to learn but was underwhelmed and disappointed. The sessions were not very helpful. I am not one to knit-pick or who loves complaining but we did not get anything new, helpful, or useful out of those meetings. The counseling consisted of us doing most of the talking. No inputs or critiques from him or anything. When we first met with him he asked us if we had any questions even though we had yet to cover anything. I thought maybe it was an icebreaker to loosen the nerves of talking about our relationship with someone other than ourselves. However, it was 1 of literally a few things he ever really said to us. There was nothing new or really helpful we learned during our times there. Other than him praying and saying to “keep God first”, “follow your husband “, “protect your wife”, handing us a marriage book with no particular instructions on what chapter or lessons to read, and him telling us to watch Fireproof (a Christian-related marriage movie), there was nothing constructive. Some may think it was because our session amounts were only 4. I would be inclined to agree if those sessions in themselves had not been shortened and rushed by him. Let me break it down. We had 4 sessions. The first session lasted 45 minutes, the second session lasted 10 minutes, the third session lasted an hour, the last session lasted 5 minutes (in which he 30 minutes late). The sessions that lasted the longest were the ones in which we did all or most of the talking and telling him about what chapters and lessons WE chose to read from the book. There was not much discussion or feedback, just us telling him everything.
We didn’t expect him to have the same quality as someone with a PHD, but before getting started with the “counseling” this man emphasized how he had the qualifications and as a man who has been married for 40 plus years, we were in the right direction. We got more insight from listening to our own relatives than we got from our sessions from him.
Well anyways let me give you some insight on why I had chosen the title for this post. Beyond the awful counseling, I should have seen the other signs as they were there. I sometimes just try and brush things off and give people the benefit of the doubt. Not overthink all the time.
After our last session (the 5 minute one), my mom, who was with us and waiting in the lobby, told him that even though it’s going to be small she would still like to decorate a little. He said that it was okay but then tried to encourage us to use an old crusty metal arch and candelabra for the price of $100 total. Red flag number 2. My mom, having had been a former member there years ago, remembered how it was donated by some people years ago. He reintegrated that not only did he buy it, but owns it but charges people to use it. Using the Lord’s house to make a profit doesn’t exactly sit well with us so we declined. She told him that there was no need because we had our own items.
The day before the wedding, when my mom and I went to decorate the sanctuary we were met with the pastor’s wife and the pianist, who were talking in the sanctuary. The pastor had texted me earlier and said the church would be open for us to decorate. As we entered, the two of them looked at us like we had grown 3 heads. It’s not like they hadn’t seen me around before and I assumed the pastor had told his wife that we had come to decorate. She acted like she had no idea why we were even there. To eliminate the confusion, we told her. With her not being a very friendly person to begin with, she acted icily towards us and continued her conversation with the pianist. We ignored her coldness and did what we came there to do. We were not going to use the pianist for the wedding. We were just going to use my husband’s Bluetooth speaker, pick a pretty intro song, and call it a day.
The day of the wedding was on a Friday. It was the best and most anxious time of my life. My appearance was everything I had ever wanted! Simple yet elegant! My husband was so handsome. Everything was great until the pastor started talking. I don’t consider myself a bridezilla but I do expect the officiant to know what they are going to say beforehand or at least have something written up to read or marked. The pastor completely rushed the ceremony. He left out important parts of what you traditionally say to the bride and groom during the ceremony, such as the reciting and repeating of the ring vow and the speak now or forever hold your peace part. He had my husband say his ring vow but forgot to have me say mine. He kept losing his spots and frantically flipping through pages all over his bible. He stuttered through almost the entire ceremony. FYI, I am someone who also grew up stuttering and had to take classes from the age of 3 to 15. His stuttering came from rushing, not nervousness. There were no more than 10 people in that room. He has preached to hundreds. By the grace of God, we had the foresight to write our own vows. Thank goodness. That at least was something.
After the ceremony was over, we were headed to a nearby area to take pictures. Everyone was in their cars, except for my husband who was far off on the other end of the parking lot, giving his best man directions on where to go (he had came from out of state). I was getting ready to get in the car when the pastor bursted out of the church, yelled my name frantically, and ran towards me. I was confused and thought something had happened. I thought maybe I had forgotten our marriage license. But nothing could have prepared me for what he would say next. I asked him what was the problem. He said “are you gonna give me a little something, something “. I was confused and said “a little something, something?” He said “Are you going to bless me?” I told him, we had a gift coming for him in the mail and that we would bless him with that and make a donation to the church. He yelled at me and said “No! You don’t give money to the church, you give that money to ME! I LABOREDI set aside a lot of time! You owe me! That’s my money!” I was so taken back. This man, who always tells everyone that he’s my deceased father’s best friend couldn’t wait until, at the very least, another day to say that to me. I was already emotional not having my dad there and this man, who makes probably 5 times more than me and my husband combined AND has a daughter our age, had his hand out demanding money. He did not tell us that we had to pay him. Never even hinted at it. There was no contract or talk about his fee. I assumed his pastor fee was covered in my membership tithes and offerings. He told us that it was an honor to marry his best friend’s daughter. He only said we’d have to pay if we used the multi-purpose room and that rusted arch and candelabra. Even though that in itself sounded strange. Without going into great detail about what this pastor’s job is outside of church, he works in a very profitable profession that allows him to purchase things and go places that we cannot afford.
Back to the story, I tried to stay calm even though I was shaking with hurt and rage and told him that I could give him the gift and a financial “blessing” but he would first have to wait because #1 the item had not come in the mail yet #2 he had to wait until I got paid again in another week because due to unforeseen circumstances my husband had gotten laid off of his job the week prior. My husband works fast and had gotten hired by another job 5 days after, but wouldn’t start the job till the next week after the wedding and not receive a paycheck for another 2 to 3 weeks. The pastor didn’t care and kept repeating the same thing. I lost it and yelled, “well I already told you what I could do!” He grumbled and stormed back to the church, slamming, and locking the front door. My husband rushed to me to see what was wrong and I told him. My mom and wedding party were confused as to why we hadn’t left yet and what was all the yelling about. I told them. My mom was pissed to say the least. I searched in my regular purse, that I had chosen to bring alongside my wedding purse, just in case, for any kind of money I might have to give to this greedy man. Luckily I found $40. My last $40 and I went to my mom and told her that I was going to give him this and wash my hands of this situation. Like I said before, she was pissed! Probably more pissed than me. She said, “let me do it for you” and grabbed the money and went to the entrance. The door was locked so she went to the back of the building, where there was another entrance door, leading to his office. I wasn’t there but she told me that she had told him how disappointed she was with him and asked how he could do that on such an important day (literally 20 minutes after the ceremony). He showed no empathy or remorse so she told him that he obviously needs this money more than us and threw the money at him and left. Needless to say, his actions put a damper on the day. I cried so much after we went home. I was so let down. I had him in such a high regard. Had my dad been alive he wouldn’t have done that.
To make it all worst, I found out the next day that he was indeed trying to take advantage charge us for things he was not supposed to. A long story short, due to the confusion and stress of the wedding day, we had misplaced some items and thought we had left them at the church. I contacted my uncle’s ex wife who is a prominent worker in the church and asked her if she could meet us at the church to retrieve the items. She agreed and I told her what had happened. The irony is, she was actually the church event planner. She had taken on that role for the last 6 months. She had no idea that we were even getting married the day we were. She said the pastor had not discussed anything with her. After going into detail about what happened she said that I should not have been told that I’d be charged for anything because literally everything was donated, including multi-purpose room, the arch, and candlabra. She said she didn’t understand why the pastor didn’t send us to her from the start. She even went as far as to say that we didn’t even have to use the pastor to marry us in the church. We could have used someone, anyone else. The church is for anyone to use and not confined to only one minister. We had been under the assumption that the pastor and the church were a package deal. She said no. She said that he should have been upfront from the beginning, especially if he was expecting a “blessing”. Also, she said that the word “blessing” should have been worded differently, because a blessing is special and not just specific to money. He should have said “this is my fee”, I charge this for my services. That way, people will know their expectations. She apologized for his behavior and said that he was as wrong as “2 left shoes.” She and people from the wedding party, that I later told about this, said if we are judging his fee or “blessing” based on his quality of service $40 was way too generous.
That Sunday I was over to my mom’s house when she called the church to set up an appointment to talk to him herself again. This time with his deacons present to address his behavior. I told her not to worry about it but she insisted that it was not going to be a conversation primarily on our behalf but also the wedding party’s. They were impacted and drained by the incident too. My husband and I, however, were going to talk to him ourselves once we were emotionally ready at a later time. Well anyways, once she got him on the phone she was civil with him and asked if he would be willing to meet and talk about what happened. She took it as personal as I did, considering he was always boasting about how he was her husband’s (my father’s) best friend. She added that he needed to apologize to my husband and I, the wedding party, and to his congregation for his recent behavior. He got defensive and said that he didn’t owe us anything and that we owed him. After my mom asked him what exactly we owed him, considering we gave him our last $40. He went silent for second and countered, “your daughter doesn’t even attend church regularly”. My mom being the person that she is remarked to him “I could say the same about yours. Your own daughter doesn’t even attend your church and she lives in the same town as you”. He went silent again. She said “Pastor, you sure have changed”. He replied “Damn right I have!” And hung up the phone.
I was dumbstruck. The entire conversation was on speaker phone and with that I did something rather petty. I have no regrets. The church goes live every Sunday on Facebook for people to watch the service. I have attended quite a few online during the times I couldn’t go in person. While he was preaching about helping people, being kind to others, and how he lives by the book, I flooded the comment section in Bible quotes and scriptures about greed and love of money. There were A LOT! The person managing the live feed, commented dryly, to only leave comments related to the sermon, ending with a “thank you”. I mean, they actually were related to the sermon, more so than anyone realized.
Well, on the following Monday guess who texted me an apology. The pastor did. It was very short, so you could tell he was probably made to do it, but at least it was something. One thing that did bother me though was the spelling of my husband’s name in the message. At first I thought it was a grammatical cellphone typo, but I just had to be sure. That day we were taking our marriage licenses to the courthouse. I looked at our license, where he wrote our names and lo and behold he spelled my husband’s name wrong. His name is one of the most simple names out there. I had to go in with a pen and fix his name on the document before we turned it in. It’s by the grace of God he sent me that text, because I would not of not even had the mindset to look. Luckily I managed to fix it and we turned it in that day.
This is only one story out of two wedding dramas that happened to me but I’ll share the second one another time. Thank you for reading. Still healing from the trauma of it.
2024.05.08 20:24 WavyQ95 We need to talk about Ayahuasca.
In the final verse of ‘Meet The Grahams’ Kendrick speaks directly to Aubrey and says “Therapy’s a lovely start, but I suggest some ayahuasca, strip the ego from the bottom”. I believe this is being overlooked and it points to Kendrick’s mentality.
I’ll frame this by saying I have dealt with mental health issues (depression and anxiety). Most recently I was introduced to Psychedelic Mushrooms. I can only describe my experiences as “Enlightenment” and “Euphoria”. I do not condone drug use, specially for anyone that has not had their brain fully developed (under the age of 25).
With that said, What is Ayahuasca?
“Ayahuasca — also known as the tea, the vine, and la purga — is a brew made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, though other plants and ingredients can be added as well (1Trusted Source).
This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America, including the Santo Daime.”
How does it work?
“The main ingredients of Ayahuasca — Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis — both have hallucinogenic properties (2Trusted Source).
Psychotria viridis contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic substance that occurs naturally in the plant.”
What is the experience like?
“People react to Ayahuasca differently. Some experience euphoria and a feeling of enlightenment, while others go through severe anxiety and panic. It’s not uncommon for those taking Ayahuasca to experience both positive and negative effects from the brew.”
Source for all of the above: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ayahuasca#uses
So what is your point?
I’ve been a fan of Kendrick Lamar since 2010 when I first heard of Overly Dedicated. From 2010 to 2024 Kendrick Lamar has never switched up on who he is. He has ALWAYS wanted to portray himself, the black community, and Compton as a place where normal people are forced to live through poverty, trauma, and gang violence. On an interview with Noisey Kendrick says, “From Compton I could’ve easily said I did this, I did that, I done killed a whole bunch of niggas, just given the fact of where I’m from. That ain’t me, I’d rather talk about my reality. I’d rather talk about something deeper than that. The reasons, the problems, and the solutions behind it.” He goes on say how the stories in GKMC and TPAB are ways of shining the light on the black/Compton community and the people that don’t have much because of the environment they live in, so they can be seen as actual people.
Source: https://youtu.be/OGggHodlqLk?si=FAwMr5hjvHHUmApV
This interview was recorded in 2016 before DAMN and Mr. Morale. Given the subject matter on Mr. Morale of overcoming his own past traumas and mental health issues then trying to share his experience to help people in the black community heal from those things, it’s not hard to connect that Kendrick has experienced euphoria and enlightenment through psychedelics. This further ties in with his countless Bible references throughout his career. There is a strong correlation between psychedelics and religion. You can read more about this here: https://www.vox.com/vox-conversations-podcast/2021/3/4/21759683/christianity-psychedelics-brian-muraresku-the-immortality-key
I can only speak for myself when I say that psychedelics have given me a new breath to live a more purposeful life and I believe Kendrick understands that, probably on a deeper level. My latest experience was the night “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams” dropped. I honestly felt like I transcended with “Meet the Grahams” and understood Kendrick on a spiritual level. When you have these psychedelic experiences, there are life lessons being taught, there is no ego, no frontin, no hiding feelings. It’s yourself in the purest form. I truly believe Kendrick is aware of some fucked up shit these powerful people are doing behind the scenes. Drake is involved in some way and is backed by the industry. You guys have to understand that the industry controls headlines and stories from every angle. So the things that come to light are leaked or are too hard to hide from (Epstein, Weinstein, Diddy). Kendrick equals Drake’s downfall as the downfall of some sick fucks in the industry. Kendrick doesn’t hate Aubrey but he absolutely despises Drake, the poster boy of the industry.
Kendrick is not a perfect man but he has never switched up on his morals and values. A man that has experienced euphoria and enlightenment does not care about dollars and material bullshit. “Fuck the industry and they mommas”. I have a strong feeling that Kendrick has pulled the first card under this facade and more will come to light in the next few months. He might just continue to say more and drop a nuke on the industry. This isn’t over.
submitted by WavyQ95 to KendrickLamar [link] [comments]
I’ll frame this by saying I have dealt with mental health issues (depression and anxiety). Most recently I was introduced to Psychedelic Mushrooms. I can only describe my experiences as “Enlightenment” and “Euphoria”. I do not condone drug use, specially for anyone that has not had their brain fully developed (under the age of 25).
With that said, What is Ayahuasca?
“Ayahuasca — also known as the tea, the vine, and la purga — is a brew made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, though other plants and ingredients can be added as well (1Trusted Source).
This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America, including the Santo Daime.”
How does it work?
“The main ingredients of Ayahuasca — Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis — both have hallucinogenic properties (2Trusted Source).
Psychotria viridis contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic substance that occurs naturally in the plant.”
What is the experience like?
“People react to Ayahuasca differently. Some experience euphoria and a feeling of enlightenment, while others go through severe anxiety and panic. It’s not uncommon for those taking Ayahuasca to experience both positive and negative effects from the brew.”
Source for all of the above: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ayahuasca#uses
So what is your point?
I’ve been a fan of Kendrick Lamar since 2010 when I first heard of Overly Dedicated. From 2010 to 2024 Kendrick Lamar has never switched up on who he is. He has ALWAYS wanted to portray himself, the black community, and Compton as a place where normal people are forced to live through poverty, trauma, and gang violence. On an interview with Noisey Kendrick says, “From Compton I could’ve easily said I did this, I did that, I done killed a whole bunch of niggas, just given the fact of where I’m from. That ain’t me, I’d rather talk about my reality. I’d rather talk about something deeper than that. The reasons, the problems, and the solutions behind it.” He goes on say how the stories in GKMC and TPAB are ways of shining the light on the black/Compton community and the people that don’t have much because of the environment they live in, so they can be seen as actual people.
Source: https://youtu.be/OGggHodlqLk?si=FAwMr5hjvHHUmApV
This interview was recorded in 2016 before DAMN and Mr. Morale. Given the subject matter on Mr. Morale of overcoming his own past traumas and mental health issues then trying to share his experience to help people in the black community heal from those things, it’s not hard to connect that Kendrick has experienced euphoria and enlightenment through psychedelics. This further ties in with his countless Bible references throughout his career. There is a strong correlation between psychedelics and religion. You can read more about this here: https://www.vox.com/vox-conversations-podcast/2021/3/4/21759683/christianity-psychedelics-brian-muraresku-the-immortality-key
I can only speak for myself when I say that psychedelics have given me a new breath to live a more purposeful life and I believe Kendrick understands that, probably on a deeper level. My latest experience was the night “Family Matters” and “Meet the Grahams” dropped. I honestly felt like I transcended with “Meet the Grahams” and understood Kendrick on a spiritual level. When you have these psychedelic experiences, there are life lessons being taught, there is no ego, no frontin, no hiding feelings. It’s yourself in the purest form. I truly believe Kendrick is aware of some fucked up shit these powerful people are doing behind the scenes. Drake is involved in some way and is backed by the industry. You guys have to understand that the industry controls headlines and stories from every angle. So the things that come to light are leaked or are too hard to hide from (Epstein, Weinstein, Diddy). Kendrick equals Drake’s downfall as the downfall of some sick fucks in the industry. Kendrick doesn’t hate Aubrey but he absolutely despises Drake, the poster boy of the industry.
Kendrick is not a perfect man but he has never switched up on his morals and values. A man that has experienced euphoria and enlightenment does not care about dollars and material bullshit. “Fuck the industry and they mommas”. I have a strong feeling that Kendrick has pulled the first card under this facade and more will come to light in the next few months. He might just continue to say more and drop a nuke on the industry. This isn’t over.