while i was reading paradise lost
i came across adam and eve
so i imagined you as eve and me
as adam and we were
beautiful like apples

it just so happens
when you think everything is lost
you come across someone to believe
so i imagined you as eve and me
as adam and we were
beatiful like sanguine pomegranates

i could never take for granted
the comfort of being lost in your sleeve
with a cross of arms around my back like eve
so i imagined you and me
could have our own garden
beautiful like apples

Eve and Desire

Coming back to Calvinists on desire, it is a wonder as to how Adam and Eve managed to sin. Seeing as they created directly by God, they could only desire that which was Godly. Since we can only do that which we desire, and we cannot choose what we desire, how did Adam and Eve sin?

The first solution is that God created Adam and Eve with a desire to sin, at which case God is the author of evil.

The second solution is that Adam and Eve were duped by the serpent, at which case God is less intelligent than Satan.

The third solution is that Adam and Eve managed to wrest control over their God-given desires, making God less powerful than man.

These solutions are all insufficient, and so the premise of desire in the Calvinist mind is an insufficient explanation of the condition of man.

www.israelnationalnews.com

Where did Cain get his wife? Notice Genesis 5:4: “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.” Obviously Cain married one of his sisters — one of Adam’s daughters — and Seth, Cain’s brother, did likewise.

Adam and Eve, as God proposed, were fruitful (Genesis 1:28). In today’s world, when many couples are having no more than one or two children, it’s hard for us to grasp how many children Adam and Eve probably had during their great span of life of nearly a thousand years. Adam lived almost one sixth of all the time from his creation until now.

It was not wrong to marry a sister or a brother in the beginning — no physical harm would result. More than 2,000 years later, in the days of Abraham, a man could still marry a half sister. It was not until the days of Moses that God forbade brothers to marry their half sisters (Leviticus 18:6, 11).

In pre-Flood days, when people lived for centuries, they did not age as we do today. They were able to continue bearing children, undoubtedly, for hundreds of years. After the Flood, because of living contrary to God’s laws, the human life span became greatly shortened.

For the first 20 years or so of my Christian life, I didn’t understand what was so bad about the “knowledge of good and evil”. I knew that this property of the tree made it evil while the tree of life was good. I also knew that whatever the knowledge of good and evil was, humans weren’t supposed to have it. But what is it?

When we ate of this tree we got something that we could never get back. We got the ability to be judges. Some may say that this isn’t so bad, but if you think about it, I think you will concur that we do not have what it takes to be judges. You see, it takes perfection to be a judge. The knowledge of good and evil is this thing that makes us put one thing in one category and another in another. It makes us put one person in the “good” category and someone else in the “evil” category. You may ask “is this so bad, clearly God does it”? That is right; God does know the difference between good and evil but with one key difference. He knows the difference accurately. You see, God is perfect so He judges what is good and evil against Himself and thus judges perfectly. The sins of the world are really caused by our inability to be able to judge between good and evil. We go to war because we decide who is evil and who is good (but can both sides be right?). We try to get things for ourselves instead of for our neighbor because we consider ourselves better than them. We don’t love our brothers and sisters because we don’t think they deserve it and we think that we do. All of these things are because of the knowledge that we were never supposed to have. God was supposed to be the one to decide what/who is good and what/who is evil. He is supposed to be the judge because He judges righteously. If we could learn to remove all judgment we would live righteously.

It is this common belief in One God who created everything that has bound the varying races together into a perfectly woven nation called Israel.  It was the only nation on earth where strangers (foreigners) could become full fledged family members without ever being ostracized or reminded that they weren’t really blood brothers.  For no one was a blood brother!  That was the point!  Their blood tie was their common ancestry in Adam and Eve, and not the nation of their fathers.

Only one other nation on earth has taken the identical view toward his fellow man.  No matter what nation a person is born into, the United States of America adopted them, and they became full fledged citizens with all the rights of a home born son!

It is interesting to note the United States was founded during the days of the Spanish Inquisition of Rome.  The witch-hunts were conducted by the same people who protested a century before against the lies being taught by the Roman Church in Europe.  America began with the very same principles as Israel.

While other nations will let you come and join them, you will always be a foreigner amongst their ranks; and when the economy begins to slip, they will always blame you for it.  Although the United States was founded upon the same God of Israel, and the same principles of Israel, and the same Bible as Israel, it is beginning to show the earmarks similar to other heathen nations.

When this type of thinking emerges, let the Jews beware!  Most Jews who read this will be thinking, Not in America; I’m American!  Well the German Jews of the 1930’s had the same flaw in their reasoning.  It was their land.  They were German citizens.  Their families had lived in Germany for centuries.  They had just as much right to be there as anyone else.  I’ve heard every type of argument; but that didn’t stop Hitler’s ovens from consuming them.

Remember Abraham?  He had the sense to listen to God.  He believed what God told him.  He had the brains to get out of Babylon when the message came, before it was too late.  Even Jesus warned the Jews to get out of town when you see hatred on the rise (see Matthew Chapter 24).

Today’s Israel is seeded with Jews who couldn’t believe what I am telling you, until the citizens in their own countries turned against them.  This is similar to the days of Emperor Nero when he burned Rome to blame the Jews.

The Jews couldn’t understand it.  Their families had lived in those nations for centuries.  Yet, the Jews are always considered foreigners when trouble begins.  Scapegoats, because their belief in God differs from the other citizens of the land.

It is this difference that forged the new branch of the human tree known as the Jews; and it is this difference that continually causes the other branches of the human race, amongst whom Jews live, to vomit them out!

The first signal is poverty on the rise and a collapsing economy.  The last sign is the winds of war blowing on the horizon; when people begin to discuss the possibility of war.  This process is similar to the first heart transplants.  The operations were successful.  Everything functioned perfectly; but the body rejected the foreign part, and the patient died!

To be continued…

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1: 27).

  It is sometimes asserted by Christians of a philosophical turn of mind, that the “image” of God does not involve the physical body, but only the soul.  Because of this teaching, all kinds of false doctrines have been brought in, alleging that the ‘real’ man is the soul, whereas the body is the ’shell’ or husk.  This teaching, when logically carried out, results in a denial of the need for physical resurrection.

   When one looks at the above verse, however, one must conclude that it makes no sense when understood in light of man’s theory.  Rather, the inspired text implies that the ‘real man’ has a physical body.  Else why the importance of ’male and female’? 

   (Genesis 5: 1-2) “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day they were created.”

  It so happens that Adam was created out of the dust of the ground BEFORE he was animated with the breath of life (Genesis 2: 7).  The entire man is composed of a body of clay PLUS the animating principle.  The first man was named “Adam,” which, etymologically speaking, denotes the ‘dust’ (Heb. Adamah) out of which he was formed.  Since Adonai Jehovah formed the female out of Adam’s side (and this creation was physical in nature), the creation of male and female as “one flesh” necessarily includes the physical. 

  The main problem that theologians have, is that if this view be correct,  then one must conclude that God the Father has a physical body.  Because tradition (derived largely from pagan Greek philosophy) teaches that God is an essence rather than a person (though most do not deny that the “essence” has personality), it is conceived impossible that the “image of God” can mean anything other than the immaterial.  And yet the inspired Scriptures emphatically declare that Jehovah Elohim exists in corporeal form!

   Abraham saw Jehovah as a man as he sat in his tent door (Genesis 18: 1-3).  He later spoke with Him over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18: 23-33), before He “went His way”!

  Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel saw the God of Israel, and the paved sapphire work under His feet (Exodus 24: 10-11).  They were not hallucinating.  For it is affirmed that “they saw God, and did eat and drink“!

  The Lord spoke “face to face” with Moses, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Exodus 33: 11).  Of course, due to His innate holiness, Jehovah’s glory was always veiled from human vision.  Moses saw Him in His glory, but only His “back parts” and not His face (Exodus 33: 21-23).

   During the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, Micaiah the son of Imlah saw “the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left” (1 Kings 22: 19; 2 Chron. 18: 18).

  The prophet Isaiah saw the Lord “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple” (Isaiah 6: 1).  If this vision was merely symbolical, then what are we to make of the seraphims above the throne? (Isaiah 6: 2).  All agree that the seraphims exist in bodily form.  If they were seen positioned above the throne of God, then He that sitteth upon that throne must be tangible and real!

  Daniel later saw Him in prophetic vision, as the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7: 9).  In this vision, the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) is seen coming to the Ancient of Days and receiving dominion (Daniel 7: 13).  If the Ancient of Days is an incorporeal entity, then so must Christ be.  For it is an established law of interpretation that no symbol can be separated from itself.

   Dr. Paul Lee Tan writes:

   “When handling symbols, the interpreter must accept no symbol which is found separated or apart from itself.  Every symbol must behave as a composite unit, and not be seen in action separated or apart from itself.  Thus the 24 elders of Revelation 7 cannot be symbolical, because one of the elders is described as coming forward to talk with John (v. 13).  If the 24 elders were a symbol, it would mean that one-twenty-fourth part of a symbol came apart to talk with John!” (The Interpretation of Prophecy, pg. 161-162).

    Such a method of interpretation as endorsed by allegorists and vain philosophers, will lead us nowhere.  But we know that Christ ascended in His physical human body, and is the “man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2: 5), Who shall yet return as the Son of Man to judge the world (John 5: 27; Matthew 24: 30).  Hence in Daniel’s vision, it is impossible to spiritualize one Person of the Godhead without spiritualizing the other.  Far from being any errant theology, our view actually provides a solid basis for refutation of Unitarianism, which mingles the three persons of the Godhead.

  Despite, however, the proof given in support of our position, it will be contested that “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 24).  That is indeed a blessed truth. However, when we consult the original Greek text, we find that there is no article before the word “spirit!”  The text simply says: ‘God is spirit.’  And this in no wise excludes the physical; for there are natural bodies and spiritual bodies (see 1 Cor. 15: 44). 

   Angels, too, are called ‘spirits‘ (Hebrews 1: 7).  But all Christians confess that they have bodies.  Some of them are even bound with “unseen chains” (Jude 6).  Their inability to be seen by ourselves does not render their physicality any the less real.  Our inability to see God in corporeal form, except through a process of ecstatic vision, does not mean that He must, of necessity, exist only as an incorporeal essence.

   There is no Scriptural or theological necessity for excluding the physical from the “image of man.”  Murder is expressly forbidden in the Scriptures.  “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man” (Genesis 9: 6).  We believe that murder is wrong because it is a desecration of the Divine image.  The image must include the body, for man can only destroy the body; he cannot destroy the soul!  (Matt. 10: 28).

  These facts should be sufficient to at least cause us to question man’s tradition regarding the “image of God.”  While we do not believe that the image excludes the rational, intellectual, or spiritual properties of man, neither does it exclude the natural.  In fact, we hold that the image is nothing less than the “entire man.”  As this image is defaced by sin and destroyed by death, so it must and will be restored through the redemptive work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

19 and Counting!

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of Tonitown, Ark., who have 18 children and one grandchild on the way, are expecting a new addition to their household – baby No. 19 will arrive in the spring.

“We are so thrilled,” says Michelle, 42. “We just couldn’t believe it is happening.” Jim Bob, 44, agrees: “This never gets old. We are so grateful for each child. We are looking forward to our first grand baby and our 19th child.”

Oldest son Joshua, 21 and his wife Anna, 21, are expecting daughter Mackynzie Renée next month, so she will be older than her new aunt or uncle.

Read the rest here.

This is wonderful news and I rejoice with the Duggars on their 19th child.  I pray the Lord blesses them and gives Mrs. Duggar a blessed time during her pregnancy.

There is such a need for women to understand that children are a gift from God.  Our culture seems to think that it is “sad” when a woman desires to have the children God intended for her to have.  Whether we are given 1 or 19, the issue should not be that she is having children.  The issue should be…is she doing right in God’s eyes!  According to Gen. 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Did it stop there?  After commanding Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, did God rescind His command?  Let’s see what else the Bible has to say about it.

Gen. 9:1, 7, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Next we see God telling Noah to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth after the flood.

Lev. 26:9, “And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Here we see God telling the Israelites to multiply and be fruitful!

Ps. 127:3-5, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” God has given us an idea of what He thinks of children.  See what is said here?  Children are an inheritance or an heirloom of the Lord and the fruit of the womb are His compensation, benefit or worth!  Wow!  What an amazing expression of children in the Bible!  But wait!!! It doesn’t stop there…the Bible continues on with saying that the man who has a quiver full of them is HAPPY!  When you read the article, you will notice that Mrs. Duggar is very happy to have another child in her family!  How much more exciting could this be?

Ps. 128:3-4, “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.  Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.” This is the way it will be, i.e. being blessed by having children for the man that fears the Lord!  The excitement continues on building!

Jesus spoke about little children and even rebuked His disciples because they were forbidding them to come to Jesus.  What?!  Are children to be banned from God’s presence?  Are children nuisances to us adults?  That seems strange because we were all children at one time.  Maybe all of us should have been viewed as a nuisance and bother!

How does God look at those of us who are saved into His family?  He looks at us as children and even uses the apostles to call those he is writing to, “Little children.”

1 Cor. 3:1, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”

1 Pt. 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”

Mt. 18:3, “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Mk. 10:15, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”

So, is it Mr. and Mrs. Duggar who are wrong in having so many children?  Absolutely not!  It is the culture and those who complain that they have had too many children who are wrong!  The Duggars are simply following God’s command and fulfilling it according to His Word!  Oh that more families would take the time to see what a blessing children are instead of viewing them as a curse!

This question poses two problems.

1. What is a Jew?
2. Where did the Jews come from?

The second question is the easier one to answer.

Since all human beings came from one pair of human beings, namely Adam and Eve, then all the various races on earth are simply branches of that tree.  This fact is no longer theory.  Since the inception of Genetics, scientists have proven the human race stems from a single pair of people.

If all races on earth are the branches of one tree, then Jews must be one of those many branches.  This would be true if the Jewish people stemmed from a single source sometime after Adam and Eve; but they don’t.

The nation that Jews come from is named Israel.  It was unique 4,000 years ago.  It was different than any other nation, or race, on earth.  The difference was within the people of the nation of Israel.  The people were not born from one pair of human beings, which would be the essence of a tribe or nation; but vary widely.

The beginning of Israel was spawned from many of the races of earth.  Each individual race has an outward appearance that can be traced back to an origin, which identifies the race as being the same nation or family of people.  It is similar to tigers and lions.  While both animals are huge cats, they differ in their coloring, size, and shape.  We don’t have to search to see this principle work.

If you go to China, you will find a similar appearance amongst all the people.  Therefore, Chinese people are easily identified by their physical appearance; which appearance separates them from Australian Aborigines, European Whites, or the African Negro.  It is the outward physical appearance of a race that serves to identify it and make it a separate branch of human beings.  Yet, the Chinese, or European, or African, although quite different in outward appearance, are simply different branches, or families, that stemmed from the same two parents known as Adam and Eve!

The first pair of human beings on earth, Adam and Eve, is the root system of the entire human family tree that exists today.  While the Jewish people do not have the same distinguishing mark, or a particular outward facial appearance, neither do they have a similar body structure.  The reason the Jewish people do not have a particular appearance is: the nation of Israel began with defectors who left their original tribes and nations because they rejected the false religious tenets of their nations.  Hence, Israel was populated by people from many nations and became a unique branch of the human tree.

This does not mean that Jews are aliens from outer space.  They did not come to earth from another planet.  It simply means that all Jewish people are descendants of Adam and Eve like every other races of human beings on this planet, but they are not descendants of each other, as in other races.

It would be like a family that was childless.  Although there are ten children in the family, they were not born by the mother and father of their family, since they were adopted.  The Jews are a conglomeration of other races that have joined themselves together to become one nation.

The common denominator in the nation of Israel was, and is, their belief in One God.  The God of Creation!  Therefore, Israel is not a branch of the original tree, but a mixture of all the branches of the original tree, because Israel has pieces taken from all the various branches.

This is what makes the Jewish Nation unique.  They were not born into their nation like the other races, but were grafted together by God to produce a unique independent tree that would give birth to a unique people God could use to teach the other branches about Him.

Somewhere in the history of every Jewish family, the original father of that family came from one of the many Gentile branches of the human tree; and that particular father decided to become a Jew.  So while his children, and their children, are born into the nation, just like in other nations, the various families of Israel do not carry one outward identifying appearance or mark, which distinguishes them as all other races were distinguished on the planet earth until recently.

To be continued…

Okay, usually when you think of pushing limits in books we all think of sexual limits. Today I’m not talking about that, instead I’m talking about religous limits. I was discussing a topic on the way to New Orleans and one or two of the riders got upset with me for my “opinion” on a certain topic. Now is it blasphemey to question what we “know”?

The topic is simple, In some religions Adam is believed to have had a wife before Eve. She was made from the earth just as Adam and believed they were equals. Lilith would not bend to his will and left Eden. Adam complained to God about her and God sent angels to inform her either she would come back and follow Adam’s orders or a hundred babies a day would die because of her.

She didn’t come back, so God created Eve from Adam’s rib. Later Lilith decides to make Eve see she is equal no matter what Adam says. She is believed to be the snake who tempted Eve.

Now as I said this is all information based on various religous beliefs. I find it interesting and am using Lilith in my YA book I’m writing. BUT is this morally and religously right? What are your opinions??

My perfect Angel. Picture taken at St. Louis Cemetary Number One:

“Pleasure only starts once the worm has got into the fruit, to become delightful happiness must be tainted with poison.”- Georges Bataille

Adam & Eve- Hans Holbein

With woolies gone, M&S Christmas ads have been the ‘benchmark’ for retailers over the past few years. This years effort looks as though it was shot on a camcorder in Canary Wharf.

Whilst I appreciate times are tough, never before has the nation needed a little ‘Magic and sparkle’ at Christmas time (seems there’s more than me that hates them, have a chuckle at this write up).

In my humble opinion, that crown will go to John Lewis this year. Not a celeb in sight. Just a beautifully crafted ad that tugs ever so gently on the heart-strings.

The cover of Guns n’Roses ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ would surely bring a tear to even Slashs’ eye with those happy Christmas kiddies. Well done John Lewis.

Shifting the account to Adam and Eve looks like a wise move (even if the outdoor work could do with some revisions).

Iain Morrison is a senior marketer in the British Tourism Industry. And is starting to think about christmas shopping…

Seems God was just about done creating the universe, had a couple of left-over things left in his bag of creations, so he stopped by to visit Adam and Eve in the Garden.
He told the couple that one of the things he had to give away was the ability to stand up and pee. “It’s a very handy thing,” God told the couple who he found hanging around under an apple tree.
“I was wondering if either one of you wanted that ability.”
Adam popped a cork. Jumped up and begged, “Oh, give that to me! I’d love to be able to do that! It seems the sort of thing a Man should do. Oh please, oh please, oh please, let me have that
ability. I’d be so great! When I’m working in the garden or naming the animals, I could just let it rip, I’d be so cool. Oh please, God, let it be me who you give that gift to, let me stand and pee, oh please………” On and on he went like an excited little boy (who had to pee).

Eve just smiled and shook her head at the display. She told God if Adam really wanted it so badly, and it sure seemed to be the sort of thing that would make him happy, she really wouldn’t mind if Adam were the one given the ability to stand up and pee.

And so it was. And it was…well, good. “Fine,” God said, looking back into his bag of left-over creations. “What’s left here? Oh yes, multiple orgasms…”

Neerah, as Ionee, glided through the music and watched as the colors shifted from the pleasant rainbow of blues, greens and yellows, to the more strident reds and oranges causing the chords to become inharmonic.

“Oh, I do apologize, Ohna,” she offered the other Numinousen her regrets at ruining the composition.

“What is it that troubles you so?” Ohna sang as she allowed the other colors she had been holding to dissolve, fading back into the ether where she had gotten them from.

Ionee sighed, then plucked one of the crystal notes from its place and tried to shape it into a more pleasing sound and color. “I cannot decide whether to try being an Aurisen or not,” she put the note, which was now more golden, back with the others. “I have become of two minds. There is a part of me that longs to experience all things physical, yet there is another part of me that seeks not to experience these things.” She took several other notes out of the discordancy that displayed around them and turned them into starbursts.

“Why do you not simply become two Aurisens, then, if that is the way you feel?” Ohna scattered more blues and yellows into the composition. “For then you can experience both the world of the physical, but also remain apart from the physical, if you wish.”

Ionee flared blue, then white, then back to gold. “You are so wise, Ohna.”

Ohna shifted the composition from blues to greens and added several notes of purple. “I only propose what you already said,” Ohna trilled, pausing in her composing long enough to note Ionee’s improved mood.

“I must speak with Ryal, then, immediately, for I would participate in the upcoming ceremony,” Ionee tossed several emerald sparks into Ohna’s composition, before hurrying away.

* * *

It was the ceremony of Becoming. Those Numinousens who wished to experience physical life would gather together, and form themselves in a circle. The Numinousens who monitored and guided the newly physical beings would form a large circle around them. Then, at the appropriate moment, each of those wishing to try life as a corporeal being, would create a physical body. That body would then enter the Forest of Reflections on the planet of Danaria. In this form, they were referred to as Aurisens—a blending of Numinousen and physicality. Although, they wore a physical form, part of their essence would still show through, creating an all over golden aura. As Aurisens, they also retained all the knowledge gained as a Numinousen, which included their abilities to manipulate all energies existing within and between the physical plane and the ethereal plane.

While an Aurisen, they could dwell within the Forest of Reflections for as long as they wished, then when they wanted to return to the ethereal plane, they would simply deconstruct the physical shell they had created, and return to being a full Numinousen. The physical body was just another way in which they manipulated resonance. The body, a physical shell that could exist within the vibrational frequency of the physical plane, is what gave them the means by which they could then function and exist within the physical plane as a corporeal being. With the body they would have the ability to taste, touch, smell, and experience all the things within the physical plane. Without the body, their experience of the physical realm was limited, because Numinousens couldn’t experience physical reality. They could travel to and within the physical plane, but as a Numinousen, they didn’t have the ability to touch, taste, smell, or fully explore and take part in a physical life.

Becoming corporeal was not an easy decision for most Numinousens, so the majority of those that became Aurisens remained within the Forest of Reflections until they returned home to the ethereal plane. Occasionally, a Numinousen would become corporeal so that they could follow the Circle-of-Life path. Following the circle-of-life path was not something that most Numinousens or Aurisens took lightly, though. It normally required many choices and much planning before committing themselves to such a venture. There were a few Aurisens, though, that made no plans or gave it no thought, but simply involved themselves with man and his dramas. By doing so, they ended up committing themselves to the Circle-of-Life path whether they wanted to or not. Sometimes those along this type of path did fine, more often than not, though, the first few lives were very difficult, and the lessons exceedingly painful.

Ionee wasn’t thinking about any of this, though, as she floated into the inner circle being formed. Her mind was filled with joyous expectations. She had observed the physical world several times, and she had even visited there once—though without permission—when she was still a very young Numinousen. So, she was filled with unbridled anticipation, and laden with many second thoughts. It was the part of herself that had all the misgivings that she planned to separate from. As she tried to calm herself, she concentrated on grouping all those shades of trepidations and hesitations together, while holding onto her enthusiasms and joys. As her being alternated between these two vibrational frequencies, her golden essence began to flicker. Slowly at first, then faster until it appeared as if two Ionees were hovering there. When both beings were complete and distinct, the flickering stopped. Now there truly were two Ionees—one who couldn’t wait to go into the physical plane and try being a corporeal being, and one who wasn’t at all sure that becoming corporeal was a wise thing to do.

Looking around, the happy Ionee noted that several other Numinousens had also created a twin, so she knew that at least she wasn’t alone in her duality. Now, those going to the physical plane needed to create a body, so both Ionees began to do so. Soon, where two Numinousens had been, there were now two Aurisens. While most of those who had created twins had created bodies of the same gender, several had not, including Ionee. The happy Ionee had created a tall, lithe, blonde female form, while the hesitant Ionee had created an even taller, dark-haired, rather rugged male body.

The newly corporeal beings were guided to the Forest of Reflections where they were directed to meet with the other Aurisens who lived there so that they might gain some insights. However, once in the world, the blonde Ionee Aurisen was so fascinated by everything, that she merely stood and stared around her. The first thing that really caught her attention was a star streaking through the sky above. This was quickly followed by another, then two in rapid succession, then one more. Deciding that she would like to be named for this event she had just witnessed, she named herself Ionee of Starfall.

Being single does not mean that women have to give up on their sex lives; there are plenty of ways to satisfy your self without a man. And believe it or not, on their own women can explore their sexuality and experience some of the best orgasms they’ve ever had.

Vibrators can be great companions for women, and apart from the normal ways to use a vibrator there are plenty of different things that you can actually do with them to increase your level of pleasure.

Here are a few tips on how to use a vibrator for ultimate pleasure:

· Vibrators have different speed levels for a reason, and you should make the most of it. Start with the lowest speed and let your fingers explore too. Increase the speed slowly all the way to the top; this would make the experience better for you rather than just using the vibrator at the same speed all the time.

· Don’t be afraid to explore the different varieties of vibrators that are available. You can try a jelly vibrator for a more real, softer feeling or a rabbit vibrator. There are double vibrators available too for exploring the anal region.

If you keep using different vibrators all the time, you would never get bored.

· Try using vibrators in different positions. Rather than just using a vibrator lying down on your back, you could try using it standing up or even sit on the vibrator and use it like you are on top of your partner. Be experimental, there are several different positions to try.  The best ones to use when operating the buses or the trains are the jelly ones, since they seem to have less irritation around the vaginal area.  These can be used in the sitting position and that is why I recommend these ones.

· Use a vibrator on your clitoris. Vibrators can help you get an orgasm like no other because it can stimulate the clitoris at high speed, something that your fingers can never do. These too are great when operating the bus or even in the office. They make less noise, they are small and less discreet.  And you can operate them with a remote.

· If you don’t yet know where your G spot is then you must definitely try one of the G spot vibrators that are available everywhere today. This can be a different experience on its own.

· Use vibrators with different textures. There are plenty of types of vibrators available that have different textures; these can give you immense pleasure because they create friction when used. These vibrators can be used on the clitoris too for added pleasure.

Vibrators can be used in plenty of ways, as long as you think creatively and be experimental, you would never bored of using a vibrator. Many people don’t realize that when I am conducting an interview or at a Board Meeting, I am actually having my clitoris massaged at the same time.  Click on the video below as I demonstrate how to use the bullet vibrator while sitting. This one is alittle noisy because of over use.  Newer ones are quiter, I can assure you and less conspicous to your passengers. by Mary Fetsch

Forbes magazine published this week its rankings of the world’s most powerful people for 2009*. Its choices showed just how wildly out of touch the magazine is with reality. It is an undisputable fact that Pope Benedict XVI is by far the most powerful, important, influential and infallible man in the world. But in the Forbes rankings the Holy Father, God’s representative on Earth, placed 11th. Ahead of him was one Chinese guy, one Saudi guy, one Mexican billionaire, one Australian billionaire, the founders of Google, the CEO of Wal-Mart, the greatest Russian that has ever lived and Bill Gates (nerd!). Oh, also the list was topped by a Kenyan man who loves abortions, gays, Allah and Karl Marx.

B. Hussein Obama, the "President" of America. #1 on Forbes' list.

Vladimir Putin. The only other person who deserves to be on this list. At #3.

Happily, Benedict did place one spot above Silvio Berlusconi (incredible he even made the list considering he has difficulty keeping control of his own penis), and way above that hack the “Dalai Lama,” but the list was otherwise absolutely insulting! Vladimir Putin is pretty fucking awesome, we’ll agree with that. Everyone else above the Pope, however, had zero right to be there. Does Barack Obama have a conversation with God and Jesus every single day? Um, no! Does Rupert Murdoch get to ride around in an invincible armored car like the Popemobile? I don’t fucking think so. That Saudi dude doesn’t even believe in Jesus, let alone hold ultimate power over almost a billion believers. And Hu Jintao? More like Who Jintao, am I right?? These people are jokes.

Well, we’re not going to stand for it. That’s why here at Pope Watch we’ve decided to devise our own list of the world’s most powerful people. But unlike that pussy little magazine “Forbes,” we’re taking it one step further. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present: The 11 Most Powerful People in the History of the World.

1)      Jesus Christ

2)      Jesus Christ

3)      Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ!

Jesus takes up the top 3 spots in our ranking. We felt he deserved it. No explanation necessary really. If you don’t know why he’s at the top (three times) you’re almost definitely going to Hell anyways.

4)      Moses

Moses. File Photo.

Moses brought the Jews from Egypt to Israel, where they would one day betray the savior leading directly to his death and torture, which inadvertently saved humanity. Also, one time he parted the sea.

5)      St. Peter

Saint Peter. The greatest saint that ever lived. Also a founding member of 1960's folk rock group Peter, Paul and Mary.

Peter founded the Catholic Church, the greatest and most powerful organization the world has ever known.

6)      Adam

Adam, seen here with the world's first dumb blonde.

Back in Adam’s day there were only two people around. Which means that he automatically had control over 50% of the world’s population. And until his idiot of a wife ate some mushrooms and began talking to an imaginary snake (causing the rest of humanity throughout history to be drenched in sin), he pretty much held control over her too.

7)      Noah

Noah. Seen here with a rainbow. Before they were gay.

This one time God took a piss on the world and flooded the whole thing. But before he did he told Noah his plan. The idea was that Noah could save himself, his family, and all of the animals (except the cool ones like unicorns). So without Noah, whales would be ruling the planet right now. We think he was pretty important.

8)      Buddha

Buddha. Looking like a bit of a tranny.

So far everyone on this list has been a force for good in the world. But power can also be a source for great evil. That’s why Buddha’s here. It is because of his blasphemous teachings that a billion Chinese people are going straight to hell.

9)      Mohammed

Mohammed. File Photo.

The most evil man that ever lived. Mohammed was an infidel who got his brain fried from wandering around in the desert, and then thought he could talk to God. He created the largest force of evil in the world today.

10)  Vladimir Putin

Putin hunting people.

No explanation necessary.

11)  Pope Benedict XVI

Damn. Eleventh again. Oh well, that’s pretty good I guess. Maybe with a little more effort he can one day crack the top ten. Until then, God Bless!

*http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/11/worlds-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-people_land.html

 He walked with a determined stride out onto the football field and the packed crowd in the stadium suddenly erupted with all kinds of reactions.  Security personnel and various staffers were rushing out to apprehend the man, but it was obvious that he had no means for destructive action.  Nonetheless, the clamor was intense, the TV cameras had all swung around to catch the scuffle on the  field, and half the crowd was on its feet.  The reason for the alarm?   He was naked.

The great hoopla over someone appearing au naturel in public brings many questions to ponder for viewers.  What were his intentions?  Was it in protest?  Was he high?  Was he overly proud?  What’s the big deal, a person is either male or female: so what!  Etc.  But there is a seldom asked question.  Why is it considered indecent exposure to be comfortable in your own skin?  Nudity is subliminally accepted as a religious prohibition, and yet scripture is not exactly clear on the motivation for hiding what you are.

One of the more peculiar perceptions in religious posturing is the assertion that the human physical body is, for some reason, offensive to the power that is credited with having designed and engineered the human physical form.  That assertion of god’s displeasure seems to be a contradiction to the opening of scriptural myth, for there it is fully accepted in Genesis that the power called god saw nothing wrong or indecent with Adam and Eve meandering naked around the Garden of Eden.  Chapter two, verse 25 clearly reports, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

Adam, with Eve’s help, is said to have acquired knowingness, which caused Adam to decide that it might be wise to cover up, so “…they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:7)   The Lord, when he saw their sorry attire, was not exactly pleased and said, “Who told thee that thou was naked?” (3:11)  Being naked obviously was not deemed as shameful by the Lord.  If anything, the act of donning superfluous attributes was what disturbed the Lord most.   Miffed at their awkward self-awareness, the Lord then compounded their perplexity by covering the with “coats of skin” and hustling them out the exit gate. 

There is deep irony in this scriptural portrayal of blameless nakedness.  The nakedness of the Eden inhabitants represents pure innocence and complete truth, for nothing was meant to be kept hidden from view.  Apparently not even sexual inquisitiveness was held to be offensive in Paradise.  The “sin” that troubled god, therefore, rested in the attempt to deceive by concealing what is true.  It is for this reason that the naked human form has, from time out of mind, been held symbolic of absolute truth.

Western rank-and-file religions, however, have habitually regarded anyone seen when naked as being in a state of disgrace!  Noah’s son accidently seeing their father naked, for example.  Despite the fact that every life form enters life in innocent nakedness, the natural splendor of the unadorned body has been liberally painted with great dollops of false guilt.  Thus the self-proclaimed representatives of god—the preachers, priests, pastors, ministers, etc.–dress themselves in layered costumes with only their head and hands exposed in a pretense that they are the ambassadors of the Lord’s truth.  Such showy, distracting and often ostentatious paraphernalia of religious pretension would seem to be more the uniform donned for spreading aggressive deceit rather than accessories approved for the genuine messengers of god’s liberating truth.

The general understanding that there is some god-required priestly dress code is presented only in the priest-written book of Leviticus where the garments to be worn by the high priest Aaron for divine intercourse are lovingly, almost lasciviously defined.  The clue to the true meaning behind the descriptions of the god-approved dress code for his pulpit generals rest in what Aaron’s name means: the name is derived from the word harah and means to conceive.  It is from the Leviticus myth, therefore, that when filled with an arousal to perform for god, the Catholic bishops and other ecclesiastics often sport those tall, pointy, phallic-looking miters.  It’s all showmanship though.  Even so those old men do not act particularly enlightened, let alone sexy. 

• Related posts: Dressed for Sex, Bible Style, Sept. 8, 2009; Breastplate, Sexy Biblical Garb, Sept. 09, 2009.

Denying Satan - Carl Bloch

I’m sure Satan hates those that speak as if they know him; he surely must be proud enough of his own power and abilities that any explanation of the Great Mahan seems like an attack on one that is so “great” and “powerful” in his own eyes that none could or should be able to fully understand him.  Despite that personality trait, Satan’s plans are easy to understand.  Furthermore, despite his best efforts to disrupt it, Satan provides the means for the Lord to bring about the fulfillment of the Plan of Salvation. Heavenly Father wrote the Plan for all of us to receive salvation, and within that plan opposition is essential.  Satan auditioned and got the part as the antagonist to provide most all opposition in the earth. With Heavenly Father’s plan, both God and Jesus Christ made the appropriate and omniscient prophecies knowing the Adversary would provide the setup that would necessitate the Lord paying for our sins and later returning again.

If the plan is so obvious, and the adversary-role so vital, why does he continue the fight?  Why not throw in the towel? Does he really just want miserable company, or is there something more motivating him?

This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive analysis of Satan, but we can learn a few things from the scriptures. First, we can see what Satan truly desires… it was to bring everyone salvation, right?  That’s what he told Heavenly Father before we all came to earth.. Let’s read the account once more: Moses 4:1, “…Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.”  You can practically map out Satan’s priorities here (I’ve listed them in the order they are given with the importance rating next to them.. sorry I’m a political scientist, we explain things like this): 1) Send me, I will be thy son 2) I will redeem all mankind 3) One soul shall not be lost 2) Surely I will do it 1) Wherefore give me thine honor.  He’s hungry for the honor and the spotlight!  He shows his true intentions for his plan through the prideful ambitions that surrounds the actual plan to save us! Is there any other evidence of Satan’s goals? D&C 29:36, “And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil–for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me (Heavenly Father), saying, Give me thine honor (Heavenly Father’s honor), which is my power (Satan’s greatest desire); and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency.” Finally (for this post at least), Satan spills the beans as he commands Moses in Moses 1:19, “…Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.” Upon which Moses commands Satan in the name of the real Only Begotten (the very title he was professing to be) to depart from him. Satan must have been really bitter at this point since he was being cast out by the very title and honor that he wanted to assume, proving once again that Satan has no power, and no honor, even if he lies and says that he does.

It doesn’t seem like Satan ever wanted to help humankind.  His plan was to ask everybody to use their agency and choose not to have agency on earth.  His goals are to seek and steal honor from the Only Begotten and Heavenly Father.  With this honor he’ll somehow become great enough to earn a divine position in eternity.  Sadly, his reward for his choices has already been given.  And he will never receive a hallowed word on his behalf, both in this world or in the eternity to come. For, he is the opposition and adversary to goodness. He is the enemy of righteousness. He chose in the pre-mortal existence where he would end. We, on the other hand, have yet to receive our judgement. Let’s be sure and choose the winning side.

"Expulsion from Eden", Pastel.

Nora Othic
Torah! Torah! Torah!

11 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Late Show
1600 Cherry Street
Kansas City, Missouri
816.474.1300; 816.359.7174

Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.
Runs through: Nov. 28.

I realize that the recommended reading list for today’s post might be a bit daunting, but there’s no getting around it: It’s impossible to have a full appreciation for Norah Othic’s Torah! Torah! Torah! without reading the first five books of the Bible.

The Torah. The Pentateuch. The books written by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Okay, fine. You can skip the last three. Othic draws exclusively from the first two for her exhibition of pastels at The Late Show, offering her take on stories ranging from the Fall to the Flood to the giving of the Law. (There’s one source violation, though: Othic depicts Adam with a crossed-out “Lilith” tattoo, while the notion that he had a wife before Eve is found not in the Bible but in Talmudic lore.)

This is no staid, traditionalist show, however. It’s short on Cecil B. DeMille and long on Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton.

For some time now I have been referring to myself as a Neo-Regionalist, Othic writes. It is my own term and somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also an accurate description. I am combining the subject matter and bravura attitude of artists like Benton and Wood with the elevation of everyday life and objects to an iconic status that is characteristic of the Pop movement. I throw in bits and pieces of Baroque, Modern and cartoon art … anything is fair game.

That fair-game list includes the Bible. Othic’s versions of its characters are gritty, careworn and anything but grand.

Moses smokes, has a tattoo of a burning bush and wears a trucker hat. Noah is a tattooed sailor. Joseph’s coat of many colors is now a Hawaiian shirt.

Even God is not exempt from Othic’s re-imaginings, being made to look like an aging Jerry Garcia in The Creation of Eve and like Denver Pyle in Expulsion from Eden — today’s featured piece.

Looking at my own work over several years, my interest in the ordinary aspects of life, particularly that of rural areas or small towns, has not changed, Othic writes. What has evolved is a growing confidence that allows me to make the work as abrasive, humorous and/or energetic as I want it to be.

But is that abrasive, energetic humor appropriate here? Is this a collection of clever takes on well-known material, or gross blasphemy?

Each viewer will have to decide, although there’s no obvious irreverence in Torah! Torah! Torah! Quite the contrary, really. Othic displays a regard not only for the Bible but for the people who lived its stories– people who, after all, were quite ordinary in many ways and human in every possible way.

Noah worked with his hands and precipitated a family crisis by getting passed-out drunk. Moses was a killer on the run, a royal official hiding out as a herdsman. Jacob built his inheritance through trickery, worked seven years for the wife he didn’t want and seven more for the one he did, and wrestled God to a near-draw.

To see those frailties and rough edges depicted in Othic’s work  is, perhaps, to marvel at the grace extended to — and the things achieved by — imperfect people.

And, maybe, to hope for the same for ourselves.

Before we can really dig into Genesis 2, it would seem that we need to address how it relates to Genesis 1. It is interesting to note further that the narrative started in Genesis 1 doesn’t actually end until Genesis 2:4, yet another reminder that chapter divisions in the English Bible can be at times painfully artificial.

Typically, I think it has probably been taught to most that Genesis 2 is a more in depth look at Day 6 from Genesis 1. This is certainly plausible, however, in light of what we advanced about the Egyptian background of Genesis 1, we would have to ask the same questions of Genesis 2. Does it share a common background with Genesis 1?

One interesting observation from a textual level is that the account beginning in 2:4 uses the phrase, ‘elle toledot, which is probably translated in your version as “these are the generations of” although it could just easily be rendered, “this is the account of.” Even better yet, a paraphrase that still carries the nuance from the verb is “This is what became of X” In this case, “X” is the heavens and earth, however this introductory phrase shows up elsewhere throughout Genesis (5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).

Basically these function as chapter headings throughout Genesis, meant to zoom in and focus in on a specific person and their story. In this sense, that is what is happening at 2:4. We’ve just seen an overview of the creation of the heavens and earth, now here is where the narrative starts and explains what became of the heavens and earth.

The issue that seems to arise though in simply seeing this as a focusing in on Day 6 comes in how you have been taking the days in Genesis 1 to function in a literal-historical sense. From the text Moses certainly intended 24hr days to be in view from a literary perspective. He is depicting God as a workman, who each day throughout the week works in His creation and then each night retires only to start again the next day until the 7th.

However, once we get to v. 5 we are told that the conditions present are that “no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprouted.” This raises questions then about what/where plants grew in Day 3. Did God merely set up the cycle on Day 3, but not jump start it until Day 6 and the creation of man? Maybe so, but that again present problems for the way we typically read Genesis 1. I don’t have an answer to offer here now, but hopefully we’ll reach clarity eventually.

An additional issue is the creation of man. As mentioned in Genesis 1, “bara” is only used in relation to the overview statement of Genesis 1:1 about the entire heavens and earth, the giant sea creatures, and finally man and woman. If one wanted to direct creation ex nihilo in those specific instances the verb allows it but does not demand it.

However, in Genesis 2, we see man and woman created separately, and in both instances being formed from pre-existing materials. At least in Genesis 2, man and woman are in no sense created ex nihilo, and further, in Genesis 1, they are created by divine fiat (by God merely speaking them into existence) whereas in Genesis 2, God actively forms them much like a potter forms clay (the verb used is meant to echo that idea).

So in Genesis 2, we have God forming a large clay statute and then breathing life into him. Later on, He removes part of this man’s rib and then fashions an entire other human out of it. Is this a scientific “how” in regards to the creation of man? Which account is the literal/historical depiction of what happened? Is either one?

Also of interest, is whether or not the Genesis 2 account is actually being depicted as all occurring on the same day. From what I can see, that is only an assumption based on the idea that it is unpacking Day 6. Nothing in the text itself gives an idea as to what is transpiring in terms of the passage of time. The beginning point of the narrative is at a time when the “Lord God had not yet caused it to rain” as well as the aforementioned condition of the ground lacking plants. Other than that, the events it seems are proceeding in linear fashion, but no time markers are given.

Although not related to how to reconcile Genesis 1 and 2, a good question is why Moses felt it necessary to give the 4 verse background excursion into the rivers. Was this to make it plain that Eden was a particular place? Or was it symbolism depicting something else?

The text itself might not mandate it, but I would think the events of Genesis 2 took place over a period of time rather than all immediately. This is an option if one does not see it was unpacking Day 6, or if one does but does not see the days in Genesis 1 as necessarily being 24hr days outside of the literary depiction of them being so.

From a developmental perspective, it is at least interesting to note that human beings cannot learn to speak unless spoken to. In the case of Adam then, was he created with the innate capacity to speak? (the same for Eve as well?) So far as we know, if this were the case, they were the only humans to have that capacity innately. I realize though there is some controversy around this issue, but it is at least something to consider. Was naming the animals part of God teaching Adam how to speak, something Adam then passed on to Eve prior to the events of Genesis 3?

All of these questions have an answer, some of them, I will try my best to unpack in the coming posts, some of them, I might not be able to offer any kind of definitive solution to, but that is just part of wrestling with the text Hopefully though, these questions will jump start the thinking process for you as we move forward, and maybe you can come to your own conclusions in the meantime.

This theologically rich book is now available; I have read it and wrote a blurb for the cover:

“Approaching Eden is a gift to anyone attempting to bring faith and life closer in a world filled with mediated stories: in this case, tales and images influenced by the Biblical creation narrative of Genesis 1-3. Sanders is fearless in her critical analysis but never cavalier. Her prose is energetic and accessible; her surveys broad and her insights bold. Sanders makes theology a pleasure while enticing the reader to deeper theological scrutiny of accepted widely-held interpretations of Genesis through representations of Adam and Eve from movies to museums. Approaching Eden is an intellectual and spiritual delight.”—Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, founding director, Pauline Center for Media Studies; St. Anthony Messenger film and television columnist

Approaching Eden: Adam and Eve in Popular Culture
 

Back in 2000 I reviewed Celluloid Saints: Images of Sanctity in Film; wonderful. I would read anything Sanders writes.