Psalm 37:1  A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2  For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9  For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
10  For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11  But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12  The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13  The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
14  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
15  Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16  A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
17  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
18  The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19  They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20  But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
21  The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth.
22  For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
26  He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
27  Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
28  For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29  The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
30  The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31  The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
32  The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
33  The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34  Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35  I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36  Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
38  But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

It’s your choice now too..

Dash

Brief line behind birth,

wet paste wiped from unfirm scalp,

pubescent toads, divorce disgust,

marriage & more black lines,

thickly short, levitating flower

of gestation longer than love’s lifespan,

as ominous as its end, you bloom

my adoration of living poets;

dead poets have diminished

your boldness, gravity, a natural tear

for the wonder of what color sun

will succumb to your right hip.

- Melanie Henderson

I was taught to respect my elders people older than me which is understandable BUT I was also taught to respect them even if they don’t respect you. Now that is what I have a problem with. I was taught that but was always against it because i refuse to give respect to someone who disrespect and be rude to me. This post came about from an argument I had with my grandmother. Shes very disrespectful we always argue because I don’t like how she talks, do things, and just doesn’t care and doesn’t show any respect at all! I feel just because your older and you know that the young generation is suppose to respect you no matter what its ok to not be respectful to them. That is wrong I feel if you don’t respect someone why should they respect you young old it doesn’t matter.  I will never agree with it especially when people who tell me doesn’t do it themselves.

You can fool most of the people most of the time, some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all the time.. nevertheless a good name is worth more than any silver or gold you acquire, and a bad name is disrespected even after the person’s death. One of the most surprising things to me in real life was to witness, experience. and many times now too, that the real bad, immoral con men, liars, thieves, fakers, imposters, pretenders do often like to be associated with a Christian Church .. and can hold positions as Pastors, elders now too..

One of many real life examples, from my childhood days in my local Church I had now encountered a fellow evangelical church attendee, who next years later was eventually arrested for possession of stolen property and for a time went to prison for it. It now next was of course a shock to hear next that this same person years later when he left prison had became an ordained evangelical Pastor. A shock cause there was no real evidence in fact that he had even changed.. Now decades later the same person now claimed to be a chaplain, visiting sailors on ships, and was supposedly conducting church services. The same person had become the owner of various store buildings and apartments, and he also owned and ran an antique shop as well. I next happened to rent one of the apartments from him as well. Upon which I clearly had discovered, often had witnessed that he still was a fake, for he now also was involved in tax evasions, welfare fraud as well. He used his position as a Church chaplain to buy medals, uniform, war souvenirs from visiting port sailors and next to resell them in his antique store for cash even. He in fact had not changed at all, he was still a crook.. So excuse me when now someone claims to me that such and such a person is now a really good person. In reality I rightfully next tend to first check it out firsthand, for rightfully I no longer believe what most people tell me

(Mat 5:13 KJV) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

(Luke 6:43 KJV) For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

tejido de relaciones

Permítase conectarse con la Madre Tierra y sienta/vea/escuche/huela/sueñe/comparta los sabores/sensaciones/colores/sonidos de la esencia de la sanación personal.

Volver a Tierra -The Healing Ride – es un viaje al interior del individuo para la conexión con lo sagrado facilitado por una gran familia de caminantes de la palabra y guardianes de la tradición que conducen un preciso y certero recorrido, guiado e interpretado por bioregiones de Abya Yala … la tierra en Florecimineto. (América Latina)

Question: Can women serve as elders?

Answer: This question lies at the heart of the gender debate in Christianity. On the one side you have the egalitarians who believe that there are no gender distinctions and that since we are all one in Christ, women and men are interchangeable when it comes to functional roles in leadership and in the household. The opposing view is held by those who refer to themselves as complimentarians. The complimentarian view believes in the essential equality of men and women as persons (i.e., as human beings created in God’s image), but they hold to gender distinctions when it comes to functional roles in society, the church and the home. For the purposes of this question, we will focus on the functional roles within the church, in particular as it pertains to the role of elder.

As you might expect, the egalitarian view would hold that women can serve as elders as long as they fulfill the requirements as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. The complimentarian would affirm the opposite view and state that women are not allowed to serve in the capacity of elder within the church of Jesus Christ. Since both views claim to be biblical, we must go to the Bible to see which view has the stronger biblical support.

Let’s look at 1 Timothy 3:1-7:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

The first thing that pops out as you analyze this passage is the vast number of masculine pronouns (“he” and “his”). Just a cursory reading of this passage would lead the average reader to conclude that the role of an elder (overseer) must be filled by a man. Lest anyone think this might be a case of the generic “he” (the use of the masculine pronoun when speaking of people in general), the phrase “husband of one wife” seems to argue against the use of the generic “he.”

What about if we look at the Greek rendering of this passage? Oftentimes the English translation suffers because of the limitations involved in translation. Like the Latin base languages, Greek nouns have gender associated with them that doesn’t carry over well into English. Looking at the original Greek and paying special attention to the nouns and pronouns used we see something interesting. The word “overseer” in the passage, which is used twice, is really two different, yet related, Greek words. The first occurrence of “overseer” is the Greek word episkope, which means “visitation, or oversight,” and it is feminine in gender. Whereas the second occurrence of “overseer” is the Greek word episkopos, which means “overseer, or elder,” and that word is masculine in gender. Furthermore, all of the other nouns and pronouns that serve as subjects in the passage are masculine.

What are we to make of all this? I think v. 1 is speaking in generalities (“If anyone desires the office of overseer”) and therefore, the use of the feminine word episkope shouldn’t lead anyone to conclude that Paul meant to include women in the office. Whereas in v. 2, Paul begins to get specific as to the qualifications of the office of overseer (episkopos), and therefore uses the masculine word along with all the associated masculine pronouns throughout the passage. Therefore, exegetically speaking, I believe this passage (and the other passage in Titus 1:5-9) support the complimentarian view and argue against the position of female elders.

Another argument in favor of the complimentarian view is the passage immediately preceding 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and that is 1 Timothy 2:9-15. The verse in particular that seems to sound the death knell for the egalitarian view is 1 Timothy 2:12, which reads: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” Paul makes a similar argument in 1 Corinthians 14 where he writes, “the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says” (1 Corinthians 14:34). So not only do the passages that speak directly to the qualifications of elder indicate that the role is to filled by a man, but Paul makes the argument that women are not allowed to exercise authority over men within the church setting. The biblical argument against egalitarianism is pretty strong.

The egalitarian argument essentially makes its case based on a reading of Galatians 3:28. In that verse Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The egalitarian view argues that in Christ the gender distinctions that characterized fallen relationships has been removed. However, is this how Galatians 3:28 should be understood? Does the context warrant such an interpretation? I think it is abundantly clear that this interpretation does damage to the context of this verse. In Galatians, Paul is demonstrating the great truth of justification by faith alone and not by works (Galatians 2:16). In Galatians 3:15-29, Paul argues for justification on the differences between the law and the promise. Galatians 3:28 fits into Paul’s argument that all who are in Christ are Abraham’s offspring by faith and heirs to the promise (Galatians 3:29). The passage has a salvific context. In other words, salvation is given freely to all without respect to external factors such as ethnicity, economic status, or gender. To stretch this context to also apply to the obliteration of gender roles goes beyond established hermeneutic principles.

Finally, the egalitarian argument does not hold because the Bible clearly teaches a functional hierarchy within the Trinity (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3). The Son submits to the Father and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son. This functional submission does not imply an equivalent inferiority of essence; all three Persons are equally God, but they differ in their function. Likewise, men and women are equally human beings and both share in the image of God, but they have God ordained roles and function that mirror the functional hierarchy within the Trinity. Because the complimentarian view possesses the stronger biblical argument, we can conclude that the Bible supports the position that women are not allowed to serve in the office of elder.

By far, my favorite thing about the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta was Perry Noble’s message to youth workers. Perry spoke on Saturday morning and left most people in the room feeling encouraged, energized, and pumped up for youth ministry. Perry Noble is a 6’ 6” 230 lb. Senior Pastor from New Spring Church in South Carolina. He started off by making a joke about his southern drawl. He said that in heaven, everyone will have a southern drawl, if you don’t believe that, you may not be going to heaven!

Perry’s message was based out of Acts 20:7-12. I’ve spoken to a few different youth workers at the convention and have heard mixed reviews/feelings about this message. The reviews/feelings ranged from “he nailed it,” to “he took the passage and made it apply to his topic!” When someone takes a passage and make sit say what they want it to say, it is known as “eisegesis.” Eisegesis is when you put your own ideas into the text to make it mean whatever you want it to.

For the record, I do not know where I stand on this matter! I loved what Perry had to say but I am not a Bible scholar so I don’t know if it was eisegesis or not.

Anyway, regardless of how you interpret the passage and the message he gave us, it’s time to move on. Perry went on to tell us that he believes there is a breakdown in communication with youth pastors and the church in general. He and many others believe that youth pastors are viewed as glorified babysitters in that we are supposed to watch the kids, teach them a few things, and when they are old enough to attend big people church and tithe; then they matter to the church. This is not the case and it should never be viewed as such. Perry was not saying that this is the case in all churches, but it is definitely something that he has seen happen occasionally. But regardless of whether your church falls into either of these categories, an alarming statistic is that around 80% of students are walking out the door when they turn 18, and many of them are never going to come back!

Youth ministry is a hard and vital job. Most people will disagree with that, but that is because they have no idea what it means to be a youth pastor. They think we get paid to hang out and play video games all day, but that is 100% inaccurate. There are days when we go home from youth ministry and it isn’t “Thank you Jesus!” it’s “Help me Jesus!” Rest assured…there is hope! Perry said that we, as youth workers, are game changers. We work in the ripest harvest in the world and if we can get our minds (senior pastors, youth pastors, volunteers) around several of these soon to be mentioned concepts, we could see a revolution in youth ministry and the local church. When youth ministry catches on fire through the local church, nothing can stop it!!!!

Perry and many of the other speakers who were senior pastors were very much in support of youth workers. Perry has four prayers that he is praying for youth ministry. Those prayers are: For Attention, For Submission, For a Biblical Foundation, and For Stewardship.

For Attention:

In the Bible passage that Perry spoke from (Acts 20:7-12), Paul was speaking to a group of people late into the night (because he intended to leave the next day) and basically had a long message planned for them. There was a young man (a youth) sitting in a window seal in the back of the room who fell into a deep sleep as Paul was preaching. Eutychus fell to the ground from the third story and died. Yikes! Perry said that in this story, Eutychus fell out of the window because no one was paying attention to the youth ministry of that church. When a church refuses to pay attention to the youth ministry, kids fall out of the window and die (a.k.a. – leave the church and never look back) each and every day.

Youth ministry is important, not just for the teenagers but for also for the church as a whole. The youth aren’t the church of tomorrow, THEY MATTER TODAY! Perry said “The kids that we are called to ministry to matter today and the church better wake up and smell the Starbucks because if not, the kids will fall out of the back window and die.” Perry’s philosophy is that you can tell if a church is paying attention to the youth by looking at how much money they spend on them. He says that you can never spend too much on your youth and children. I understand the premise of what he was saying, but I don’t know if it applies to every circumstance. Some churches simply can’t afford to put a lot of money in the youth fund, and they could be the church that supports their youth way more than the church with the large youth fund. Money shouldn’t matter and shouldn’t be a deciding factor on whether or not a church is paying attention to their youth (my thoughts).

Perry does something cool in his church. I don’t think it would work at every church, but it is something to hope for I guess. Perry believes that a youth group should never be asked to do a fundraiser for anything. He doesn’t allow the youth group at his church to do fundraising because he believes that the church and the older people should support them to show that they care.

If we want attention in our youth ministries, we need to start reaching kids for Jesus and seeing lives change! If the adults come into the sanctuary and have no place to sit because of the youth, the older people will pay attention and take them seriously. The last thing that Perry said about this first prayer for youth is that we need to not bang the budget drum, but we need to bang the kids need Jesus drum and change their lives!

For Submission:

The way a youth group gets noticed in the church is when they are completely submitted and sold out to Jesus! Perry says that we need less strategy and more spirit in our youth ministries, and I couldn’t agree more! Not only do we need submitted and sold out youth, but we need leaders who are as well. When God asks us to do something unbelievable, we need to say “Yes Lord!” In the Bible passage, Paul was so submitted to Jesus that he was willing to declare the impossible (that Eutychus was alive). We need to have complete submission.

In order to be completely submitted to God, according to Perry, “you have to be you!” We shouldn’t have the desire to be someone else or do ministry as they do it because you think they’re better than you. When you do this, it is known as ministry envy. You can read a post of mine about ministry envy by clicking here. Perry says that the problem with churches today is that there is too much imitation and no more revelation. He also said that youth pastors have a disease that he invented called “destination disease.” Destination disease is when people in ministry want to be over there (at the other church/ministry) because they think it’ll be better there. This is not true though because you take you with you and it will be exactly the same. You are you!

When we get to the point where we get it all figured out in our ministry, God will say “you don’t need me? Fine…go ahead!” We need to be in complete submission to God. When we do this, it is unbelievable. Leadership is as easy as listening to God and doing what He says! Perry’s prayer is to have a generation of youth pastors and workers completely sold out for Jesus. We are the ones who set the pace for what youth ministry will look like in 10-20 years!

For a Biblical Foundation:

After Paul (with God’s help) brought Eutychus back to life, they went upstairs again and broke bread. Paul got carried away preaching, the youth died, Paul declared something supernatural and brings the kid to life, and then comes back up to keep the focus on Jesus. Paul never stopped focusing on Jesus or teaching about him. This is an example to us. We need to never quite proclaiming who Jesus is to students. They need to know who He is and it is our job to tell them. Some people think that if we focus on only Jesus, then we won’t be relevant. Perry says that we won’t be irrelevant, we will be impotent! We’ve watered our youth ministries down with these next three things and the kids don’t even know who Jesus is when they graduate from or leave our youth groups. 1. Morality – we teach our kids to be good…problem is, if we teach our kids not to watch rated R movies or listen to “bad” music, they can become morally superior to everyone and no one likes them…we can’t teach them to be moral without Jesus. 2. Compromise – Everyone gets caught up in this game. We think that if a lot of kids come to our group and we do all kinds of fun things, we have a great ministry. But in reality, we are compromising who Jesus is to have a great crowd show up. Sometimes, youth ministries let kids show up and say it’s ok to do what you are doing and not repent. When they do this, they are leaving Jesus out of the picture…allowing compromise to creep into that ministry. 3. Personal Agendas – Don’t ever let your personal agenda trump the Gospel! We make our own personal agendas the agenda of the youth group. If we put anything in front of the cross, it becomes an idol in our ministry. Let’s worship God in splendor and majesty rather than trying to boil him down to fit into our social agendas.

For stewardship:

Perry’s prayer is that our prayer would be that we look at God and say “give me the ball…I’ll be hurt and play hurt, but I’ll do whatever it takes to push the ball down the field…I want the ball!” Perry said that in Acts 20:12, the youth ministry got brought back up and the church embraced stewardship…they said they want the ball.

We can do it, no matter how small our budget is. But if our attitude is that we want the ball, money doesn’t matter. It doesn’t happen because of lights, sound systems, looks, but because there is a sold out man and team saying give us the ball…and they are sold out for Jesus. Perry says that the senior pastor needs to make sure the youth ministry has everything they need and the youth pastor needs to sit down with his senior pastor and find out what his vision is…and then line up with that.

God’s plan is that youth ministry will thrive in the context of the local church to make a difference. When the church gets that right, it is on fire and is an unstoppable force!

Perry closed with the following comments:

“It’s always hard when we do what Jesus calls us to do. When we think it’s hard, may we think of Jesus hanging on the cross and bleeding! If no one else tells you this, I (Perry Noble) believe that you are the difference makers. Out of your ministries will be the next Billy Graham and other amazing church leaders! We will not fall…we want the ball!”

-          paulg

From Wired.com:

Sometimes seeing means deceiving before believing, depending on your age. Children and adults size up objects differently, giving youngsters protection against a visual illusion that bedevils their elders, a new study suggests.

This unusual triumph of kids over grown-ups suggests that the brain’s capacity to consider the context of visual scenes, and not just focus on parts of scenes, develops slowly, say psychologist Martin Doherty of the University of Stirling in Scotland and his colleagues. Even at age 10, children lack adults’ attunement to visual context, Doherty’s team concludes in a paper published online November 12 in Developmental Science.

As a result, visual context can be experimentally manipulated to distort adults’ perception of objects’ sizes. But Doherty’s group finds that children, especially those younger than 7, show little evidence of altered size perception on a task called the Ebbinghaus illusion.

“When visual context is misleading, adults literally see the world less accurately than they did as children,” Doherty says.

This pattern holds for Scottish children and adults in the new study as well as for Japanese children and adults who participated in other investigations conducted by Doherty’s team.

Some researchers argue that East Asians focus broadly on the context of what they see while Westerners focus narrowly on central figures. Doherty says the new findings instead indicate that adults in both Scotland and Japan can’t help but track visual context, although this tendency was stronger in the Japanese adults.

Other investigators have noted that children with autism don’t succumb to visual size illusions, consistent with the idea that autism involves an excessive focus on details. But visual context largely eludes all young children, not just those with autism, Doherty asserts.

Even if the new findings hold up, it’s still possible that further research will show that children with autism develop a susceptibility to size illusions more slowly than those without it, remarks psychologist Danielle Ropar of the University of Nottingham in England.

Psychologist Carl Granrud of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley calls the new study convincing but “somewhat surprising.” Children exhibit sensitivity to visual context on some other visual tasks, he says, such as one in which two equal-sized horizontal lines are perceived as differing in length when flanked by diagonal lines.

Earlier research has yielded conflicting evidence that children fall prey to the Ebbinghaus illusion, partly because of weaknesses in study designs, Doherty says.

His team studied 151 children, ages 4 to 10, recruited from a Scottish primary school and nursery school. Another 24 volunteers, ages 18 to 25, were college students.

Participants viewed a series of images containing pairs of orange circles in which one circle was 2 percent to 18 percent larger than the other. An experimenter asked participants to point to the circle that “looked bigger.”

Control images showed only two orange circles. In other images, each orange circle was surrounded by gray circles intended either to hinder or aid accurate size perception.

Misleading images showed the smaller orange circle surrounded by even smaller gray circles to boost its apparent size. Large gray circles surrounding the larger orange circle were intended to shrink its apparent size.

In helpful images, large gray circles surrounded the smaller orange circle to make it appear smaller than it actually was. Small circles surrounded the larger orange circle to magnify its apparent size.

Four-year-olds correctly identified the larger circle in 79 percent of control images. That figure rose with age, reaching 95 percent in adults.

For 4- to 6-year-olds, accuracy of size perception for misleading images remained at about what it was for control images. Misleading images increasingly elicited errors from older children and tricked adults most of the time. Adults made almost no errors on helpful images. Kids from age 7 to 10 erred on a minority of helpful images, while 4- to 6-year-olds performed no better than chance.

Below: (a) Most people see the further circle as being larger than the nearer one, though they are equal. (b) Adding surrounds, as in the Ebbinghaus illusion, increases the perceived size difference between the two circles. (c) The large element in the centre of the second row from the top may be seen as being larger than that arrowed below, but they are equal.

Images: Martin Doherty

A frustrating-but-true-and-much-less-frustrating-when-you-grasp-it truth when it comes to the prophetic lifestyle is this:

“There is a blessing in the act of submission that is not present in the act of being right”

It might sound like a quote, but as far as I know, I wrote it.  That one sentence encapsulates almost everything I have learnt about the prophetic lifestyle since I realised that God had called me into more than giving nice pictures of flowers and waterfalls to people in a church meeting.  But it can hurt so much!  And yet this one sentence can relieve that hurt when one walks humbly and in right relationship with leadership: but lately it has caused such pain.

Let me explain.

There is a temptation that prophetic people face often, which almost mirrors the struggle that all people go through when they first hear God speaking: was that God, or me?  And things can go wrong when the prophetic person has established a pattern of hearing from God regularly and clearly: it becomes all too easy to anoint every thought and opinion and idea as being the voice of God. 

Once the idea is duly anointed as being ‘of God’, the prophet becomes passionate about the revelation, faithfully shares it with leaders: but then what?  What does he do if he is rejected? Or ignored? Or feels welcomed, but then sees nothing happen as a result of his words? Surely God has spoken – what fool of a leader would not accept the prophetic word I just gave him – does he not want the church to grow? Does he not want God’s blessing?

Unless the prophet understands his responsibility under God to submit to the leadership that God has established in the church, he will grow in frustration; he will move from frustration towards unsubmission; and ultimately into rebellion.  And, since a prophet’s words seem to have an effect on others for good and for bad, this frustration spills over onto other people, having a similar effect in them as in the prophet. 

It is a tragedy when the prophetic gift and office is demonstrated to be true to the stereotype that it is all too easy to fall into.  It is sad that it can appear almost that this gift is the only one that can be abused in this way.  And it is sad to see so many fathers and role models of mine fall at this hurdle.

I am passionate about Jesus, and the purity of the prophetic ministry, and the partnership of the prophetic ministry with other gifts in the church.  Who will join me in seeking God for more of the true, less of the false; more of Jesus, less of ourselves; more of the Spirit, less of the flesh?  If you will come, then pause for a moment and consider the following Scripture with me: because if we can cheerfully submit the gifts that God has given us to the leaders that He has given us to care for us, we will enjoy the blessings of being faithful with revelation, fruitful in ministry and fathered by godly men who love us.

Hebrews 13: 17 – Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Assalaamu Alaykum,

My mother always told me if I was lost to ask a Policeman and I think I had my rather childish ideas of the friendly bobby out to help his community.

That was right up until I was 18 and a friend was put up against a wall and kicked in the nuts from behind and then the fascist goon covered his tracks by arresting him for assaulting a police officer.

At the time I couldn’t believe it, now I can’t believe how naive I once was.

Anyway, here is a story from today’s Metro.

Basically a report from a Government watchdog has shown has the Police have been targeting ethnic minority young men (haven’t they always), and sometimes arresting the person just so they can place them on the DNA database.

This has led to many more ethnic minority people being on the database, and 3 out of 4 young black men have their DNA record stored, despite most of them never having committed a crime.

This affects the kuffar as well as Muslims but we all know that Muslims are much more likely to be stopped and searched and a beard is an invitation to be pulled over and have your car checked over by the kufr-law enforcing Police.

BBC – Muslim police stops ‘more likely’

But as Muslims we should stand up against injustice, whether it be against us or someone else.

Some free advice for you all, when getting stopped by the police, don’t do anything to cause your arrest, yes they might just frame you anyway, it does happen but even swearing at them can cause you to be arrested for a public order offense so don’t give them an excuse.

Take the officers name if possible, and his identification number which should be visible on his uniform and is unique to this officer. If it is not visible he is breaking the rules and ask him for it.

Then with this information go to the Police station and lodge a complaint of Racist and / or Islamophobic harassment.

Don’t just settle talking to the duty sergeant, ask to speak to a superior officer if you can, make your point in a clear calm way and insist upon the complaint being lodged.

They will try to get you to back down, but don’t because every complaint goes on the officers record whether it is proven or not (and they are never are because coppers stick together and lie all the time).

But if certain officers are arresting and harassing Muslims, getting a rash of complaints against them will look bad on their record and make them think again before they start picking on people because of race or religion.

At the very least, he will have between 10 and 12 hours of paperwork to fill out to deal with the complaint, that means you take the fascist goon off the streets for a whole shift and is easily worth an hour of your time to make the complaint to stop others being harassed.

Some of the elder committee member types who are too close to the Kuffar and are waiting for their invitation to meet the Queen and get their little cross OBE may come later and ask you to withdraw your complaint…

DON’T! Stick to your guns, their agenda is not the same as the agenda of Islam so don’t allow them to talk you out of your complaint which is working towards removing some of the oppressors of the Muslims and indeed non-Muslims in the UK.

Assalaamu Alaykum,

Daw’ud, Editor

In yesterday’s post, I wondered how small a church could be and still function.  Today, I went to class with guest lecturer David Garrison, teaching about Church Planting Movements.

According to Dr Garrison (actually, he goes by David), it’s not the size that matters, but the intentionality of being a functioning church.  You can do all five purposes of the church (Worship, Fellowship, Ministry, Discipleship, and Evangelism/Missions) as a group that gathers occasionally in a holy huddle, but not really be a fully functioning church.  

Garrison says the church becomes church when key leaders are chosen.  He says there should be a pastor/overseer, deacons and a treasurer.

The deacons should be the minsitry leaders of the five purposes.  Remember that the original seven were chosen to minister with food distribution, and Steven was an evangelist.  One person may do multiple jobs in this arrangement, but there must be an acknowledgement that they are doing the jobs of a church and that they should hand off the extra duties as soon as practically possible.

Garrison says the actions of the deacons are coordinated by an overseer or a spiritually mature elder.  This is the job normally held by the senior pastor. 

The third key position is the treasurer.  Having a  treasurer who is unrelated to the senior pastor / overseer will help keep scandal away.  Note that while Jesus was accused of many things, misappropriation of money was not one of them.  He had a treasurer (Judas).  And when the early church failed to use a treasurer and instead gifts were given to the Apostles, it caused jealousy and the death of Annias and Sophira.

When a church has these seven positions functioning, led by people gifted and trained for those positions, they will be functioning as a church should.  And if the doing is properly done, it should cause a growth in both maturity and numbers.

I caught myself watching Holocaust – a mini-series from 1978 on Fox Classics (it’s continuing tomorrow night if anyone’s interested). Meryl Streep and that lovely actress that plays Aunt May in the recent Spider Man movies. They’re both so very believable. And Nigel Hawthorne (of Yes Minister fame) makes a surprise appearance as one of the upper-echelon type Nazis tasked with murdering Jews at every town and village they enter. It shows how they scoff at this ridiculous order from Hitler y’s’v – but they still carry it out. It’s interesting that like in Star Wars, the ruthless, efficient bad guys are also here played by English actors by and large, whereas the good guys are American-accented.

It was of course difficult to watch.

It’s hard to believe that I’m what they were after, only 60 years ago.

I thought a number of things. I’ve dreamt about being hunted by Nazis.

In real life, there were actually helicopters outside my parent’s place tonight for a few hours- search and rescue. I said a prayer to G-d that whoever was being looked for would be found safe and sound. I thought of what it would be like with choppers chasing me with spotlights (yes, I guess I’ve seen too many movies – the Nazis wouldn’t have used them much, if at all). But I did recall the words to one song that ‘gets’ me every time I hear it, I Was Only Nineteen:

“And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.”

As one can tell, it deals with a war veteran’s ongoing trauma, decades after. It was on one of my Dad’s famous (to us kids) compilation tapes from when we were young; it had a major impact on me growing up.

That’s certainly what it is like to be a Holocaust survivor too. The dreams haunt you every night. My own grandmother has suffered this especially in recent years.

Part of the curse in the Torah, should we stray from its dictates, is that when the night time comes, we will say ‘please give back the day’, and when the day comes, we will beg for the night. How can a survivor close their eyes comfortably for sleep, and how can they open them in the morning? Hope? Forgetfulness? – I’m sure such things play a part.

A friend from work told me about an Andrew Denton interview she watched with her Mum on ABC’s Elders. A Holocaust survivor, Helen Bamber, was the interviewee. One thing Bamber laments is that humanity is so terrible at learning. She says the stories have to be told over and over again, and less and less people want to endure the pain of listening. She is a ‘witness to the vulnerability of humanity’, and what else is protection against such vulnerability than the inoculation of moral education? My colleague said she and her mother were so greatly unsettled by Bamber’s harrowing story. And it is – they all are, unsettling stories.

I just keep wondering, after all we’ve been through as a people, how come every Jew doesn’t cry for a few minutes each and every morning when they wake up? I’m just amazed that we all don’t ‘have it out’ every morning a little, before we put on a face for the world and everyone in it, pretending everything’s alright, and that we aren’t changed, and that we can still smile brightly, and certainly the world has progressed and isn’t after us anymore? (Because we know it’s not so).

And now I remember, there is a law, that every Jew is to awaken at midnight almost every night, and sit on the floor, put ashes on their head, and weep and mourn like we do on the 9th of the Jewish month of Av (over the loss of our Temples, and all the tragedies that have happened to us over our long history). It is codified, but few people I know actually do it. It’s called Tikkun Hatzot – the Rectification at Midnight. Rectification of our actions, of the world around us and so on.

With just a few tomes and movies and such produced, I think I’ll leave the bulk of this particular task to Elie Wiesel and others. They are eminently more capable. But these were some of my thoughts tonight. Perhaps they are indicative of what many of us – Jew and Gentile alike – think about and feel from time to time.

Ignorance of good is darkness of the soul. And if person is not united with Christ, Who is light, he cannot escape the ruler of darkness, the devil.

If a humble person falls a million times they get get up again and this is seen as a victory over the fall. Whereas a proud person, immediately after falling into sin, also falls into depondency, and being hardened does not went to get up again. Despondency is a mortal sin and the devil rejoices in this overall. It is completely obliterated by confesssion of thoughts.

A person can only really stand up straight when the grace of God arrives. Otherwise, without grace they’ll always trip over and fall.

Temptations are medicines and healing plants, that treat to treat our visible passionsand invisible wounds. It is better to have one day as a winner with prizes, than many years living carelessly. Don’t expect to be freed of the passions without a struggle and shedding of blood.

Sin, whether great or small, is wiped out by true repentance.

Even though a man is forgiven his sins, the fantasy of his error and the working of it remains. Although forgive the sin, this is the rule, in proportion to the greatness of the fault.

I will either live one hour as you would like, O my Christ, or it’s better not to live at all. This is the way you cry and grive and so the Lord’s mercy comes. The passions are calmed and you are at peace with yourself, with God and with the whole of creation. Everything that causes pleasure is healed with pain.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Taken from Sunnah Leicester

This is the face of the army of the non-Islamic republic of pakistan, who at the behest of imperial powers treat other Muslims, elders in such a evil and disgusting manner.

When the british left in 1947, they left the same secular authority, only replaced with different skin complexion and names. The remnants is what we have today, with the likes of such a corrupt government. Where the president is nicknamed mr 10 %. This is not Islam!

Allah is watching this, and on day of judgement there will be no where to hide for these shameful people.

Brief Introduction

Elder Amphilochios Makris was born on the island of the Apocalypse, Patmos in 1889. He was a great defender of Orthodoxy, having suffered much throughout the years of Italian Fascist Occupation of the Greek Dodecanese islands. During those years he set up secret schools and made sure that the Greek language and Orthodox faith continued to be taught to the children of these islands, despite the best attempts of the Fascists and the Church of Rome to tear them from their roots. For many years he was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos. He also founded the women’s monastery of The Annunciation [Evangelismos] of the Mother of the Beloved 1937. Which still thrives today as a beacon for the faithful. He was noted for his many virtues, his love, humility and fatherly concern for his spiritual children. Fr. Amphilochios was a great believer in the strength of monasticism and in Christian mission. He himself traveled as a preacher throughout the war years and beyond. In addition, Fr. Amphilochios founded other monasteries throughout the Greek islands, and was responsible for orphanages and various charitable institutions. The Elder died in 1970. This is the barest of introductions and does not even begin to describe the life of this outstanding figure of the 20th century. I am currently working on a translation of the book, The Elder of Patmos: Amphilochios Makris (1889-1970) by His Eminence Ignatios, Metropolitan of Berati, Avlona (Vlore) and Kaninë, Albania. For the moment I present a few spiritual counsels and sayings, in a rough draft, from the same book.

Spiritual Counsels and Sayings

From time to time Elder Amphilochios delivered wise advice to his spiritual children, for their personal benefit, spiritual illumination and direction, “as the spirit gave him utterance” . These sayings are the fruit of experience of his holy life, which was a continuous struggle and a succession of trials. His life was a model and example of his words. He did not just talk and give advice. First and foremost he practised what he preached. Here we present some examples from the wealth of his spiritual counsel, chosen from whatever was saved like valuable diamonds by our brothers and sisters, who were taught by him and confessed to him, in their earnestness.

Sayings

• When you cultivate prayer the Tempter’s blusterings will not trouble you. Prayer diminishes his strength, he cannot do anything to us. (February 1965)
• The end of my life draws near I ask you to live a holy life, to walk along holy paths, so that you may help both our Church and Greece.
• Remaining faithful to Monasticism is considered to be a martyrdom.
• Christ often comes and knocks at your door and you invite him to sit in the living-room of your soul. Then, absorbed in your own business you forget the Great Visitor. He waits for you to appear and when you are too long in returning, he gets up and leaves. At other times, you are so busy that you answer him from the window. You don’t even have time to open the door.
• You are royalty, destined for the heavenly bridal chamber.
• We you see a person who is spiritually tired do not burden him any further, because his knees won’t be able to bear it
• Love the One, so that even wild beasts will love you.
• True wealth, for me, is to see you in the Kingdom of Heaven.
• When the flame of love exists, it consumes whatever evil approaches.
• The person who loves spiritually, feels prayerful, that he can be found within God and his brother. He is saddened when his brother is not advancing well and prays for his progress. Whoever has Christian love never changes.
• Hold the banner of Christ up high, so that you’ve always got your elder’s telephone number no matter where you are.
• Christ is the same, yesterday and today, but we have closed our eyes and look into the darkness. It is because we carry on like this that some fall in the mud and others are killed.
• Those things we hear about, war, earthquakes, catastrophes, thunderings, expect rain too.
• We must be ready for our defense and our martyrdom.
• I beseech the Lord to sanctify you, so that I may see you in Paradise. This is the dowry which I seek from the Lord for you.
• For God’s grace to come during the Liturgy you must be concentrated and untroubled.
• The more a person loves God, the more he loves other people. He loves them with holiness, respect and refinement, as images of God.
• When a person lacks inner warmth, he will be frozen and cold, even in summer.
• When your heart does not have Christ, it will contain either money, property or people instead.
• Please put this commandment into practice. Cultivate love towards the Person of Christ to such an extent that, when you pronounce His name, tears fall from your eyes. Your heart must really burn. Then He will become your teacher. He will be your Guide, your Brother, your Father, and your Elder.
• Love your Bridegroom Christ with all your heart and then everyone will love you and take care of you.
• I desire the rebirth of Monasticism, because in my opinion, monasticism is the evzone [elite military unit] battalion of the Church.
• God’s protection diminishes temptation.
• Because of widespread corruption, people cannot understand that spiritual love exists.
• Worldly people tire you, because whatever is stored up inside them comes at you like waves of electricity. We must be people of grace so much so that whoever comes to us may find rest.
• Let us look upon everyone as our superiors, however weak they may appear. Let us not be harsh, but always bear in mind that the other person also has the same destination as us.
• We must have Love, even if they do us the greatest harm, we must love them. We will be able to enter Paradise only with love.
• Cultivate the Jesus Prayer and a time will come when your heart will leap with joy, just as it does when you are about to see a person who you love very much.
• Do not neglect evening prayer. Pray with eagerness like those who are going to a feast. They are awake and feel joy alone. Thus, since you are going to speak with your Bridegroom, do not listen when the Tempter tells you various things in order to hinder you, because you know there is someone who cares for you.
• Question: “Elder, how must we picture Christ?” Answer: “We must always bring to Christ to mind with love. We could be holding the photograph of someone in our hands, but since we do not know them, we do not love him, we are not moved. Whereas, when we pick up a photograph of our mother, our soul immediately leaps and cries out with love.
• A person can be raised up above the earth by two wings, one is simplicity and the other is purity of heart. You must be simple in your actions and pure in your thoughts and feelings. With a pure heart you’ll seek God and with simplicity you’ll find Him and be glad. A pure heart passes through Heavens gate with ease.
• Self-denial must be cultivated with discernment, otherwise we reach the point of suicide.
• We are on the high seas of life, sometimes there are storms and at other times calm. God’s grace does not leave us. Else, we would have sunk, if he had not held us up.
• The saints always look to the other life. It is the grace of the remembrance of death.
• God guards us from temptation. He does not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. He allows everything for our good.
• When spirituality increases, even sleep will have been fought off.
• Prayer is grace. God gives it when zeal and humility exist.
• Fight the Hater of Good, who envies you, bravely suffer whatever befalls you with fortitude, patience and faith.
• Do not allow your soul’s enemy to wage war against you. He appears in sheep’s clothing, supposedly wanting your soul’s benefit.
• Trust in the Lord always and he will nourish you in time of hunger.
• With a good word for your neighbour, supporting him, you buy paradise.
• Repentance must occur, not from fear of punishment but because we have sinned before God. Sweeten your thoughts with words of consolation and hope. Warm your words with the warmth of your love towards your Bridegroom and remember His Passion, which he underwent for you, so that you would remain firm, devoted and humble. Give your whole self completely over to the protecting veil of the Panagia.
• Love giving hospitality, my child, for it opens the gates of Paradise. In this you also offer hospitality to angels. “Entertain strangers so that you won’t be a stranger to God.”
• The saints submitted to whatever God sent them, with childlike simplicity, “That’s the way You want it. Let Your will be done.”
• Hospitality… the greatest of virtues. It draws the grace of the Holy Spirit towards us. In every stranger’s face, my child, I see Christ himself.
• Sorrow is pleasing to God, in as much as it doesn’t take away our courage to fight.
• It is necessary and beneficial for a general self-examination to take place from time to time, remembering all former sins.
• Leave all your concerns to the hands of God. Ask for whatever you want, like a child asking from its father.
• Prayer is a gift from God. Always ask with hope.
• Our deeds, dear sister, will not save us; God’s infinite mercy will.
• Spiritual bonds become unbreakable when they come across a child-like spirit, innocence and sanctity.
• Everything seems dark and difficult to a person without Christ.
• Every day I pray that I may see you amongst the ranks of women saints.
• I don’t want to be in Paradise without you, my children.
• Question: How do you manage to have such patience and perseverance in everything? Answer: The grace of God helps. I always believe in the power of God, my child, Who alters and adjusts everything for the benefit of our soul.
• The person who gets agitated doesn’t think straight, logically. 29/10/67
• When I see a person who is irritated, I don’t listen to what he is saying, but pray for God to pacify him. That’s why I don’t get distressed. When they calm down, when the time is right, I talk to them because they are then in a position to comprehend their foolishness.
• The Grace of God and spiritual union with Him transform a person Fears and suspicions go away, he doesn’t fear death, and views this life, however good it may be, as slavery 2/5/1969
• God is visiting you when tears come during prayer.
• When a person is simplified, he is deified. He becomes innocent, humble, gentle, free. 1/11/1968
• Never ever give importance to anything earthly and fleeting. Take care of your spiritual union with God instead.
• 19/6/1968 When you hear your name being criticized act as if you didn’t hear. This is Paradise, this is perfection.
• 29/12/1967 Our religion slays the passions not the body.
• Where thee is fear of God wisdom is given 25/7/1967
• I want you to be calm so that we can meet. When you’re tired the wireless doesn’t work. 29/10/1967
• The Christian is a true human being He is courteous and polite. He doesn’t want to sadden anybody. 29/10/1967
• Innocence is greater than genius.
• A person who suffers from egotism attracts no-one. And if he does attract someone he will soon go away. When one comes across a childlike spirit, innocence and holiness the bond becomes unbreakable.
• Your hearts are young and want to love. You must have our Christ alone in your heart. Your Bridegroom wants you to love only Him. 1/1/1968
• The spiritual life has great pleasures. You fly, you leave the world , you don’t consider anything. You become children and God dwells in your heart. 28/4/1968
• The Grace of the All-Holy Spirit makes a person send out rays. However, other people must have a good receiver in order to realise this. 1/1/1968
• We must have our gaze fixed on heaven. Then nothing will shake us.
• Take communion regularly, pray warmly, be patient and you will see a strong hand holding you.
• Christ is near us even if we don’t see Him. Sometimes, from his great love, He gives us a slap too.
• You should be glad. Jesus holds an artists chisel in His hands. He wants to prepare you a statue for the Heavenly Palace.
• The person who shouts has no strength.

Translated by Marina M. Robb all material is copywrited to Evangelismos Monastery, Patmos.

If you wish to use content from this page, please reference the source Cyberdesert.

There are many versions of the Stone Soup story.  The one I am sharing is the only version I have run across personally:

During World War II a young soldier found himself isolated in a small French Town.  This particular town had little food and many of the inhabitants were starving.  It was desperate times for all.  The town’s people were reluctant to share what little they had out of fear for their own survival.  They watched the soldier carefully from curtained and shuttered windows to see what he would do.

They watched the soldier as he rummaged through the piles of discarded items that littered the streets.  Many people had left with what they could carry, leaving some things behind to lighten their loads.  He hunted for several hours before he returned to the fire he had built outside an abandoned building.  In his hand he carried an old dented soup pot, an old rusty fire grate, and a large kitchen spoon.  He had found a small trickle of water spilling from a broken spigot that used to provide clear spring water to the  the town square fountain.   He carried the pot to the fountain and  went about filling the old pot with the fresh spring water.    He then carried it back to his fire where he had placed, over the fire,  the metal grate that he had also found while foraging.  Then the town’s people saw him search the ruins until he found a stone, which he placed in the pot.  The soldier then sat down and waited patiently.

Soon the mayor of the town strolled by.  “What are you doing there?” he asked the soldier.

“I am making stone soup,” was the soldier’s reply.  The mayor rubbed his chin and proceeded to walk to his home that was just down the street.

The grocery store owner also stopped by to see what the soldier was doing.  “What are you cooking there?” the store keeper asked.

“I am making stone soup,” was the soldier’s reply.  The store keeper also continued to walk to his grocery store that was now barren of food.

Throughout the day many of the town’s people strolled by asking of the soldier.  Suddenly the mayor arrived a carrots in his hand.  “Can you use this carrot in your stone soup?” the mayor inquired.  “It isn’t much but you can have it.”

“Thank you,” the soldier said as he took out his pocket knife, cut up the carrot and through the pieces into the pot with a plop.  The mayor turned to the north toward where his office was.

Again, the store keeper arrived bearing two potatoes that he had scavanged from his ravished stores from his grocery. “I have these two potatoes.  Can you use them in your stone soup?”

“Why, yes I can.  Thank you!” he said as he again pulled out his pocket knife and cut up the potatoes into small pieces and threw them into the steaming pot with a plop.  The soldier sat back and waited patiently.

All that day people from the town would walk by offering a small amount of what they had to the soldier for his stone soup.  By the end of the day the smell drifted all through the town.  The town’s people gathered at the soldier’s fire and watched the soup boil.  When the soup was ready the soldier stood and addressed the crowd.  “All of you are welcome to share this pot of soup with me.”

That day the entire town was fed by that one pot of soup.  It was the first hot meal they had had in a very long time.  Alone, they had not even enough to feed themselves, but together, they were able to feed an entire village.

Now, this is not a story of charity but of helping each other.  Those who had a little shared it with the whole.  Those who didn’t have shared the reward.  I am sure that those who had not given went back to their homes and found things to share with the town.  I am sure that there were many other days of stone soup.  Those who did not have to give, gave of their time.  They hunted for more pots, started fires, gathered firewood, contacted people to help, and did what they could to contribute.  There was no charity here, but people working together to help each other.

Look around you.  Surly there are people, families, neighborhoods that can use your skills, expertise, or labor to improve their living standard just a bit.  Is there an abandoned building that can be raised and a park created in its place?  Is there a neighborhood watch group organizing in your neighborhood?  Why not join?  Is there a senior citizen that could use a plate of cookies and a bit of conversation?  Is there a young mother that could use a day just for herself?  Why not offer to watch her children for a day so she can relax and enjoy what ever her heart’s desire? And, while you are at it, why not share your parenting and child rearing skills with her.  Perhaps she doesn’t have anyone to mentor her.  Perhaps she doesn’t have someone she can talk to when she is stressed or worried.  Perhaps she needs your gentle wisdom to teach her the mothering skills she is lacking.  These are small things that can make a big difference

Are there parents who need a car pool?  Is there a school bus stop that needs an adult to watch the children until they are on the bus or to walk them home?  Is there an elderly neighbor who could benefit from a handy man, or is there  a neighbor child who needs a little extra money for doing small things around your home?

We are not islands.  What we do or not do affects others.  It’s the ripple effect.  Everything you do or don’t do sends out energy into the cosmos and in turn, it comes back to you.  This is not about charity.  This is about raising up the quality of life for yourself and others.  One hour a day once each week or every two weeks, is a small sacrifice to make someone else’s life better while  helping yourself in the process.  Not only are you raising up your neighborhood one person at a time, but you are teaching your children and other neighborhood children to give rather than to be takers.

You could organize an after school program where those who need to teach can come and provide the children with a varied insight into their lives and the lives of others.  Or, you could simply open your home to those children who may be latch key kids.  It used to be that multiple generations lived under one roof and the children benefited from the wise counsel of their elders.  Today, seniors are looked upon as a burden and as senile, having no value.  An after school program where those elders can share their vast knowledge and experience and perhaps change the views of their own generation toward young people as well as change the views of young people towards seniors, would be a benefit to any community.  It also gives the elders a sense of being needed and it provides the children with someone to look up to…surrogate grandparents.

It doesn’t take much to send a plate of cookies over to the widow next door.  It doesn’t take much to invite a latch key kid over for an after school snack with your own children.  Make sure you talk to the parents first, of course.  Nothing should be done without their knowledge and involvement.  Perhaps they can give a bit of their time to help as well.  Who knows, it takes a village to raise a child, and it only takes one person to change their neighborhood’s vision.  Why not start a neighborhood vision committee and hold a neighborhood barbeque or pot luck and discuss those things that your neighbors need.  You might be surprised at what you discover.

Now, on the same subject, I just received “The Most Important Gift Catalog in The World”.  It is called Heifer.   The Heifer International project was established to help people and families move toward self-reliance.  Through this organization if you give just $500.00 a heifer will be given  to a family in third world countries, or you can share the gift by giving $50.00 with others who can’t afford the entire cost. For $1,000.00  a family will receive a Milk Menagerie of four milk producing animals such as one heifer, two goats, and a water buffalo.  Or you can share the expense by giving just $100.00.  The gift of a goat is only $120.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  A pig will cost you $120.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  A sheep will cost you $120.00 or just $10.00 to share the gift expense.  You can give a Knitting Basket gift which includes 4 wool producing animals and the cost is only $500.00 or $50.00 to share the gift expense.    You can give a trio of rabbits for $60.00 or $10.00 to share the gift expense.  You can donate a flock of chicks for just $20.00.  You can even give the gift of bees for just $30.00.  If bees aren’t your bag, how about $150.00 for the gift of a Llama or $20.00 to share the gift expense.  Oh, and then there is the water buffalo.  $250.00 will give the gift of a water buffalo or $25.00 to share the expense.  There are also camels, oxen, donkeys, ducks, guinea pigs, and geese.  You can give the gift of tree seedlings as well as grass seeds so that the animals can be fed.  All this comes with training and instruction for the happy recipients.  So, this year, even though times are tough for us all, why not put the energy of generosity out into the universe so that it can come back to you.

“If you give a man a meal he can feed himself for one day.  If you teach him how to garden, he can feed himself for a year.  The Heifer program is not charity.  It is giving those in need a helping hand up so that they can in turn, give back to their families and their communities.  If we rid the world of hunger, we will rid the world of wars and we teach people to be self-reliant.

So go to:  www.heifer.org/gift

Chris

(Luke 14:25 KJV)  And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

(Luke 14:26 KJV)  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

(Luke 14:27 KJV)  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

(Luke 14:28 KJV)  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

(Luke 14:29 KJV)  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

(Luke 14:30 KJV)  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

(Luke 14:31 KJV)  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

(Luke 14:32 KJV)  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

(Luke 14:33 KJV)  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

(Luke 14:34 KJV)  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

(Luke 14:35 KJV)  It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

(Mat 10:32 KJV)  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
41  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42  And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

MANY CHRISTIANS YET  they have firstly not died to self.. but rather soulishly, fleshly live for self as the Bible clearly says.

Amazingly, we tend to ignore the bulk of human history when considering what is ‘natural.’  How humans lived for tens of thousands of years has imprinted itself in our genes, yet we ignore that programming, instead trying to live by what our culture says is ‘right.’  There are reasons for why we act the way that we do, feel the way that we feel, and they are not the result of the rise of patriarchal religions, or the Industrial Revolutions.  The conflicts that we experience are all too often the result of our genetic programming being at odds with our expectations.

Because humans did not have writing until very recently, little is known for sure about what life was like 20,000 years ago.  Anthropology is making great strides in uncovering the past, but its findings are still colored by modern cultural bias.  Case in point:  Hunter-gatherer societies.  When the European world discovered that there were societies in undeveloped parts of the world which survived by gathering and hunting, the male dominated society of the modern world automatically assumed that the males in those societies were the primary food providers, thus the label ‘hunter-gatherer.’  By studying the garbage of prehistoric peoples, we have discovered that they should have been called ‘gatherer-hunter societies.’  Hunting was not the primary means of getting food, but instead gathering was.

This has tremendous implications on our perceptions of ancient lifestyles.  Women were the ones who primarily did the gathering, from what we have been able to discern.  If women were the primary food providers, they would have been very important in the everyday life of a group.  It was not until the advent of agriculture that men became the primary food providers, which also was the time when male-dominated religions appeared, and the status of women diminished to that of domestic animals.

If a group of people depended on the able-bodied individuals to perform the necessary tasks of survival, that means that people of child-bearing years could not have been the primary caregivers of their children.  Spending time with your children was not a survival trait, because that would have kept you from carrying water, collecting fuel, gathering food, preparing it, and all the other things needed to keep the group going.  Perhaps this explains the affinity of very young children for the very elderly, because we are genetically wired to respond to those who would have been our primary caregivers for thousands and thousands of years.

Certainly, there are many other ways of explaining why parents and their children have so many difficulties, while those same children seem to respond to their grandparents and great-grandparents so much better.  We can attribute the desire of very young children to please the elderly to many things, but isn’t it easier to look at how humans lived for most of our existence?  Of course, this throws the concept of the ‘nuclear family’ as being the natural family unit out the window, which is not going to sit well today.  But the nuclear family is already endangered, as more and more people are raising children by themselves, or with their parents.

Looking at our behaviors in the context of what were survival traits for most of human evolution is, to me, the most logical way of determining what is ‘natural’ and ‘right’, not by using our cultures definitions.  The idea of ‘three square meals a day’ is no more natural than beating oneself with a stick every day.  It arose during the first industrial revolution, when people were only given one meal break during the work period.  Our bodies have evolved to eat small amounts of food all day long, not to process huge amounts all at once.  That is a biological fact, which cannot be changed no matter how much we want to believe otherwise.  I think that there are many more of them, which we have not discovered yet.

Great thanks to the many Native American elders, teachers, holy men and holy women and medicine people of this beautiful North American continent, Turtle Island, who so freely opened their hearts and their minds to all of us who would come seeking a better way.  Thank you for your patience, love and understanding, for your willingness to guide and support us in walking a beauty path.  Thank you for treating us as individuals and for recognizing our willingness to learn, grow and honor you, your teachings, mother earth and all of her beautiful beings.  Thank you for trusting us to honor and cultivate our own visions as part of the intricate, delicate and wondrous web of life.

Thank you for your wisdom and your knowing that as we approached you in our awkward innocence, we hoped to learn from spiritual elders who could teach us how to reconnect and deepen with the natural world in our deep seated longing to help bring it all back into balance.  Thank you for seeing beyond the color of our skin and past our ethnic backgrounds, for recognizing that we are all truly one.

Thank you for including us in your sacred ceremonies and for sharing the stories, songs, legends and teachings with us.  Thank you for entrusting us with your own life’s stories, so full and rich in experience, joy and beauty as well as in pain, suffering and loss.  For strengthening our ability to have deeper levels of compassion and to hold all people in the highest regard no matter what their journey is.

Thank you for teaching us how to support others in finding their return to their sacred, authentic selves, just as you supported us.  Thank you for letting us fall and get back up on our own.  Thank you for letting us know that it’s okay to make mistakes.  Thank you for teaching us to trust that spirit will move through us as long as we surrender, get out of our own way and give it over to the higher good.

Thank you for empowering us to find and cultivate our own medicine and how to work in balance with the earth, the spirits, the ceremony and the people as a result of our strengths and confidence of each of our gifts.  Thank you for entrusting us with your sacred ceremonies and for trusting that we would do a good job bringing your legacy forward in a good way for all people to come together in truth, harmony and oneness, with respect and honor for our ancestors, mother earth, father sky and all our relations.

The True Peace

The first peace, which is the most important,
is that which comes within the souls of people
when they realize their relationship,
their oneness, with the universe and all its powers,
and when they realize that at the center
of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit),
and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this.
The second peace is that which is made between two individuals,
and the third is that which is made between two nations.
But above all you should understand that there can never
be peace between nations until there is known that true peace,
which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.

Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader (1863 – 1950)

Mitakuye Oyasin.

 As I mentioned in my last post (something I’m sure many of you know), there is a huge movement in the broader American/Western church which rejects all church authority.  The Jesus-figure in The Shack clearly hints that office and authority structure in the church get in the way of one’s relationship with himself.  Evangelical church-goers also sometimes have the same mindset, saying that one finds God outside of the church, that elders and pastors are of no real help to the Christian. 

What’s worse – probably – is that some of these “church-institution-rejecters” cite the early church as their model, as if the early church was a homey, dynamic, organic commune with no real leadership structure.  They blame later bishops and pastors for foisting a hierarchy on the church, which made it institutional.  Well, to be blunt, that is just wrong.  The early church didn’t float around without officers, elders, bishops, and deacons.  For one example, 1 Clement, one of the earliest post-NT epistles, was written from Christians in Rome to Christians in Corinth (c. 95 AD). 

In the opening, the church at Corinth is praised for her piety, hospitality, and love of truth.  Then, they are commended for living “in accordance with the laws of God, submitting yourselves to your leaders and giving to the older men (presbuterois) among you the honor due them” (1 Cl 1.3).  Later in the letter, the Roman Christians address some sort of revolt/schism that happened in Corinth (about which scholars arm-wrestle).  Here’s their advice.

“You…who laid the foundation of the revolt must submit to the presbyters (presbuterois) and accept discipline leading to repentance, bending the knees of your heart.  Learn how to subordinate yourselves, laying aside the arrogant and proud stubbornness of your tongue.  For it is better for you to be found small but included in the flock of Christ than to have a preeminent reputation and yet be excluded from this hope” (1 Cl 57.1-2).

Notice that last line, which is huge.  It is a commentary on Hebrews 13.17 – to not have leaders watching over one’s soul is not a good thing; there is not much hope outside of the elder-led flock.  One more:

“Let the flock of Christ be at peace with its duly appointed presbyters (presbuteron). ….These are things that those who live as citizens of the commonwealth of God – something not to be regretted – have done and will continue to do” (I Cl 54.2, 4).

Later, Cyprian would say similar things, just to name one other father who knew what church order and institution meant.  I find it quite odd that these “leave-church-as-institution” people always talk about kingdom, but fail to realize that kingdom is polis langauge, and where there is a King, there is order, leadership, and submission.  This is God’s order, not something foisted onto the church by some unChristian brutes a long time ago.

NOTE: For similar authority language as 1 Clement above, see Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, 2.2, 4.1, 5.3; Ignatius’ Epistle to the Magnesians ch. 2, 13.2; Ignatius’ Epistle to the Trallians ch. 2; and his Epistle to Polycarp 6.1.  Finally, check out Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians 5.3b.

(Above quotes taken from Michael Holmes’ fine editorial work in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, Third Edition [Grand Rapid: Baker, 2007])

shane lems

sunnyside wa

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself
.They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless My Enemies O Lord

 Prayers by the Lake

by Bishop Nicholas Velimirovic, published by the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of New Gracanica, 1999.

Saint Nicholas Velimirovic was a Serbian bishop in the last century who spoke out courageously against the Nazis until he was arrested and taken to Dachau Concentration Camp.