So now I’m jaded
Friends turn to enemies

Now that I know that you work for them
Now that I know your life is based around such lies and corperate greed
You only believe what you are told
You only defend laws that are old because it’s law don’t make it right

So now I’m jaded
Friends turn to enemies

All my life I’ve done what I’ve been asked
So who is right? The one behind the mask

So now I’m jaded
Friends turn to enemies

It’s funny to think I trusted you
It’s funny to think that I have spent my

Truth

Day 7 – Truth

“Raise your right hand and read the words on the card,” the clerk directed.

“I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give, shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

“Please state your name.”

“Beverley Tyler,” she replied confidently. A barrister for the prosecution approached the witness stand, a solemn expression on his face.

“Good morning, Mrs. Tyler. Can you please recount the events of the second of September last, for the court?”

Beverley turned to the jury, keeping her eyes deliberately averted from the dock. “I was walking home across the waste ground leading from the High Street to Wintersloe Crescent. I heard a muffled scream close by and went to investigate. I walked around the huge concrete slabs and . . . that’s when I saw them.

“The woman was on the ground, her face bruised and bleeding, her clothes ripped so badly she was practically naked. The defendant had a knife in his hand and he stabbed her. I moved away and phoned the emergency services.”

“Had you seen this man before?”

“Every day of my life – the murderer is . . . my brother,” Beverley sobbed.

Caravaggio lived and worked in Italy, mainly Naples and Rome where he created these breath taking works of dramatic realism. Caravaggio started out making scenes of the lower class like Youth bitten by a green lizard or The cardsharps then worked up to more dramatic biblical scenes.

Caravaggio’s claim to fame was his use of chiaroscuro that gave his paintings such a dramatic effect. Chiaroscuro is an Italian word describing transition of light and shadow that covers a wide spectrum. This is present in nearly all of his paintings and is executed in such a way that brings a sense of realness to the subject. Caravaggio was also a baroque painter, which was a movement that focused on dramatic scenes at the climax of a historical moment or a story. These elements made his work one of the most impressionistic and recognizable works of the 16^th and 17^th century.

The particular work I picked, while pretty graphic and gruesome, tells an interesting historical tale. Like I mentioned, Caravaggio was often in trouble with the law and at one point during the height of his fame a death warrant was sent out for him issued by the Pope. This led him to a life in hiding away from the watchful eye of the papacy. Years later he sent this painting to the Cardinal Borghese, as a plea of mercy, depicting his own face as the face of Goliath.

This painting creates a great example of how biographical information can add a new layer and more depth to an image. This can also give a us a better way to understand the artist and the cultures they lived in. If you’re interested in my biographical information pertaining to this blog, I saw the Evil Dead remake this weekend, which may be why I chose a decapitation scene. Thanks for reading!

I spied this book today drawn in by the cover and the title and began reading. Unfortunately I had to leave it at the place of work but I have put my order in to be first to read it. Fingers crossed it is released tomorrow as I really can’t wait to get stuck in. The writing hooked me in right from the first page.

“What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?”
Jazz (Jasper Dent) has seen too much but with his dad finally in prison he can now live a normal life. That is until new bodies start piling up. And the finger of blame is being pointed at Jazz. In an effort to clear his name Jazz helps the police to hunt down a new serial killer. But perhaps Jazz is more like his father than he realises?
This sounds so cool.

Game (Book 2) is just about to be published so I will have to hurry up and read the first one.

Turpin may have followed his father’s profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher, burglar, horse thief and murderer. Forget the romantic image, he was just another thug from Essex.

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1836 – William Godwin died.  English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism.

Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions, and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, which attacks aristocratic privilege, but also is the first mystery novel.

Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s. In the ensuing conservative reaction to British radicalism, he was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death.

 Their daughter, Mary Godwin (later Mary Shelley) would go on to write Frankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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1915 – Billie Holiday born. American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing.

Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday “changed the art of American pop vocals forever.”

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1920 – Ravi Shankar born.  Indian musician and composer who played the sitar. He has been described as the best-known contemporary Indian musician.

In 1956, he began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of the Beatles.

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Damn, that’s one ugly dude.

Here’s the facts:

•       James Holmes is the “alleged” Joker killer at the massacre at the midnight screening of “The Dark Night” in Colorado in July of 2012
•       12 were left dead, 58 more injured
•       Holmes faces 166 charges of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses
•       Currently, Holmes is pleading not guilty, but will plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty

Apparently, his school psychiatrist knew he was dangerous and because the families of the victims don’t think the school handled their knowledge of Holmes appropriately, 14 people have filed legal documents to sue them for negligence.  His trial is set to start February of next year and is expected to take forever. Which seems crazy because what is there really to debate on? Whatevz, I’ll still follow the whole thing. 

Black was born in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire. Black’s natural mother, Jessie Hunter Black, refused to put his father’s name on his birth certificate and had him fostered. Black was brought up by a foster couple who were in their 50s, Jack and Margaret Tulip. Black did not fit in at school and was given the nickname ‘Smelly Robby Tulip’ by his classmates, who noticed that Black preferred to hang around with children a year or two younger than he was, rather than people his own age. He developed an early reputation for aggressive and wayward behaviour. Locals recalled that Black often had bruises, although Black later said he could not recollect where these injuries came from. Margaret Tulip looked after Black on her own from when he was five until she died in 1958 when he was 11. He was then sent to a children’s home in Falkirk. His increasingly aggressive behaviour meant he was moved several times over the following years.

While living with the Tulips, Robert Black developed sexual self-awareness at a young age. He later said that from the age of eight he would often push objects up his anus. This was a practice that he would continue into adulthood. As a young child, he also had an interest in the genitals of other children. At the age of five, he and a girl both took off their clothes and compared each other’s genitals. Black first attempted rape at the age of 12 along with two other boys. They attacked a girl in a field, but found themselves unable to complete the act of penetration. The authorities were notified and Black was moved to the Red House in Musselburgh. While there, a male staff member sexually abused him. It was while Black was at Red House that he also entered Musselburgh Grammar School, where he developed an interest in football and swimming. At 15, Black left Red House and found a job working as a delivery boy in Greenock near Glasgow. He later admitted that, while on his rounds, he molested 30 to 40 girls with various degrees of success. None of these incidents seem to have been officially reported until his first conviction at the age of 17 when he lured a seven-year-old girl to a deserted building, strangled her until she lost consciousness and then masturbated over her unconscious body. He was arrested and convicted of ‘lewd and libidinous’ behaviour for this offence, but received only an admonishment.

After this, Black moved back to Grangemouth and got a job with a builders’ supply company. He also found a girlfriend, Pamela Hodgson, and asked her to marry him. Black was devastated when she ended the relationship several months later. In 1966, Black molested his landlord and landlady’s nine-year old granddaughter. The girl eventually told her parents. They took no legal action but Black was ordered to leave the house. At this time, Black moved back to Kinlochleven, where he was raised. He took a room with a couple who had a 7-year-old daughter. As before, Black molested the girl. This time, when the sexual abuse was discovered, police were notified. Black was sentenced to a year of borstal training at Polmont. On his release, Black left Scotland and moved to London. In London, Black found work as a swimming pool attendant and would sometimes go underneath the pool, remove the lights and watch young girls as they swam. Soon, a young girl complained that Black had touched her and although no official charges were brought, Black lost his job.

On 12 August 1981, 9-year-old Jennifer Cardy cycled from her house in Ballinderry, County Antrim in Northern Ireland to meet a friend. Her bicycle was recovered close to her home. Her body was found at McKee’s Dam near Hillsborough, County Down six days later. She had been sexually assaulted. Black, who at the time was working in the area for a poster-delivery company, was convicted of her kidnap, sexual assault and murder at Armagh Crown Court on 27 October 2011. On 8 December 2011 he was sentenced to 25 years for her murder and told by the judge he would be at least 89 before he was considered for release.

On 30 July 1982, 11-year-old Susan Maxwell from Cornhill on Tweed, on the English side of the English/Scottish border left her home to play a game of tennis across the border in Coldstream. Several local witnesses remembered seeing her until she crossed the bridge over the River Tweed, after which there were no sightings of Susan. Nobody saw it happen, but at some point between the river and Coldstream, Susan was abducted by Black. He raped and strangled her and dumped her body about 250 miles away by the side of the A518 at Loxley near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England.

On the evening of 8 July 1983, 5-year-old Caroline Hogg from Portobello, an eastern suburb of Edinburgh, went out to play near her home for a few minutes. She never returned. Many witnesses reported seeing a scruffy-looking man watching a young girl, believed to be Caroline, in the playground near her home, then holding hands with her in a nearby amusement arcade. The man was Black. Caroline’s body was found 10 days later in a ditch in Leicestershire, around 300 miles from her home. The cause of death could not be determined due to decomposition (as had been the case with Susan Maxwell), but the absence of clothes suggested a sexual motive.

Three years later, on 26 March 1986, 10-year-old Sarah Harper went missing from Morley in Leeds after leaving her home to go to the corner shop to buy a loaf of bread. The shopkeeper remembered Sarah coming in to the shop, but she never returned home. The last sighting of Sarah was of her walking towards the snicket that she used as a shortcut. Black kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Her body was found dumped in the River Trent near Nottingham a month later.

Black was arrested on 14 July 1990, near Stow, Scotland. He was seen snatching a 6-year-old girl off the street and bundling her into his van. An alert member of the public called the police who chased after the van and subsequently apprehended Black when the van was recognized as he doubled back. The policeman who discovered the child in the back of the van, tied up, gagged with tape and stuffed head-first into a sleeping bag, was the girl’s father. She had been sexually assaulted. A search of Black’s home revealed a large collection of child pornography. The following month, Black was convicted of abduction and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Police suspected Black of the murders of Susan Maxwell, Caroline Hogg and Sarah Harper. They checked his petrol receipts and eventually charged Black with all three murders, in addition to the attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl who had escaped from a man who had tried to drag her into a van in 1988. On 19 May, the jury found Black guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and told that he should serve at least 35 years. This would keep him behind bars until at least 2029, when he would be 82. On 16 December 2009, Black was charged with the murder of Jennifer Cardy. He was found guilty on 27 October 2011 and was given a further life sentence by Armagh Crown Court. On 8 December 2011, Black was told that he would be at least 89 years old before he would be considered for release.

Pedophiles, males or females, are criminals and should be prosecuted to the maximum extent as per law. If you find anybody suspicious, check out his or her details at the The National Sex Offender Public Website. Pedophiles like Marc Dutroux, Albert Fish, Westley Allan Dodd, John Evander Couey, Joseph Edward Duncan III, and Robert Black are dangerous criminals and murderers. Always remember to teach your children how to remain safe online.

REFERENCES:
1. Robert Black – Coigreach Gun Chogais, BBC Alba, 6 January 2010
2. “MurderUK Robert Black”. http://www.murderuk.com/child_killers_robert_black.html
3. Robert Black — Sudden Mindless Violence — Crime Library on truTV.com http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/violence_1.html
4. “Robert Black — The ‘Dirty’ Part — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/part_2.html
5. “Robert Black — Dominance and Submission — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/submission_3.html
6. “Robert Black — Prelude to Murder — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/murder_4.html
7. “Murder in the UK – Serial Killers – Cannibals – Child Killers – Mass Murder”. Murderuk.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
8. “Robert Black — Cycle of Fantasy — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. http://www.murderuk.com/child_killers_robert_black.html
9. “Child killer Robert Black found guilty of murdering Jennifer Cardy”. BBC News. 2011-10-27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15445986
10. Child killer Robert Black jailed for 25 years minimum BBC News Northern Ireland 8 December 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16086642
11. “Susan Maxwell ‘seen alone before disappearance’: Triple murder trial told of surprise at sighting”. The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/susan-maxwell-seen-alone-before-disappearance-triple-murder-trial-told-of-surprise-at-sighting-1370277.html
12. “Robert Black — Escalating Brutality — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. 1986-03-26. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/brutality_7.html
13. Malcolm Pithers “Killer faces questions on more sex murders”, The Independent, 20 May 1994. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/killer-faces-questions-on-more-sex-murders-police-to-interview-robert-black-about-the-deaths-of-at-least-12-girls-in-england-northern-ireland-and-france-malcolm-pithers-reports-1437309.html
14. Richard Edwards “Prime suspect in 1978 murder of schoolgirl Genette Tate will not face charges”, Daily Telegraph, 18 August 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2579716/Prime-suspect-in-1978-murder-of-schoolgirl-Genette-Tate-will-not-face-charges.html
15. “Robert Black — A ‘Rush of Blood’ — Crime Library on”. Trutv.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/black/blood_8.html
16. “Robert Black charged with 1981 Jennifer Cardy murder”. BBC News. 2009-12-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8415233.stm

If ANYONE out there has ANY unreleased Hugh Mundell, please send me a message at midnightraverblog@gmail.com.  I know I’ve got something for you in my collection. 

God or Satan? Who Will YOU Choose?  <(click me)

Do you listen to that still small voice of Sense and Love, which is Jesus Christ? Or do you listen to the world and the Self message of ‘do what you want, its OK’?
Well the Worlds message is explicitly Satanic and will condemn you for eternity.
The do what you want comes from Alistair Crowley who was the father of modern Satanism. He coined the phrase, ‘Do what thou wilt, that is the whole of the law’. He was a homosexual, paedophile, child killer. Yet most of the 20th and 21st Century’s ‘New Age‘ movement was founded by this despicable Man.

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• Is Hell only for Satan and demons? – Response to a question (divineheartofgod.org)
• The Verdict (1nest.wordpress.com)

An Ohio judge sentenced 53-year-old Richard Beasley after a jury recommended last week that he be executed.

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Beasley was convicted of teaming up with a teenager in 2011 to lure men with offers of farmhand jobs in southeast Ohio. Three men were killed and a fourth wounded.

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Co-defendant Brogan Rafferty, who was then 16 years old, was too young to face the death penalty. Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole on his conviction last year.

 Complete coverage of the Craigslist Murder Case on Crimesider

Reading 1 Acts 3:11-26

As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John,
all the people hurried in amazement toward them
in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,
“You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this,
and why do you look so intently at us
as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence,
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.
Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment
and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration
of which God spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old.
For Moses said:
A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.
Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.
“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke,
from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.
You are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors
when he said to Abraham,
In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you
by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

Responsorial Psalm PS 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel Lk 24:35-48

The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

1882 – Jesse James died.  American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber and murderer, and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.

 He was killed by Robert Ford,  a member of the gang living in the James house,  who was hoping to collect a state reward on James’ head.

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1949 – Richard Thompson born. British songwriter, guitarist and recording and performing musician. Highly regarded for his guitar techniques and strange, darkly-funny lyrics, Thompson’s music has been consistently lavished with praise by critics and by his peers throughout his long career.

He made his debut as a recording artist as a member of Fairport Convention in September 1967, and continues to write and record new material regularly and performs live frequently throughout the world.

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1950 – Kurt Weill died.  German composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States.

 He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, with whom  he developed productions such as his best-known work The Threepenny Opera, a Marxist critique of capitalism, which included the ballad “Mack the Knife”.

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The Holy Bible is the only infallible source of truth and righteousness on this earth because it is the very Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). God’s Word is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89), therefore it stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Jesus Christ, who is the One True and Living God (Titus 2:13; 1 John 5:20) “is the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He has declared, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). Therefore, it is God Himself that has determined who is evil, unrighteous, dark, and ultimately His enemy. God Himself has determined what is right and what is wrong, what is truth and what is error. It is, then, the Holy Word of God that is the only authority, the only valid tool for measuring right and wrong, the only rule of faith and practice.

Because there is no one who is good or who seeks for God (Romans 3:10-12), all, except those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life, will suffer the second death (Revelation 20:14-15). I will take a brief moment to share the gospel from the Word of God so that if you have not repented of your sin and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you will have opportunity to do so. I am sharing the gospel because “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’” (Romans 1:16-17). In Acts 17:24-31 we read:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

There are many things this world has accepted as being good which is in fact evil. Calling evil good is not even partially alright. What God has called evil, immoral, an abomination, or wicked we must never classify as good. This is where the title of this post becomes relevant. We should always, even if we should die for it, stand for God’s truth. We should never retreat from what God has declared! We should never surrender to the world and its principles! We should never compromise the Word of God to do what is right in our own eyes! God has stated in very clear terms where He stands on many of the issues we face here in the United States of America and the world. He is angry. You may ignorantly ask, “Why is He angry?” Again I answer with the sword of the Spirit:

 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:18-32).

God also warns against being deceived about such gross immorality in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, where He states, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” In fact, He has sworn, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit [new Jerusalem], and I will be his God and he will be my son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolators and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:6-8; emphasis mine). “‘Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates of the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolators, and everyone who loves and practices lying. ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star’” (Revelation 22:12-16).

In fine, all manner of sin should be unacceptable to all who profess Jesus Christ as God, King, Lord, and Savior. One of the issues that is before us today is homosexuality. God says it is immoral and an abomination. I agree with Him. I agree with everything His Holy Word says. I will not retreat from this position, I will not surrender to the world and its demonic influence, and I will certainly not compromise the Word of God to please anyone. If you don’t like it, too bad.

NO RETREAT; NO SURRENDER; NO COMPROMISE; EVER!!!!!!!

]]> http://stanleyriiks.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/black-feathers-by-joseph-dlacey-reviewed/ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:02:01 +0000 stanleyriiks http://stanleyriiks.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/black-feathers-by-joseph-dlacey-reviewed/ Printed with the kind permission of Morpheus Tales. This review will appear in the forthcoming (very soon!) Morpheus Tales Supplement!

Black Feathers is the first the first volume in the Black Dawn Duology. A story of an environmental apocalypse…

Gordon Black is born into a world that is starting to crumble. The very Earth is sick, its disease is humanity. Floods, solar flares, famine, financial crises, earthquakes, mudslides. The old saying that society is only 72 hours from falling apart is going to be tested.

The Black family can see what’s happening. They start saving tinned food, hoarding supplies, preparing for the worst. But they can’t prepare for The Ward (a multinational corporation, part police, part military, part government). The Ward takes control of a faltering nation. They “collect” people and their belongings, taking whatever they want or need. They are self-proclaimed saviours of humanity. Gordon’s family is collected and imprisoned by The Ward for hoarding supplies, but the teenage boy manages to escape with his life and sets off to find the mysterious figure called The Crowman: a figure that some say is Satan, and others say is the saviour. While The Ward chase Gordon down, he attempts to find The Crowman.

This is a story of discovery. Gordon and Megan Maurice (who also searches for The Crowman) set off into the wilderness to try to find answers although they don’t even know what questions they need answering. Both are at the mercy of a humanity shattered and broken, as well as rapists, murderers, liars, thieves. Both must discover the truth about the Earth, The Crowman, and what happened to the world.

D’Lacey paints a disturbing picture of the apocalypse, giving hints of the epic dangers and actions that took place, while focusing on the lives of our main characters and telling the story of these epic events through our protagonists. The horrors, instead of the numbing millions, are directly relatable to the terrors that both teenagers face. The human de-evolution due to the crisis is dangerously clear at every stage. Each new face they meet is a potential danger.

This first book sets up the scene nicely, gives us a lot of the background, and sets up a nice cliff-hanger ending that’s left me ready for more. D’Lacey gives us hints of the horrors of the apocalypse, making it a mystery for our protagonists to discover. The story is carefully laid out for the reader to interpret. This is intelligent and subtle, with life-threatening dangers on an individual scale, not an action-filled battle for Earth’s survival. Not yet at least; there may well be some of that in the second book in this duology (and from the author of MEAT, I’m really looking forward to that).

Black Feathers is an original and intelligent apocalypse story. It’s a myth-filled fable of the end of the world on an individual basis. It’s a coming-of-age story set on a cruel and broken Earth.

D’Lacey writes with a power and conviction that is scary. This could well be our future. Bring on volume two! Right now! I need to know what happens next!

www.angryrobotbooks.com

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