By Paul Salahuddin Armstrong

I hate the attitude of hate… Why hate? I love God, love His prophets, love His saints, love creation, and love all people! On this, virtually all religions would agree, yet then they pick at straws: their concept of God (or gods) -only, their prophets/avatars/saints/gurus -only, people of their sect -only. Why? Many scriptures, especially of course the Holy Torah, Holy Bible and Holy Qur’an, but even some Hindu scriptures, testify to the Oneness of God!

“Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad” (Holy Torah, Deuteronomy 6:4), “Allahu Ahad” (Holy Qur’an 112:1), God is One and only! If God is One and only, as the scriptures testify, our concepts of God are purely human constructs, God is way above such false limitations being placed upon His Divine Majesty! God inspired all prophets, avatars, saints and gurus who spoke Truth, irrespective of which artificial religious institutions later placed claims upon them. The creation is the reflection of God’s divine attributes, in the material world, which transcends any particular religious claims to it. Humanity is part of God’s creation, each person a manifestation of one of God’s divine names in the flesh. How can we then hate anyone, when all people were created by the same God of all creation, all religions and all humanity?

According to the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we are all descended from Adam and Hawwa (Eve), the first man and the first woman. Adam in Hebrew means “Earth”, as well as man. The Arabic letters that make up the name Adam; Alif, Dal, Mim; indicate the positions of our Salaah (daily worship), standing, bowing and prostrating, which is similar to a traditional form of worship found in Judaism as well. Thus indicating our utter dependence upon God.

Through Adam, humanity’s connection to the Earth, which our bodies are formed from and one day return back to, is made abundantly clear. Surely, this should inspire within us a certain degree of reverence and respect for nature. God willing, we may return to our role of stewardship, “God’s viceregents” (khalifa) of the Earth, taking good care of the creation God has entrusted to us.

Through Adam, we may see our common heritage. Modern science too, now acknowledges our mitochondrial DNA, demonstrates we were all descended from a woman, even they’ve called “Eve”. Whether we are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Samaritan, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Confucian, Shintoist, Animist, Agnostic or Atheist; we are all one very extended family, each branch blessed with their own unique characteristics, qualities, tastes, culture, crafts and skills. Oh how God has blessed humanity! How can we then be ungrateful?

What caused the Nephites to lose their faith?

Ignoring spiritual promptings is one way to lose strong spiritual feelings.  These feelings will get stronger as we recognize them and act on them.  We will lose these feelings if we ignore them and if sin creeps into our lives instead.

“And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen (v. 1)—Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing (v. 2).  And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did go about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land (v. 3).  And thus did pass away the ninety and sixth year; and also the ninety and seventh year; and also the ninety and eighth year; and also the ninety and ninth year (v. 4); And also an hundred years had passed away since the days of Mosiah, who was king over the people of the Nephites (v. 5). . . And it came to pass that the people did still remain in wickedness, notwithstanding the much preaching and prophesying which was sent among them; and thus passed away the tenth year also; and the eleventh year also passed away in iniquity (v. 10).”

10 years ago, I may have had a hard time believing that the Nephites could so willingly forget their astonishment in just 5 years.  Now that I have witnessed a life-changing event (the horrific attack on this country on September 11, 2001), and seen how it effected everyone at first, I can see how after such a short amount of time, the effects of such a memorable experience can be forgotten.  Some even insist that it could not have happened as they remember it.  I imagine that this is a lot like the experience of the Nephites.  I know that this is one of the reasons we are told to write down our spiritual experiences.  Because we are quick to forget the feelings that can prompt us to do wonderful things.  When we write them down, we can relive those moments and remember how we were touched.  Satan can use his power of persuasion to convince us that our memories are not correct.  He has a way of convincing us that man has the power to manipulate things and make them look spiritual when they are not.  The Lord continued to inspire people to preach and prophesy, but the Nephites had become very hard-hearted.

Why did the Nephites and Lamanites unite as one people?

“And it came to pass in the thirteenth year there began to be wars and contentions throughout all the land; for the Gadianton robbers had become so numerous, and did slay so many of the people, and did lay waste so many cities, and did spread so much death and carnage throughout the land, that it became expedient that all the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, should take up arms against them (v. 11).  Therefore, all the Lamanites who had become converted unto the Lord did unite with their brethren, the Nephites, and were compelled, for the safety of their lives and their women and their children, to take up arms against those Gadianton robbers, yea, and also to maintain their rights, and the privileges of their church and of their worship, and their freedom and their liberty (v. 12).”

The people, both Nephites and Lamanites, united to fight against the Gadianton robbers, even though they had very different beliefs.  They knew they needed to protect themselves, their families, and their beliefs from the robbers.  They hoped to maintain their safety, rights and privileges, freedom and liberty.

“And it came to pass that before this thirteenth year had passed away the Nephites were threatened with utter destruction because of this war, which had become exceedingly sore (v. 13).  And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites (v. 14); And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites (v. 15); And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year (v. 16).  And it came to pass in the commencement of the fourteenth year, the war between the robbers and the people of Nephi did continue and did become exceedingly sore; nevertheless, the people of Nephi did gain some advantage of the robbers, insomuch that they did drive them back out of their lands into the mountains and into their secret places (v. 17).  And thus ended the fourteenth year. And in the fifteenth year they did come forth against the people of Nephi; and because of the wickedness of the people of Nephi, and their many contentions and dissensions, the Gadianton robbers did gain many advantages over them (v. 18 ).  And thus ended the fifteenth year, and thus were the people in a state of many afflictions; and the sword of destruction did hang over them, insomuch that they were about to be smitten down by it, and this because of their iniquity (v. 19).”

The Lamanites who joined the Nephites to fight, had the curse upon them miraculously removed.  They were no longer darker skinned as Laman and Lemuel had been promised their seed would be due to their iniquity.  When we unite with those who share our beliefs, we become stronger because our faith grows.  When we surround ourselves with others who have the same values, we learn from them and we can more easily stand united in the face of adversity.  There is definitely strength in numbers, especially in our faith.  The Nephites had a hard time standing strong in the face of adversity, the robbers, because their were still too many contentions and so much wickedness.  They did not stand together entirely because of their wickedness.  Mormon reminds us that the “sword of destruction did hang over them” because as they continued in wickedness, they grew closer to the promise of destruction being fulfilled.

The Nephites lived at a time when the Savior was about to come to them.  We live in a world that is much the same as this.  Those of us who understand some of the gospel of Christ, know that the Savior will come again.  Yet, we live in a world of great wickedness as well.  This example should be one that we learn from.  We need to try hard to avoid the temptations of Satan, so that we will not also have the sword of destruction hanging over us.  We need to strengthen ourselves, our families and the church to be able to stand firm.  In D&C 115:5-6 we read, “Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations (v. 5); And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth (v. 6).”  We can be strengthened through our example to others.  As we bring others to the knowledge of Christ, through the light of Him being within us, we become stronger in our own faith.  If we strive to live righteously for today, then we are doing what we can to be prepared for the Savior’s second coming.  I have a testimony that the Savior will come again as has been promised.  He will usher in the greatest of all times and will reign on this earth as the King that He truly is.  I look forward to this time with hope and excitement.  I pray that I can remember this each day, and truly try to live well and repent when I make mistakes, so that I can be worthy to be there.

TODAY’S VERSE
“Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: ‘May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’ Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27

TODAY’S THOUGHT
You probably recognize these verses as a Doxology that is given at the end of a worship service. It was really given to Moses from God Himself so he could bless the children of Israel. I pray the same for you today:
May you have the assurance that God will bless you and protect you. May you sense the smile of God deep in your heart, and experience His graciousness to you. May the very favor of God Almighty fill you with strength. May knowing how He loves you and wants to bless you give you all the peace you will need to get you through this day. Know this, God Himself loves you so much and is the one who will bless you this day!

TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, who am I that You would bless me? And yet, You have said that it is Your desire to do so. So, Lord bless me today. Bless me till my heart overflows with the realization that I am Yours and You are mine! Thank you, dear Father.
AMEN

______________________________________________________________

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By the side of the highway I sat with my head in my hands, once again convinced that no one understands, that God makes shitty plans, and how lately it seems like ’separated we stand.’ My bike tire and I had suffered a similar fate which was to suddenly, and inexplicably, deflate. So stranded yet comfortably seated on grass in the shade I strove to simply sink in to a nice and quiet summer day. That it was December, didn’t seem to matter, as I had bundled up heavily for the ride. The sun shown like summer only clearer and it nearly made me a believer until I heard the voice of a woman standing silhouetted in the sun so I couldn’t really see her.
Flat tire? She asked with the slightest sound of a southern child.
Squinting, I returned a simple confirmation.
When she steps out of the sun I see that she’s not particularly beautiful, and not particularly young, but there’s life seething behind her eyes that all her years would never disguise. She sat down next to me and stared off into the sky to maybe try and see what I was seeing and thus began our meeting.
You think it’s gonna get better darlin’? She asked, as if we were old friends.
Not if you don’t, I replied.
Why’s that?
No offense, I stammer, but you’re a little older than me. I think you would know better than I would.
Why? She asked again, shrugging her shoulders and trying on a sly sort of grin.
Experience teaches. I say, trying to sound educated.
She loosens her smile, and replies. Maybe, baby, but we gave the future to you. Now what’re you gonna do?

2009 anath by marcellous lovelace

It would be great if we all can look at things in this world for what they are and see through the veil of falsehoods and empty promises. Knowing what we need and who we need to go further with. What are the essential tools to true survival and not blinded by fabrications and beliefs that are unjust.

Walking towards peace and unity seeing truth not believing the wasted fallacies that keep us in fantasy world. As one we can stand and carry our own weight and build from all the barriers that have been placed in our ways.

Loving your self and your kind is this ongoing slogan that I transmit and would love to share with others. I know that people can over come all of there short comings and be the greatness that were born to be and win on all levels so we can give back develop to start what’s needed to live.

http://www.gorillaglue.com/

If it’s broken, my buddy John can fix it (or so he thinks!). John is always quick to volunteer the use of his Gorilla Glue whenever I am in need. When Gorilla Glue appeared on the market a few years ago John and I took interest. We’re both typical fix-it males involved in a never-ending search for products that actually work.

However, in reading the product information I was disappointed by my inability to find any direct link between this glue and gorillas. Gorilla Glue isn’t made for gorillas, by gorillas or from gorillas. I don’t think gorillas even own stock in the company. It’s all about branding in attempt to create a sense of toughness. Their website reads:

“Gorilla Glue . . . is the go-to product for bonding dissimilar surfaces, both indoors and out. Whether you are building, creating or repairing, Gorilla Glue is tough and strong and can help you get the job done right.”

My intent is not to proclaim the efficacy of Gorilla Glue over any other brand, but I do think that they’ve done an excellent job of branding. When I think Gorilla Glue, I immediately think tough!

In my last post I explained that unity is not to be confused with uniformity. The pressure to conform to a given standard is absolutely necessary in a uniform world. Otherwise diversity breeds division—that is unless some other factor is introduced in order to maintain oneness.

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:12-14 (NASB)

What a powerful passage of Scripture! Consider some of the barriers that divide us—age, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, class, favorite college football teams, etc. Diverse and dissimilar people can actually live in harmony when love is the bond that holds them together. The love of God is the Gorilla Glue of unity.

Imagine the advertisement: “God’s love spread abroad in our hearts is the go-to product for bonding dissimilar peoples, both within church doors and without. Whether you are in a building project, serving on a committee or reaching out to your community, God’s love is so tough and strong that it will help you fulfill the Great Commission together.”

I like it! Where can we buy some of this stuff?

Saturday, February 23, 2010 we will meet for a time of prayer, praise, and teaching.

Check back for more information.

This Christmas may your family and friends see the real focus that Christians have on Christmas!  The Gift!  The Gift of life and salvation made possible through the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.

This Christmas may you see His Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection all as the Gift for you!

Merry Christmas!

Serving Christ Together,

Pastor Greg

Film:

Home Alone, 1990

Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, John Heard, and John Candy.

Synopsis (From Netflix):

Families suck. That’s the opinion of 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), whose family unwittingly leaves him behind when they go on vacation. In no time, Kevin makes the most of the situation, watching forbidden flicks and pigging out on junk food. But when a pair of bungling burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) set their sights on Kevin’s house, the plucky kid stands ready to defend his territory — by planting booby traps galore!

My Thoughts:

When my sister suggested we watch a Christmas movie last night we mulled over which to choose.  Did we want some holiday romance with Love Actually, or a Christmas class like Miracle on 34th Street?  Should we watch our annual favorite A Christmas Story?  Instead we dug out an old VHS of Home alone, a movie neither of us had seen in a good 15 years.  I had remembered it being hilarious as a child, with all the booby trapping, but what I had forgot was the poignant messages hidden within this glitzy comedy.  This film not only entertained but spoke to the importance of family, of forgiveness, and of not listening to rumors but seeking out the truth for oneself.

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!  ~ Charles Dickens

I think we have all been where Kevin has at one point in our lives.  We let the annoying habits of our loved ones blind us to how much we actually love and appreciate them.  We also can be blinded by prejudice, like Kevin was with his neighbor due to rumors about him being a serial killer.  Instead the neighbor turned out to be a kind old man who was looking to reconnect with his family but didn’t know how.

I think this is something we can all work on, patience and forgiveness.  These two virtues are things that if Kevin and his family had had for one another at the beginning of the film then perhaps he wouldn’t have been home alone.  But patience and forgiveness are tough.  They involve letting go of the ego, and becoming humble, as well as putting others’ needs before our own.

It is also lucky that Kevin was home alone, since burglars had decided to target his house.  One of the great things about this comedy was how responsible Kevin had become when home alone.  After initially partying and going hog-wild, he got bored of that, and instead he went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, put up decorations, did laundry, and practiced hygiene all without adult supervision.  Pretty impressive for an eight-year-old.

“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit there from.”
— Baháʼuʼlláh

I think this speaks to the power of being given responsibility.  Kevin was the baby of the family and everyone treated him that way to the point where he wasn’t confident that he could pack his own suitcase as nobody was willing to take the time to teach him.  But when given responsibility he was able to rise to the occasion.  So often we are our own gatekeepers from success and achievement.  If we can’t believe we can do something we won’t try.  And if people are telling us we can’t we can make the mistake of listening.  But when Kevin was alone he had to learn to be self reliant and in doing so realized he didn’t have to be a baby anymore.

O MY SERVANT! Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more. ~Baháʼuʼlláh

Another wonderful moment in this film is when Kevin is running away from the bad guys, and seeks asylum at the church.  This is where he meets up with his neighbor and talks to him for the first time without being scared, and overcomes his prejudice.  Kevin and the old man were able to help each other recognize love and overcome fear. I find it comforting to have a positive portrayal of a church in a Christmas film.  So often Christmas comedies seem to leave out the religious aspect of this holiday.  But Christmas is a time that reminds us to look past our differences, religious or otherwise, and come together.  This scene showed that beautifully.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. ~ 1 John 4:7-12

And then there is the happy reunion of the family, which really is just delightful.

We have caused thee to return to thy home as a token of Our mercy unto thy mother, inasmuch as We have found her overwhelmed with sorrow. We have enjoined you in the Book “to worship no one but God and to show kindness to your parents”. Thus hath the one true God spoken and the decree hath been fulfilled by the Almighty, the All-Wise. Therefore We have caused thee to return unto her and unto thy sister, that your mother’s eyes may thereby be cheered, and she may be of the thankful. ~ Bahá’u’lláh

So with that I wish those who celebrate (religiously or secularly) a Merry Christmas!  For those who do not observe, Happy Friday!  and to everyone a wonderful new year!

The reality is that there are very few young (15-35) educated (some college or higher) Muslims today who are religiously inclined.  Although their numbers are increasing steadily, by the Grace of Allah The Exalted, the reality is that the vast majority of young Muslims are distant from a deep practice of their deen, whereas some are even altogether distant and at times even disillusioned with the deen.  I would put the numbers at 20-60-20.  20% are serious about their deen.  It does not mean that they are not lacking, and indeed because they represent the greatest potential for the future hidaya and leadership of the ummah, in some ways the most effort needs to be done on them.  Most of them are already committed to one or the other approaches to deen and it is very difficult to convince them otherwise.  This is an accusation made by all groups and is true of almost all individuals.  In other words, once a Salafi, (almost) always a Salafi. Once a Ghamidi, (almost) always a Ghamidi. Illa Ma sha’a Allah.  Of course, again, we must make the distinction of the former being within the ahl-e-taqwa and the former being far astray.

Ideally, there should be a unity of dawah efforts to the 20% who are far from the deen, pray only Jumah, only Eids, or neither.  Fast occasionally or not at all.  These may be (simplistically) characterized into two groups: 1- Those who have a crisis in their iman.  This can range from all sorts of doubts and skeptcisims to outright disbelief.  Atheism, Agnosticism, Marxism, and Secular Humanism / Liberalism are the more common flavors.  This requires an altogether different dawah effort.  Either based on the humanities and social sciences and/or on pure theoretical mathemics and sciences and their respective philosophies. 2- Those who have iman and remain unaffected by such intellectual and ideological fitnas, but are victim to dunya and the nafs. Hedonism, Materialism, Apathy reign supreme.  The dawah effort here can and should be based on a unity.  Scholars and activists, as well as students of the deen and those in category I, should be proactive and dynamic.  However, once again, because deep down each individual in category I has a pitted category affiliation (and let us be honest Madhhabis and La Madhhabis aka Salafis are equal here) and feels that it would be better, at the very least, for the person afflicted by such spiritual disease to be healed through them and eventually end up in their group.

This attitude needs to be changed. There needs to be a unity in doing dawah to this 20%.  The unity, however, may be “absent.”  I suggest this not because their would be any harm in “present” unity, but because the former may be more easy to achieve.  By “absent” unity I mean that each individual / group may perform their dawah independently, it is not necessary that they all be present on the same platform, although that would be wonderful to be display that unity because sometimes the reason a person in this 20% is distant/disillusioned precisely because of this disunity and would be a wonderful impact for them to see unity on core agreed upon issues, especially within the Ahl-e-taqwa.  This is where Al-Maghrib has been the most dissappointing, indeed at times deceptive.  Their persistence in only hiring as instructors those with the La Madhhabi/Salafi view on aqida and fiqh, even if only to teach Arabic, has been a lost opportunity of real unity.  Deceptive, because they present the unity that exists between the different instructors as a harmonious union of a marvelous and dizzying area of instructors, institutes, websites, etc. (such as al-Maghrib and al-Bayyinah). Whereas the reality is that they both sets of instructors are (more or less) Salafi and so there are no gaps that are being bridged in the name of unity.

Due to this absence of present unity, I am making a call for absent unity. This entails that while working individually, separately, on stand-alone platforms when doing dawa to this 20%, duaat should:

1 – Never undermine any other individual, group, institute, etc. from the ahl al-taqwa.  This includes almost all madhhabis and almost all la madhhabis.  In other words, no badmouthing, or softly giving an isharah, against shaykh yasir/al-maghrib, dr.farhat/al-huda, ustadh nouman/al-bayyinah, etc. if you are a madhhabi; nor against maulana tariq jameel/tablighi jamat, shaykh hamza/zaytuna, ustadh faraz/seekerspath, mufti taqi usmani/deobandi, shaykh zulfiqar and khulafa/naqshbandi etc. 

2- If you find a person in this 20% who is inclined to any of the orientations within ahl-e-taqwa as mentioned above, you should not in any way try to dissuade them and indeed should encourage them to get closer in the direction they are leaning towards as remember for them it is the very critical and crucial issue of iman and amal.

3- You must not feel even the slightest regret at all in your heart, if the person successfully brings themselves out of their kufr/nafs/dunya as the case may be, i.e. brings themselves out of the 20% and then excels so much that they even join the top 20% but in a group other than your own.

Reasons why this has not yet happened:

1- The members of Ahl-e-taqwa do not all recognize and  appreciate all of one another as such.  The blame, I feel, lies mostly on the salafis.  Drilled and programmed so intensely to believe that tablighi jamat/traditionalist/sufi/deobandi/naqshbandi is a bidat, they almost always inevitably feel bughz towards such groups and hasad whenever anyone joins them.  But the bughz and hasad is increasingly becoming two ways. Evil begets evil after all.

Can therebe any unity in dawah to this group? If you read the post on Dawah III and see how problematic it was there, then imagine all the more here.  How necessary is unity here?  This is a long discussion. More later insha’Allah.

Now that there is free windows version of unity3d, everyone has to try it out. Inspired by this experiment, and having ready FLARToolKit steering wheel code from one of recent projects, I did this:

I’m not exactly the best modeller in the world, and I still suck at unity scripting, but I still think this is pretty good demo, so go ahead and give it a try Print this marker sheet beforehand.

Behind the scenes.

What I did here was using FLARSquare’s line property for steering wheel rotation in flash, reading it through ExternalInterface callbacks every 100 milliseconds in html and notifying unity via SendMessage(). Not a rocket science, but there are few tricks to learn from it; for example, inobvious benefits of using multiple co-oriented instances of single marker:

Thanks to this, user has enough motion freedom to maintain control over steering wheel without visual feedback (webcam video) and, therefore, can focus on unity experience better. For another example, FLARToolKit is now not compiled together with controlled content and you can easily replace it with something else, thus taking it out of GPL2 sec 2b reach and limiting it to controller SWF sources only (note that ARToolworks lawers may be thinking otherwise).

TODAY’S VERSE
“I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.”
II Corinthians 12:20 (NLT)

TODAY’S THOUGHT
What happened? Paul is concerned about the behavior of the church in Corinth. This is the same church that he wrote, “I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people.” But the reality is, even though we are called to be His holy people, we are still a work in progress. There are no perfect people in the church. We sin. But it doesn’t mean we have to continue in sin. Here was a case where Paul was afraid that he would come to Corinth and find the church full of quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorderly behavior. So in his letter, Paul encouraged the people to examine themselves and repent of ungodly behavior. We need to do the same. We need to pray. We need to ask God to cleanse us of relational sin and help us to love one another. We need to ask God to fill our church with His Spirit. We need to call upon our Lord to help our church be an example of the way He lived. Today, pray for your church. Pray that together you would be a witness to your community of His love.
 
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, I come and pray for my church. I ask that You would fill us with Your Spirit. I pray that You would help us repent of sin and live the life of love that You have called us to. Help us to love one another and those in our community. Help us be the witness You have called us to be. In Jesus’ name.
AMEN

______________________________________________________________

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If you are looking for a way to live in heaven, this site is for you.  Heaven is the place you live when you see the world through the eyes of love. If your view is currently causing you pain, you may want to explore ways to change your view.

Woot! I got- erm, my friend Ryan got the NERF Unity Power System. It comes with a NERF Titan, (with a HUGE missile) the NERF Hornet, (6-dart swarm!) and the NERF Scout. (The name says it all.) Now there’s not much I want to tell you about it here, because I’ll be putting up a review later. I’m also adding the other review videos to the “My NERF Collection” page, so expect those up soon. Well, that’s about it for this post. Look for those Review videos!!

While it is nice and theologically acceptable to say “Merry Christmas” to everyone this time of the year, the actual phrase can lead otherwise innocent holiday celebrators into doctrinal heresy.

The problem with the phrase “Merry Christmas” is that it can lead people into believing that Jesus (the “Son”) was a different person than Jehovah (the “Father”). Or worse, people can make the mistake that Jesus was just a “man.”

The Prophets made no other prophecy than that it would be Jehovah Himself who would come into the world for humanity’s sake.

“Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as king, and prosper, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5,6; 33:15,16).

In other words, Jesus is Jehovah in the flesh!

I am aware that some Bible translations use “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,” which may lead some to doubt my premise, however, in the next verse (Jeremiah 23:7) Scripture makes it clear that the LORD refers to the God whom brought the Israelites out of Egypt.

Many Christian authorities would argue that there was some kind of mystical (hypostatic) union between the Son and the Father to tip-toe around the irksome and non-rational belief that Jesus and Jehovah are two different people but still ONE God. This divine dynamic is called a “mystery of faith” and Christians ought not give it any further thought other than to believe it, hook, line and sinker. But the purpose of all my blog posts is to make people think!

Further biblical evidence that it was Jehovah Himself who came into the world can be found in Malachi 3:1.

“Behold I send Mine angel who shall prepare the way before Me . . . “

This passage refers to the same angel who informed Mary that she would experience a miraculous birth. “Me” can only mean Jehovah God.

Salvation was not a matter of the Son suffering and dying on the Cross in order to appease an otherwise dejected Father. That’s doctrinal nonsense. The Lord’s great suffering, included more than making Himself the target of human hatred on planet earth. The LORD also suffered a full-blown attack from all hell’s power and fury coming out from the spiritual world.

God needed to acquire a human body (with all its inclinations to be tempted by the vanities and allurements of the world, as everyone else). This provided a medium allowing finite beings and evil spirits to effectively attack an Infinite Being. By resisting worldly temptations and values, and humbling Himself on the Cross (instead of hopping off and providing a show of force to get even with his torturers) the LORD made his “flesh” fully compliant with His Divine Essence of Infinite Love in heaven (the Father). This humility of taking his human nature to task is how the Son glorified the Father (His Divine nature) and the Father glorified the Son (His human nature). Flesh and the Holy became ONE—the Alpha and Omega. This is why there was an empty tomb.

That the LORD was victorious is our hope of peace on earth and eternal salvation. But we must also ask for God’s help in overcoming our own negative traits (no one can take on hell’s influence alone).

These biblical details about the LORD’S life can only be obtained by those who are willing to accept that God’s Holy Word contains deeper levels of meaning. It is these deeper levels that offer proof of the Bible’s inerrancy and authority.

This blog post may have put a dent in your current belief-system. Sorry about that! I am just trying to share with you the true meaning of the LORD’S Advent and life in the world.

http://www.provinggod.com

Yesterday morning, the song Circle of Life by Elton John popped into my head.  You know the one from The Lion King!  And typically when songs pop into my head, I look up its lyrics, and watch the music video.  And I do this because I know the song popped into my head for a reason.

As I was reading the Circle of Life lyrics, I realized that this song, as well as all the songs from The Lion King, and the entire movie in whole, is a perfect metaphor for life, and the internal journey that we go through.  Unfortunately, many of us get stuck along the way somewhere, as in we never return to our home to restore it to its natural beauty like Simba did after running away.  I won’t go into the metaphor of all parts of the movie right now.

So for now, let’s look at the Circle of Life lyrics and I’ll give you some explanation on what the lyrics mean to me, and then how this song can help give you perspective on your life and perhaps inspire you along your “path unwinding.”

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

(Chorus)
In the Circle of Life
It’s the wheel of fortune
It’s the leap of faith
It’s the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Life

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars

There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps the great and small on the endless round

___

So now I want to give some explanation to these lyrics:

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

You come into this world with incredibly high desires, expectations, and dreams.  Especially in the times we live in, you feel incredibly overwhelmed by that all that you want to do personally.  And on top of that, you want to contribute to your community, country, and the planet in total.  Remember that you do have a limit.  But don’t let that ever stop you from expanding your influence as much as possible.  And especially don’t let the overwhelm prevent you from doing anything at all, thinking “Why should I try at all if I can’t get it all?”

Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

There are different approaches to life, all of which have their merits and drawbacks.  But all humanity innately knows that part of the agreement you made to “join the stampede [of life],” is that “you should never take more than you give.” This is sometimes hard to remember, especially since many of us live with a scarcity–rather than abundance–mentality.  But know that service is what energizes your Soul. It is incredibly fulfilling, and when you give first, you will be rewarded handsomely in return.  Not always by the hand you gave to, and not always in the way you may expect.  But just remember, even if you feel that it doesn’t apply to you today, that giving more than you take is one of the reasons you are here on Earth; it is to Serve.

(chorus) [from movie version]

It’s the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle,
The Circle of Life

Life is circular; it’s a cycle; it’s never-ending.  It continues on without us when we die, so you should make the biggest impact possible while you are here.  Life takes us through many low times, as well as high, and through many emotions such as despair, then hope; through faith and love.  But know that Life is not a never-ending conveyor belt which you cannot step off of.  You always have choice, and you should use this choice to find your place.  The path of our life unwinds as we make our choices; it is not laid out before we come here.  So find your place, remember why you’ve come here, and contribute to the Circle of Life as fully as possible.

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars

There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps the great and small on the endless round

Everyone goes through different experiences.  You may screw things up or even die young. You may have the easy life and soar to incredible success and power.  You may always have struggles and issues to overcome.  You may experience great hurt or loss and have to live with this throughout your life.  But the Circle of Life is bigger than all of us.  Both the great and the weak are equally subject to circularity of Life.

___

We’re all in this Circle of Life together.  We all have a specific role to play, just like all the different animals of the jungle; we all have a specific, unique, purpose to Remember.  But we’re all united by Love and Service, and are equal as one part of the greater Whole.

Hopefully this can serve as a nice inspirational message.

L0ve & Light,

Matt

P.S. Inspiration is internal stimulus. Motivation is external stimulus.

And here’s The Lion King version of the song:

O come, Desire of nations bind
all peoples in one heart and mind.
From dust thou brought us forth to life;
deliver us from earthly strife.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Listen to (or read rather) Dallas Willard’s indictment of many who claim to be Christian but whose sectarianism is anything but….

“Christian pluralism here means pluralism derived from the understanding of God brought to earth by Jesus Christ, that is, a pluralism based upon the generosity and justice of the God revealed in Christ. Such a pluralism seems impossible to many. If Christians and Christian teachers have knowledge of essential points about God, Jesus Christ, and His spiritual life, that can only mean that those who disagree with them on those points must be mistaken. That seems unavoidable, a mere matter of logic. But by an unwarranted transition that has become customary today, that is taken to mean that Christians think they are better human beings than those who disagree with them and, conversely, that those who disagree with them are inferior, not as good, not equal.” – Knowing Christ Today, Dallas Willard – p.169.

The reality is – none of us are good….

We are all terribly in need of His grace. 

When we begin to grasp our deep need for God and His mercy, and see ourselves and others through the eyes of God, it is then that we will begin to be those He calls us to be in Christ.

Strength and Honor.

Glory to God!

Jason

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This will be my last post until the New Year.  I hope and pray our Father’s richest blessing upon you in the days to come….

This has been a wonderful day, full of Light and Love. Thanks to all of you who have honored me by becoming my friends on this journey. Your Light shines so beautifully, so magnificently. You Light the world, and beyond. Love and blessings to you all.

Beloved Lightworkers, a new wave of Light is flowing out to the Earth, and you are part of it. A new generation of Lightworkers is awakening. Welcome them with all your heart! Send them Light and Love to guide them on their journey.