Archive for June, 2009

Homophobia

Monday, June 29th, 2009

PREFACEThis is not a statement about the individual consequences of living a life in a particular style. Therefore, it cannot be criticized for being directed at certain humans or groups, nor can it be used to castigate or isolate such humans or groups We have already presented the micro level consequences of such behavior, as well as exploring one of the strongest root causes for individuals entering into it. This can be found in the essay: The Reprobate Mind, Click here to read the complete chain of thought.This essay, here, is about the macro level consequences of generalized acceptance of, including legislation to support, residence in a particular style of life It also gives hints about the dangers of legislating against such a lifestyle. This lifestyle is a matter of variance from righteousness and right standing before God; as such, it is a private matter that only God can judge. It is much like the private matter of prayer, as expressed by the Lord Jesus Christ (included below, as copied from the King James Version of the Bible).

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:1-6)This essay does not include the matter of homo-fraternity. Indeed, homo-fraternity has its place in the way of the LORD, as Jesus Christ shared with his disciples. In a discussion about divorce, Jesus laid the foundation for those who are candidates for homo-fraternity. Please note that Jesus did not endorse the wholesale choice to partake of homo-fraternity; only that there would be some people who might discover that this is a more comfortable type of deeply emotional, interpersonal relationship. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. (Matthew 19:3-12)—- Read the complete discourse on homophobia, here —-

Reprobate Mind

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Beginning Thought:

Political correctness is not one of my strong behaviors, especially not in this venue. This leads me to say things, here, that would be offensive to others if they were said openly in public. Fortunately for the public, I rarely speak to it openly. However, since you’re here; let’s talk.

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There is some noise in the world that indicates that there is some kind of change that needs to be made to the rigidity of the Gospel, and of the Law of God. These changes are somewhat offensive to me. It is not that I have a desire to restrict mankind from sinning; that is, after all, one of the features of being human).

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Closing Thought:

If these allowances by mankind continue; in time, not even our children will be safe from predators. In time, the laws will protect the rights of individual to prey upon those who are defenseless to fight back. One crack in the dam is not a thing to just be ignored. As does water, so too does the lure toward the reprobate mind; once the restraining dam of spiritual devotion is cracked, the pressure to allow more water to seep out will be satisfied, if there is no intervention to repair the crack.

It is required that you activate your dedication to personal responsibility; group psychosis is not a part of being in the righteous will of God. For sure; personal accountability is already active, and the associated consequential recompenses are fully operational, and somewhat automatic. So for those who are beset by the reprobate mind, as well as for those who are under pressure to submit to it; to help you start toward the repair of that crack, I offer the following Scripture, in the Spirit of truth.

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Click here to read the complete chain of thought

Heaven

Monday, June 8th, 2009

HEAVEN

as an image flowing through the Bible

according to the design of the LORD God

(with a few personal comments)

A place of last resort

There wasn’t much conversation about heaven in the Old Testament. There was, of course, the understanding that man once had access to the Garden of Eden. This was a matter of the understanding of God’s perfect Creation; that at one point, mankind too was perfect. This is the initial state of all infant creatures, such as was mankind at its beginning. In the Genesis window to our history, we were given a bit of understanding about where mankind had been; but it was also understood that there would probably be no immediate returning there. God had made a certain arrangement that would prevent us from entering the Garden, even if we were ever able to find it. Don’t think of it as a penalty; instead, think of it as a prod to keep mankind moving along the circle of reality; a prod that would, one day, loop back to the perfect state.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)Back in the Old Testament, folks were content if they could live a comfortable life, with appropriate blessings, and then die somewhat peacefully. Even the kings had a simple end of life experience that is chronicled in the pages of the Bible. This experience touched all the kings of the Old Testament; from the most revered . . . So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 2:10-11). . . to the most reviled. And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

(2 Kings 21:10-18)
In time, though, the religious leaders started to develop lines of reasoning that included concentration on heaven. These lines or reasoning are not errant, it is just not clear why they make a difference in everyday life. In fact, in many cases they can be the anchor to keep us fixed on a certain spot on the circle of reality; and sometimes, even, they can cause us to backtrack in our movement toward the perfection of Creation. This was demonstrated in the Bible times, revealing the fact that for many of the religious leaders this type of concentration led to contention. The apostle Paul was involved in one such very intense discussion, which involved two factions of his day.    Click here to review the completed study of heaven (pdf format)