Archive for October, 2012

Kingdom of God: Part Seventeen (Transcendence)

Monday, October 29th, 2012

A key part of our assignment from the LORD is that we achieve transcendence. Scripture tells us how this is done.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

(John 15:7-19) At the start of the New Age, the people received a clear vision of the potential for transcendence of the human condition. This clear vision was embodied in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. However, the vision is not limited to the time of the start of the New Age; during the time of the unfolding of the Old Testament, the vision was there, too. At that time, the vision was being pressed forward by the people of God, as they progressed through time to join with the waiting New Testament, in a time that had not come yet. Jesus Christ witnessed to this spanning, Old to New, of the potential for transcendence in mankind.

– Explore the Kingdom of God:  Part Seventeen –

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Gender Bias — Definitely: Part Two (The Church)

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.   For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

(Isaiah 55:6-11)

There is this wish that floats through the church: the wish is that the church be a “democratic” enterprise. In support of the democratization of the church, many members of the church rely on the following Scripture.

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

   And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

(Galatians 3:25-29)

This if often cited as justification for full and open democracy in the church. There is, though, a problem with immersing this Scripture in the proof of open service in the LORD. The problem is that the same inspired servant of God also delivered this directive from the LORD.

– Explore Gender Bias — Definitely:  Part Two –

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Kingdom of God: Part Sixteen (Perpetuation)

Monday, October 8th, 2012

Knowledge, in and of itself, is marvelous. But, knowledge is even more fulfilling when we can see that what we know and what we do with what we know will endure. Throughout history, there have been questions, and even assaults, on the durability of the way of the LORD. These questions-and, sometimes, assaults–persuade us that we have a better way to follow, in the LORD’S way. Simply put: things that have a history of new assaults against them, have a history of endeavor. This is so because when the history stops being formed, there will be nothing new to assault. This is the type of knowledge that will withstand even the fiercest of nay saying, such as are those psychological barbs that are directed at God.

There are times when some of us say that God does not exist. To that group of people, I dedicate the following Scripture. These are the declared atheists. This Scripture is not just for those people who use the label, atheist. This Scripture is also for folks who declare that God is not a part of a particular situation or circumstance. This Scripture is for those situational atheists, too.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.

(Psalm 14:1-4) This foolishness, of disavowal of God, is not a new thing. In the Beginning, Cain practiced it, in a subtle way. Cain had a pair of God-fearing parents, and, through them, he gained an understanding of the presence of the LORD. At his birth, Cain’s mother, Eve, showed her zeal for the LORD. This is the kind of zeal that can serve as a strong motivator for a child, persuading him or her to seek to serve the LORD.

– Explore the Kingdom of God:  Part Sixteen –…

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