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dreamteamfanblog · 3 years

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Controversial Opinion

But I really don’t appreciate Niki’s behavior.

Niki complained about being undervalued while using basically the least valued yet possibly hardest working person on the server (Tommy) as a scapegoat. During her ramble she blamed Tommy for all the worlds problems which is just incredibly unfair. Because Tommy and Tubbo are just the fucking babysitters of the whole Smp. They're constantly protecting and nurturing and looking out for the wellbeing of OTHER PEOPLE. I mean the wars they fight- and they've not only fought in but LEAD every one- aren't for them, Tommy and Tubbo have both acknowledged that they could just set off on their own and live a happy life, they have no big reason to stay! Except that they need to protect the freedom of those around them. Of people who have always been too selfish to appreciate it. Of people who pin the weight of the world on these kids and have the audacity to undervalue everything they do. Niki scapegoating all the worlds problems INCREDIBLY unfair.

And the issue isn't even the hypocrisy itself, i’m not sure we can reasonably even say Niki has been all that undervalued. Niki never inserted herself into anything important, people acknowledged her when she was there but she was never there and when she was didn't contribute anything almost ever. If she wanted her voice to be heard she had a responsibility to make her voice heard, nobody is obligated to knock on her door every day just to check in and maybe goad an opinion out of her, especially not in the middle of their own incredibly intense drama filled arcs. The most Niki’s done is last arc when she...talked about not liking Schlatt then fought in the war with everyone else. She was acknowledged for both of these things. But nobody’s going to hold her hand and pull her into relevancy, she has an obligation to make herself heard like everybody else does. To say she's undervalued would imply her actions usually have more value than she’s given credit for. That just doesn’t happen.

And the tactics she’s used to pull people onto her side are incredibly unfair. The smear campaign against Tommy (which was unfair, niki complains about tommy being destructive but need i remind you the stuff she and fundy pulled when they reignited the pet war? she criticizes tommy for not putting more effort into acknowledging her but again, it’s nobodies job to hold her hand through everything and pat her on the back every time she speaks, especially not tommy who already has the weight of the world on his back) , Niki acting betrayed by Tubbo despite the fact that he still clearly believes them to be friends (and honestly idk what the kid did that she could possibly consider a betrayal, i don’t remember her ever confronting him about anything), quoting The Final Control Room to Fundy, somebody who was there in the control room and is in the middle of a nervous breakdown who’s bound to be at least semi hurt by the quotation. At one point Tubbo asked about how unequipped Niki was and she rambled for like five minutes about how she’s had nothing since Schlatt taxed her, and Tubbo immediately offers her diamond, but she just keeps going. She then took the armor...and just didn’t fight with it. Not only did she take Tubbo’s armor and do nothing with it, but she then proceeded to talk negatively about the kid and his best friend completely behind their backs as a means to convince multiple people who were currently stressed and/or hurting to allow a dictator to reign unchecked.

Niki's "fuck all of you" arc feels so undeserved. Like im literally petitioning for Tommy and Tubbo to have one but Niki doesn't deserve one, she's got zero reason at all to even want one much less to be justified in it, and she's not even just leaving everyone to struggle she's like..purposefully screwing them over in the vaguest hardest to figure out or possibly resolve way humanly possible. The people she’s ACTUALLY UPSET AT (assuming she is actually upset with tommy and tubbo and isn’t just..saying that..to convince people to go along with her bs) don’t even KNOW, she’s just been passive aggressively burning their stuff and talking shit behind their backs, I don’t know how anybody can encourage this.

I have a sinking suspicion this isn’t actually about Tommy and Tubbo or L’manburg at all and that she’s lashing out at people because...L’manburg hasn’t felt the same, not since Wilbur left (she completely panicked when she saw ghostbur log in, one of the most emotional responses she’d had all day, much moreso than anything relating to the people/things she was supposedly upset with). And I mean, she says “L’manburg isn’t about freedom anymore”, but that’s a cop-out. L’manburg didn’t change. I mean what the fuck IS it about, then? I mean does she think Tommy and Tubbo, any second now, are going to reveal that ACTUALLY this battle ISN’T about fighting Dream’s tyranny at all, but rather they’re just having a debate with Techno and Dream about where to build their new ski resort- OBVIOUSLY NOT. What is this about if not freedom? L’manburg changed when Wilbur died, but it changed for the better. Niki says L'manburg is dead. That the reason L'manburg was invented is dead. That the freedom L'manburg stood for is dead. That it died with Wilbur. And yeah. The reason L'manburg originally started DID die with Wilbur, L’manburg started in a drug van, The powerhungry moneygrabs died with Wilbur, the corruption of the state died with Wilbur, the ulterior motives, the manipulation, that all died with Wilbur. Wilbur's L'manburg is drug cartels, child soldiers, and cruel smear campaigns. That died with him. But Tommy’s L’manburg? Tommy's L'manburg is the freedom fighting morally driven nation of passion and hope. Niki can't see that Niki won't let herself see that Because that was meant to be WILBUR'S L'manburg The light and color and joy and laughter was meant to be Wilbur's He brought that! When he was good, in the beginning, he brought that! And it can't carry on after he's gone! Things can't get better after he's gone! Not with Tommyinnit L'manburg is Wilbur's not Tommy's L'manburg died with Wilbur. L'manburg died with Wilbur. L'manburg died with Wilbur. Niki can’t see that it didn’t. Niki can’t let herself see that it didn’t, because she put Wilbur on such a pedestal, used him as a symbol of hope, and the idea that the world keeps turning when he’s gone- that things may just get better when he’s gone- isn’t something Niki can deal with. There’s a reason Niki didn’t do much during the rebuilding era, a reason she didn’t have anything to say about Tommy’s exile, a reason she pulled Fundy out of there and made her own nation, a reason she’s been so silent generally. A reason she’s convinced herself L’manburg is dead when it’s not. She put all her faith onto Wilbur, and when he died, so did her hope in the future. In her eyes Wilbur was L’manburg, in her eyes Wilbur was the one that gave it life, and so in her eyes when Wilbur died, so did L’manburg. That’s why she cheered when the nation went up in flames, that’s why she can’t believe that it’s still the same L’manburg- possibly a better L’manburg- that’s why she lashed out, almost violently, at the idea that people are still seeing light and joy and hope in the nation, violently at the people who dared to try to lead L’manburg after Wilbur was gone, because L’manburg was Wilbur’s unfinished symphony in her eyes.

It’s frustrating and it’s sad. I’m angry with her, quite frankly, and at this point i’m not sure i care weather she gets therapy or a punch in the mouth, but she needs one of them for sure. Or both. I hope she gets both.

Either way she isn’t ‘popping off’. This isn’t a good thing. She’s lashing out unfairly (and as things often are on the smp, we have wilbur to blame)

#mcyt #dream smp #nihachu #dream smp discourse #long post

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libtard-blazkowicz · 4 years

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Alright, I’m going to do the thing I said I might do. I’m going to make a post responding to the attention surrounding my “Conservative Girls TM” shitpost.

This will probably be longish so, here’s a continue reading thing in case you don’t care and you don’t want this clogging your dash. Also, here’s the link to the original shitpost that I’m writing about.

Part 1: Why did I make it in the first place?

The main reason is that it was a shitpost that I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into. I was mainly trying to be funny in a way that would appeal to my list of followers who are mainly left leaning. However obviously, it isn’t “just a joke”. There was a specific butt of the joke and a mentality I was trying to satirize. So this is partly a coherent explanation what my feelings at the time were making it, as well as my sort of post-hoc interpretation of what I want it to mean.

So basically I’m making fun of conservative anti-feminist girls. No, it’s not a demand that every girl be a feminist. I’m not even necessarily a feminist myself even though I do hold several third-wave/intersectional feminist beliefs. It’s not my place or anyone’s place to force people to wear that specific label or even conform to all of those beliefs. It’s making fun of them for being outright “anti-feminist” and then using that to condescendingly maternalize men who feel underprivileged and as if their voice isn’t heard. It’s making fun of these anti-feminist women not for simply being non-feminist, but for holding reactionary beliefs and having a “sorry for my pussy-privilege ):” self-loathing attitude.

It’s also about hypocrisy that I see on the right surrounding their interpretation of how the left talks and how they very frequently use the same rhetoric when it suits them. The right frequently complains about how “Everything is looked through a myopic lens of privilege vs oppression”, “I hate virtue-signalling!” and “I hate identity politics!”. The fictitious conservative/anti-feminist lady is using those things to express her anti-feminist/pro-man point of view.

And that about sums it up.

Part 2: Addressing specific reactions and brainlet arguments surrounding that shitpost.

Now, I’m not going to name and shame anyone and I also am not really interested in debating most people who responded personally. I think most of them are smoothbrained marsupials who are not worth my time, and me trying to engage their bad faith and sub-humanly stupid cringe takes would seriously compromise my mental health and intelligence. I’m mostly going to try to read and respond to the rough approximation of what a lot of people were getting at.

“This is straw-man argument!!”

A straw-man is a fallacious debate tactic where you take your opponents argument and then you deconstruct an inaccurate and rhetorically weak version of what they said because that’s easier than honestly examining the complexities and nuances of what they said. This wasn’t me arguing with any particular person. This was a comedic exaggeration of some general things that I’ve seen from people with the intent of making people laugh, not purposefully misconstrue a specific person’s point of view. I after all used to be an anti-feminist edgelord and that’s the kind of people I hung with, so I remember what the kind of things they’d say.

“This is misogyny! You are man-splaining how wamen should be!”

Again, what I said I said about how people on the right use the same talking points and rhetoric that they say they don’t like. I’m not making an exact normative claim about how I think women should be. For the most part, they should be how they freely choose to be. It’s more so mocking that specific self-loathing “I have so much pussy privilege. It’s men who do all the hard work and they are so oppressed!” attitude.

“Girls like that are based/queens.”

I mean the fictional lady was intended to sound self-loathing, but that’s your idea of based. Cool.

“You’re a male-feminist who has the ulterior motive of getting laid rather than authentically advocating for women.”

Yeah. Saying what I say on tumblr where most of my mutuals are all across the world and nowhere close to where I live will definitely get me laid. Also, I don’t have this toxically-masculine attitude of “The number of people I sleep with is what makes me a man. I will get more coochie by any means necessary.” That’s probably you though if you’re making that accusation. You’re projecting that onto me. Again, this was a shitpost. This was mainly meant to make people laugh.

“Why are you shaming women who are empathetic towards the struggle that men face?”

Men struggle a lot. I think in many aspects I think they struggle more than women. After all, men successfully commit suicide about double the rate that women do. Women should be empathetic to the struggles that men face. Men should be empathetic to the struggles that women face. This isn’t about being apathetic towards men. It’s mocking the mentality that “I sit on mountains of privilege”. I’ve seen cis-het white male feminists do that before too. If you’re one of the people who reacted negatively, you’ve likely seen white male feminists do that yourself. So you probably thought that was me doing that. I wasn’t. Lol.

“’Woke’ people demand how you should be. Conservatives just live the way they want to.”

I’ve generally observed the exact opposite to be true, but I do sometimes see dumb liberal feminists saying shit like “We need more wamen billionaire CEOs and war criminal presidents, and shame on women who just want to be simple housewives!”. Fuck them. I hate dumb liberals like that, and I’m not one of them.

Part 3. Why are people so triggered?

A common stereotype of the left is that they’re “triggered” and argue with their feelings. They don’t think with facts and logic. Maybe you’re conservative or you just didn’t find my shitpost funny. You could have ignored it then. I see stupid bullshit all the time that gets on my nerves or maybe even offends my sensibilities. I most often just ignore it.

This was a reaction of anger and insecurity that I received. And nothing that was said at me displayed an honest or accurate understanding of what the shitpost was about. It was mainly a wash of “YOU HATE WOMEN WHO AREN’T LIBERAL FEMINISTS. REEEEEEE” or “HOW DARE YOU CHASTISE WOMEN FOR SHOWING BASIC EMPATHY FOR MEN’S STRUGGLES.”.

Plus it was basically just as I described it and tagged the original thing. It was a shitpost.

#discourse #response #conservative girls tm #long

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dreamofcentipedes · 6 years

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Just curious of an opinion of yours in terms of your "to look through the red eye" theory I was curious what you thought of in loving the things you fear line where Kaneki speaks about how everyone he leaves seems to hurt him in some way. Do you think it could be further related to the fascination of the shadow, the violence he always wanted to push away and avoid is what connects him further to the ones he loves. Perhaps it's why Mutsuki is enamored with him? An appeal to violence suits them.

Link to the mentioned meta for those who haven’t read it!

Do you mean this panel? Yeah, I think not just for Kaneki, but in the series as a whole, love is very much entwined with fear. It’s the Freudian concept of Eros and Thanatos, wherein the two driving forces for all human actions are love/sex and death. TG largely interprets Eros as the former but the latter often appears as the culmination of that love - 125 is the best example, but when it appears twisted with Thanatos you can find it in Torso and Mutsuki.

We can see how his mother’s abuse fused the concepts for Kaneki from an early age. His love for people is always defined by his fear of losing them, which motivates him to kill to defend them. He throws himself into what he fears for the sake of what he loves, both in bringing the fight to his enemies and in accepting the ghoul within. It’s a fusion present in the first chapter, when Rize turns a date into a slaughter. We see it with Reaper, who does away with outer pretences and explicitly focuses on seeking love and death. And it reaches its ultimate culmination with Dragon, who slaughters children and innocents for the sake of love, thereby becoming his greatest fear.

In 159, he confronts his Shadow, the part of himself he could not bear to see. Naturally the one making him see this is the person who introduced the concept of Eros and Thanatos into the story in the first place.

The ocean full of bodies is an innovative take on Freud’s iceberg theory, wherein the observable consciousness is compared to the part of the iceberg that peeks above the water, and the subconsciousness to the vast majority of it that lies underneath. Kaneki seeing the bodies beneath the water in this dream state (how Freud believed the subconscious is revealed to us) is a visual representation of how Dragon has forced him to become aware of that dark part of his subconsciousness. The glistening ocean in the above image is a symbol of Kaneki’s hypocrisy, only content to look at the water’s surface, not the reality that lies beneath. Yet Dragon does not only serve this purpose of enlightenment to inner darkness for Kaneki, but for all the characters:

The function of Dragon is to force people to see what they’ve been trying not to. It looms large in the backgrounds of panels like this, it has engulfed Tokyo, and it is impossible to ignore. The Washuu’s great secret, their own Shadow, will come to light because of it: their Ghoulism, a symbol of the Shadow itself. Likewise the CCG have been forced to acknowledge that the people they have been slaughtering are as human as they are thanks to the Dragon crisis. And, as Kimi points out:

It has broken the boundary between humans and ghouls in the eyes of the general public, forcing them to see humanity’s own Shadow - Ghoulism, the violent nature of man that thrives through the slaughter of others - as part of their nature as well, and something to be accepted, not spurned. Thus all conflict arises from the denial of the Shadow, and peace can be found through its acceptance.

When Kaneki realises that all this came about by his desire to be needed - another form of love - the bodies are no longer hidden beneath the ocean, but fall directly into his view - from the sky, and the top of the iceberg.

Now that his Shadow has entered his consciousness, he has the courage to face what his subconsciousness holds.

He can now accept the Thanatos with the Eros; he can accept that his golden future could not possibly exist without death along the way, that his longing to be loved and needed is inseparably coupled with the wreaking of death and destruction.

And this is the way it has always been in the past: Kuroneki tried to be loved by suffering in the place of others, allowing the tormentors to continue in their depravity. Shironeki turned into a cannibal sadist in his attempts to protect his loved ones, and ultimately even put them at risk like with Hide. Haise’s desire to stay with his “family” meant he continued to slaughter ghouls despite feeling it was wrong. Reaper committed terrible acts to land him in the position that would allow him to save Hinami and be loved before initiating his own destruction. And much as the King tried to avoid his Shadow by not getting his hands dirty, his quest for love took him there in the end. So Rize has a point when she says:

But Kaneki is not cursed. The reason people keep dying when he does things is because he always has that ulterior motive for love in mind which in this universe is so intermixed with death. When Kaneki leaves the temple, he leaves with the words “I’ll see if I can bear [my sins]”. He is not desperately trying to run back like in 157; he is moving forward with responsible determination. Suffice it to say, he is not being driven by the desire for love but by the fulfilment of duty. So, when he wakes up in 162 surrounded by family and friends, he is surprised.

He comes to understand how he doesn’t need to strive to be loved anymore, because he has already achieved it. So when we next get to see what drives Kaneki…

He doesn’t speak out of selfishness, but the desire to atone. He has expressed his frustration at not being able to do anything over and over again throughout the course of the series, but this is the first time that he’s said it with the mindset to follow it through. When he was fighting selfishly, there was no way he could solve the wider problem as the Thanatos mixed with his Eros would inevitably bring tragedy. Recognising their entwined nature, he leaves Eros out of his heroics entirely, and fights stoicly and selflessly. This is not to say he does not love - his rescue of Urie and Saiko prove directly contrary - but rather he no longer fights for the sake of being loved.

His demand to see Hide’s face is an example of this growth - he no longer tries to look away from his sins (like Haise’s memory wipe and Reaper’s attempt to escape through death) but faces them head on. He even tells him “You always hid the things I didn’t want to see”. Indeed Hide always did; he didn’t tell him he knew he was a ghoul so he wouldn’t worry about his safety and he didn’t tell him about the dangerous activities he was getting involved in for his sake. In a very apt co-incidence, Hide’s habit of hiding things is in an English reading of his name. And this is a behaviour Kaneki returned in kind too, cutting himself off from both Hide and Touka as Shironeki so they wouldn’t get involved in the ghoul world. But none of it ended well. Lying so others can’t see their own Shadows only obstructs growth and breeds tragedy. As the narration states, Kaneki finds this determination “Because [he] finally saw what [he] couldn’t for so long” - his own inner darkness, his own Shadow. I wonder if 164′s chapter title, “The White One”, is meant to allude to Kaneki’s newfound sense of duty as represented by his white hair, an emblem of Giri.

In the past I’ve argued this to be The World arc, but after thinking through this Shadow reading I do concede the arc leading up to Dragon to have been The Moon, associated with deception, and the arc of rescuing Kaneki from Dragon to be The Sun, associated with illumination. Hide did return in that arc after all, and he is linked to sunflowers.

Kaneki has come to accept the Thanatos within his Eros, but likewise there is Eros within Thanatos. Because of this chain of events, he has come to accept the terrifying, violent existence he once openly despised as the necessary path to love.

But, what about the other side of this conversation - what about Rize?

Rize has no faith in Kaneki’s ability to bear his sins. She mocks him for being unable to acknowledge his Shadow and the connection between his Eros and Thanatos, suggesting she recognises her own - but she does not attempt to escape and does not believe it possible. She stays in the temple, and from the pure sadism of that last remark we can tell she has no intention of disconnecting from her Thanatos any time soon. Rize continues to live for herself, and I doubt she has good intentions for the future.

As for Mutsuki, we know that the reason she fell in love with Haise is because he is a liar like her. Seeing him validate her lies while knowing the truth encouraged Mutsuki’s wilful ignorance of her Thanatos even while it bubbled to the surface with her growing Eros for him. The reason Haise did this was because he was very much in the same position - shutting away the Shadow of his true identity so he could continue living happily in the Chateau. It is only when Mutsuki’s Thanatos comes into conflict with her Eros, when she has to harm Urie and Saiko to get to Kaneki, that she realises her Eros isn’t worth its vicious twin.

Sorry for the delay - I hope the additional chapters released since this ask has bolstered my response!

#tokyo ghoul #tg meta #ken kaneki #rize kamishiro #tooru mutsuki #hideyoshi nagachika #tarot theory #eros/thanatos #shadow #freud #jung

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dfroza · 3 years

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An act of grace paved the way for the rebirth of the heart

and this includes the promise of the body being reborn, and earth as well at some point.

in Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament Letter of Galatians Paul illuminates the significance of what grace has done:

Fourteen years later, I returned to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas and Titus, my coworkers. God gave me a clear revelation to go and confer with the other apostles concerning the message of grace I was preaching to the gentiles. I spoke privately with those who were viewed as senior leaders of the church, wanting to make certain that my labor and ministry for the Messiah had not been based on a false understanding of the gospel.

Even though Titus was a Syrian, they accepted him as a brother without demanding that he first be circumcised. I met with them privately because false “brothers” had been secretly smuggled into church meetings. They were sent to spy on the wonderful freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. Their agenda was to bring us back into the bondage of religion. But you must know that we did not submit to their religious shackles, not even for a moment, so that we might keep the truth of the gospel of grace unadulterated for you.

Even those most influential among the brothers were not able to add anything to my message. Who they are before men makes no difference to me, for God is not impressed by their reputations. So they recognized that I was entrusted with taking the gospel to the gentiles just as Peter was entrusted with taking it to the Jews. For the same God who empowered Peter’s apostolic ministry to the Jews also flowed through me as an apostle to those who are gentiles.

When they all recognized this grace operating in my ministry, those who were recognized as influential pillars in the church—Jacob, Peter, and John—extended to Barnabas and me the warmth of Christian fellowship and honored my calling to minister to the gentiles, even as they were to go to the Jews. They simply requested one thing of me: that I would remember the poor and needy, which was the burden I was already carrying in my heart.

When Peter visited Antioch, he caused the believers to stumble over his behavior, so I confronted him to his face. He enjoyed eating with the gentile believers who didn’t keep the Jewish customs—up until the time Jacob’s Jewish friends arrived from Jerusalem. When he saw them, he withdrew from his gentile friends—fearing how it would look to them if he ate with gentile believers.

And so, because of Peter’s hypocrisy, many other Jewish believers followed suit, refusing to eat with gentile believers. Even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocritical behavior!

So when I realized they were acting inconsistently with the revelation of the gospel, I confronted Peter in front of everyone:

“You were born a Jew, but you’ve chosen to disregard Jewish regulations and live like a gentile. Why then do you force gentiles to conform to these same rules?”

Although we’re Jews by birth and not gentile “sinners,” we know that no one receives God’s perfect righteousness as a reward for keeping the law, but only by the faith of Jesus, the Messiah! His faithfulness has saved us, and we have received God’s perfect righteousness. Now we know that God accepts no one by the keeping of religious laws!

If we are those who desire to be righteous through our union with the Anointed One, does that mean our Messiah condones sin even though we acknowledge that we are sinners? How absurd! For if I start over and reconstruct the old religious system that I had torn down with the message of grace, I would appear to be a lawbreaker.

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine!

So that is why I don’t view God’s grace as something peripheral. For if keeping the law could release God’s righteousness to us, then Christ would have died for nothing.

The Letter of Galatians, Chapter 2 (The Passion Translation)

to be accompanied by these lines about preserving the truth of grace:

Some people who were pretending to be our brothers and sisters were brought in to spy on the freedom we enjoy in the Anointed One, Jesus—their agenda was clear: they wanted to enslave us. But we didn’t give in to them. We didn’t entertain their thoughts for a minute! We resisted them so the true gospel—and not some counterfeit—would continue to be available to you.

The Letter of Galatians, Chapter 2:4-5 (The Voice)

Their ulterior motive was to reduce us to their brand of servitude. We didn’t give them the time of day. We were determined to preserve the truth of the Message for you.

The Letter of Galatians, Chapter 2:5 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 66th and closing chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that points to a time of rebirth but also severe Judgment upon God’s enemies:

Eternal One: Heaven is My throne, and earth is where I rest My feet.

So what kind of structure would you build Me?

What man-made space could provide Me a resting place?

Everything is the product of My hand—My being and My doing—

that’s how all you see came to be; I made it all.

Nevertheless, I am interested in and concerned about even just one person

who is humble and downhearted and trembles at my word.

Eternal One: Whoever slaughters an ox without humility is no better

than one who kills a man;

Whoever sacrifices a lamb without brokenness is no different

than one who breaks a dog’s neck;

Whoever presents a grain offering without fear is no different

than one who offers pig’s blood;

Whoever burns incense without obedience is no better

than one who worships an idol.

They’ve made their own choices

and seem happy enough with their detestable practices.

But I have a choice, too, and I choose to punish them;

I will bring on them what they fear most.

For when I called, no one answered;

when I spoke, they refused to listen.

Instead they did all the wrong things and made terrible choices—

what I expressly said that I hate.

So, if you are one who trembles at His word,

listen closely to what the Eternal One has to say:

Eternal One: I know that some people, even your own family,

reject you because you accept Me,

And they’re saying, “Let the Eternal receive the honor He deserves,

so that we, too, can know your joy.” But they’ll only know sorrow and shame.

Can you hear it? There’s a commotion in the city,

great rumbling coming from the temple area!

Ah, it is the Eternal thundering in to take on His foes.

Have you ever heard of a woman who gave birth before she went into labor?

Have you ever seen a woman who delivered a son without feeling a thing?

Do you think it’s possible for the land to go through labor in an instant,

or to bear a nation, to be new and strong, in a single day?

Nevertheless, Zion suffered only a moment

before she gave birth to her children!

Will I open the womb and not deliver?

I have made this place labor in terrible pain,

But do you think I won’t help it give birth?

That is what I, the Eternal One have to say.

Eternal One: So be happy for Jerusalem;

give her hearty congratulations, whoever holds her dear.

Take part in this joyous celebration, especially if you remember her grief.

For you are her children, and she is giving you the milk of comfort and peace.

Drink at her comforting breasts with satisfaction that all will be well.

I will rain down prosperity on Jerusalem, peace abundant on Zion,

and flood her with wealth from all over the world.

Like a thundering river, the riches will come down.

Like a toddler, you’ll be held, carried, nourished, and comforted.

As a mother soothes her child, so I will comfort you.

And Jerusalem will be so nice, feel so good and safe to you.

When you see what I have in store, it will ease your mind and lift your heart;

you will flourish like the grass!

The Eternal’s power will be clearly evident to His servants;

but His rage will be unleashed against His enemies.

Look now, the Eternal is coming with a vengeance

that scorches all His foes with flames of fire;

Whooshing like a whirlwind, His chariots rush with punishing fury.

God comes with fiery anger and flashing sword.

The Eternal One will execute His judgment,

And many people will die on that day.

Eternal One: Those who perform sanctifying and purifying rituals to serve false gods in gardens, and then proceed to do whatever they see the leader do—eating impure things such as pigs, snakes, and rats—won’t live to do it again. This is My word to you.

Because I know what and why they do what they do, the time is coming when I will bring people together from all over the world. Everyone will come here and have a chance to see and know who I am, in all My weighty significance and splendor. I will put a sign among them and send the survivors of My people to Tarshish, Put, and Lud (where those great archers live), from Tubal east of Lud, and Javan, which is near it. I’ll bring them here from places so far away that they’ve never heard My name, much less had a chance to see My glory. But they’ll hear about Me, far and wide among the nations. And they will bring the surviving members of your family back as if they are a grain offering from all the nations. They’ll come by every conceivable means—on horse, camel, donkey, or mule, in wagons or litters—they’ll come to Jerusalem, My holy mountain. They will be delivered just as the Israelites bring their grain offerings to Me in a clean container at the temple. And out of those who return, I will make priests and Levites. This is My word to you.

Because just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making

will go on by My enduring will,

So your name and the people

who come from you will go on as well.

From one month to the next, on Sabbath after Sabbath,

everyone, every living thing, will come to this holy place

To honor Me as God of all.

This is My word to you.

They’ll visit the site where the people who rejected Me lie rotting on the ground,

crawling with worms that never die on a fire that just keeps smoldering.

All who see it will recoil at the horrible sight.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 66 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, August 13 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that answers a question mark (?) about God’s name:

I sometimes get email from people confused about the "real" name of God. Is it Yahweh? Jehovah? Yahoshua? or perhaps something else? Is "Jesus" a pagan name that comes from "Zeus"? and so on... Sadly there is a lot of nonsense taught about the name of the LORD floating around out there, often by people who dabble in Hebrew and believe they have gained some esoteric wisdom.... Such false teachers promote some "secret" way to pronounce the name of God, as if it were a "shibboleth" or password to access his presence, and consequently they focus on the superficial rather than the substance. Those who are wise, on the other hand, search for the deeper significance and what must be spiritually discerned.

We must remember that the most common name of God given in the Hebrew Scriptures is "YHVH" (יהוה) which is clearly wordplay on the verb "hayah" (היה), meaning "to be" (Exod. 3:14-15). I have written about this many times before, and there are several articles on the Hebrew for Christians website that deal with this issue decisively, but for this short post let me simply remind you that God's name YHVH is "ineffable" and mysterious, a word that cannot be defined, because a definition requires that the "definiens" (i.e., the group of words that define something) to be equivalent to the "definiens" (i.e., the word or term to be defined). The Scriptures teach, however, that the LORD is unrivaled, matchless, without peer, and utterly unique (Exod. 15:11; Psalm 89:6; Psalm 113:5-6). There is categorically nothing in the likeness of finite reality to whom the LORD can be likened: No amount of words can fully explain who He is, the depths of His character, or the power of His life (Psalm 147:5). Moreover - and as alluded by the verbal wordplay on the name YHVH (i.e.,אהיה אשׁר אהיה) - it is a category mistake to think of YHVH as a "noun" or "thing" rather than as a "verb" or power... He is the "Living God" (אל־חי), alive, powerful, and the Source of all that exists. Therefore if God is to be known by us, we must look to the historical revelation of His creative and saving acts: "You have magnified Your word above all Your name" (Psalm 138:2), which means that God's fame and glory constitutes the very meaning of His Name.

There are hundreds of names and titles of God in the Scriptures, each revealing something about the attributes and character of the LORD, and each therefore worthy of study and appreciation. Ultimately, however, God is disclosed in the person of Yeshua, who embodies and gives expression to the very life and character of the divine. The advent of the Savior (מושׁיע) reveals the meaning of who God is. Indeed it is written in these "last days" God speaks to us "in Son" (ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ), that is, by means of the revelation and language of Yeshua, who is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ); Yeshua is the one who "upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Heb. 1:2-3). "For by Him (Yeshua) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things," καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν- "and in him all things hold together" (Col. 1:16-17; John 1:3). Yeshua is the "Name above all names" (ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα) the One before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to be the LORD of Glory over all (Isa. 45:23; Phil. 2:9-10). His Name is Wonderful (פֶּלֶא), the Mighty God (אֵל גִּבּוֹר), the Everlasting Father (אֲבִיעַד), and the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). "His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is ‘The Word of God’" (Rev. 19:12-13).

It is interesting to note that though the ancient Greek language was capable of transliterating the Hebrew name YHVH, it was never done, not in the the Septuagint (i.e., the most ancient Greek translation of the Torah), nor in any of the manuscripts of the ancient Greek New Testament, where the name “ho thos” (ὁ θεὸς) was used in place of YHVH (יהוה). We have no textual evidence that Yeshua ever used this Name (he apparently followed the practice of using the circumlocution of "Adonai"), though he did explicitly refer to Himself as none other than "ehyeh," the great I AM (see John 8:58). But Yeshua’s most common name for God was simply “Father” (πατήρ in Greek, אֲבִי or אַבָּא in Hebrew).

Knowing the Name of the LORD means being in a personal, vital, and all-important relationship with the truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth (רוּחַ הָאֱמֶת). This means understanding God’s character as "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin" (see Exod. 34:6-7). Since the Hebrew idea of “word” (דָּבָר) is coextensive with truth (i.e., “being”), Yeshua is called the Word of God (דְּבַר אֱלהִים) who represents the Name of God to all who trust in Him (John 17:26, Heb. 1:3). Jesus (Yeshua) is the Name of God, the “life” of God, the “substance” of God, the “exact imprint and representation of His nature,” and so on. Do not be deceived, chaverim: those who impugn the name of our Lord Yeshua thereby profane the very name of God. [Hebrew for Christians]

8.12.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

August 13, 2021

The Righteous Judge

“The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” (Psalm 145:17)

When Abraham was interceding with God to spare Sodom if even 10 “righteous” people were there, he asked: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). The Hebrew word (mishpat) refers to a formal judgment about right and wrong and is more commonly translated “judgment.”

Indeed, the divine Judge will do right and give right judgments in all things, for He “is righteous in all his ways” and “canst not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).

Ever since Adam disobeyed the Word of God, however, all his descendants have been unrighteous in their ways. God’s righteous judgment has been that “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

Thus, a truly righteous Judge would not only have to consign Sodom to destructive “brimstone and fire from the LORD” (Genesis 19:24) but every one of us as well “into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15) forever.

But God, being not only the righteous Judge but also “a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19), had a plan whereby He could “declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past” and both “be just, and the justifier” of those who had been lost sinners (Romans 3:25-26). “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (8:3). Those who believe on the Son of God as their substitute and Savior are now “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (3:24).

So, Christ has been “made unto us...righteousness” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Furthermore, our loving Savior has now Himself become our righteous Judge, for “the Father...hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). HMM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: Today, we're highlighting a Bible portion from Papua New Guinea. This language is spoken in 8 Gamei and Boroi villages in Yawar Rural LLG, Bogia District, Madang Province.

Do you know what language this is? Comment below with your guesses.

8.13.21 • 12:01pm • Twitter

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imitationworlder · 4 years

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Wow, 3 years and this account still exists! It’s probably good I haven’t been writing, as I feel like I’ve been getting marginally dumber by the day. In any case, I’m writing today because I found out an old flame started writing on tumblr again. I’ve no chance with her, and to be completely honest, I don’t think I can ever be comfortable around her, but she’s still interesting to observe. It’s like a case study in human psychology and how people change over time. She already thinks I’m a creep anyway, so if she ever found out I read it, it would simply reaffirm her already established belief. That’s not entirely true. There might be an ulterior motive, even if I don’t want to admit it. No, it’s not malicious. It’s more of...I’m looking to find some hypocrisy, some fallacy, something that makes the pain of rejection easier to swallow. Or perhaps some sign that I exist in her mind, even a little. To be completely forgotten might be the worst emotional pain; apathy stings more than hatred. I don’t understand it. I felt like I wasn’t even given a chance. She talks so much about communication, yet doesn’t communicate. Have some faith in me. Or in humanity in the broader sense. I completely understand being guarded, secretive, and careful with who you trust, but after a certain point you dig your own grave of loneliness (speaking form experience here...I still struggle). In any case, sorry to hear you were raped. Please don’t distrust all men. It makes sense to, but please don’t. Just be more careful with who you drink around. I still think about you way more than I should. Even if decades later, I hope I get the chance to talk with you again.

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inhumansforever · 7 years

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The Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #3 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The creative team of Christopher Priest and Phil Noto offer up the third installment of this tale from the younger days of the Royal Family. Short recap and review following the jump.

As with the first two issues, whole lot takes place in this third issue. A lot goes down with a lot of quick cuts, scene shifts and flashbacks. While this works quite well for the tenor of the tale that Priest and Noto offer up, it does makes recapping the matter rather difficult. Rather than trying to fumble through all that happens in the order it is told in the issue, I’ll going to opt for the lazier/easier approach of utilizing a bullet point rundown.

Black Bolt, Maximus and Medusa are still hiding out in the human world, convinced by the mysterious Alpha named Elisha that returning to Attilan would result in their being killed by the stewardship king, The Living Terrigen, as part of his ambition to become the permanent king. The young Royals are being offered assistance by Elisha’s benefactor, Bentley Whitman.

The young Royals had traveled to Manhattan by way of a puppy-aged Lockjaw, whose teleporting powers had allowed them to escape. Medusa’s sister, Crystal, finally gets some lines in the series as she searches Attilan looking for her seemingly lost puppy.

Crystal encounters her cousin, Gorgon, recently promoted by the stewardship king to act as his viceroy. Crystal informs Gorgon that her sister has likely fled Attilan because The Living Terrigen had made an ovation toward her to make her his queen.

Back on earth, Whitman has taken Black Bolt and Maximus to an empty field near the airport where Black Bolt attempts to learn to use a device Whitman has constructed that will allow him to utilize his sonic powers with greater control and precision. Oddly enough, Whitman has set up cardboard cut-outs of the Fantastic Four for young Black Bolt to aim at.

Maximus, feeling a touch overwhelmed by the whales of the various airplanes landing and taking off, continues to struggle with his ambivalence over whether or not he should take his antipsychotic medications. Not taking the medicine would cause his ‘madness’ to return; yet taking them forces him to grapple with the terrible feelings of guilt over his role in the accident that caused the death of his parents’ death. Perhaps feeling need to keep his wits about him, Maximus ultimately opts to take the medication.

Elsewhere, Young Karnak has also traveled to Manhattan along with Kadlec The Seeker in an effort to find and return the young Royals. Yet Karnak had plans of his own and had attacked and escaped the Seeker, venturing out on his own. His true goal is to discover the whereabouts of his lost younger brother, Triton. Karnak recalls a flashback of time where he and his brother were carefree preadolescents playing and exchanging insults. The two had picked a fight with some of the children of the lower caste and were being chased. So to escape, Karnak and Triton leapt from the cliffs of the Attilan into the ocean. It turned out that Triton had never learned to swim and his brother had to save him from drowning (an ironic revelation in that Triton was destined to be transformed into an aquatic being by way of Terrigenesis).

Karnak’s recollections continue and the flashbacks show him as an irascible youngster who very much disagrees with the cultural traditions of Attilan. He sees the passage of Terrigenesis as a barbaric practice of mutilation; a high risk gamble where parents force their children to endure the chaotic happenstance of mutagenic transformation. His parents do not agree, they have faith in their ways, believing that eugenic crafting of bloodlines through arrange marriages will result in beneficial transformations. Yet Karnak’s point appears proven when his brother emerges from Terrigenesis having been changed into a fishlike being requiring a water based environment to survive.

Karnak had benefited from his brother’s misfortune. It had changed his parents’ minds and he was allowed to forego the passage of Terrigenesis. He awakes from his dwelling in past to find he is still in the labyrinth of sewers and subways below Manhattan. Somehow he’s managed to get his hands on the script for a low budget sci-fi movie about a seamonster. This is the same movie that Triton had accidentally become involved with back in the Triton solo tales that were published in the back of The Mighty Thor. Having rested and with the aid of this script, Karnak continues his desperate journey to rescue his lost brother.

Back on Attilan, Gorgon reports back to his king what Crystal had told him. The Living Terrigen explains that it had been a simple matter of misassumption. He had indeed spoken to young Medusa of the prospect of being queen yet had done so merely to see if she might prove a suitable mate for Black Bolt when he is to take the throne.

Crystal continues to call out for her missing dog and the Lockjaw heightened awareness allows him to sense it all the off in New York. Feeling Crystal’s distress, the pup teleports away to be with her.

Hiding out in Whitman’s penthouse, Medusa is irritated that she has been left behind while Black Bolt and Maximus practice and strategize. She ruminates aloud over the inequities and hypocrisies of gender roles; lamenting how the men in her life stare at her with lust, want to possess her, propose to cherish her while denying her power and keeping her confined. Elisha sits by, eating ice-cream and suggests that it all has to do with the pheromones her body exudes. …that and her hair. He calls her ‘jail bait’ ohmygod.

For reasons unexplained, Elisha is immune to Medusa’s charms. Perhaps it is a product of his being rendered a sexless drone by the slave engine; maybe he’s gay; or perhaps Medusa just isn’t his type. Whatever the case, Elisha is able to see Medusa as an individual unencumbered by lust or desire. Which is too bad in that Medusa’s own prejudices toward the Alpha disables her from being able to see or accept the commiseration he offers. It’s a rich irony that Medusa can go from complaining about the sexism she experiences whilst being blind to her own racism toward Elisha. Although the irony is not lost on Elisha. It’s really quite a stirring scene.

Elsewhere, Kaldec the Seeker continues his pursuit of the errant Royals. Here we learn three important features about the Inhumans of Attilan: one they refer to cars as ‘conveniences;’ two, cars are not well suited for their large, ostentatious headgears...

and three, they have no idea how to drive.

Maximus and Black Bolt return with Whitman from their practice session (with a quick cameo from Paste Pot Pete the Trapster as Whitman’s chauffeur). Black Bolt is able to us Whitman’s device to speak aloud and he expresses impatience over returning to Attilan so that he might utilize his more controlled powers to take out the Living Terrigen and rightfully claim the throne. He is additionally suspicious over Whitman’s insistence that he accompany them. Whitman has stated that he wishes to ensure the Living Terrigen is defeated so that the human world would be made safe from the slave engine. While this intention seems nobel, us readers have the foresight of knowing Whitman is actually the super villain known as The Wizard… that he likely has some sinister ulterior motives in pocket. And Black Bolt seems able to sense the matter.

Before they can discuss it further, Black Bolt sees something and demands that they stop the convenience (car) immediately. He gets out and he and his brother see the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man swinging about. Black Bolt misconstrues Spidey as a fellow Inhuman and the issue ends on this cliffhanger with the next issue promising a team-up between Spidey and these young Royals.

So that’s what happened in the issue and ,as was the case with previous two issues, Priest and Noto manage to squeeze in a lot of content. My scattershot effort to relay it all doesn’t give credit to how seamlessly the writing and art spins these disparate vignettes into a smoothly flowing fabric. It’s quite impressive. That said, I’ve no idea how the two remaining issues in this series will manage to interconnect and resolve all the disparate plot lines created thus far.

I don’t want to harp on the matter, yet the persnickety super-fan in me has had kind of a hard time with how significantly the details in this story deviate from preexisting Inhuman continuity. The most substantial inconsistency being the relative ages between the Royal Inhumans and the heroes of the human world. It’s confusing that Black Bolt, Maximus and Medusa should all be in their teens while the Fantastic Four is already heroes and Spider-Man is swinging about midtown. Does this mean that Spidey and Black Bolt are the same age? That Crystal is a child while her soon-to-be boyfriend, Johnny Storm, is already a young adult? Of course none of this really matters… it’s just comics after all. Still, I’ve no idea how this prequel story actually fits into the standardized continuity of the Marvel Universe in general and the Inhumans continuity in specific. The story is a blast and super fun to read, but the fastidious nerd in me is really riled up by the inconsistencies.

Oh, and the issue concludes with another fun Lockjaw backup feature by Ryan North and Gustavo Durante.

This one entails a sandcastle making contest judged over by The Watcher. Lockjaw confuses Squirrel Girl for an actual squirrel and chess her about, wrecking all of the sand castles the than the one built by Black Bot and Medusa, resulting in the two winning the contest. Good dog!

Four out of five Lockjaws

#inhumans once and future kings #Christopher Priest #Phil Noto #Ryan North #Gustavo Durante #spoilers #review #Inhumans

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gracewithducks · 6 years

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Born of Wisdom (James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a)

One of my favorite classes in high school was debate class. Even as an adult, there is something extremely satisfying in winning an argument, in getting in the last word, in being vindicated or proven right, and standing in triumph while your opponent bows their head to your superior wisdom and intellect.

I love to win a fight, to get in the last word. Just ask my husband.

I’ve learned something, though, over the years: I’ve learned that it’s possible to win – and still lose.

It’s possible to win a fight – but to lose so much more along the way. It’s possible to lose a friendship, to lose trust, to lose a relationship, to lose respect – to lose yourself, to lose sight of what’s really important, in that mad rush to win.

We don’t have to look far these days to see this in action. My own kids recently got into an apocalyptic meltdown because they were coloring paper genie wristbands – it’s a thing, I promise you – and they were fighting over who got to pretend to be the genie with the pink wristbands and who got to have the green ones … and I remember looking at them and saying, “Really? Isn’t your sister – and the chance to play together with her – more important than the color of your wristbands? For that matter, who says you can’t both wear the same color wristbands?” But they couldn’t get it. They both wanted to win – and in the process, they both ended up in tears.

It plays out in marriages, when couples lose sight of the big picture because of all the little disagreements that get in the way. It plays out in the media and in the court room, when we try to get to the “truth” – which usually means, the preferred version of the truth, usually whichever can be better proven by the team with more power and resources behind them – nevermind the cost or the lives that get destroyed along the way. It plays out in so-called political “debates” – which are usually just shouting matches, where nobody learns anything, nobody changes their mind, and nobody wins. How many families have been divided, friendships ended, over politics – not just over political differences, but by the increasing inability to even discuss the reasons why we disagree, and to look for any common ground at all.

And I will never understand why politicians live in secret terror – and not-so-secret terror – that someone will one day find out that they’ve every changed their minds about anything. I tell you, I sure hope you won’t judge me by the sermons I preached in seminary. They were fine sermons, at the time; I did the best I could with what I knew at the time – but I’ve changed, and I’ve grown, and my understanding of God and the world and my place in it has changed and grown, too. I sure hope that you’ve learned new things, met new people, gone deeper in your faith, that you’re not the same person you were a decade or even a year ago. That’s not a character flaw: our ability to change and adapt and to grow is a part of what makes us strong. I haven’t always been right. Maybe I’m not “right,” now. But I’m doing the best I can with what I know – and when I know better, I sure hope I’m wise enough to do better, too.

I love to win. I love to be right. But I want to be more than that: I want to be kind; I want to be courageous; I want to be humble, and compassionate, always willing to grow, to persist when I’m right – and to admit when I’m wrong.

I don’t just want to be smart. I don’t just want to be right. I want to be wise.

Knowledge is important. We owe it to ourselves, to the world, and to God to keep learning our whole lives long. With everything we learn, our world gets a little bit bigger, and our ability to make decisions gets a little bit better. But knowledge must also be humble: as I said, the more we learn, the more we realize just how much we don’t know yet. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul warns his readers, “Knowledge puffs up, but loves builds up.” Knowledge without humility, without love, can do more harm than good. If you’ve ever found yourself face-to-face with a know-it-all, you know this fact all too well. True wisdom means that we are willing to share our knowledge, to draw on what we know, but also to admit our shortcomings, to admit that we might be wrong, and to keep listening and learning and growing along the way.

Knowledge alone is not enough. Some of the smartest people I know are also some of the most foolish: because smarts aren’t enough for wisdom; we also need compassion and common sense if we are going to live well. We have to be able to connect what with know – and what we believe – with the reality of the way that we live; if we don’t know what to do with what we know, it does us no good at all.

Again and again, James emphasizes that our faith has to shape the way we live. And one of the ways that happens is how our decisions depend on the ultimate goal upon which our eyes are set. If our ultimate goal is old age, or pleasure, or wealth, if what we want most in life is to be right, or to be rich, or to be left alone – then we will see and judge the world through those lenses. If our ultimate goal, on the other hand, is to love God and to love one another, then we will see and judge the world by asking: what choice will help me to love God more? In this matter, who is my neighbor, and how can I love my neighbor as I love myself?

I think this is why James talks about not one but two different kinds of wisdom: wisdom that comes from the world, and wisdom that comes from God. The wisdom of this world can make a lot of sense – but then, it’s possible to make a passionate and reasonable-sounding argument for just about anything, even if you end up saying nothing at all; just ask anyone who’s ever been in a fight with a politician, or a preacher, or a preschooler. The world has its own kind of wisdom, and it is a wisdom that says: this world is a dangerous and uncertain place; you have to look out for you and yours first, because no one else will; everyone around you is out to get you, so you have to fight for your rights; if someone hurts you, it’s your right to hurt them back; and there isn’t nearly enough of anything to go around, so you have to fight for what you deserve, and fiercely defend what you already have; if it makes you happy, it must be good; whoever shouts the loudest must be right; the majority rules; and the one who dies with the most toys, wins.

There is a kind of wisdom in that way of life: if all that matters is me, then the rest makes sense. But you and I know, there is so much more to life than just me; I am not the center of the world, nor are you – nor should we be. James says, that kind of wisdom – the world’s wisdom – comes from envy, and selfish ambition; it is boastful, proud and false, earthly, unspiritual, and devilish, leading to disorder and wickedness of every kind. Sounds like a pretty good description of the world we live in these days, doesn’t it? That’s the kind of wisdom that leads business CEOs to approve risky and dangerous investments, because they know they will reap a huge and easy payout, while passing the risk and the consequences down the line. It’s the kind of wisdom that leads politicians, who enter the public arena for any variety of noble reasons, to kowtow to the pressure to conform to their parties’ platforms and spend more time protecting their jobs and trying to keep their jobs than actually doing their jobs. That’s the kind of wisdom that says, I deserve that new television, those new shoes, that new car, because I work hard, and I’m a good person, and that’s what credit is for… It’s the kind of wisdom that insists, a little white lie never hurt anyone; and I can do whatever I want so long as I never get caught; and yes, it’s too bad that other people are hungry and homeless and don’t have any work or can’t afford health insurance, but that’s their problem, not mine. After all, it’s every man, woman, and child for themselves.

How did we become a world full of such bitter, angry, vengeful, smug, selfish, self-satisfied people? We got here by following the world’s wisdom, by living out of envy, greed, and selfish ambition, and just as James warned us, it has led us to disorder and wickedness of every kind.

In contrast, James says, in contrast, the wisdom that comes from above is pure and peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy, full of mercy and good works.

And so, when we find ourselves faced with a big decision – or with any of the countless little decisions that, together, shape the course of our lives – it is worth asking:

First, what is pure? Where does our motivation come from? Do we have ulterior motives at work? Are we trying to rationalize and justify our own selfishness, our ambition, our envy or greed? Or are we genuinely seeking what is true and what is right?

Next, says James, true wisdom is peaceable. It doesn’t do us any good to be “right” if that “rightness” leads to anger and division and violent words or violent lives. When we are faced with a hard choice, we should ask: which option will produce peace – which choice will give me peace in my heart, and create peace in my home, in my community, and in the world? How can I continue Christ’s ministry of reconciliation; how can I work for peace?

Third, says James, godly wisdom is gentle and willing to yield. Again, it does us no good to be “right” if we lose our heart and soul in the process. If we are gentle and willing to yield, it means we are willing to listen to other people – even those who don’t agree with us – to be humble enough to admit that we might be wrong, to be confident enough in our beliefs that we do not fear other ideas, and to be courageous enough to entertain ultimate opinions in the search for truth. Do we feel the need to force others to conform to our beliefs? Or are we able and willing to recognize and admit that we, ourselves, don’t always get it right?

Are we ready to learn from others and to learn from our own mistakes along the way?

Fourth, James says, wisdom from God is impartial, without hypocrisy. It’s worth asking: as we fair? Do we treat all people alike? Or do we secretly care a bit more for those who look at act and think like us? Are we honest about who we really are – do our actions match our words, do our outsides match our insides; do we practice what we preach? Do we hold ourselves to the same standards we expect of those around us? And, on the flip side, when we mess up, do we offer ourselves the same level of forgiveness that we extend to others, the same grace that God extends to us? Are we paralyzed by our failures, or are we able to look around, to learn, and then to let it go, to get up and begin again?

Fifth, James describes wisdom that is full of mercy. Do we offer mercy – which is just another word for unconditional love – do we offer mercy, especially to those in need – whether their need is for forgiveness, or encouragement, or food, or clothing, hope, respect, or love? Does the way we live reflect the gospel that we believe?

And finally, James says, wisdom from God is full of good fruits. Just as you know the kind of tree by the fruit that is produces, we know true wisdom by the fruit that it bears. Do our choices and our lives bear the fruits of selfishness and disorder, hatred and violence and fear? Or are our lives full of the fruits of the Spirit, the fruits of God at work – love and joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?

I’d rather be wise than right. And if I’m going to be wrong, I’d rather be wrong in the direction of being too gracious, too compassionate, opening the doors too wide – rather than not enough. I want take risks and make sacrifices motivated by love and not by fear; I want to love God more, and love my neighbors more – and then, a little bit more after that. And I want to keep learning, to keep growing, to keep doing everything I can, inasmuch as I can, to live at peace with others and to be a force for good in this world.

And I hope that you will, too.

O Lord, you told us: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find. So we come today, asking for your wisdom. Uphold us by your strength as we wrestle with the questions of how we should live. Teach us when to speak, and when to fall silent. Save us from false choices; deliver us from the false reason and selfish wisdom of this world. Teach us to seek that which is peaceable and pure; help us to be gentle and humble; show us how to be just and true; and fill our lives with mercy and with the good fruits of your Spirit. We thank you; we praise you; we honor you; and we love you. In Jesus’ name we pray; amen.

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cryptochurp · 6 years

Text

In the Cryptoverse, AsicBoost Controversy Picks Up Steam

There are no “Sleepy Sundays” in the land of cryptocurrency and today is no different with the latest episode seeing Twitter and both Bitcoin subreddits explode with emotion over the proposed merging of patented overt AsicBoost technology into the Core reference implementation.

Also see: How Coinbase Added Bitcoin Cash (It Wasn’t as Easy as You Think)

Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for more great interviews featuring industry insiders & experts

Debate Reaches Fever Pitch

Caught in today’s drama is Andreas Antonopoulos, thanks to a 2017 Q&A session regarding Bitmain, Core Developer, and Halong Mining entrepreneur BtcDrak, as well as long standing community member @CobraBitcoin.

The action started with a tweet by bitcoin mining pool Slush Pool revealing that Halong Mining hardware with overt AsicBoost had successfully mined its first block using their pool.

Our block #514882 is the first-ever block mined using the active version-rolling aka overt AsicBoost. According to the available evidence, it was mined by @HalongMining hardware. Congrats to lucky miner from Guangdong, China https://t.co/4XtmSN6yo1

— Slush Pool (@slush_pool) March 24, 2018

Halong Mining is owned by Core dev @btcdrak and was launched during the intra-community political impasse over scaling and SegWit in 2017.

With the airing of the Slush Pool tweet, another controversial Twitter identity, Cøbra, unleashed a series of tweets taking aim at BtcDrak’s recent pull request which Cøbra claims will make it easier to use Halong Mining’s patented AsicBoost technology, effectively favoring one company over others.

I want to draw attention to a particular pull request by @btcdrak: https://t.co/PPqz7X9Gfr. This pull effectively degrades the functionality of Bitcoin Core's soft fork deployment system in order to make it easier for his business to use the patented version rolling ASICBOOST.

— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) March 24, 2018

Under no circumstances should we be degrading the reference implementation to make it easier to use patented ASICBOOST. We complained when @JihanWu blocked Segwit because it stopped his use of covert ASICBOOST, but this is worse because it *changes* Bitcoin Core to aid ASICBOOST.

— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) March 24, 2018

Twitter was quick to respond. Some pointed out that within the pull request, Core developer Matt Corallo noted:

“Without some kind of review in the form of several mining hardware manufacturers weighing in that they feel comfortable building in asicboost into their hardware, I don’t think we can give this kind of implied approval of it’s use”, but Cobra countered by pointing out that such a fuss was made over Jihan Wu and Bitmain’s ‘blocking of Segwit,’ but now the Core development team may be degrading the network to benefit a specific company that happens to be owned by a Core developer.”

If this gets merged, Bitcoin Core will have directly degraded the network on purpose to make it easier for a specific company to use their patented technology. Nobody in good faith can defend this, no matter what. This is a line that should not be crossed.

— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) March 24, 2018

In the GitHub comments section, contributor “FivePiece” also responded with:

“[N]othing stops anybody from using asicboost already. This proposal only standardizes overt asicboost using nversion rolling, which is the cleanest type of asicboost. It doesn’t require smallempty blocks and is not dangerous in requiring transaction index permutation……Let’s wait for the rest of the community to react to this proposal before putting words in their mouths.”

Other well known figures lept to the Core development team’s defense, like Vortex:

There is zero "degrade" on the network and anyone can use this patent and in doing so must reveal their own patents resulting in increased transparency in the ecosystem overall. Game theory and market competition wins out over deception and fear mongering in bitcoin.

— Vortex (@theonevortex) March 24, 2018

Everyone and Their Mother Sounds Off

The exchanges also ignited a flurry of heated activity on Reddit, especially r/btc, which dragged Andreas Antonopoulos’ name into the debate.

Antonopoulos pictured.

In an April 2017 Q&A Andreas spoke at length about Bitmain’s use of covert AsicBoost, explaining his view that covert use of AsicBoost “is unacceptable” and implored that “if you’re going to do it, do it with the overt version.”

To this end, Redditors like u/zongk were quick to jump on Antonopoulos, suggesting that the scholar would not speak out against Slush Pool’s use of a patented technology because he sided with the Bitcoin Core development team:

u/zongk wrote:

“The difference: overt works with segwit while covert does not. Core is using their control over the protocol to fuck with Bitmain.”

This sentiment is to be expected on Reddit, however a counter to that line of thought was posted in response to Cøbra’s tweet that echoed the “hypocrisy” theme, with @ProfessorPMills noting that the pending patent owned by Halong Mining is a defensive patent and part of a group in which members agree to transparency and the sharing of patented technology.

Still patent pending, but the license exists already and the technical details have been shared with license holders of the blockchain defensive patent license such as @HalongMining

Everyone who joins agrees to share patentshttps://t.co/IEJXwxkN9Thttps://t.co/qxh9W43gc9

— P.Miller (@ProfessorPmills) March 24, 2018

But of course, this is crypto and the mudslinging and calls of “hypocrisy” and “shilling” came thick and fast. Both major bitcoin subreddits seemed confused on how to approach the subject of the covert and overt AsicBoost, often allowing the conversation to delve into the quagmire of ulterior motives and which messengers can be trusted.

u/tophernator noted that:

“[M]y point wasn’t that people should trust Cobra. If anything it’s the exact opposite. The top level post seemed to imply that if Cobra was criticizing BTC or anything to do with it he must be on BCH’s side. I see similar attitudes displayed by the people defending Craig Wright. He can’t be a bad guy if he spouts pro-BCH or anti-BTC soundbites. In the real rational world people are complex. Cobra’s comments about the ASIC-boost hypocrisy have absolutely no relevance to his views on BCH.”

Over on r/bitcoin the arguments led back to AsicBoost and the insinuation that Bitmain were blocking SegWit to maintain their monopoly and would use patents to make China the dominant force in Bitcoin.

To that effect, u/metalzip wrote:

“[…] it was offensively-patented (instead of defensively), so they could use police (or most likely lawyers etc) to kill any competition (or at least in China, but that’s what counts nowdays).”

The drama surrounding BtcDrak’s pull request and the use of AsicBoost technology is unlikely to end anytime soon, especially with the still simmering tensions between the big and small block camps. Such melodrama seems poised to rear its head again and again for the near future.

What’s your take? Are you in favor of, or opposed to, overt AsicBoost? Sound off in the comments below.

Images via Pioneering Minds, psichika

The post In the Cryptoverse, AsicBoost Controversy Picks Up Steam appeared first on Bitsonline.

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dfroza · 3 years

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Proverbs and book of Psalms

for may 21 of 2021 with Proverbs 21 and Psalm 21, accompanied by Psalm 63 for the 63rd day of Spring and Psalm 141 for day 141 of the year

[Proverbs 21]

It’s as easy for God to steer a king’s heart for his purposes

as it is for him to direct the course of a stream.

We may think we’re right all the time,

but God thoroughly examines our motives.

It pleases God more when we demonstrate godliness and justice

than when we merely offer him a sacrifice.

Arrogance, superiority, and pride are the fruits of sin.

Brilliant ideas pay off and bring you prosperity,

but making hasty, impatient decisions

will only lead to financial loss.

You can make a fortune dishonestly,

but your crime will hold you in the snares of death!

Violent rebels don’t have a chance,

for their rejection of truth and their love of evil

will drag them deeper into darkness.

You can discern that a person is guilty by his devious actions

and the innocence of a person by his honest, sincere ways.

It’s better to live all alone in a rickety shack

than to share a castle with a crabby spouse!

The wicked always crave what is evil;

they’ll show no mercy and get no mercy.

Senseless people learn their lessons the hard way,

but the wise are teachable.

A godly, righteous person has the ability

to bring the light of instruction to the wicked

even though he despises what the wicked do.

If you close your heart to the cries of the poor,

then I’ll close my ears when you cry out to me!

Try giving a secret gift to the one who is angry with you

and watch his anger disappear.

A kind, generous gift goes a long way

to soothe the anger of one who is livid.

When justice is served,

the lovers of God celebrate and rejoice,

but the wicked begin to panic.

When you forsake the ways of wisdom,

you will wander into the realm of dark spirits.

To love pleasure for pleasure’s sake

will introduce you to poverty.

Indulging in a life of luxury

will never make you wealthy.

The wicked bring on themselves

the very suffering they planned for others,

for their treachery comes back to haunt them.

It’s better to live in a hut in the wilderness

than with a crabby, scolding spouse!

In wisdom’s house you’ll find delightful treasures

and the oil of the Holy Spirit.

But the stupid squander what they’ve been given.

The lovers of God who chase after righteousness

will find all their dreams come true:

an abundant life drenched with favor

and a fountain that overflows with satisfaction.

A warrior filled with wisdom ascends into the high place

and releases breakthrough,

bringing down the strongholds of the mighty.

Watch your words and be careful what you say,

and you’ll be surprised by how few troubles you’ll have.

An arrogant man is inflated with pride—

nothing but a snooty scoffer in love with his own opinion.

Mr. Mocker is his name!

Taking the easy way out is the habit of a lazy man,

and it will be his downfall.

All day long he thinks about all the things that he craves,

for he hasn’t learned the secret that the generous man has learned:

extravagant giving never leads to poverty.

To bring an offering to God with an ulterior motive is detestable,

for it amounts to nothing but hypocrisy.

No one believes a notorious liar,

but the guarded words of an honest man stand the test of time.

The wicked are shameless and stubborn,

but the lovers of God have a holy confidence.

All your brilliant wisdom and clever insight

will be of no help at all if the Lord is against you.

You can do your best to prepare for the battle,

but ultimate victory comes from the Lord God.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 21 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 21]

Your strength, God, is the king’s strength.

Helped, he’s hollering Hosannas.

You gave him exactly what he wanted;

you didn’t hold back.

You filled his arms with gifts;

you gave him a right royal welcome.

He wanted a good life; you gave it to him,

and then made it a long life as a bonus.

You lifted him high and bright as a cumulus cloud,

then dressed him in rainbow colors.

You pile blessings on him;

you make him glad when you smile.

Is it any wonder the king loves God?

that he’s sticking with the Best?

With a fistful of enemies in one hand

and a fistful of haters in the other,

You radiate with such brilliance

that they cringe as before a furnace.

Now the furnace swallows them whole,

the fire eats them alive!

You purge the earth of their progeny,

you wipe the slate clean.

All their evil schemes, the plots they cook up,

have fizzled—every one.

You sent them packing;

they couldn’t face you.

Show your strength, God, so no one can miss it.

We are out singing the good news!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 21 (The Message)

[Psalm 63]

Thirsting for God

For the Pure and Shining One

King David’s song when he was exiled in the Judean wilderness

O God of my life, I’m lovesick for you in this weary wilderness.

I thirst with the deepest longings to love you more,

with cravings in my heart that can’t be described.

Such yearning grips my soul for you, my God!

I’m energized every time I enter

your heavenly sanctuary to seek more of your power

and drink in more of your glory.

For your tender mercies mean more to me than life itself.

How I love and praise you, God!

Daily I will worship you passionately and with all my heart.

My arms will wave to you like banners of praise.

I overflow with praise when I come before you,

for the anointing of your presence satisfies me like nothing else.

You are such a rich banquet of pleasure to my soul.

I lie awake each night thinking of you

and reflecting on how you help me like a father.

I sing through the night under your splendor-shadow,

offering up to you my songs of delight and joy!

With passion I pursue and cling to you.

Because I feel your grip on my life,

I keep my soul close to your heart.

Those who plot to destroy me shall descend into the darkness of hell.

They will be consumed by their own evil

and become nothing more than dust under our feet.

These liars will be silenced forever!

But with the anointing of a king I will dance and rejoice

along with all his devoted lovers who trust in him.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 63 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 141]

An Evening Prayer

King David’s poetic song

Please, Lord, come close and come quickly to help me!

Listen to my prayer as I call out to you.

Let my prayer be as the evening sacrifice

that burns like fragrant incense, rising as my offering to you

as I lift up my hands in surrendered worship!

God, give me grace to guard my lips

from speaking what is wrong.

Guide me away from temptation and doing evil.

Save me from sinful habits and from keeping company

with those who are experts in evil.

Help me not to share in their sin in any way!

When one of your godly ones corrects me

or one of your faithful ones rebukes me,

I will accept it like an honor I cannot refuse.

It will be as healing medicine that I swallow

without an offended heart.

Even if they are mistaken, I will continue to pray.

When the leaders and judges are condemned,

falling upon the rocks of justice,

then they’ll know my words to them were true!

Like an earthquake splits open the earth,

so the world of hell will open its mouth

to swallow their scattered bones.

But you are my Lord and my God; I only have eyes for you!

I hide myself in you, so don’t leave me defenseless.

Protect me! Keep me from the traps of wickedness they set for me.

Let them all stumble into their own traps

while I escape without a scratch!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 141 (The Passion Translation)

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dfroza · 5 years

Text

An ancient Letter

along with a point of inspiration in writing for the 25th day of june from Today’s chapter in the book of Proverbs with verse 25 from chapter 25 in The Message:

“Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary is a letter from a long-lost friend.”

and Today’s chapter from the Letter of Galatians that illuminates the pure significance of grace:

[What Is Central?]

Fourteen years after that first visit, Barnabas and I went up to Jerusalem and took Titus with us. I went to clarify with them what had been revealed to me. At that time I placed before them exactly what I was preaching to the non-Jews. I did this in private with the leaders, those held in esteem by the church, so that our concern would not become a controversial public issue, marred by ethnic tensions, exposing my years of work to denigration and endangering my present ministry. Significantly, Titus, non-Jewish though he was, was not required to be circumcised. While we were in conference we were infiltrated by spies pretending to be Christians, who slipped in to find out just how free true Christians are. Their ulterior motive was to reduce us to their brand of servitude. We didn’t give them the time of day. We were determined to preserve the truth of the Message for you.

As for those who were considered important in the church, their reputation doesn’t concern me. God isn’t impressed with mere appearances, and neither am I. And of course these leaders were able to add nothing to the message I had been preaching. It was soon evident that God had entrusted me with the same message to the non-Jews as Peter had been preaching to the Jews. Recognizing that my calling had been given by God, James, Peter, and John—the pillars of the church—shook hands with me and Barnabas, assigning us to a ministry to the non-Jews, while they continued to be responsible for reaching out to the Jews. The only additional thing they asked was that we remember the poor, and I was already eager to do that.

Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out of line. Here’s the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That’s how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish clique that’s been pushing the old system of circumcision. Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.

But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: “If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you’re not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?”

We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over “non-Jewish sinners.” We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

The Letter of Galatians, Chapter 2 (The Message)

my reading in the Scriptures for june 25, day 5 of Summer and day 176 of the year:

0 notes

dfroza · 4 years

Text

Today’s reading in the ancient book of Psalms and Proverbs

for Tuesday, April 21 of 2020 with Psalm 21 and Proverbs 21, accompanied by Psalm 34 for the 34th day of Spring and Psalm 112 for day 112 of the year

[Psalm 21]

A David Psalm

Your strength, God, is the king’s strength.

Helped, he’s hollering Hosannas.

You gave him exactly what he wanted;

you didn’t hold back.

You filled his arms with gifts;

you gave him a right royal welcome.

He wanted a good life; you gave it to him,

and then made it a long life as a bonus.

You lifted him high and bright as a cumulus cloud,

then dressed him in rainbow colors.

You pile blessings on him;

you make him glad when you smile.

Is it any wonder the king loves God?

that he’s sticking with the Best?

With a fistful of enemies in one hand

and a fistful of haters in the other,

You radiate with such brilliance

that they cringe as before a furnace.

Now the furnace swallows them whole,

the fire eats them alive!

You purge the earth of their progeny,

you wipe the slate clean.

All their evil schemes, the plots they cook up,

have fizzled—every one.

You sent them packing;

they couldn’t face you.

Show your strength, God, so no one can miss it.

We are out singing the good news!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 21 (The Message)

[Psalm 34]

A David Psalm, When He Outwitted Abimelech and Got Away

I bless God every chance I get;

my lungs expand with his praise.

I live and breathe God;

if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy:

Join me in spreading the news;

together let’s get the word out.

God met me more than halfway,

he freed me from my anxious fears.

Look at him; give him your warmest smile.

Never hide your feelings from him.

When I was desperate, I called out,

and God got me out of a tight spot.

God’s angel sets up a circle

of protection around us while we pray.

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—

how good God is.

Blessed are you who run to him.

Worship God if you want the best;

worship opens doors to all his goodness.

Young lions on the prowl get hungry,

but God-seekers are full of God.

Come, children, listen closely;

I’ll give you a lesson in God worship.

Who out there has a lust for life?

Can’t wait each day to come upon beauty?

Guard your tongue from profanity,

and no more lying through your teeth.

Turn your back on sin; do something good.

Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!

God keeps an eye on his friends,

his ears pick up every moan and groan.

God won’t put up with rebels;

he’ll cull them from the pack.

Is anyone crying for help? God is listening,

ready to rescue you.

If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there;

if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.

Disciples so often get into trouble;

still, God is there every time.

He’s your bodyguard, shielding every bone;

not even a finger gets broken.

The wicked commit slow suicide;

they waste their lives hating the good.

God pays for each slave’s freedom;

no one who runs to him loses out.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 34 (The Message)

[Paalm 112]

The Triumph of Faith

Shout in celebration of praise to the Lord!

Everyone who loves the Lord and delights in him

will cherish his words and be blessed beyond expectation.

Their descendants will be prosperous and influential.

Every generation of his godly lovers will experience his favor.

Great blessing and wealth fills the house of the wise,

for their integrity endures forever.

Even if darkness overtakes them,

sunrise-brilliance will come bursting through

because they are gracious to others, so tender and true.

Life is good for the one who is generous and charitable,

conducting affairs with honesty and truth.

Their circumstances will never shake them

and others will never forget their example.

They will not live in fear or dread of what may come,

for their hearts are firm, ever secure in their faith.

Steady and strong, they will not be afraid,

but will calmly face their every foe

until they all go down in defeat.

Never stingy and always generous to those in need,

their lives of influence and honor will never be forgotten,

for they were full of good deeds.

But the wicked take one look at a life lived like this

and they grit their teeth in anger, not understanding their bliss.

The wicked slink away speechless in the darkness that falls,

where hope dies and all their dreams fade away to nothing,

nothing at all!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 112 (The Passion Translation)

[Proverbs 21]

It’s as easy for God to steer a king’s heart for his purposes

as it is for him to direct the course of a stream.

You may think you’re right all the time,

but God thoroughly examines our motives.

It pleases God more when we demonstrate godliness and justice

than when we merely offer him a sacrifice.

Arrogance, superiority, and pride are the fruits of wickedness

and the true definition of sin.

Brilliant ideas pay off and bring you prosperity,

but making hasty, impatient decisions

will only lead to financial loss.

You can make a fortune dishonestly,

but your crime will hold you in the snares of death!

Violent rebels don’t have a chance,

for their rejection of truth and their love of evil

will drag them deeper into darkness.

You can discern that a person is guilty by his devious actions

and the innocence of a person by his honest, sincere ways.

It’s better to live all alone in a rickety shack

than to share a castle with a crabby spouse!

The wicked always crave what is evil;

they’ll show no mercy and get no mercy.

Senseless people learn their lessons the hard way,

but the wise are teachable.

A godly, righteous person has the ability

to bring the light of instruction to the wicked

even though he despises what the wicked do.

If you close your heart to the cries of the poor,

then I’ll close my ears when you cry out to me!

Try giving a secret gift to the one who is angry with you

and watch his anger disappear.

A kind, generous gift goes a long way

to soothe the anger of one who is livid.

When justice is served,

the lovers of God celebrate and rejoice,

but the wicked begin to panic.

When you forsake the ways of wisdom,

you will wander into the realm of dark spirits.

To love pleasure for pleasure’s sake

will introduce you to poverty.

Indulging in a life of luxury

will never make you wealthy.

The wicked bring on themselves

the very suffering they planned for others,

for their treachery comes back to haunt them.

It’s better to live in a hut in the wilderness

than with a crabby, scolding spouse!

In wisdom’s house you’ll find delightful treasures

and the oil of the Holy Spirit.

But the stupid squander what they’ve been given.

The lovers of God who chase after righteousness

will find all their dreams come true:

an abundant life drenched with favor

and a fountain that overflows with satisfaction.

A warrior filled with wisdom ascends into the high place

and releases regional breakthrough,

bringing down the strongholds of the mighty.

Watch your words and be careful what you say,

and you’ll be surprised how few troubles you’ll have.

An arrogant man is inflated with pride—

nothing but a snooty scoffer in love with his own opinion.

Mr. Mocker is his name!

Taking the easy way out is the habit of a lazy man,

and it will be his downfall.

All day long he thinks about all the things that he craves,

for he hasn’t learned the secret that the generous man has learned:

extravagant giving never leads to poverty.

To bring an offering to God with an ulterior motive is detestable,

for it amounts to nothing but hypocrisy.

No one believes a notorious liar,

but the guarded words of an honest man stand the test of time.

The wicked are shameless and stubborn,

but the lovers of God have a holy confidence.

All your brilliant wisdom and clever insight

will be of no help at all if the Lord is against you.

You can do your best to prepare for the battle,

but ultimate victory comes from the Lord God.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 21 (The Passion Translation)

0 notes