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in-the-whisper · 2 years

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so i have been reading the bible for the first time in like five years and oh my god it has sucked so much the bible is so fucking hard to read. (and by read i mean i started with genesis and am currently halfway through Matthew) (i thought the bible was short but it's apparently 700k words long which is longer than the whole of the lord of the rings and the hobbit combined. so . no it isnt short)

two important thoughts for right now:

Life Lesson #1

i genuinely thought for the last like,, ten days that i would have to stop being a christian because as much as i Adore christian philosophy, it has to be grounded in the bible and if the bible is bad then it's all bad

here's part of a journal entry i wrote about it:

I include this because i want you to know that when im looking for answers I Mean Business and i am not above fundamentally changing everything about what i believe based on new evidence. it freaked me the fuck out but i needed to know that if god is evil and i find out about it that i will walk away rather than continue to worship a cruel sadistic God. im not making promises but if you believe in god then you know He Did make promises and one of them was that he loves wisdom, and that it is a good gift, and that he gives good gifts.

my point is that when questioning God, he says ask seek and knock. if he's real then he will show up. if he isn't real it's no longer your problem . \.-./ in my experience he usually shows up even if he takes his time and sometimes it isnt exactly what you want but it's enough to be satisfying (although a three month turn around is kind of insane in biblical terms and he provided me with a woman theologian which i did specifically demand i said i will not speak to a man about rape and i said that means there's nobody for me but Bam apparently there are women who managed to get in there. she's kind of a boss ngl. i also now have a book on theology that answered some of my questions nearly immediately. which is. kind of crazy. my questions typed up are 9 pages long so it's going to be a while ok lmao)

Life Lesson #2

The bible is Not an accessible read. it just isn't. the average person can not pick up the bible, start with genesis, and read through the book of revelation and walk away with ideas about god that are universally true. you would get the big important pieces, god is holy, sin is bad, jesus died for your sins, and he is coming again, repent, love people, love God. but to have a good picture of women's sexuality, rape, violence, war crimes, virginity, sexism, child abuse, murder, and capital punishment? to walk away with an immediate practically applicable moral framework? you will not understand jack shit about the law without research it just isn't going to happen. fortunately for us average people there are scholars who have labored for lifetimes trying to make this information accessible

in other good news Jesus provided us with the Dumb Fuck Version (affectionate): Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. If you can grasp that then you're good to go as far as biblical moral frameworks go, that's the most broadly applicable moral guideline you're gunna get. if you want answers to all your questions (i sure do) you're going to have to ,, suffer for it.

i will come back with more information compiled in a reasonable form but im on my first theology book and it's going to be the first of probably dozens. so i might not say anything for a while we'll see

Lilac, you might be thinking, doesn't the inaccessibility of the scriptures cause massive philosophical / theological problems? I currently think so but I'll let you know o7

#swearing #yeah im feeling really good about it tonight but my mood has been fluctuating between There is Hope and God is Dead #the book im reading is called 'Bloody Brutal and Barbaric?' on the war crimes in the bibme #fascinating and also deeply upsetting read but tbh no worse than the bible so \.-./

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im-still-learning-too · 3 months

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much as im not a fan of the subject, let's talk politics in christianity.

as most people tend to see it, christianity is a western, right-wing, conservative religion. however, that's simply not true. at its core, the bible (especially new testament!!!) doesn't teach anything blatantly political. you may interpret the teachings one way or another. however, that's because (in my opinion) your political stance isn't inherantly important to a biblical mindset. what's important is if those practices go against god's word & morals. this goes BOTH ways!!! a person you agree with politically isn't always going to be a /good/ person. politics≠morality!!!

something that i want people to understand is that biblically, jesus was apolitical. that is to say, he never truly gave a political opinion. in fact, when asked about political things (eg. taxes) he essentially dodges the question by giving a somewhat confusing answer.

however. he did preach biblical morality: treating people well, being kind to social outcasts, being respectful and loving to EVERYONE, even those who would have hated him. these traits are why some people consider jesus a socialist/left leaning.

if we look at biblical records, we can see that jesus broke some of the strict social/religious rules (working on the sabbath, dining with outcasts, treating women with decency, etc.) and, although it was rumored by many of his followers, he never aligned himself with the zionist political party of the day that, at the time, was hoping someone would overthrow the roman government and have israel lead its own state (i'm not about to get into the implications that has for today's status).

essentially, jesus never once allied himself with a political agenda. which is fair, because again, that's not what he's about.

all this to say, according to jesus, you should just try your best to be a good person to everyone. love your neighbor and don't get too worked up about the principle of people's ideals, worry about whether or not they're a genuinely kind human being.

now i'll be honest, some people's political ideals are incompatible with christianity (eg. they reject religion/god), but i'll let u look into that because i don't know enough about that and i don't wanna mislead anyone

have a lovely day!!!! thanks for reading<3

#christianity #c rambles #religion #politics #religion and politics #christian #morality #what does the bible teach about morality?#bible #i didn't reference the verses but if you want i can go back in and do that !!#not an expert #feel free to add on #<3 #peace & love

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automatismoateo · 1 year

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I don't need to respect people's religion and I'm tired of being forced to pretend via /r/atheism

I don't need to respect people's religion and I'm tired of being forced to pretend

I have been an atheist for most of my life, and I used to be able to just live and let live. Then I actually fucking read the bible (all of the old testament and most of the new) and I was genuinely horrified by what I read. It was so so so much worse than I thought. Do you have to pretend to agree with people's political opinions? Do you have to bite your tongue and pretend to not disagree? No. So then why is it such a crime to tell people that god isn't real and that the religion is immoral. Why is it that as soon as someone is daydreaming about something you can't critique it. As soon as the viewpoint is based in blind conviction. Religion is inherently political and it is fundamental worldview and perception of reality. It is as political than politics. It is a weltanschauung. Religion is seen as like this separate holy untouchable entity, like you get special exemptions for it — in the United States you get a massively different set of protections when you phrase your actions as religious rather than practical.

In Abrahamic religions, a fundamental tenet is that the texts are the transcribed words and revelations of God. You can't cherrypick it, it's not how it works. If you follow an Abrahamic religion, you worship an all-knowing being that believes that slavery is divinely moral, as is religious genocide. And the bible translations do so much heavy lifting to cover up just how fucked up the religion is. "Love thy neighbor" is actually a translation of "love thy kinsmen" (fellow Israelite). The entire set of rules in Leviticus is explicitly framing the ethnic supremacy of the Israelites and there are different sets of laws you can do to them and foreigners. Same with "thou shalt not kill." Actually a translation of a word that means roughly "unjustly kill." There is a laundry list of things you can kill people for, including "idolatry" (not being jewish, later christian and muslim). You are not allowed to impose chattel slaver on Israelite males, but you are on both foreigners and women. I'm not even gonna get into the rape and brutal misogyny. If you have read those passages and believe that is the word of god? I have nothing to say to you A lot of people have just not read the bible, but those who have and still believe in it? It is so deeply unnerving to me. Religion has and will continue to do untold damage to humanity on so many levels. And it is not just the people who weaponize and cherrypick religion, the abrahamic religions are fundamentally rotten to me. I do not respect religion and I am not going to indulge and pretend to believe and hold my tongue.

Submitted December 14, 2022 at 08:06AM by Several-Lifeguard-77 (From Reddit https://ift.tt/PJW1y3a)

#reddit

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sproke3t · 2 years

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I need to put something out there. Something that I wish was told to me before I managed to obtain the information from scratch for myself as a young queer teen of a Christian religion. God promotes love. Everyone who is familiar with the name of God is aware of the aforementioned fact. And yes, when faced with his word, the word of the scripture, there is no way in which we, his followers, are capable of denying his abolition of lust, particularly between those of the same sex. And of course, like many commandments, that Christian regulation has not been kept by all peoples. I've noted and genuinely feared the approach taken by heterosexual people, even without the aid of religion, to remove the practice of intimate relations between those of the same sex by brute force and hatred. Why does anyone suppose this method must be utilized against us people of the LGBTQIA community? There's no reason to it, not to hatred. Hatred is dissimilar to justice in so many ways. The Lord may have stated once that men are not to sleep with men, that women are not to sleep with women, and humans are not to sleep with beasts. But the indesputably factual truth is that he stated numerous times that we are to love each other. Furthermore, the Lord advised us never to attempt to enact justice upon each other in his place, for that is his job alone. God states that one day, and within that day alone, justice will be achieved by his hand. So, in that case, I would like to know the reason behind those who cherrypick biblical word and utilize God's name to punish people of the same sex for... sin? Who are those who hate their neighbors and justify their actions with the Bible to abolish others for sin? I was raised in America, a country that is supposed to be free to all people, but even within this country things are not right whatsoever. And even in what is supposedly a free country, in the case of the rights of queer people and those of religion, I know that we have failed. This truly does not have to continue. There is no possible means of ridding ourselves of hatred, but have the capacity to alter what we obtain with it. So, maybe it is in our best interest as our community follows the Lord, to exhibit love toward another and allow them to indulge in whatever choice they make pertaining to following which path they select in their lives. Many may not agree with my testament, but I opine that God permitted us the voices we have and the right to choose whether or not to follow him. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community have made the decision to act with the church in Christian community. In these cases, they often choose to retain virginity within their relationships, or in most cases, they do not. However, as you read a rambling testament from a random asexual gay on the internet, please attempt to retain one important message. God loves every one of those he calls his children. And his biblical accounts do not promote his followers or anyone else to exhibit hatred towards people of any sexual identity or community. Whether you, as a reader, believe or not, please know that you are loved by some. And the Christian community is not perfect. We've caused harm, possibly to you. So this is me telling you that I'm sorry. Things will get better, no matter your identity or beliefs.

#LGBTQ+#LGBTQIA #christian blog #Protestant church #lgbtq community

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wxldchxld · 3 years

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This started out as like, a light piece just to describe what Beck’s workspace looks like and I won’t lie I’m a little obsessed with it. People always ask me like how tf Harper and Beck get along and... this. It’s this. Harper turns into a big sappy baby who lives off of nothing but Loving Her Wife Juice.

I’ll probably go back and edit this a couple of times for typos and other things but I love it so much I just wanna post it rn. And I won’t be putting it under a cut so y’all will have to live with it.

Harper knocked, almost tentatively, on the open door. From outside she could smell the intoxicating aroma of fir trees and herbs, sweetened by dried apples and candied citrus, drawing the attention of any passersby and calling them in. But she lingered there, knocking a second time when she got no response. Somewhere an old record player was crackling as Judy Garland sang about far away places over a rainbow, and a warm voice was humming along with it. Harper gently ran her thumb over one of the embroidered silk foxes among flower petals embedded into the translucent curtain that covered the door. The fabric, a deep ocean blue, shuffled under her attention, and the little creatures looked as if they were dancing.

Even on the threshold of Beck’s workshop, the world felt so slow. Time didn’t abide by schedules and obligations. It flowed like a lazy river on the precipice of winter, slowly but surely crusting over with ice. If she stood still long enough, would it freeze entirely? Or would the warm glow that haloed her lover forever melt away the sharpest crystals and encourage it to move on?

She didn’t need to knock. She didn’t need permission to enter. Not only did she doubt Beck would care, but the building was hers. The city--in its own way--was hers. It was her nature to utterly and completely possess things---to take them into herself to keep. If someone asked, she’d likely have even said Beck was hers.

But she had no claim over this place. It was a feeling that went far deeper than any deed or contract or organization. The magic here was so perfectly interwoven with it that it felt like it belonged to Beck.

Inside the room, there was a little tsk and a rich, quiet laugh. “What are you doing hanging out there like a bat? The door is open.”

The door was always open. Beck still clung to the old superstitions of their people. Ancient rules about hospitality and ways witches ought to behave. Rules made in a time when their people had been valued and listened to, long before Christians had turned them into a target and Google had rendered them obsolete. But Beck claimed it wasn’t about people, it was about magic, and its strange laws that were shrouded in mystery. Magic, she said, liked to know its witches were always open and welcome to it. In return for a witch’s “proper” hospitality, magic would sweep away the bad luck that so often got caught behind closed doors. And--again according to Beck--spirits were much the same, and closing the door on them might cause otherwise benign entities to turn dark with anger.

But Harper had been raised by much less traditional witches. One specifically that would have worn her back end raw with a wooden spoon for letting the heat escape and airing their business out in front of their neighbors.

She pushed the curtain aside and stepped into the room, leaving any lingering thoughts of her mother laid on the doorstep with the rest of her worries.

The apartment was an explosion of barely organized chaos. Dried herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling or were pressed between the thick, heavy pages of spellbooks laying on the shelves beside jars stuffed with candied fruits and tea leaves. Knitwork and embroidery and tapestries and clothing in all states of completion were laid out on tables or hung up from the wall. Live plants in brightly colored pots lounged in the sunlight that poured in from the huge windows on the far side of the wall. There was a collection of open-faced cabinets filled with canisters of wood and glass and stone that sat in clusters with no apparent system of coordination. Above her the high ceilings had been turned into an aerial playground of wooden bridges, little boxes, and plush cushions either nailed into the wall or floating in midair among the drying plants where her most cantankerous familiar could sit and look down on the apartment like a goddess. A fire roared energetically to her right, and to her left there was a small kitchen where an enormous pot of sliced apples was being attended by an enchanted spoon.

It was nothing like the penthouse they shared when Harper left her work to come home. But oddly enough Beck’s workshop didn’t feel cramped or chaotic. It was warm. It was inviting. Everything melted together on the merit that no two things were remotely related to one another in any sensible way. A way that suggested every single item had been purposefully hand picked or handmade by the master of the domain and placed precisely where they were meant to be.

And there she sat, behind it all, nestled among the plants in front of a wall of windows. Her feet were curled up in the plush, gliding rocker beside her, and she was smiling up at her through a halo of sunlight. In this place she was a queen, and her crown was made of braids entangled with wildflowers and encrusted with knitting needles and crochet hooks that she had stuck away for safekeeping and promptly forgotten about. She was holding a little stuffed creature in one hand, and pulling a needle and thread in the other.

Beck always seemed fondly amused by the slow, reverent way Harper entered her domain. Their eyes met for a few gentle seconds, and then Beck looked to her right, where something shimmering and half formed in the sunlight began to move. Harper tried to focus on the spirit, but it collapsed in on itself and turned into a yellow moth as big as her hand, and lazily fluttered into the shadow of a flower by the window.

“That doesn’t unnerve you?” Harper asked, taking a seat in an armchair across from her girlfriend.

Again the blonde let out a breezy laugh that harmonized with the music in the background.

“You spend half your nights in an enchanted necropolis in some undisclosed abyss with only dead people and a renegade faerie for company, and an air spirit unnerves you.” She said, a playful perk in her brow.

Harper scoffed in feigned offense. “Dead things don’t think. They don’t watch me. I don’t like to be watched.”

“What a shame. You’re quite the sight to look at.”

Now Harper laughed, a rare, genuine chuckle of amusement. She wasn’t modest by any means, but Beck’s flattery could still make her heart race and her stomach fill with butterflies. As if it were the first time, even though compliments fell from Beck like droplets of rain in a spring shower.

“Well it’s a privilege. And it’s only bestowed on people I think highly of.”

Beck snorted soundlessly. “I can’t imagine there are many of those.”

“Only one, currently. And I’d let her do anything she pleased.” Harper replied. There was a small, suggestive grin on her lips, and a devilish twinkle in her eye.

“Oh?” Both of Beck’s brows raised and the hand holding her needle pressed against her heart as if she were shocked. “Then I guess I have someone to be jealous of, because you certainly don’t let me do whatever I want.”

Again she laughed, and Beck joined in with her. Harper rolled her eyes, her quick tongue failing her, and said lightly. “Shut up.”

“See?! There it is right there. Always bossing me around.” The little witch clicked her tongue in fake disapproval.

“Anything you want to me.” Harper corrected, still grinning so wide that it hurt her cheeks. “The fact that I don’t let you wreak havoc all across the tristate area is not the same.”

Beck held up both her hands in surrender. “Hey, you say potato, I say tomato.”

“That’s-” Harper halted her correction when she saw the look on Beck’s face that suggested her point was about to be proven perfectly. “Absolutely right.”

It was Beck’s turn to roll her eyes, and then she returned her attention to the project in her hands. Harper leaned forward just a little to try and catch a subtle glimpse, and without a word from the necromancer, Beck raised up the stuffed animal to show.

“Essi has decided that she’s infatuated with snails.” She said, shaking her head.

Esteri was a frequent visitor in their home. Harper could remember when she was born how Beck had practically lived at Frankie’s house and brought the infant home with her when her friend needed rest. Midori and Jari had done just the same, and the door to her penthouse had practically revolved for months as the gaggle of friends came and went. Essi had just turned three a short while ago, and she’d grown into a wild-eyed, challenging little girl. Consequently, one of Beck’s favorite hobbies consisted of indulging her every whim and encouraging her to be as difficult as possible. If that meant making a snail to feed her newest fancy, Harper knew that “Aunty Beck” was more than happy to provide.

“It’s not surprising, between you and Dori I don’t know who lets her play in the dirt more.”

“We play in the garden.” Beck corrected.

Harper refused to give ground. “Gardens are mostly dirt.”

“It’s important for witches to know how to plant and grow.” Her playful tone had gotten a little more serious. Not angry, but carrying a thread of absolute belief. “You could use a bit more time in the garden. And the sun for that matter.”

“Alas my love,” She sighed dramatically, “I am a creature of the night.”

Something soft bounced off her nose and fell into her lap. It was the snail. It’s stupid, smiling face laughing up at her.

“Are you throwing things at me now?” She teased, “Do you really want to start this with me?”

“You’re the one who said I could do whatever I wanted to you.” Beck wasn’t even bothering to contain her wolfish grin.

“You. Not this creature you’ve created. I can’t take an attack like this sitting down. I have a reputation to uphold.” She stood up, stuffed animal clenched in her hand, and slowly walked toward the fire place.

“Don’t you dare!” Beck squealed. They both knew it was an empty threat, that Harper would never disrespect the woman she loved so brazenly, but Beck threw the blankets off her lap and scrambled to her feet in a flash. Harper held the stuffed creature high above her head as Beck latched onto her.

There was a flush of heat that certainly didn’t come from any fire as their bodies pressed together. Beck was all soft curves over surprisingly strong muscles and blue eyes that glittered in the flames.

“Give me that back!” She demanded, trying to sound stern and reaching hopelessly for the toy. The pair stumbled and fell against a wall. When it shook a cascade of lavender petals and thyme leaves peppered them like confetti.

The necromancer curled one of her legs behind her lover’s and held up the animal higher. “I never knew you had this kind of rage inside of you. You know maybe you should go to therapy.”

“I never knew you were so annoyi-OH” Harper swept them both to the side, and Beck only managed to stay upright because she was being held against her so tightly. The little witch huffed, her cheeks flushing. “Oh I’m going to knock you over the side of the head so hard it smarts for a month!”

“See! There it is again! That rage!” Harper teased, merciless. A little childish, even. “Beck it’s me! Please, remember you loved me once.”

“You’re too rotten for loving. You give me that toy right now!”

Harper was shaking with laughter, her free hand wrapped around Beck’s waist as she strained. Beck was laughing too, intermittently. Every few seconds her angry façade would break just long enough for a smile and a chuckle that made her quiver against her.

“Why are you so godsdamned tall?! Was your mother a giant?” Beck’s hand had a hold on her wrist and her nails were just barely scratching the skin that ignited a dangerous excitement in Harper.

“A troll, actually. It’s a wonder I turned out so pretty.” Harper carefully guided them through the room backing them into the perfect position. When her hand was at just the right height, she felt the toy roughly ripped away from her, and the enormous black feline leaped over the both of them with it in her mouth, and (likely sensing what was about to happen) ran out into the hall.

"They say the devil has a pretty face---and Angrboda you’re giving that back!” The smaller witch tried to twist to look at her familiar, but Harper had pulled her tight against her body. Now with her other hand free she tilted up her lover’s chin and kissed her softly, the both of them still intermittently giggling.

They turned again, fingers tangled in one another’s hair, lips locked, the air between them dissolving until her lungs burned but still neither of them pulled away. Not until Harper had backed the witch up to the armchair. She gave her lover a rough push and watched her fall back into the seat, panting and grinning in delight.

She placed a knee on either side of Beck and trapped her against the cushions, reveling in the way she shivered. Her head stooped to whisper in the little witch’s ear. “And what would you let the devil do to you?”

Beck's hands were tightly gripping her hips, trying to pull her even closer. She smelled like apples and wildflowers and everything Harper loved in the world. She was everything Harper loved in the world. Perhaps even the only thing she loved in the world of the living.

“I’d let her do anything she wants.” Beck said beneath her, and the record came to a scratchy stop, and all Harper could hear was the crackle of the fire and the door slamming shut behind them.

#drabbles #my drabbles #i love them so much tho omgggggg

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officialyourdailyinspiration · 3 years

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Devotional Hours Within the Bible

by J.R. Miller

Awake, My Glory

"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn!" - Psalm 57:7-8

The fifty-seventh Psalm is attributed to David. The time to which it is set down in the title is, "when he fled from Saul in the cave." The writer cries to God for refuge. His soul is among lions. His enemies have prepared a net for his steps. Then he cries as if to arouse himself to joy. "Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre!" The verses of the Psalm which follow give us the music which flows forth from the awakened strings. "I will praise you, O Lord, among the people.. .. For your mercy is great unto the heavens."

Many of us need at times to make this same call upon ourselves to awake. The harps are hanging silent on the walls. The figure of instruments of music sleeping is very suggestive. They are capable of giving forth rich melodies - but not a note is heard from them. There are two thoughts suggested by this prayer. One is that life is meant to be glad, joyous. It is pictured as a harp. The other is, the splendor of life, "Awake, my glory!"

It is to a life of joy and song we are called to awake. Life is a harp. There is a legend of an instrument that hung on a castle wall. Its strings were broken. It was covered with dust. No one understood it, and no fingers could bring music from it. One day a strange visitor appeared at the castle. He saw this silent harp, took it into his hands, reverently brushed away the dust, tenderly reset the broken strings, and then played upon it, and the glad music filled all the castle. This is a parable of every life. Life is a harp, made to give out music - but broken and silent until Christ comes. Then the song awakes. We are called to awake to joy and joy-giving.

Christ's life was a perpetual song. He gave out only cheer. He even started to His cross singing a hymn. When He arose He started songs with His first words, "All hail!" "Peace be unto you." What music did you start yesterday, as you went about? What song is in your heart singing today? "Awake, harp and lyre!"

But there is something else. "Awake, my glory!" Glory is a great word. It has many synonyms and definitions. It means brightness, splendor, luster, honor, greatness, excellence. Every human life has glory in itself. Did you ever try to answer the question, "What is man?" It would take a whole library of books to describe the several parts of a life. Merely to tell of the mechanism of a human hand, to give a list of the marvelous things the hand has done, would fill a volume. Or the eye, with its wonderful structure; the ear, with its delicate functions; the brain, with its amazing processes; the heart, the lungs - each of the organs in a bodily organism is so wonderful, that a whole lifetime might be devoted to the study of anatomy alone - and the subject would not be exhausted!

Think, too, of the intellectual part, with all that the mind of man has achieved in literature, in invention, in science, in art. Think of the moral part, man's immortal nature, that in man which makes him like God, capable of holding communion with God, of belonging to the family of God. When we begin to think even most superficially of what man is, we see an almost infinite meaning in the word "glory" as defining life. "Awake, my glory!"

No one, even in the highest flights of his imagination, ever has begun to dream of the full content of his own life, what it is at present; then what it may become under the influence of divine grace and love. Even now, man redeemed is but "a little lower than God." Then, "it is not yet made manifest what we shall be." The full glory is hidden, unrevealed, as a marvelous rose is hidden in a little bud in springtime. All that we know about our future - is that we shall be like Christ. We are awed even by such a dim hint of what we shall be - when the work in us is completed.

The call to awake implies that the glory which is in us - is asleep. It is a call to all that is in us - of beauty, of power, of strength, of good, of love - to be quickened to reach its best. We are not aware of the grandeur of our own lives. We do not think of ourselves as infolding splendor, as having in us the beauty of immortal life. We travel over seas to look at scenes of grandeur, to wander through are galleries, to study the noble achievements of architecture; while we have in ourselves greater grandeur, rarer beauty, sublimer art - than any land under heaven has to show us. Let us pray to be made conscious of our own glory. "Awake, my glory!"

We are to call out these splendors. The harp is standing silent - when it might be pouring out entrancing music. The hand is folded and idle - when it might be doing beautiful things: painting a picture, that would add to the sum of the world's beauty; doing a deed of kindness, that would give gladness to a gentle heart; visiting a sick or suffering one and winning the commendation, "You did it unto Me!" The power of sympathy is sleeping in your heart - when it might be awakened and be adding strength to human weakness on some of life's battlefields, making struggling ones braver, inspiring them to victory.

Suppose, now, that all the capacity for helping others, lying unawakened in each one's heart and hand, were brought out for just one week and made to do their best - what a vast ministry of kindness would be performed! Suppose that all of each one's capacity, for praising God were called out, that every silent harp and every sleeping psaltery should be waked up and should begin to pour out praise - what a chorus of song would break upon the air! One of the Psalms begins with the call, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" That is what this call, "Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre!" means. If we truly wish our glory to be awakened, we must seek to have the best in us called out to its fullest capacity of service.

This story comes from Japan and tells how only the Bible can prove itself true. A man had obtained a Bible and became much interested in it. After reading it, he said, "This is a fine thing in theory - but I wonder how it would work in practice ." On the train on which he was traveling was a lady, who, he was told, was a Christian. He watched her attentively to see how she would act, how her conduct would illustrate the Book in which she believed. He said, "If I can see anything in her conduct like this Book, I will believe it." Before the day was over he had seen in her so many little acts of unselfishness and kindness, so many examples of patience and thoughtfulness, so much consideration for the comfort of her fellow passengers, that he was deeply impressed and resolved to make the Bible the guide and inspirer of his whole life. Thus it is that the glory of our life should be awakened.

In one of Paul's letters to Timothy he gave this young man an earnest charge. Timothy was not living at his best. Paul bade him to stir up the gift of God that was in him. Timothy had abilities - but he was not using them worthily. God had put into his life spiritual gifts, capacities for great usefulness - but Timothy was not exercising His gifts to the full. The glory in him needed to be waked up. "Stir up the gift of God that is in you," bade Paul. The picture in his words, is that of a fire smoldering, covered up, not burning brightly, not giving out its heat. Timothy was bidden to stir up the fire that it might burn into a hot flame. Many Christians need the same exhortation. They have the fire in their hearts - but it needs stirring up. "Awake, my glory!"

Do you think you have been doing your best? Can you think of a day in the past week, which you made altogether as beautiful as you could have made it? Could not the artist's picture have been a little more beautiful, a little broader and nobler in its technique, a little finer in its sentiment? Could not the singer have sung her song a little better, with a little more heart, a little more sweetly! Could not the boys and girls at school have done a little better work and have been a little gentler among their schoolmates? Could not the men have been a little better Christians out in the world; and the women better, kindlier neighbors? The best day any of us ever lived - might we not have made it a little holier, a little fuller of divine love, a little more sacred in its memories? Must not every one of us confess that the glory in us needs awakening?

No doubt the body is a clog to the mind and the soul. Many of us have burning desires for holiness in our hearts - but somehow we have not the power to express the desires. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote to a friend, "You cannot sleep; well, I cannot keep awake." In the lethargic condition of his body, his magnificent intellectual powers were held as in a stupor. No doubt many men with great spiritual fervor are unable to express their earnestness of soul, because they are hampered by an unwholesome somnolence. We need to call upon our souls - to wake up! We need to call upon God - to wake us up.

"Awake, my glory!" The word gives dignity, splendor, honor, greatness, divineness to our life. It calls us to make our lives worthy of the name. The lowliest human life - is glorious in its character, in its possibility, in its destiny.

Recently a Sevres vase, some sixteen inches high, was put up at auction. It was dated 1763. No history of it was given. No one knew where it came from, who made it, or who its owners had been. But the vase was so exquisite in its beauty and so surely genuine, that it brought at auction twenty-one thousand dollars. Yet this rare and costly vase, was once only a mere lump of common clay and a few moist colors. The value was in the toil and skill of the artist who shaped and colored it with such delicate patience and such untiring effort. He did his best, and the vase today witnesses to his faithfulness.

If we would only always do our best in all our work, we would live worthily of the glory that is in us.

The Parthenon at Athens was encircled within by a sculptured frieze, five hundred and twenty feet in length. It was chiefly the work of Phidias. The figures on the frieze were life-size, and stood fifty feet above the floor of the temple. For nearly two thousand years the work remained undisturbed and nearly in its original state. By the explosion of a bomb-shell, the frieze was shattered about the close of the seventeenth century and fell upon the pavement. Then it was found that in every smallest detail the work was perfect. Phidias wrought, as he said, for the eyes of the gods - for no human eyes saw his work at its great height. It is in this spirit, that we should do all our work - not for men's eyes - but for God's. We should do perfect work, for no other work is worthy of the doer. "Awake, my glory!" Do your smallest task as beautifully as if you were doing a piece of heavenly ministry, and were working for the very eye of the Master Himself!

Let us set higher ideals for ourselves. We are not merely dust - we are immortal spirits. We are children of God - and this dignifies the smallest, lowliest things we do. Sweeping a room for Christ - is glorious work. Cobbling shoes may be made as radiant service in heaven's sight - as angel ministry before God's throne. The glory is in us - and we must live worthily of it. Let us call out our best skill, our rarest power, for everything we do. Our days should be ascending days in the scale, each one made more beautiful than the last. We never get to the best opportunity - tomorrow will bring us into a more heavenly atmosphere, than today's.

This is the call to us in all life. There is no end to life. There is always something beyond. Life is immortal. When our glory awakens and presses on, it will always find something beyond. Only heaven is the end.

"Awake, my glory!" Shall we not make this demand upon ourselves! We are asleep - and cannot wake up. Yet we must wake up - or we shall perish spiritually. The parable speaks of those whom their Lord had set to watch - but whom He warned against sleeping. "Lest when he comes and finds them sleeping ." We need to pray for nothing more earnestly, than for power to keep awake.

We must get awake first ourselves. "Awake, my glory!" Then it is a great thing to be an awakener of others. Some men have this power in large measure. Everyone who comes near them is quickened, becomes more widely awake, is inspired to live better. Christ awakened the glory of His disciples. They were plain men, without the education of the schools, without the art of eloquence; but they lived with their Master, and He taught them, put Himself into their lives, then sent them forth. Every particle of the glory in them - was awakened, and they went out and woke up the world. That is what God wants us to do. Get awakened yourself, and then wake up your friends.

Shall we be content to stay asleep any longer? Must our harps still hang silent on the wall, giving out no music? Must the glory in us continue to sleep? Shall we not rather call upon ourselves to awake and then call upon God to awake us? Then our lives shall open into beauty and into power. Then shall we be the people God wants us to be!

#Devotional Hours Within the Bible #J.R. Miller #Awake My Glory #Psalm 57:7-8 #March 19 #2021

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buzzdixonwriter · 4 years

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The Bible Considered As A Math Textbook

Word problems.

We all remember them, right?

“If Johnny has three apples and Susy has two, how many apples do they have put together?”

Y’know what we never discussed with word problems?

Did Johnny and Susy really exist.

Mind you, they might very well have.

Maybe one of the authors of the text had two children named Johnny and Susy, and maybe one day they were helping with the grocery shopping and they got some apples to put in the cart, and maybe the author thought, “Hmm, that’s a good example; I can put that in the book.”

Maybe.

Or maybe it doesn’t matter one white if they’re real or not, or even the specific details of the example so long as the principle being taught is true.

A typical math textbook might be a blend of factual and fictional examples.

“Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 and died in 1865. How old was Lincoln when he died?”

Lincoln really existed, and there’s a wealth of fascinating material about him and his place in history, and much to be discussed over things he did and opinions he held, but that’s immaterial to the principle being taught.

That principle is true whether it’s about the very real Abraham Lincoln or the entirely fiction Mickey Mouse.

The answer in Lincoln’s case -- 56 years -- is also immaterial and often either utterly pointless or complete wrong in other cases.

“56 years” is not the answer to how many apples Johnny and Susy have, is it?

So bear that thought in mind when you read the Bible.

It doesn’t matter if it’s factual or not so long as the underlying principles are true.

. . .

There are big hunks of the Bible that are absolutely factual. Even the most hardcore atheist must acknowledge the facts depicted in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles reflect bona fide historical events and personages, even if those facts are interpreted through the lens of scribes and historians who saw their God guiding and directing those events.

Are the books of Daniel and Ruth and Esther true? Well, it’s doubtful they’re genuine histories since they were written long after the events they depict occurred, but there’s no reason to doubt they reflect events that actually did occur (again, the persons writing them down looking at the world through the lens of a true believer).

The commentaries of the various prophets? They no doubt reflect a cultural snapshot of something that was going on in ancient Judea and Israel at that time, but they don’t present themselves as detailed linear factual accounts.

Joshua and Judges? We probably do have some actual history mixed in there, but there’s more than a little hagiography and quite a few cautionary tales as well.

Exodus? Not a lot of evidence (read “hardly any” as in “practically none”) to support the Cecil B. DeMille version of events. Clearly it reflects something that happened in the past to the people we eventually came to know as the Jews, but exactly what and how factually accurate is up for grabs.

Genesis? I’d say from Abram forward we’re discussing real personages and real events -- perhaps garbled through the lens of time and the interpretations / bias of those recounting them -- but some core factual basis to most of that (there was property and birthrights and real estate involved; people were keeping closer track of those things).

Before Abraham? I think the ur-story of Cain and Abel probably has a factual basis: A brother killing his sibling in a fit of religious jealousy sounds like the prehistoric equivalent of Tiger King and probably got passed around a lot of campfires for many, many generations. Noah and the great flood? We’ve got evidence pointing to an ice age ending and flooding coastal and river towns, but not direct evidence of that particular story. The garden of Eden? Maybe a dimly remembered account of climate change as the ice age ended. Adam and Eve? Mitochondrial Eve is not the same as Biblical Eve, and there’s an enormous number of factual and logical errors throughout that story.

And if you want to skip ahead to the New Testament, there is no serious argument that there wasn’t an eccentric first century rabbi who preached a radical interpretation of Jewish scripture that got him in trouble with the local and imperial authorities, that he was executed by the Romans, and that his followers whatever the objective facts might actually be claimed he rose from the dead.

Every contemporary and near-contemporary scribe and scholar from that era -- Christian / Jewish / pagan -- agrees on those facts: Eccentric rabbi / radical teaching / local trouble / imperial execution / claims of resurrection.

Nobody thinks the basic facts are fictional.

The Book of Acts? Appears to be factual in places where it can be checked against contemporary accounts, certainly not obviously false in the remaining portions (though one can argue they are open to interpretation).

The epistles? We know for a fact many of them are not written by the persons they are purportedly written by, and it’s another fair argument to wonder how much of that is simply summarizing an apostle’s teachings and how much is some temporal authority trying to hammer their person point home by claiming it came from Jesus or his disciples.

Revelation? That one we know is a coded commentary of problems contemporary Christians faced in the first century AD, it’s later 18th century reinterpretation as a step by step guide to things to come is about as pertinent as deciding Johnny and Susy’s shoe sizes.

And all this excludes the portions the various books and passages of the Bible that clearly indicate they are metaphorical or fictional in nature.

Focusing on the facts of the Bible is as useful as focusing on the facts of a math textbook: There may be some in there, but that’s not what the book is about.

Focusing on the underlying truth as found in the principles taught is far more germane.

. . .

So what are those truths?

A lot of folks -- primarily Christians -- go around shouting “56!” or “5!” as the case may be.

In particular the Christian focus on eternal salvation vs eternal damnation as espoused by many evangelists.

It's my understanding that most contemporary Jewish thought re an afterlife does not focus on "getting into heaven" (to use a broad but inaccurate term) as a goal but more on "live righteously" (with the possible implication "...so you will be judged favorably") instead.

From what I've read of Jewish teachings BCE on the matter, they viewed any afterlife as a waiting zone of sorts until God decides what to do next; any Jewish views of heaven and / or hell in the context of Christian or Islamic teachings comes after the first century CE.

Rabbi Hillel (whom Jesus quoted directly) said the two greatest teachings were to love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

We don’t love God if we don’t obey Him, and if we don’t love our fellow human beings, we aren’t obeying God.

Ergo our love of God is expressed through our love of other human beings.

How is that love expressed?

Treat others as you wish to be treated.

Inflict no harm you can avoid.

Protect those who need protection; at the very least, don’t add to their misery.

If you want to be forgiven, forgive.

If you want to avoid judgment, don’t judge others.

This life and everything you think you possess in it will eventually vanish in an instant.

All any of us ever leave is the harm or the good we have done.

Don’t worry about tomorrow.

We face enough troubles today.

To love God, love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Love your neighbor.

Love.

#Chrsistianity #Jesus #religion #Rabbi Hillel #morality #ethics #things of the spirit

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cruciformity · 4 years

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What does the Bible say about false reports and conspiracy theories?

Perhaps the internet is not the best place to find truthful witness and genuine humility but I find it particularly disturbing when self professed Christians abandon these virtues in their posts and comments. To be clear, it is not for me to judge individuals, but what I want to highlight is a negative trend in which honesty and humbleness cease to be regarded as essential attributes for practicing Christians, instead being seen as things that can be set aside when inconvenient, most notably when trying to "score points" in a debate or argument.

The Bible is abundantly clear on bearing false witness, for example: "A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will not escape." (Proverbs 19:5). One of the Ten Commandments is quite simply "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16). The references are not limited to the Old Testament: "So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another." (Ephesians 4:25)

The Ninth Commandment is later expanded: "1 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice" (Exodus 23:1-2)

One of the most common forms of bearing false witness on the internet is the inventing and distribution of conspiracy theories. From the first verse of Exodus 23, it is absolutely clear that this is contrary to God's Will: "You shall not spread a false report". Of course those disseminating falsehoods will claim that they thought it was true. It is for those individuals to know if they really think that deep in their hearts where God can see, but even if they do, it is incumbent upon each of us to do our best not to deceive others whether intentionally or not.

This means fact checking information that we receive by going beyond reading our favourite news outlet, asking within our social media echo chamber or listening to the politician we like the most. Knowing that we have naturally and purposely surrounded ourselves with sources and people with similar opinions to our own, it is essential that we make an effort to examine a broad cross-section of views on any given issue. Where the majority disagree with the facts of a story doing the rounds on our preferred outlet or in our community, then we should be wary of propagating it lest it be untrue.

We can see in the Bible how the desire to spread false information to help our side to victory ties together several things that God regards as abominations:

"16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, 19 a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family." (Proverbs 6: 16-20)

It is "a heart that devises wicked plans" and "a lying tongue" that first develops a conspiracy theory which may be based on words from "a lying witness who testifies falsely". By being complicit in the scheme, those who then disseminate the false report have "feet that hurry to run to evil". The result of its spread is often "discord" or the shedding of "innocent blood" in the worst case literally, but certainly metaphorically. Many of those involved feel that their side's superiority warrants them the right to use whatever means necessary to win, whether fair or foul - they have "haughty eyes".

Aside from the innocents negatively impacted by conspiracy theories, another disastrous outcome is the stifling of the Christian witness. How can we spread the Good News if we are devoting our efforts to manufacturing and distributing conspiracy theories? And even if we do manage to squeeze in some time for God's work, who will listen to the words emanating from a tongue they just saw bearing false witness a few moments before?

We are called to love neighbour and even enemy and we can see clearly what this love requires in these famous verses: "4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth." (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

#conspiracy theory #Christ #jesus #christlike #Christianity #faith #cruciform #cruciformity #cruciform theology

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ladyofpurple · 4 years

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answer all of the questions!!

holy SHIT ok bless you omg

(sorry it's a full day late i took this shit SERIOUSLY. don't ask me how many hours this took, i was in A Mood™️ last night. removed the ones already answered xoxo)

angel; have you ever been in love?

yeah. didn't end too well, but i loved him.

petal; favorite novel and author?

this is like asking me to pick a favorite child. i guess favorite author would be stephen king, if only based entirely on the sheer quantity of his books i own alone. favorite book would probably be special topics in calamity physics by marisha pessl, and i'm only saying that because it's been my go-to response for years. i have lots of favorite books. ask me again in five minutes and i'll give you another one.

honey perfume; favorite perfume/scent?

freshly made coffee. lilacs. jasmine. cut grass. the ground after it rains. chocolate chip cookies in the oven. cigarette smoke on skin. my mom's shampoo. my grandma. my dog when he's just had a bath. thanksgiving dinner. acrylic paint on canvas. sawdust. that one cologne i can't name but can smell on a guy from a mile away. mulled cranberry and apple juice. vanilla. coconut. fresh laundry. peppermint.

sweet pea; what’s your zodiac?

virgo sun, pisces moon, scorpio rising ✨

softie; talk about your sexuality.

i'm biromantic asexual, primarily attracted to men more than women (but have had too many crushes on girls to consider myself het), generally sex repulsed when it comes to the thought of having it myself. i prefer to call myself queer in passing conversation, it's easier than explaining asexuality and the differences between sexual and romantic attraction. if someone asks more specifically, i'll usually just call myself bi for simplicity's sake, even though the ace part is a much more important (to me) part of my identity. monogamous as fuck.

i'm still struggling with internalized homophobia and a lot of "am i even queer enough" thoughts, which is super fun. took me a long time to even consider the fact that i might like girls at all. i'll probably never come out to my parents. not that they'd, like, disown me or whatever, but they're juuuuust homophobic/transphobic enough that my few attempts to educate them when they say something A Little Yikes have shown me that i should probably just stay in the closet unless i absolutely have to come out. like i'm getting married to a woman or something.

sugarplum; what’s the color of your eyes and hair?

i usually say my eyes are green because it's easier, and they mostly are, but i have rings of greyish blue around the irises and sometimes they're more hazel in the middle. they always have a green tint to them though, even if the intensity of the green varies.

my natural hair is brown, a little on the darker and slightly ashy side of completely generic. currently a former blonde, although i'm hoping to bleach my fucking YEAR of growout soon, and then go some crazy color as a last hurrah before i have to go dark again. being broke fucking sucks.

wings; coffee or tea?

tea!! black tea. chai, to be specific, with an irresponsible amount of milk and sugar. chai lattes are a fucking drug okay? coffee makes me sick (not a judgement, a literal fact. last time i tried some i threw up).

fairytale; are you a cat or dog person?

cat!! but my family has a chihuahua named sonny and you can pry that little monster from my cold dead hands ok i will fight you.

snowflake; favorite time period?

okay, i wrote and rewrote my answer to this about 10 times. then i tried to divide it up into categories (aesthetics, history, fashion, vibes, geographical location, etc), but that didn't help. so basically: i don't have one, because i have too many.

i like the american 20s-60s for the aesthetic, music/movies, and the fashion. i also like the european 1600s-1800s for the interesting history and also vibe. i love the french and russian revolutions — the fashion! the art! the wars and political upheaval! I FUCKING LOVE HISTORY. then, of course, we can't forget the rennaisance. or the witch trials (pick your continent). and ancient greece? the roman empire? hello?? did i mention empires? how bout we mosy on over to south america — can i interest you in the mayans? incans? aztecs? what about china and japan? korea? vietnam? and don't even get me fucking STARTED on the black plague.

ancient egypt? sign me the FUCK UP. vikings? yes please. the celts? oh boy. the MYTHOLOGY. the ARCHITECTURE. the LANGUAGES and POLITICS and LITERATURE and REVOLUTIONS and GOD HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN ANY OF THESE

i uh. might have gotten a little excited. basically i like history a lot. and mythology. and linguistics. and cultural practices. and the politics and prejudices behind wars and stuff. and learning in general. moving on.

vanilla; do you believe in ghosts?

let's put it this way: i don't not believe in ghosts??

listen. we don't know jack shit. we don't know what happens after we die, there are constant scientific revelations that turn our understanding of the universe completely upside-down, and there is literally no way to know which religions or myths or urban legends could have some grain of truth to them. like, dude, i've literally thought i was haunted before. psychology is bananas and the universe is infinite.

demons could be real. ghosts could be real. what if we just haven't invented the necessary technology to prove it yet? what if we never do, and they just fuck around alongside us, moving furniture and making shadow puppets on the walls just for kicks until the earth explodes? what if that one tumblr post was right and ghosts are actually real people from alternate universes or timelines that we see accidentally bc some cosmic wires got crossed? who fucking knows.

i love horror movies and scary stories and ghost hunter shows just as much as the next gal. but listen. psychics? mediums? people who accept every single creepypasta retold third-hand from their neighbor's kid's classmate's second cousin who "totally knows a guy"? doubt.jpeg

i don't understand the sheer amount of assumptions made willy-nilly about the nature of ghosts and demons and things that go bump in the night. the assumption that "oh this machine that totally doesn't look like a coathanger taped to a walkman will work because ghosts have this temperature and can always communicate like this and are electromagnetic" or whatever just baffles me. to a certain degree, following a general consensus is one thing — some basic things everyone can agree on? that's cool. ghosts can walk through walls and are probably dead people or whatever. but oh my god, taking every single story as absolute, undeniable proof?? taking these stories and expanding on them to infer intentions and scientific facts to something that by it's very nature is unknowable and assuming, like, every spirit is created equal?? and yeah, ghost hunting shows are fun and campy and kinda creepy but like. you really, genuinely don't think any of them have ever faked anything at all??? even if ghosts are real, it's fucking reality tv, my dude. it's the entertainment industry. at least maintain the slightest ounce of critical thought before taking zak bagans' word as the goddamn gospel.

and sidenote, maybe it's just my limited exposure as a white woman in the western world, but of all the shows and podcasts and movies and documentaries and whatnot i've been able to find and consume, there's the constant use of christian ideology applied to every situation that just really burns my bacon. what, there's never been an atheist ghost? if you see a shadow person and you don't know the lord's prayer by heart, are you automatically fucked? why are there never stories about, i don't know, viking ghosts? does your religion in life preclude you from becoming a ghost in the first place? is that why people never mention buddhist ghosts? i don't get it, and that's why even though i'm self-admittedly the most superstitious person i've ever met, true believers make me roll my eyes so hard they almost fall out. makes me come across as more skeptical than i theoretically am. I HAVE VERY STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS OK

but like, you couldn't pay me to fuck with a ouija board. i'm not stupid.

delicate; diamonds or pearls?

both have their appeal and their place, but diamonds, i guess. i like the sparkle. but fake ones!! or synthetic. diamonds are overpriced and artificial scarcity is a scam and i don't need a dumb rock that some poor person in a mine somewhere was exploited and possibly died for. no blood diamonds in this house, thank you very much.

if i ever get engaged, i don't want a diamond ring. i'd want something cool, a little unusual, like a ruby or a sapphire or some other sparkly gem that isn't literally shoved in your face every waking moment as the expected standard symbol of True Love. they're cheaper, they're cool-looking, as a ring they still hold the cultural symbolism of an engagement/wedding ring. and honestly, as long as it's well-made and durable, whatever hypothetical gem it is doesn't have to be real either. i'm a woman of simple needs and demonstrably low standards. no point in going into debt for a fucking piece of jewelry, regardless of ~tradition~.

lavender dream; favorite album?

oh lord. welcome to the black parade, i guess. or anything by panic! at the disco. there are dozens of possible options — my interests are mercurial and my memory is garbage. but i'll always be an emo little shit. black parade and vices and virtues were also the first two albums i ever listened to where i loved every single song on them, and i happened to listen to them for the first time at around the same point in my life (i got into mcr super late. like, 2012 late. rip).

silky; what’s your biggest dream?

it's cheesy but i guess i just want stability and, by extension, happiness. emotional stability, mental stability, financial stability, stable living situation, stable routines, stable relationships... you get the idea. i have ambitions and passions, of course, but my ultimate goal is happiness at this point in my life, and i'm pretty sure stabilizing all those things would go a pretty long way in achieving that goal.

a little apartment with walls i can paint because white walls make me angry. bookshelves and posters and fandom merch on every wall. a computer i can actually play games on again, and somewhere i can paint and draw and record my podcasts. someone who loves me, maybe. a cat, if i'm stable enough. space for people to come visit me, and a place for them to sleep if they need. a tiny balcony, if i really want to shoot for the stars. a job i don't hate. the spoons to hang out with my friends, and the money to not worry about buying little presents for the people i care about sometimes. i don't need much.

strawberry kiss; do you have a crush right now?

nope.

glitter; favorite fictional character?

another loaded question. like books, if you ask me again in five minutes i'll probably give you a different answer. but in this particular moment, caleb and jester from critical role (please don't make me choose between them). i won't go full shipping mode rn, but jester is so funny and silly and sweet, so much more complex than she seems, and she tries so hard to make everyone happy even when she's so sad inside. the healer who treats healing as an inconvenience in battle (she's so fucking valid and also mood), the glue that keeps the party together. and caleb learning to trust again, facing his trauma and coming out of his shell. he loves his friends so much he plays wizard as a support class and i love him so much.

i love the mighty nein in general, of course, and all the guests/honorary members they've had. pumat!! pls don't be evil reani!! keg!! shakäste and grand duchess anastasia!! cali!! kiri!!!! the brotps! empire siblings! chaos crew! nott the best detective agency! i still love molly and all his assholery to bits (fight me), and mourn his lost potential. i adore yasha, even when she's gone; fjord has grown so much; beau and nott and caduceus — i love all their flaws and disagreements and their character arcs and the excitement of watching them grow and learn. but if i had to choose, caleb, jester and molly have always been my top 3 since day 1 and, well, molly isn't really an option anymore.

but like i said, ask me again in a minute. i have a fucking list.

swan; share a quote or passage that means something to you.

a collection of things off the top of my head:

Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition. — Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

a tired feminist Mood™️

"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore, it knows it's not foolin' a soul." — American Gods, Neil Gaiman

i got my love of books from my grandma — some of my favorites i got from her. sometimes, as a treat, she used to take my sister and i to bookstores and we'd stay there for ages, getting to pick one out, roaming the shelves, the mental torture of having to choose. the peace of being surrounded by thousands of potential worlds, so much information, so many stories just waiting to be told; being surrounded by strangers who share that same wonder. the anxious drive home so we could read them, being unable to wait that long so i inevitably start reading in the car and make myself sick. telling her in excited detail all my favorite parts. if we were lucky, maybe we got to split a bear claw, or she'd drive past starbucks and get us something there too (tall vanilla soy steamer with one pump of vanilla syrup, whipped cream on top that always melted too quickly and squirted out the hole in the lid, so hot it burned my tongue but so good i didn't care). i have never felt more at home than i do when i'm surrounded by books.

"There are a lot of different types of freedom. We talk about freedom the same way we talk about art, like it was a statement of quality rather than a description. “Art” doesn’t mean good or bad. Art just means art. It can be terrible and still be art. Freedom can be good or bad, too. There can be terrible freedom. You freed me, and I didn’t ask you to." — Alice Isn't Dead, season 1, chapter 2: Alice

as cringey as it is to admit it, this line made me cry a lot after my breakup.

"So you aren't American?" asked Shadow.

"Nobody's American," said Wednesday. "Not originally. That's my point." — American Gods, Neil Gaiman

[side-eyes white america real hard]

there's more, of course. there's always more. don't even get me started on song lyrics, we'll be here all day.

lace; what’s your favorite plant/flower?

lilacs and roses.

mermaid; do you prefer the forest or the ocean? why?

both, i guess. but in different ways, and in different circumstances.

the sea is wild. it is endless and deep and unknowable. it is beautiful and dangerous. i am terrified of the ocean, and yet my favorite place in the world is an empty beach on the oregon coast. i have picked sand from between my toes for days with hair crusted in salt, danced around bonfires and watched the stars while marshmallows burn, gotten pulled under the waves as a child and nearly swept out to sea. picked starfish and crabs from small pools in the rocks, and swum (accidentally) with wild sea lions. in a long skirt, too early in the year to be swimming, i once took off my shoes and waded fully clothed into the water to my waist and just... danced. splashed and kicked and laughed with a boy i barely knew until our throats were sore and our toes were numb, walking home hours later with our soaked clothes clinging to our legs, shoes squelching, dripping algae as we went. the ocean is freeing and overwhelming all at once. i love it and am petrified by it in equal measure.

the forest is beautiful in a different way. it is silent and dense and serene. you are surrounded by life and yet, somehow, completely alone. there is magic in the forest, and history, and even when all else dies, that will remain. the trees grow from the corpses of their ancestors, and some have lived dozens of our lifetimes — with luck, a few dozen more. it is quiet there, peaceful, even the tiniest wood in the middle of a city muffling the outside world through the trees. you can feel the ancient ways deep in your soul as you follow winding paths strewn with fallen leaves, the mystery and wonder and superstitions of your forefathers. you wonder what it would be like, to run your fingers over the moss, to take off your shoes and socks and just run, leaping and dancing over rocks and roots, hair wild and air filling your lungs in deep, pure gulps as you shed the responsibilities and struggles of modern life, for just a moment remembering what freedom tastes like. it is primal, this connection to nature, one we have nearly forgotten over time. and as the sky grows dark and the silence of night presses against you, shadows looming, every footfall deafening, perhaps you begin to understand why some believed in monsters.

honeymoon; do you keep a journal?

i used to. honestly, that's a good idea, i should start doing that again. lord knows i have enough empty journal-type books.

starlight; do you believe in love at first sight and soulmates? why/why not?

i want to. i want to believe there's someone out there for me, the love of my life, someone to whom i'll be the love of their life, and that when i meet them i'll just... know.

but when i met my ex, i didn't really look twice at him for a while — no love at first sight. and when we were together, when i loved him and he swore he loved me back, i thought he hung the stars in the sky and knew i would marry him someday. couldn't even consider the idea that that wouldn't happen. and then when he broke up with me, he ghosted me so suddenly and thoroughly that he even preemptively cut contact with every single one of our mutual friends he thought might side with me in the breakup, before anybody even knew we'd had a fight. so, not soulmates either.

i really want to believe that someday the perfect romance will just fall into place and i can have the happily ever after i've always dreamed of. but the reality is i might never even have another s.o. for the rest of my life. maybe i'll get hit by a car tomorrow, or my hypothetical soulmate moves to argentina to become an alpaca farmer on a mountain somewhere and we never even meet. maybe i'm so traumatized by the betrayal and lies that i'll never have the courage to even try again.

and even so, happily ever after doesn't have to include a fairytale romance, regardless of whether i want it or not. i still like to cling to that hope though, deep down.

princess; what do you value most in people?

i'm going to assume you mean "real people" as in people i have positive relationships with, and not random strangers on the street.

loyalty. kindness. support. humor. similar values. patience. being able to grow together and teach each other things, so we can make each other better. honesty. trust. compassion. confidence. emotional vulnerability. communication. intelligence, or at least a willingness to learn. strength.

#nobody asked me to go this hard and yet here we are #my favorite pasttimes: talking about myself and being pretentious on main #Lady answers stuff #anon good nurse #Lady of Purple's slice of life #ask meme

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creepingsharia · 5 years

Text

Beware of Muslims Bearing “True Islam” Dawah Pamphlets

‘Sahih Bukhari, the most authoritative collection of hadith, contains almost 200 references to jihad, and all of them assume that jihad means armed warfare.’

“True Islam is a religion that wholly rejects all forms of terrorism.”

So says an online pamphlet put out by the True Islam Campaign. The pamphlet lists ten other truths about “true Islam,” including “True Islam believes in the equality, education, and empowerment of women,” “True Islam encompasses the universal declaration of human rights,” and “True Islam recognizes no religion can monopolize salvation.”

Each truth is accompanied by a page or so of text providing verses from the Koran and other Islamic sources to support the assertion.

The True Islam Campaign says that it hopes to counter the menace of extremism which, it says, is fueled by ignorance of Islam. Thus:

Extremists like ISIS depend on ignorance of Islam to grow. That’s why the more people know about Islam’s true teachings—and what Muslims truly believe—the less they’ll fall for ISIS’s propaganda.

The pamphlet even comes with an invitation to an Iftar dinner (the dinner that ends the fast each day during Ramadan): “Be our dinner guest. Meet your Muslim neighbors. All welcome.” The invitation also includes a “Find a Mosque near you” button.

Who could object? Americans believe that the vast majority of Muslims are moderate, and this looks like just the group to make the moderate case.

As you may have guessed, however, I do have some objections. Although the campaign claims to express “the values, beliefs, and ideals of the entire Muslim community,” it decidedly does not speak for the global Muslim community. Since the campaign is sponsored by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the U.S., and since all the Ahmadiyyas in the world make up only about 1 to 1.5 percent of the worldwide population of Muslims, they can hardly claim to speak for the “entire Muslim community.” What’s more, the Ahmadiyya (or Ahmadi) sect is widely regarded as a heretical group, and is often targeted for persecution by other Muslims. It’s no wonder that the Ahmadis are concerned about extremists, as they themselves have long been victims of extremist violence.

But it’s not just the extremists who consider them heretics. Mainstream Muslims do as well. Orthodox Muslims have numerous reasons for classifying Ahmadis as heretics, but the chief reason is that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), denied that Muhammad was Islam’s final prophet. Indeed, Ahmad claimed that he himself was a prophet who had received divine revelations. Not only that, he also claimed to be the long-awaited Mahdi, as well as the Messiah who Muslims expect to appear in the end times.

Christians might well wish that his claims were true, especially his claim that he had been chosen by Allah to renew Islam. It would be nice to think that the Ahmadi version of Islam really does represent true Islam. That’s because it’s a kinder, gentler version of Islam—one that is much closer to the wishful fantasy that many Westerners mistake for the Islamic faith.

In effect, Ahmad tried to put a smiley face on Islam. He seemed to genuinely believe it was a religion of peace and love. And, although he held the Koran to be the highest authority, he more or less ignored all the hard sayings in its pages.

In many ways he was like an earlier version of Pope Francis. Like Francis, he emphasized tolerance and acceptance, he believed that spirituality was more important than doctrine, and he believed that God wills a diversity of religions. Accordingly, the Ahmadi community regards Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, and Confucius as prophets along with Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad. Unlike orthodox Muslims, Ahmadis tend to look at Islam as an ever-evolving faith that is in the process of syncretizing a variety of religious beliefs.

In many respects, the Ahmadiyya sect looks like the moderate faith that many Westerners believe is adhered to by the vast majority of Muslims.

The only problem with this rosy scenario is that the vast majority of Muslims roundly reject the Ahmadis. Pakistani law prohibits Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims, Saudi law prohibits them from performing the pilgrimage to Mecca, and there is a general consensus in the Muslim world that Ahmadis are not really Muslims.

True Meaning of Jihad Still, it’s useful to look more closely at the Ahmadis’ approach to non-Muslims because they do employ methods that are quite similar to those used by more orthodox Muslims. For example, both groups have a tendency to whitewash the more threatening aspects of Islam—such as jihad.

If you look at Islamic websites dedicated to attracting non-Muslims, you’ll most likely come away with the impression that jihad is an interior spiritual struggle against one’s base desires. This interpretation is usually presented in the context of the “greater” versus the “lesser” jihad. According to an oft-quoted hadith:

The prophet returned from one of his battles, and thereupon told us, “you have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad—the striving of a servant [of Allah] against his desires.” (Tarik al-Baghdadi 13/493)

Since most non-Muslims don’t even know what a hadith is, they’re less likely to know that many Islamic scholars classify this as a “weak” hadith, and that some consider it to be a complete fabrication. Sahih Bukhari, the most authoritative collection of hadith, contains almost 200 references to jihad, and all of them assume that jihad means armed warfare. Likewise, there are several verses in the Koran that make it clear that Muhammad considered the fighting kind of jihad to be more excellent than the praying kind (e.g., 9:19-20).

Selective Use of Quotations Another tactic used by both Ahmadis and other Muslim apologists is the selective use of quotations. For instance, a handful of verses from the Koran which suggest that Islam is a peaceful religion will be produced, but none of the over one hundred verses which advocate violent jihad will be mentioned.

Perhaps the most frequently cited verse is 5:32. The True Islam pamphlet puts it this way:

The Holy Quran recognizes the sanctity of all human life: “Whosoever killed a person … it shall be held as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso saved a life, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind” (5:32).

Again, who could object? But though the verse seems highly reassuring, some qualifiers have been left out of the Ahmadi excerpt. For one thing, it’s not mentioned that the verse is adapted from the Torah. For another, the qualifying clause, “unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land,” is left out. But the biggest omission is the absence of any mention of the very next verse:

Those that make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land (5:33).

Since Muhammad considered anyone who rejected his message to be spreading disorder (“mischief” in some translations) in the land, verse 5:33 effectively cancels the peaceful verse that precedes it. Moreover, a few verses further on we read: “As for the man or woman who is guilty of theft, cut off their hands to punish them for their crimes” (5:38).

It’s not just Ahmadis who leave out the amputation and crucifixion verses. Most Muslim apologists who cite the saving-all-mankind verse do likewise. Non-Muslims need to be on their guard when perusing this kind of literature because it is intended to deceive.

As one last example, let us take the True Islam claim that “True Islam encompasses the universal declaration of human rights.” Here they’re counting on the generally low level of historical knowledge that afflicts the “woke” generation. The fact is, most Islamic nations were unhappy with the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as a result the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met in Cairo in 1990 to adopt the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam. The Cairo Declaration guarantees many of the same rights as the UN declaration, but it makes them subject to the limits set by sharia law—which means that the “guarantee” doesn’t count for much. So, once again, the True Islam claim turns out to be quite deceptive.

But, one might ask, why focus on the Ahmadis? What’s the point of beating up on a relatively benign branch of Islam? What harm would it do if someone were to convert to this moderate belief system?

Why Focus on the Ahmadis? Well, I must confess that the initial reason to focus on the Ahmadis was simply that a friend forwarded their campaign literature to me. It’s convenient to write about something that’s right before your eyes rather than a similar example that’s only half-remembered. However, there are three other reasons. The first is that the Ahmadis use deceptive recruitment techniques that are comparable to those used by other Muslim groups. It’s important to be forewarned about these misleading practices because the average person won’t notice them. He won’t notice the selective use of quotations or that various claims are often in conflict with historical facts. The Ahmadi pamphlet warns that ignorance of Islam fuels extremism, yet it deliberately leaves the reader ignorant of huge chunks of Islam. So do other Islamic sites.

The second reason to worry is that a convert to Ahmadi Islam doesn’t necessarily remain an Ahmadi. There’s a phenomenon among new converts to fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity called “faith tripping,” whereby the new Christian goes from church to church or denomination to denomination in search of a more intense religious experience. Ahmadis are not exempt from this temptation, and they may be more prone to it since they emphasize openness to other traditions.

In addition, new converts tend to be more zealous than cradle believers, and they are anxious to learn as much as they can about their new faith. This is not usually something to worry about with Christian converts, but with Muslim converts it’s a different matter. Indeed, it turns out that a significant number of jihad attacks are committed by recent converts to Islam. Moreover, a number of studies have shown a link between increased devotion in Muslims and increased radicalization. Not satisfied with the bland expression of faith offered by the Ahmadis, a new convert who goes deeper into Islam may discover that the extremists are actually more faithful to the core teachings of Muhammad than the Ahmadis. In other words, the Ahmadi experience can be likened to a mild drug that may serve as an entrée to the use of more powerful and dangerous substances.

The third reason to be concerned is that even those who aren’t converted by reading a True Islam-type pamphlet will still form an impression. And for many, it will be a positive impression. After all, the campaign claims that true Islam is against extremism, for the empowerment of women, and for universal human rights. A typical reader might conclude: “This is not for me. I’m satisfied with my own faith. But it’s nice to know that Islam really is a peaceful religion.”

What he reads doesn’t persuade him to convert, but it does confirm the Disneyfied version of Islam he has learned from other sources: the mainstream media, his teachers, and his priest, minister, or rabbi. The fact that the majority of “meet-your-Muslim-neighbor” get-togethers are sponsored by churches speaks volumes about Christian naïveté in this matter. What Christians generally learn in these encounters is a prepackaged and highly sanitized version of Islam.

In summation, the chief danger of Muslim proselytizing is not that it leads to a flood of conversions to Islam, but that it confirms our complacency about it. It reinforces the consoling but unexamined assumptions that are already prevalent in our society, namely, that Islamic values are just like our own, that Islam is a moderate religion, and that there’s nothing whatsoever to worry about.

#Sharia #Jihad #Legal

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windschildfanfictionwriter · 5 years

Text

Parenting 101: How personal opinions can unintentionally cause strife.

So I think pretty much everyone knows I’m the oldest with five younger siblings and these kids look at me as if I am a parental figure rather than as their older sister. So time and time again I’m baffled that they all seem hesitant and afraid to come to me with a problem. They are always wary and unsure when they come to me and they seem terrified to tell me what the problem is.

It hurts because I’ve always tried my best to not be judgemental or to show anger when they do something bad. I try to talk it out with them.

What I’ve learned now, after years of this, is that they are not afraid that I will be angry with them, they are afraid of disappointing me. They have put me on a pedestal that, quite frankly, I really don’t deserve.

What really strikes me though is how my opinions can unintentionally cause harm and isolation BECAUSE they hold me in such high regard. Things I’ve never thought twice about speaking on and being passionate about. I’ve always felt that no matter how controversial my opinions are, that I will stand firm behind them.

What I didn’t realize was that I gave off an air of intolerance. That if you disagreed with me that I would somehow hate you. I’ve been careful in recent years to make sure that even if I disagree with an idea or concept that it doesn’t mean that I am against the person themselves or closed off to discussion.

As with most things in life, I learned this unfortunate trait about myself through one of my younger siblings:

One day one of my sisters comes up to me and she looks, honestly? Like she’s about to cry. Confused and worried, I invite her to sit next to me and she starts fiddling with her shirt.

Shell: Um... I... I know you hate it, but... um...

Me: Spit it out, kid.

Shell: Do you think you could drive me to church tomorrow?

Without hesitation.

Me: Sure.

Blinks in surprise and looks genuinely shocked like she’d been prepared to make a case for herself.

Shell: You will? I mean, I thought you hated Christians and stuff.

This startles me.

Me: Listen, I don’t agree with religion or religious practices, but I don’t ‘hate Christians.’ This makes you happy? It gives you hope? Then I will drive you to church. I would never try to stop you from going to church and I will always support you in wanting to improve yourself even if I don’t agree with the institution you want to do it through. I won’t ever go into a church with you, but don’t think, not for a second, that I would think less of you or that my beliefs would stop you from following yours.

Shell: But you’re always talking about how bad it is.

Me: That’s how I feel about it, yes, and I won’t lie about those opinions or say that I like you getting into religion, but I will always support you. I don’t like the idea of you getting into the cultist brainwashing that tends to happen, BUT being exposed to all sorts of cultures and people is how you learn and how you make choices for yourself. You have to decide and explore and come to your own conclusions. If you decide this is a life long thing then that’s up to you, but remember that even if I disagree with religion, I still love every bit of you and I still support you. Nothing you decide or believe will ever change that.

She’s crying now.

Shell: I was really scared to talk to you about it. Aren’t you mad? Why would you help me?

Me: When have I ever not helped you? If you murdered the next door neighbor, you best believe I’m going to verbally rake you over the coals, but then I’d get my shovel and roll up my sleeves.

She laughs.

Me: Oh, you think I’m kidding, I’ve got a bet going with dad that one of you little bastards are going to come to me in a panic about running someone over in the middle of the night and I’ve got ten different swamps infested with crocodiles to choose from to cover your asses.

She’s holding her side she’s laughing so hard.

Me: But seriously, I don’t care if you decide to worship a Zombie or have sex with an eight-limbed guerilla or marry a hot looking hooker as long as you share...

She spits in surprise through her laughing.

Me: No matter what you choose to do or who you love or how badly you mess up, don’t you ever be afraid to come to me, okay? I can’t promise I’ll always be chill about it because you guys have all defied my expectations of idiot stunts a person can pull in the middle of the night, but I’ve always come, haven’t I?

She nods, sniffling and laughing.

Me: But even more seriously, if I have to track your ass down because you got drunk and your phone died and you disappeared with a stranger from a bar, have the common courtesy to do it during the summer, okay? Because jumping fences and falling on ice on the other side is not fun for me and banging on windows of strangers houses at 2 in the morning when it's zero degrees out fucking sucks, okay?

Shell: I’m not Nikki.

Me: Yeah, don’t sound so superior, I caught you yelling at your boyfriend last week on the phone because he didn’t get into the shower at the same time as you.

Ducks her head in shame.

Me: My point is that you each have your own individual ways of giving me grey hairs and I have an insane amount of back up plans for things you can’t even begin to imagine, so I promise you, I got your back.

Shell: Thanks. The um... the church session is at 8:00 in the morning. Is that okay?

Me: Can’t you love God in the afternoon?

She makes a face.

Me: Okay, okay, crack of dawn it is.

Shell: Eight is way after dawn.

Me: Mutters* Not when you go to bed at Seven.

Snickers at my expense.

My point is for all those individuals who feel like they’ve messed up or that they’ve put their foot in their mouth or that they’ve done a horrible parental Fuck up... It’s okay.

As long as you clarify and try to monitor your behavior and move forward, there is no relationship that cannot be improved through communication. None of us are perfect. The thing we have to remember is that our mistakes are not who we are.

This moment has really stuck with me because it kind of freaks me out that someone I love so dearly was afraid to approach me for something so important to them. It was a wake-up call to monitor my own opinions, not to tone them down necessarily, but to ensure that people always feel welcome to talk to me about those opinions, that I am ALWAYS open to discussion and that I will ALWAYS listen when people want to share their side and their beliefs. Nothing is closed off to debate. Nothing.

Even if I 100% disagree with an idea, that in no way means I’m unwilling to talk about it or consider it from another point of view because that is how we grow as people and admitting to mistakes is how we become better.

I feel like owning up to this flaw is the best way to continue making sure I don’t unintentionally isolate someone else in my life, both privately and publicly.

#mistakes

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liturgical-lesbian · 5 years

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im new to Christianity and also BRAND NEW to learning about Anarchism. I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about your beliefs, as well as how Christianity works with Anarchy?What do you believe, how does Jesus play a role? I really am interested in this path, and I think in some ways its what I've always believed in.

welcome welcome! i am grateful for your curiosity. i sort of just word vomited and then tried to organize it a bit. so if anything is unclear please feel free to ask follow up Q’s.

shalom :-)

anarchy v christian anrchy v marxism:

anarchy is the rejection of domination, authority, and in our current setup, “the state”. christian anarchy is, essentially, rejection of any form of manmade domination/authority/heirarchy with sworn allegiance to YHWH and the coming of the Kingdom. i will say that i am anarchist because of my faith in YHWH. i am not an anarchist with christian beliefs. i first and foremost a believer in YHWH and will work my whole life to submit to and serve Yah because i believe the Kingdom of God to be true, inevitable, and just. i believe that rejecting the world, it’s evil, and all of it’s broken systems, is how i am to wholly submit to YHWH. thus, i reject manmade systems (economic, legal or otherwise) as broken and beyond reparation. i reject the State; capitalism, i reject nationalism, heirarchy, fascism, borders, organized government, law enforcement, etc. all of these things are manmade and cannot be reformed or repaired. human beings are not capable of building shalomic systems. (shalom = peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility. the Kingdom of God will bring shalom to earth). like many marxists and anarchists, i believe in the need for and the inevitable coming of a “revolution.” the revolution i anticipate, however, is a shalomic and wholly transformative revolution (physical, spiritual, etc.). it will not be brought by the hands of man but by YHWH himself. this is where christian anarchists are different from other leftists—becuase of our allegiance to God we do not see any sort of human “revolution” to be a revolution at all. to quote jacques ellul on the matter, “here is the whole drama of communism and of fascism. they are incapable of making a genuine revolution in our civilization because they accept the essential basis of this civilization, and confine themselves to moving along the line of internal development” (jacques ellul, the presence of the kingdom, page 25). for me, much of marxism is uncreative and short-sighted. the hopes are so small! we need to dream much bigger than workers rights and an adjusted economic system? those things are surely important but cannot be where we set the bar. this earth is in need of transformation by way of restoration! (through the coming of the kingdom).

what does radical christian anarchism look like in my life?

my beliefs also part with those of most leftists when it comes to the “how” of radicalism/revolution. i am committed to a more humbled route of living radically. as a catholic/christian i try to sacrifice my life daily for the sake of the coming of the Kingdom—which has already made itself present here on earth through Christ Jesus. the scriptures, and Jesus himself, are quite clear on how we do this. have few possessions, live humbly and amongst the poor, honor and love all of God’s people, seek justice for the most vulnerable, live intentionally with those around you, regularly attend a gathering of believers, REST (sabbath once a week, a weekend a month, 2 weeks a year, and one year every 7 years), reflect and remember on what God has done, regularly partake in taking communion in remembrance of Jesus, etc. all of these things are countercultural and radical.

i have learned, and am still learning, that living as a radical christian anarchist is not just about the grand vision i hold for the world. living as a radical christian anarchist is not grand or revered. living as a radical christian anarchist is entirely unglamorous. it boils down to the small moments which, hopefully, reflect big vision. what does this look like for me? i keep a shattered phone instead of buying a new one that was manufactured in a sweatshop. i avoid sweatshop goods altogether. i spend more on christmas gifts to know my money is going back into my community and on ethically made goods. i eat a plant-based vegan diet because God asked us to be stewards of the earth and the meat and dairy industries are corrupting land, people, animals and the harmony that is supposed to exist between all of those things. i sabbath once a week. i live in an intentional community of christians who help me live less cynical and more lovingly. (other than the grace and strength of God, my intentional community is a majority of the reason why i can live the way that i live, fyi). i live in a poor neighborhood and work a min wage restaurant job, like many of my neighbors. none of these things are glamorous but they are radical, concrete ways i try to participate in christian anarchism. and let me tell you, it is hard work! but that is what Kingdom work looks like.

anarchism in scripture:

we see in scripture anarchy in the hebrew bible in Jewish societies total allegiance to YHWH as the head. though we see God appoint leaders, prophets, and rulers, only God reigns as the only supreme power. we also see anarchism, most translatable to our lives, in the life of Jesus through the gospels. Jesus’ ministry was founded on his radical love and rejection of evil in the forms of oppression, greed, violence, etc. we see his rejection fo the State up and down the Gospels. for example, in Mark 12 Jesus rejects the State and capital (Roman Coin) where he says “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. Here Jesus does not give a thumbs up to taxes or Roman Imperialism. He rejects it altogether as earthly garbage—give Caesar what belongs to him for God does not want your Roman coins. this subtle rejection of State and Capital is a mark of anarchism and the nonviolent, peaceful way the rejection it is delivered, as well as allegiance to God and kingdom, is what makes it Christian anarchism. finally, we see a little less concretely, anarchism in the book of revelation. the book is trenched w serious symbolism that i won’t get into here but essentially depicts the struggle between divine and earthly powers, the rejection of political power and eventual reign of the majesty of God.

in summary:

anarchism is the rejection of the State and any manmade form of hierarchy in favor of God’s majestic, eternal, and inevitable reign. we see anarchism written all over the old testament, in the life of Jesus, and written in the prophecies for the age to come (in the book of revelation). and what does this mean for christians? to follow YHWH, for me, is believing in the transformative power of grace and the coming of the Kingdom as well as living a life that mirrors the life of Jesus closely as possible—having few possessions, not just serving the poor but living amongst and being poor, rejecting war and violence, living intentionally with those around me, living thoughtfully and locally, and fiercely defending and fighting for the rights of marginalized peoples. when we see Jesus practice these things and try to mirror it in our own life, in total rejection of the State yet allegiance to YHWH, we get a true image of Christian anarchism.

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citrus-roses · 6 years

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Hey 👋🏼, polite anon here telling you to “do you”. I just read what you said about gay marriage being sinful and being thankful to “realize” the “disgusting” thing you supported. I take it back. Christians like you go against everything, i know, god teaches. He teaches love and forgiveness. I don’t know where you, and all the other very wrong members of faith, get these backwards ideas that god would say “love thy neighbor, unless they are this this and this”. Disgusting.

“[love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:6‬ ‭

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good”.- Romans 12:9

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” - Romans 2:4

“Christians like you go against everything, i know, god teaches. “Firstly, where do you get your theology from of who God is and what He teaches? You have to be careful of defining and making a god in your own image to fit your own personal sins that you love and cherish. That’s a type of idolatry and making an image of god in your mind that is untrue. God expressly forbids practicing homosexuality and calls it sin and says it leads to condemnation if you take pride in it and willfully continue in it instead of confessing it to Him and sacrificing that in order to follow Him and humbly to submit to what He says is best for you and right and wrong. If what you believe about God and what He says contradicts what He has stated in His Word then you are wrong about Him not God’s inspired Word.

“He teaches love and forgiveness.”Absolutely! But in order for Him to forgive you of the sin of homosexuality you need to confess it and repent of it to Him and acknowledge it as sin. He can forgive you of it but you need to not treat it as something to take pride in but as sin. You need to acknowledge it is a sin and see it and treat it as such and admit you have sinned. He absolutely will forgive you and love you and show grace to you and love you even for the worst of sins you have committed but He asks that you confess to Him what you have done acknowledging and taking responsibility for the sin whatever sin it may be as a sin, not that you willfully continue in something and love something He has said leads to condemnation and is sin. Forgiveness comes from God forgiving and showing grace towards you for sin… and you are right God absolutely is a God of forgiveness and so He can absolutely forgive someone for the sin of homosexuality.

And His love doesn’t include tolerating sin. I can still love someone while disagreeing with the lifestyle they live.

For example if I was friends with someone who really loved to steal things and identified as a thief, I could love them and still disagree with the lifestyle they were living. In fact it is precisely because I love people who identify as homosexual that I tell them the truth and disagree with their lifestyle and choices. “Those who love you will tell you the most truth”- Paul Washer.

You cannot define love of God the way the World defines love. God doesn’t love how the World loves. You must base God’s definition and practice of love and what love is on how He loves in the Bible or you are breaking the first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments by making for yourself a false image of God. God’s love doesn’t rejoice in or approve of sin. It doesn’t tolerate sin. So much so that someone has to die because of the sins in our life. Either Jesus died in your place taking the penalty you deserved for your sins or you will suffer the penalty for your own sins. God’s love does not equal tolerance of every sinful action as the world wants to define love as. And it’s absolutely blasphemous and false to say that God wants us to love others by tolerating and approving of their sins. That’s not the kind of love God shows to others. Yes He loves you despite your sins and offers you abundant grace and mercy through the gospel but He still views your sins as sins. And does not tolerate or approve of them. He says go and sin no more. He says confess your sins and He’ll heal you and cleanse you of them.

So many are deceived and lied to and told that these types of lifestyles are okay and not only that, there are even some who truly believe that God Himself is completely fine with how they are living. These are deceptive lies. They are sweet tasting and definitely appealing to our sinful hearts but they are poisonous lies. These lies are murderous to our souls. It’s practically the same temptation Satan told Eve when he gave her the fruit to eat. You won’t surely die is what he told her. A big outright lie. She did die. First spiritually and then physically. Eating the fruit was poison to her soul and killed her and you know how Satan convinced her to do so, he convinced her she not only wouldn’t die and it was okay to eat but that she would be empowered if she indulged in eating the fruit even though God warned that eating it would kill her. Today it’s the same lie about many things including homosexuality that we can continue in what God calls sin and we won’t face His judgement. That we won’t surely die. That we wont be punished or condemned for what God calls wrong. It’s a murderous lie that is leading people to their own destruction in this false hope. People are getting their hopes up in a lie they want to be true but isn’t. And the lie hasn’t change since the beginning. We still as a society fall for the same exact lie. We still trust Satan’s lie over God’s truth. There’s nothing new under the sun.

Oh I tell the truth in hopes that at least one will turn around and repent before they reach the edge of the deadly cliff they are heading towards. I don’t want them die. Oh I want them to be saved. Oh I want them to know the love of God and live out their true purpose. Oh how deeply I care about them. How much I don’t want them to kill themselves spiritually by living in sin. No. I don’t hate them at all. I don’t hate anyone. I wish the best for everyone that they live out the reason they were created and the reason and purpose they exist, the meaning of their life which is to glorify God and obey His commands and they can only do so through true salvation and faith in the gospel which will be followed by repentance and hatred of sin not pride in sin and acceptance of your sin. But confession of sin and turning from (repenting of) sin.

And how does God love us. How does the Bible describe God loves us? Well look and think of the classic John 3:16 verse. Now in that verse, did God love the world by accepting and tolerating everyone’s sins? By allowing people to live whatever sinful lifestyle they want? Far from it. It says that He loved the world that He gave His only Son. What does giving His Son mean? Well we find the rest of scripture indicates that He gave His Son as the propitiation/appeasement/atoning sacrifice for our sins. And this shows His absolute intolerance of sin that it takes the death of His only Son to make peace between us and God. His love disapproves of any sort of sin. Approval of sin isn’t God’s version of love.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:5-9‬

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:1-6‬ ‭

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:9-11‬ ‭

““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.“”‭‭John‬ ‭3:16-21‬ ‭

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”- Romans 5:8

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”- 1 John 4:10

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.- Romans 6:23

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”- Matthew 1:21

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed- 1 Peter 2:24

“"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:13-14‬ ‭(also read the rest of Matthew 7:13-29 which details the difference between true believers and non believers. There’s a wide way and a narrow way. There’s a thorn tree and a fig tree. There’s a wise man who built his house on the rock and a foolish man who built his house on the sand. How you will know true believers by the fruit in their lives of abiding and obeying and submitting to the will and authority of God in their lives)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.- Proverbs 14:12

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.- Matthew 16:24

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on SIN NO MORE.”- John 8:11 (emphasis added)

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,- Acts 3:19

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”- Matthew 4:17

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,- Acts 17:30

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.- Matthew 3:8

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.- Luke 13:3

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.- 1 John 1:9

(Also “you do you” no, I’m not going to do my own will and “do me” instead I’m going to submit to God’s will and commands found in scripture “do Him” to borrow your phrasing.)

#idolatry #Image of God #God #Christianity #LGBT #pride #humility #submission #submit to God #homosexuality #loveislove #love #truth #sin #repent #repentance #theology #right and wrong

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godfirstgodalways · 6 years

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Hey, I’m not trying to start anything- I just had a question I guess? So I was taught that God hates sin because sin hurts people, which makes sense to me- lying, stealing, cheating, and so on, have the potential to hurt people. But if being gay or bi or trans doesn’t hurt anyone, why would god hate it & why would it be a sin? Again, not trying to fight, just want to know if I’m not understanding something correctly & be the best follower of Christ I can me, sorry if it comes off the wrong way

Not at all. :) I would probably have the same question if I didn’t already understand. There are many sins that don’t seem like they hurt others, such as idolizing people like celebrities, giving in to temptation by eating foods you know you shouldn’t be eating especially when you prayed to God to make you healthier, secretly judging people, putting aside God’s convictions (ignoring that still voice that speaks His truth), smoking pot for recreational purposes even though you’re doing it in the privacy of your own home, habitually swearing even if it’s just around people who most likely have the same habit, procrastinating, masturbating, watching porn, the list goes on…

What all these sins have in common and more including the ones that hurt people is that there’s zero obedience. There’s a lack of discipline, there is no self-control. These sins are a result of giving in to the flesh, living in your own terms, pleasing your own nature, and basically choosing what you want and not what God wants for you. This world is sinful but God knew we needed grace, that’s why He sent His Son, Jesus. By accepting Christ as our Savior, we also accept discipline into our lives. But people forget that. They think it’s a one and done deal, that if you accept Christ or get baptized, you have a guaranteed spot in heaven, which is religious thinking. And they go on living as they please, basically wasting His grace. The awesome thing about growing in Christ is over the years you mature. Christian or not we will continue to sin until we die. In this case the difference between a mature Christian and a new Christian or someone who is not Christian at all is the mature Christian should sin relatively less, which means they’ll also receive more blessings from God. If they still sin as much as they did in the past before they gave their life to Christ, then either they are probably lukewarm Christians or they gave up altogether and are content with their old ways. They have become stagnant in their spiritual walk, the vision they once had and were passionate about serving the LORD is no longer as clear as before. Their purpose is blurred, so they go on to find happiness in the wrong things, from materialistic things, to drugs, to relationships, to work….We forget that accepting Christ is everyday, which means we need discipline everyday. Discipline comes from the word disciple. A follower and believer of Christ must practice it everyday if they are truly disciples of His.

I had a potential to be gay. I kid you not. If I didn’t discipline myself to stop certain thoughts and stop entertaining myself with the possibility then I would’ve continued pleasing the flesh, and would’ve eventually identified as bisexual or lesbian. But because of the positive influence I was around growing up, from church, youth group, summer camps and winter camps, the Christian club I had in my school, and just being around other Christians who didn’t necessarily have a one on one talk with me, but what I learned was ingrained in my head as wisdom. Even though I didn’t have a day to day relationship with God, I had enough positive reinforcement to listen carefully to my convictions and obey Him. Had I not, I would’ve continued to be mesmerized with the idea of same-sex relationships, I would’ve delved deeper into the possibilities by exploring my alter-ego. I wouldn’t know about the importance of humility and I would’ve continued to be proud. It is actually a sin to be proud (Proverbs 16:5).

If anyone calls themselves Christian but choose to believe they have this side that is uncontrollable, that is not of God. Recognize its desire to be independent and free, don’t continually feed it’s wants. Starve it. It is not of God. Once a person is sold to God, they become a bondservant of Christ; they have accepted that they are identified with Christ, and there is no such thing as a second self in you as a whole. There is the life of Christ in you, but when you identify with Him, you become one with God. I believe the acceptance of a second self, an alter-ego, is where developed personality disorders come from. The more a person is identified with things, ideas, persons, and not solely on God, the more anxiety welcomes itself into their life. If you are a Christian, it means you acknowledge and agree as being one with God. You must strive to have the characteristics of Christ, to love like Him and think like Him. Period. He was sent to serve as the greatest example for all humans. Daily, each person must put to death their old selves along with their sins through surrender and be resurrected and reborn with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

Personality type tests, astrology/zodiac signs, opinions of others you have made become your reality….anything that you have ever believed in about who you are without truth from the Bible has the potential to divide your heart and soul. But identifying yourself with Christ alone and not the things of this world assures you that He will protect your integrity, where you remain whole and complete in God. The more a person entertains said truths about themselves apart from what God says about them in the Bible, is essentially a way of worship. Whatever has a higher importance than God to you (anything that doesn’t have Him as the purpose behind your intentions), by entertaining those thoughts, they become your god. Pay attention and make sure you are worshipping God and not other gods. In homosexuality’s case, it is the desires that come with it that are put before God, which makes them a slave to themselves and the rest of the world. There is no obedience there when it comes to honoring Him with the mind and body they were given. Christian homosexuality hurts families and loved ones, it hurts the life of Christ inside them when they allow their minds and bodies to be enticed in such a way. There’s gay porn and that hurts people, but we don’t hear about it. It may even tear heterosexual relationships apart. It hurts the soul of the one who identifies themselves as gay and proud. God has so much better for them if they just surrender and obey. Our lack of obedience leads to more sins, which bites us in the butt sooner or later. He wants our obedience no matter what, wether you’re gay or not because there is a lot of evil in this world, and He only wants what’s best for us. We don’t even know what’s best for us a lot of the times, but our Creator does. I believe that discipline leads to obedience, and obedience to trusting God more, and trust to more faith, and more faith to more peace and joy, to more wisdom/growth/maturity.

I remember listening to a guest speaker on Focus On The Family. I forgot her name, but her story was really interesting. She said since the day she could remember, she has always had an attraction towards the same sex and didn’t understand it, but knew it was wrong. I forget if she ever had relations with other women, but anyway, she started going to church after she was invited by a friend…she felt so welcomed and no one condemned or judged her. She made genuine friends who became her prayer partners, and eventually her relationship with God led her to have stronger convictions, and although it was a long process, one day it became clear to her that she no longer had these gay thoughts and feelings. She felt a joy and peace she had never encountered before. She started dating Christian men, and now she and her man are happily married. There are more true stories like this that we don’t hear about. Often we think it’s impossible to convert anyone from gay to straight. That’s true because it’s not our job. Only God has the power to do that. But imagine if the Christians she got to know judged her or easily gave up on her?…she would not have changed her sexual identity, but more importantly she would not have truly gotten to know Jesus Christ, her Savior, and she would not have completely identified her life to His. Check out these posts Homosexuality: Real Hope and Real Change. Thank you! I hope this helped. God bless! :)

James 4:12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

1 Timothy 1:8-11 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Proverbs 11:2 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

James 4:6 But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Philippians 2:1-2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Philippians Chapter 2 - Imitating Christ’s Humility

By His Grace, Sheela (Via godfirstgodalways)

#godfirstgodalwaysreply #anon ask #homosexuality #lgbqt

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officialyourdailyinspiration · 6 years

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Loving Your Enemies

by J.C. Ryle

"But I say unto you that hear, love your enemies, do good to them who hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them who despitefully use you." - Luke 6:27-28

The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these verses, is confined to one great subject. That subject is Christian love and charity. Charity, which is the grand characteristic of the Gospel, the bond of perfectness, without which a man is nothing in God's sight, is here fully expounded and strongly enforced. Well would it have been for the Church of Christ if its Master's precept in this passage had been more carefully studied and more diligently observed.

In the first place, our Lord explains the nature and extent of Christian charity. The disciples might ask, Whom are we to love? He bids them, "love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." Their love was to be like his own toward sinners--unselfish, disinterested, and uninfluenced by any hope of return. What was to be the manner of this love? the disciples might ask. It was to be self-sacrificing and self-denying. "Unto him that smites you on the one cheek, offer also the other." "He that takes away your cloak, forbid not to take your coat also." They were to give up much and endure much for the sake of showing kindness and avoiding strife. They were to forego even their rights and submit to wrong rather than awaken angry passions and create quarrels. In this they were to be like their Master--long-suffering, meek, and lowly of heart. Our Lord condemns everything like a revengeful, pugnacious, litigious, or quarrelsome spirit. He enjoins forbearance, patience, and longsuffering under injuries and insults. He would have us concede much, submit to much, and put up with much rather than cause strife. He would have us endure much inconvenience and loss, and even sacrifice some of our just rights rather than have any contention.

In the second place, our Lord lays down a golden principle for the settlement of doubtful cases. He knew well that there will always be occasions when the line of duty toward our neighbor is not clearly defined. He knew how much self-interest and private feelings will sometimes dim our perceptions of right and wrong. He supplies us with a precept for our guidance, in all such cases, of infinite wisdom. It is a precept which even infidels have been compelled to admire: "As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise." To do to others as they do to us and return evil for evil is the standard of the heathen. To behave to others as we should like others to behave to us, whatever their actual behavior may be, this should be the mark at which the Christian should aim. This is to walk in the steps of our blessed Savior. If he had dealt with the world as the world dealt with him, we should all have been ruined forever in hell.

In the third place, our Lord points out to his disciples the necessity of their having a higher standard of duty to their neighbor than the children of this world. He reminds them that to love those who love them and do good to those who do good to them and lend to those of whom they hope to receive, is to act no better than "the sinner" who knows nothing of the Gospel. The Christian must be altogether another style of man. His feelings of love and his deeds of kindness must be like his Master's - free and gratuitous. He must let men see that he loves others from higher principles than the ungodly do, and that his charity is not confined to those from whom he hopes to get something in return. Anybody can show kindness and charity when he hopes to gain something by it. But such charity should never content a Christian. The man who is content with it ought to remember that his practice does not rise an inch above the level of an old Roman or Greek idolater.

In the fourth place, our Lord shows his disciples that in discharging their duty to their neighbors they should look to the example of God. If they called themselves "children of the Highest," they should consider that their Father is "kind to the unthankful and the evil," and they should learn from him to be merciful, even as he is merciful. The extent of God's unacknowledged mercies to men can never be reckoned up. Every year he pours benefits on millions who do not honor the hand from which they come or thank the giver of them. Yet every year these benefits are continued. "Seed time and harvest, summer and winter, never cease." His mercy endures forever. His loving kindness is unwearied. His compassions fail not. So ought it to be with all who profess themselves to be his children. Thanklessness and ingratitude should not make them slack their hands from works of love and mercy. Like their Father in heaven, they should never be tired of doing good.

In the last place, our Lord assures his disciples that the practice of the high standard of charity he recommends shall bring its own reward. "Judge not," he says, "and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned; forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you." And he concludes with the broad assertion, "With the same measure that you mete withal, shall it be measured to you again." The general meaning of these words appears to be that no man shall ever be a loser, in the long run, by deeds of self-denying charity and patient long-suffering love. At times he may seem to get nothing by his conduct. He may appear to reap nothing but ridicule, contempt, and injury. His kindness may sometimes tempt men to impose on him. His patience and forbearance may be abused. But at the last he will always be found a gainer, and often, very often, a gainer in this life; certainly, most certainly, a gainer in the life to come.

Such is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about charity. Few of his sayings are so deeply heart-searching as those we have now been considering. Few passages in the Bible are so truly humbling as these eleven verses.

How little of the type of charity which our Lord recommends is to be seen either in the world or in the Church! How common is an angry passionate spirit, a morbid sensitiveness about what is called honor, and a readiness to quarrel on the least occasion! How seldom we see men and women who love their enemies and do good hoping for nothing again, and bless those that curse them, and are kind to the unthankful and evil. Truly we are reminded here of our Lord's words, "Narrow is the way which leads unto life, and few there be that find it."

How happy the world would be if Christ's precepts were strictly obeyed. The chief causes of half the sorrows of mankind are selfishness, strife, unkindness, and lack of charity. Never was there a greater mistake than to suppose that vital Christianity interferes with human happiness. It is not having too much religion but too little that makes people gloomy, wretched, and miserable. Wherever Christ is best known and obeyed, there will always be found most real joy and peace.

Would we know anything by experience of this blessed grace of charity? Then let us seek to be joined to Christ by faith and to be taught and sanctified by his Spirit. Let us understand that real, genuine, self-denying love will never grow from any roots but faith in Christ's atonement and a heart renewed by the Holy Ghost. We shall never make men love one another unless we teach as St. Paul taught, "Walk in love as Christ has loved us." Teaching love on any other principle is, as a general rule, labor in vain.

#J.C. Ryle #Loving Your Enemies #Luke 6:27-28 #teaching of Jesus #obedience #joy #peace

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