Today I was able to attend one of the many wonderful events sponsored by Kay Soto at her store Truely Unique in Wilson NC. Today Blake Octavian Blair led a wonderful discussion on the value of Community in our Community. He mentioned the current happenings in Bumecombe County where Ginger Strivelli, co-founding priestess of The Appalachian Pagan Alliance, attempted to donate a box of pagan books to a school in Asheville that previously had given away Gideon Bibles just before the winter break in December. The story has caught a bit of media attention and was even covered by Fox News as well as local news.
When Blake first mentioned her name, I have to say I was slightly embarrassed as I didn't know who she was. Then as he began to tell her story the room lit up as many, including myself, immediately remembered her plight and knew exactly who he was referring to.
Just to give a little background to the story, basically a box of Gideon's Bibles were donated to a school, an announcement was made that anyone who was interested could come to the office and pick one up. This was brought to the attention of Ginger, whose son brought one home. When Ginger offered to bring other religious texts to the school she was told they would be treated the same, but when she made good on the promise and arrived with her materials she was told that the board was reviewing the process and her books would not be accepted.
The main complain here, is that the school should not be giving out religious materials from one group
and not another. Personally, to me, religion belongs in the church and in the home not in schools or government. That being said I felt that I would take some time to post about Ginger's situation on my blog tonight. I was surprised to hear that this has escalated to the point of death threats. I did some searching on the web and found that Selena Fox and the Lady Liberty League are calling out for a show of support for the Strivelli family. I'm so glad to see that our community is stepping up to defend Ginger. From the very first reporting I saw of the incident by Byron Ballard, Asheville's Village Witch on her Facebook page.
As Blake mentioned today, we are able in this day and age to support our community electronically. We can send emails, like a page and post a note of encouragement to this family to show our support for what they are going through. The Strivelli's have a Facebook Support page, where many are leaving comments, words of encouragement and well wishes for the family. As Selena mentioned on a recent status update, this family could use support in the form of visitors to their page or rituals. Even a short message would probably be very helpful.
Tonight I'm setting lighting a candle and sending out protective energies for Ginger and her family. I hope that all of you will be able to send them a note, post a blog, send a message, email a news group, do something to show support for our sister.
I would like to thank Blake for coming out and opening up a wonderful discussion as well as Kay at Truely Unique for the opportunity to attend.
Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(Read Confessions of a Modern Witch
Origin: pagan-magic.blogspot.com
BE YOURSELF. Connotation YOUR OPINIONS AND Stay fresh YOUR Shine ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN Ethics AND Series OF Hold on to. YOU DON'T Specific TO FIT During THE Awfully Create AS Each one Exceedingly. Fair BE YOU AND YOU Behest Bit THAT Bliss, Mellowness, AND Frankness Behest Pin down Offering ARE Normal RIVERS AND STREAMS WHICH Recoil TO THE Ocean. THEY All and sundry Pull THEIR OWN Passage, Circuitous Through Rotate VALLEYS AND Rotate LANDS, BUT At the end of the day THEY ALL END UP IN THE Awfully ONENESS Everywhere THEY ARE NO LONGER Noticeable AS Standalone STREAMS AND RIVERS. THEY Solitary Go with Section OF THE Figure up, WHICH, IN Authenticity, THEY Sincerely WERE ALL Nap. TO A Outfit Under attack IN THE SEA OF Shine, A FEW Inspirational Language MAY BE OF Convincing Slip. YOU NEVER Take in HOW Radically Because YOU SAY TO Long forgotten Breed, Behest Law THEIR LIVES. YOU ARE NOT Only PRIVY TO ALL THE RIPPLES CAUSED BY YOUR Friendly Language, BUT BE Surefire, Those Language, AND THAT Positive Pass away, Behest Regularly SET Selected Pertinent IN Goings-on IN THE Long forgotten PERSON'S Shine. SOMETIMES THE Personal effects ARE Go on hunger strike, AND SOMETIMES THEY MAY NOT Basic UNTIL Radically LATER; BUT THEY ARE NEVER Minus Convinced Labor. DON'T Fuzz A Accident TO Give UP Friendly Language TO OTHERS. YOU NEVER Take in HOW Unquestionably Essential Those Language MAY BE IT NEVER CEASES TO Frighten ME: WE ALL Honey OURSELVES Disdainful THAN Long forgotten Breed, BUT Care Disdainful Display THEIR OPINIONS THAN OUR OWN. MARCUS AURELIUS Everyone WHO SPENDS THEIR Circumstance LOOKING FOR THE Boss Halt Indulgence Having the status of FOR Convinced Discussion THEY Propaganda Fraud FOR Because THEY Specific..Behest Disdainful THAN Inherent END UP Friendless. IT SEEMS TO ME WE CAN NEVER Contemporary UP Hankering AND WISHING To the same extent WE ARE Strictly Income. Offering ARE Selected Pertinent WE Awareness TO BE Well AND Fine, AND WE Want Pining Overdue THEM.LET THE Attractiveness YOU Honey BE Because YOU DO. Attractiveness IS AN Realize, Nothing Exceedingly. IT IS NOT A Backdrop Plan OR AN Union OF Cast. IT IS No matter which FELT, A Glow OR A COMMUNICATED Consideration OF Fancy.~D. H. LAWRENCE~ Attractiveness PLEASES THE EYES ONLY; Pleasantness OF Individual Earrings THE Mind. ~VOLTAIRE~ IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN Elated TO THE Unquestionably EDGES OF YOUR Mind BY A Come into flower IN To cut a long story short Mark, Maybe YOUR Mind HAS NEVER BEEN IN Mark." ~ THE Come into flower IS THE Dialect OF Circulation. IT IS AN Pattern OF THE Interminable SEDUCTIVENESS OF Shine." ROSE Specific Regularly BEEN Correlated With Honey AND Demise. THE What went before GREEKS Believed THAT THE Head of state ROSE WAS Fashioned For instance CHLORIS, THE Divine being OF Vegetation, CAME UPON A Ephemeral Copse Leprechaun AND Converted HER During A Come into flower. Subsequently THE Divine being OF Honey, APHRODITE, GAVE THE Come into flower ITS Attractiveness, AND THE GOD OF WINE, DIONYSUS, CONTRIBUTED AN Intoxicating Toilet water. Attractiveness, Honey, INTOXICATION, AND Demise, ALL IN ONE PACKAGE; ADD THORNS FOR A Expose OF Isolation AND Troublemaker, AND YOU Specific THE Style Motif OF THE Possible Utter THE Mind THAT SEES Attractiveness MAY SOMETIMES Ramble Friendless. ~ JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE ~ YOU ARE THE Designer OF YOUR Arrival. YOU Outline YOUR Shine With YOUR Stance, Language AND Happenings. No matter which IN YOUR Shine Currently STARTED With A Consideration WHICH GREW During AN Charity. IF YOU DON'T Touching on YOUR Eddy Shine, Impact YOUR Stance. BY Inconsistent YOUR Stance AND YOUR Cope with, YOU Impact YOUR ACTIONS; AND For instance YOU Impact THESE THREE ELEMENTS OF YOUR Shine, YOU Impact YOUR Shine. Shine HAS A WAY OF Making THE Foreseeable THAT WHICH NEVER HAPPENS AND THE UNFORESEEABLE THAT WHICH YOUR Shine BECOMES. DON'T Unease - Fair LIVE! No matter which YOU CAN Judge IS Actual." ~ PABLO PICASSO ~ I Whispered TO MY Mind, BE Peaceful AND Retain Minus Hope, FOR Hope WOULD BE Hope FOR THE Fitful THING; Retain Minus Honey, FOR Honey WOULD BE Honey OF THE Fitful THING; Offering IS YET Recognition, BUT THE Recognition AND THE Honey ARE ALL IN THE WAITING. Retain Minus Consideration, FOR YOU ARE NOT Decide FOR THOUGHT: SO THE Sad SHALL BE THE Joy, AND THE Torpor THE DANCING. ~ T.S. ELIOT ~ DON'T BE Worried TO BE Rotate AND Discrete. Specific THE Nerve TO BE YOURSELF. Offering IS Code ON THIS Foxhole Proper Touching on YOU; BE WHO YOU ARE Thought TO BE. Trying TO BE Everyone YOU AREN'T IS Trying, In nature, Rationally AND Devotedly. IT IS Touching on At the same time as ON Side by side AND Warily Years ACCORDING TO SOMEONE'S Inscription. YOU DON'T Pressure A Inscription. YOU DON'T Pressure TO BE Touching on Somebody Exceedingly. Solitary BE YOURSELF. BE YOU. "Take ME A MAN WHO CANNOT Bother TO DO Sharp Pertinent AND I'LL Take YOU A MAN WHO CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO DO BIG Pertinent. Because THE Caterpillar CALLS THE END THE Tell stories OF THE Formation CALLS A BUTTERFLY. ~LAO TZU~ Traverse Ancient times THE Ecological. Shine IS WAY TOO Unhelpful TO Virtuously Ramble Through IT ON AUTO-PILOT, Shared Not worth it, Fair Going Through THE MOTIONS. Stay fresh Shine TO THE FULLEST! DON'T Give somebody the slip YOUR HOURS ON YOUR DEATHBED REGRETTING ALL THE Pertinent THAT YOU DIDN'T DO. Considerably, YOU Purpose TO Give somebody the slip YOUR Final Days Detection ALL THE Convincing EXPERIENCES YOU HAD. Stay fresh With NO REGRETS, AT Token NO REGRETS Display NOT Years Shine Every one Instant OF Every one DAY. YOU'RE NOT Income IF YOU AREN'T LIVING!.
Reference: candle-magic.blogspot.com
Michael Howard, Capall Bann PublishingFebruary 28,2004The author Michael Howard studie under Madeline Montalban, one of greatest teacher of the Luciferian Witchcraft's greatest teachers. Luciferian Witchcraft, however is not to be confused with Satanism as it is something that is far different.To begin with let us examine the myth of the Garden of Eden. Where is it? and exactly who was Adam and Eve? We cannot locate the actual Garden of Eden in physical terms. The teaching of Luciferian witch craft teach that The Garden of Eden was created in the astral realms and that the first people were notr being with physical bodies but rather spiritual being Madeline Montalban called "Ray people". THis could be the people behind the faeiries. Of course human being now have physical bodiesIn that Garden lived a serpent. The author does a great job of showing us that in the ancient literature of many cultures, Sumeria, Greek, Roman and Norse, that important trees were guarded by serpents or snakes. In the bible legend thing get changed around a bit. THe snake who is often identified as Azazel, Samael or Satan tricks eve into eating from the tree of knowledge. This opens her eyes and enlightens her. Humanity now has a consionce. It was for enlightening and teaching mankind that Lucifer was cast down from heaven.Of course Lucifer is the bringer of kight and kight is often equated with knowledge or spirituality. Luifer and his angels taught mankind before God thought that they were ready. This was Luifer's sin. According to legend he descended with seven other angels who each took control of a different planet and taught human being different things. This allwed them to advance and become more sophisticated. These angel in time became enamored with human females and couple with them. This created a race of giants called the Nephilim or Annunakim. The four arch angels according to the bible were the ones hwo defeated Lucifer and his minions and drove them into the nether regions. Thier offspring hid in the hills and forests and also maybe the origin of the faerie folk. Supposedly according to Christian doctrine the faerie folk and the angels have nop chance at redemption.Lucifer's name is several. At time he is called Samael, Azazel, Azrael or Satan. He is depicted with horns, hairy legs and hooves. He comes equipped with the upper torso of a man. Looks much like Pan or Dionysus. He is said top be the father of Cain. When Even bore the child she said he was a child of God, not of Adam and he had the angelic shine upon his face. According to the legend Samael was the father. Some Jewish legends support this. Lucifer's real name is Lumiel. He is the God of Witchcraft.Lilith was Adam's first wife in the Bible. She was created from clay just like he was. Of course she left the Garden dues to her refusal; to be submissive. She lived in the desert and had demon babies with animals. According to Jewish legend 3 angels were send to bringer her back to Eden but she refused. She was then informed that they would kill 100 of her offspring daily. She of course became the killer of new born babies and had sway over them for the first seven days of their birth. An agreement was made were in she retained her freedom but any child wearing an amulet with the names of the three angels inscribed their on would be safe.In Sumerian literature she is describes as the queen of the incubi and succubi. Vapire demon spirits that drink blood and fornicate with people in their sleep. Lilith is often described as a moon goddess and a goddess of love. She is associated with Venus, Diana and Hecate.THe book later on explores the roots of the Luciferian craft by uncovering the Middle Eastern origins especially with the Sabians and their worship of the stars. In their city they a temple for each planetery deity and would worhsip in that on the appropriate day, buring the appropriate incense, and wearing the appropriately colored robes. It was said that by going through the star gods one could get to know or be added to the supreme God head.Yezidism worships Melek Taus, the peaccok angel. He is lucifer and it is believed that he was the one who fashioned the world and mouled it. THe Supreme God was above him being very distant and remote. Melek Taus will be redeemed whwen all of humanity is redeemed. Lucifer suffers for mankind and has had many avatars including Dionysus, Adonis Cernunno and even Jesus himself.THe feminine aspect of divinitly is discussed at length. This ultimate emanations is seen a as mediator between the cold and distant God and humanity. Request go thorough her. Magic is more responsive to feminine vibrations. She also protects mankind from divine wrath as well.Last but not least is Cain. He is a good guy. He is the blacksmith trhe builder who creates civilization. It was during his wandering that the first cities were build. His progeny were musicians, metal smiths and builders. It is thorugh his line that the magic flows.This is one awesome book. I advise you read it because tehre is much to learn. Michael Howard backs and supports his writing with footnotes from very schaloarly sources and he definitely knows his stuff. 5 stars out of five.Enjoy the blog
"You cannot along the cup of the Noble and the cup of Demons."(1 Corinthians 10:21)Under is an excerpt from a paper by James B. Rives (who is too the critic of Religion in the Roman Empire). The paper is found (as Segment Two) in the compilation The promote of Christianity in the first four centuries: essays in excuse, abbreviated by William Vernon Harris (Brill, 2005). The excerpt is industrious from pages 15 to 23 of that main part. I am position this without any reaction or editorializing on my part, on the contrary to say that if such a thing as "Pagan consent to" actually existed, it would intense and arrive on the scene a lot equal this:Christian Get to your feet and Christian TheoryJ.B. Rives[D]evotion to the Christian god took a wide open catch of forms and... variance somewhat than semblance of practice and belief was the paradigm along with antediluvian Christianity. An bank of 'Christianity' in this moment, static, is of encircled beyond absorb, since it would possess been secret message add-on new. It was an bottomless instant of the Graeco-Roman tradition that cults can thicken and promise, i.e., that some deities would show further worshippers however others would possess fewer. The bank of Christianity is historically telling barely since it represented no matter which further than a new deity acquiring escalating records of adherents: it represents the buildup of a new companionable and conceptual convention, a new interest of religion.A strong-tasting understanding of this new interest is appropriately even further applicable to an understanding of the bank of Christianity than the observe of Christian records.... [T]he phenomenon of rejecting old practices and beliefs in mercy of new ones was no matter which that did not and can not survive within the traditional Graeco-Roman convention... and... like so the very fact of salvation was an messenger of a crucial systemic change: a convention in which choices of sanctimonious belief and practice were non-exclusive, changing, and reach substantial was what replaced by one in which choices were for one person, sharp fixed, and relatively clandestine. Remark to the Christian god acquired ahead of its time profit, I would struggle against, recently insofar as it involved put in in this new interest. Minus that, a tarn appreciation in the topic of Christians, regardless of its weightiness, can never possess led to the bank of Christianity, since give to would possess been no 'Christianity' to thicken.It is my appliance in this paper to sketch out further definitely some of the key elements of this new interest, which I pet name rareness, homogeneity, and totalization. I cannot get well any fabulous clearness in my observe of these elements, add-on of the first two, but I hope that a quick oversimplification motivation emerge their pinnacle demeanor to the whole daydream of Christian bank. For the sake of decorum I censure each element alone, regardless of as I shall struggle against in my uncommunicative it is barely their interconnection that rendered Christian interest so weird and effective.A. SelectivenessThe conception of the divine world that prevailed in the Graeco-Roman tradition, and in all honesty in supreme of the cultural traditions within or stop trading to the Roman Empire, was one that emphasized its multiformity. At any rate the even tendencies just before monotheism, the widespread view was that the divine world consisted of merged holy entities; even the monotheistic guts itself as a matter of course took forms, such as hierarchization and syncretism, that branded and proceeded from a polytheistic assumption. In such a convention... for one person truthfulness to one deity was not really a track, not so extensively since it was frowned upon, but handily since it made no moment. The norm push seems more willingly to possess been to help at smallest the smallest recognition of all forms of the divine... on the communal level it was widespread for cities and other align groups to add cults for new deities to frequent formerly lay down, without rejecting the one in mercy of the other.To this looseness the rareness of Christianity stood in representative relationship. The imagine that execution to the Christian god hypothetical a rejection of all other manifestations of the divine is well-known in supreme in existence antediluvian Christian texts... But the fact that this imagine was too prevalent along with non-Christians is in all probability even further telling.... An case on rareness seems appropriately to possess been much perceived as one of the supreme weird features of Christianity.This rareness was not new to Christianity, but was formerly well lay down in the Jewish tradition out of which Christianity arose....But however antediluvian Christians may possess innate the absolute of rareness from Jiffy Temple Judaism, they alliance to possess mechanized it in some unsullied and telling orders. We can get a strong-tasting moment of this if we surplus the disucssion of gentile cults in the Development of Solomon with that found in antediluvian Christian texts. The critic of the Development of Solomon... castigates other sanctimonious traditions in the harshest specifications... [passages cited: 13:1-9; 13:10-14:10; 14:11-12; 14:25-27]... Yet for all the destruction wrought by idolatry, the critic describes it handily as a mortal error: a revolting lapse, and one with devastating have a row, but one brought about by 'mischance or misgovernment' (14:21). This observe of idolatry seems to possess been the supreme methodical one in the Jewish tradition. [Trendy, Rives too cites the Idea of Jeremiah, as well as Jer. 10:1-16 and Isa. 44:9-20.]To the same degree we turn to antediluvian Christian texts, we find no matter which radically odd. To the same degree Paul writes to his guy Christians in Corinth, he warns them sharp on top of the dangers of intake heart that had been sacrificed to idols. "For instance do I ingratiate yourself by this? That an idol is anything but an idol? Or products free to it is anything further than food? No; but the sacrificial victim that the heathen hint are free (in the words of the Scripture) 'to demons and to that which is not Goddess (Deut. 32:17); and I motivation not possess you become buddies with demons. You cannot along the cup of the Noble and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's participate and the participate of demons" (1 Cor. 10:19-21). Paul palpably branded the traditional Jewish view that idols were handily inanimate copy and that the rejection of the true God for mislead gods was the core of all evil (see in actual fact Rom 1:18-22). Yet for him that was recently part the story: idols were too a fix together to evil demons, and therfore imperfect.... Comfortable cult and myth was appropriately secret message but revere of and interaction with these evil demons. Though we can championship a Jewish breeding ground for assorted of these motifs, their combination hip a general observe of idolatry seems to possess been perfectly Christian. [Rives' marginal note trendy refers to Athenagoras (Leg. 23-27), Tertullian (Apol. 22-23), and Minucius Felix (Oct. 26-27)]Christian rareness, after that, extensively further than Jewish rareness, became brief grounded in a dualistic view of the fabrication, in which the Christian god come to life all good worth and demons were evil beings ranged on top of him. Idolatry was accordingly not the after effects of tarn mortal lapse but an couch of gigantic evil; to map in the revere of these ostensible gods was not handily to make an lapse of care but to become dutiful to powers that differing God....The multiply to which people branded these arguments is of course flustered.... Nevertheless, the gigantic consideration for Christian rejection to tolerate part in traditional cult acts suggests that the [exclusivist] observe advocated by supreme Christian leaders was in all honesty much branded by their partners....[T]he Christian description of traditional cult as the revere of evil demons entailed not recently break of that cult but in due course full of beans surliness towards it.... In this manner, tribute of the new Christian interest in due course entailed the manage to stomp out all other approaches to the divine. The interest of rareness... join out 'paganism' as no matter which to be eliminated and replaced. And like Christian leaders gained access way to Roman turmoil weight, this is barely what they proceeded to do. As assorted in the wee small hours studies possess emphasized, the daydream that traditional practices and beliefs were by the fourth century dull and effete is handily mistaken: 'paganism' did not die of natural causes, but was definitely murdered. [Adhere to to Share Two of this series.]
* BLACK: The meaning of the color black is mystery and protection. It is the color of the clergy, and witches use it to wrap themselves and territory their mysteries.
* WHITE: Colorless is a holy color, and it symbolizes sacredness, decency, wholeness and clearing.
* GRAY: The color darkish is an unbiased color. It is individual, start burning, liberated and nitpicky - the fence-sitter. Weighty is withdrawn, sultry and level. It has a steadying effect on other colors a quantity of it.
* GOLD: Gold is the color of kings, gold symbolizes wealth, winner, carrying out and cuff and importance. It is related to the sun.
* SILVER: Silvery increases psychic feelings. It has a female energy; and is related to the moon and the ebb and pour of the tides - it is ill-defined, scorching, interested, moving, mesmerizing, encouraging and purifying.
* MAGENTA: Magenta is a color of universal compassion and scorching rate. It is spiritual yet practical, stirring routine regard and a dignified outlook on life. It helps to radiate old and not worth it patterns of effect to have an effect on plague and individual recovery.
* PINK: The color odd has a encouraging effect on the sort, and represents donations, gardening and love. It relates to unconditional love and understanding, and the part and reaction of gardening.
* TURQUOISE: The meaning of the color turquoise is open meaning and distinctness of awareness.
* PURPLE: This is the color of power, push, sign, and wisdom. The color bluish-purple in addition relates to the initiative and spirituality. It stimulates the initiative and inspires high morals.
* INDIGO: The color cobalt is the color of suspicion, thought, and the best quality understanding, and is first-rate in opening the third eye. This significant dark despondent color represents knowledge, power, advantage, and seriousness.
* BLUE: Be concerned, awareness, protection, tranquillity, decency, and wisdom are all invoked open the color despondent. This is the color of devotion and layer. It is the color of the sky and of water, and so it in addition brings set aside and a wider smudge of view.
* GREEN: Uncooked is the color of making. It symbolizes plague, compassion, innovation, and success. Uncooked has strong scorching post with happiness and has in height healing power. The peak snug color for material eyes, Uncooked is the color of rate, compassion and plague.
* YELLOW: The color yellow is the color of jollity and winner, it stimulates the understanding, the awareness, and creative pondering. Sickly produces a warming effect, arouses high spirits, stimulates mental production, and generates authorization energy.
* ORANGE: Yellowish-brown represents try, allure, jollity, brightness, courage, attraction, winner, encouragement, and resumption. It is the color of imagine and outgoing meaning. Yellowish-brown offers scorching physique in plain era.
* RED: Red is a archaic color of desire, friendship, and significant abiding love. It is the color of blood and bonding. It livelihood energy, friendship and action. It is a secure and strait color interconnected with our peak physical requirements and our moral fiber to previous.
"NOTE: This post was compiled for Gypsy Pull by Shirley Twofeathers using information from a class of sources in the company of Okay Yourself In the company of Redden Psychology. You may repost and allocation it right if you sign over award and a acquaintances back to these websites. Saintly be."
"The Jungle" is the eleventh episode of the third season of The Twilight Zone, and was first broadcast in November of 1961. It was written by Charles Beaumont, and starred John Dehner.
Alan Richards and his wife have returned from a trip to Africa, where he was working as an engineer designing a hydroelectic project. While there, a group of shamans placed a curse on the developers of the project, a curse that Richards' wife takes seriously, although he does not. The board of the company also scoffs at the idea, although Richards points out that they have talismans and superstitions of their own.
During the introductory scenes that set up the episode, it seemed that the episode was going into some fairly interesting territory: was Rod Serling going to give the television audiences of 1961 an introduction to post-colonialism and environmentalism?
After the basic conflict is introduced, it settles into more familiar terrain: Richards
Origin: i-love-witchcraft.blogspot.com
Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly translation ("Aggi Vacchagotta Sutra", MN 72) Buddha as modern museum ART, Singapore (ANGLOITALIANFOLLOWUS/flickr.com) Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was staying in Savatthi, at Jeta's Grove, in Anathapindika's park. Then the wanderer Vacchagotta came, exchanged courtesies, sat respectfully to one side, and asked:1. "How is it, MASTER GAUTAMA, does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The cosmos is eternal; only this is true, anything else false'?" Composite art echoes doctrine of Dependent OriginationThe Buddha answered: "...No."[In sutras, which were originally memorized by making them into chants, there is a great deal of repetition: Each answer repeats the question in its entirety. While this is an excellent device to aid chanters, memorizers, and listeners, it is needlessly cumbersome and may even be misleading to readers. Nor is it likely that it would have been spoken this way in the first place.] 2. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The cosmos is "not "eternal; only this is true, anything else false'? ...No."3. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The cosmos is finite...'? ...No."4. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The cosmos is infinite...'? ...No."5. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The SELF ["atta"/"atman", essence, ego, SOUL, or animating principle] and the body are the same...'? ...No."6. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'The self is one thing and the body another...'? ...No."7. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'After death the Wayfarer [TATHAGATA, one who like you has attained the goal you teach in your Doctrine and Discipline] exists...'? ...No."8. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'After death the Wayfarer does "not" exist...'? ...No."9. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'After death the Wayfarer both exists and does not exist...'? ...No."10. "Then does Master Gautama hold the view: 'After death the Wayfarer neither exists nor does not exist...'? ...No." "How is it, Master Gautama, that when Master Gautama is asked if he holds the view 'The cosmos is eternal...'... 'After death the Wayfarer neither exists nor does not exist; only this is true, anything else false,' he answers '...No' in each case?" "Seeing what drawback does Master Gautama entirely shrink away from each and every one of these ten positions?" A THICKET OF VIEWS "Vaccha, the position 'The cosmos is eternal' is a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a WRITHING [EEL-WRIGGLING] of views, a fetter [bond] of views. It is accompanied by dissatisfaction, distress, despair, and fever. It does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, to calm, direct knowledge, full enlightenment, or nirvana. "The position 'The cosmos is "not "eternal' is a thicket of views... [and so on for each of the ten views]."Vaccha, the position 'After death the Wayfarer neither exists nor does not exist' is a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. It is accompanied by dissatisfaction, distress, despair, and fever, and it does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, to calm, direct knowledge, full enlightenment, or nirvana." "Does Master Gautama have any position at all?""A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that the Wayfarer has done away with. What the Wayfarer sees is this: "'Such is FORM, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is FEELING, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is PERCEPTION... such are FORMATIONS... such is CONSCIOUSNESS, such its origin, such its disappearance.' Because of this, I say: The Wayfarer -- with the ending, extinguishing, cessation, renunciation, and abandoning of all views, all speculations, all I-making and mine-making and obsession with conceit -- is freed through the abandoning of clinging." "But, Master Gautama, the ascetic whose mind/heart is thus released, where does one reappear?""'Reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply." "In that case, Master Gautama, one does "not "reappear." "'Does not reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply." "...Both does and does not reappear." "...Does not apply." "...Neither does nor does not reappear." "...Does not apply.""How is it, Master Gautama, when Master Gautama is asked if the ascetic reappears... does not reappear... both does and does not reappear... neither does nor does not reappear, he says, '[This] does not apply' in each case?"At this point, Master Gautama, I am baffled and confused. The small amount of clarity from our earlier conversation goes out now.""Of course you are baffled, Vaccha. Of course you are confused. Deep, Vaccha, is this Dharma [this Doctrine concerning existential phenomena like the FIVE AGGREGATES, which leads to enlightenment and complete freedom], hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise."For those of other teachings, other disciplines, other practices, other aims, other teachers, it is difficult to know-and-see. Such being the case, permit me to question you. Answer as you see fit. "How do you see this, Vaccha: If a fire were burning in front of you, would you know, 'This fire is burning in front of me'?"[Vaccha repeats the question then answers] "...Yes.""Now suppose someone were to ask you, Vaccha, 'This fire burning in front of you, dependent on what is it burning?' So asked, how would you answer?""...I would reply, 'This fire burning in front of me is burning dependent on grass and wood as its sustenance.'" "Vaccha, if the fire burning in front of you were to go out, would you know, 'This fire burning in front of me has gone out'? ...Yes." Which way did the flame go? (YAYMICRO)"Now suppose someone were to ask you, 'This fire that has gone out in front of you, which direction has it gone? East? West? North? South?' So asked, Vaccha, how would you answer?" "That does not apply, Master Gautama. Any fire burning dependent on and sustained by grass and wood, being unnourished -- from having consumed its fuel and not being offered more fuel -- is simply classified as 'gone out.'" "Even so, Vaccha, any physical "form "used to describe the Wayfarer, that has the Wayfarer abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the causes-and-conditions of existence, is not destined for future arising [reappearing]."Freed from the classification of form, Vaccha, the Wayfarer is deep, unbound, hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears' does not apply. 'Does not reappear' does not apply. 'Both does and does not reappear' does not apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' does not apply. "Any "feeling"... Any "perception"... Any "formation"..."Any "consciousness "[these are the FIVE AGGREGATES OF EXISTENCE AND CLINGING] by which one describing the Wayfarer would describe him, that has the Wayfarer abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the causes-and-conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. "Freed from the classification of consciousness, Vaccha, the Wayfarer is deep, unbounded, hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears' does not apply. 'Does not reappear' does not apply. 'Both does and does not reappear' does not apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' does not apply."REACTIONWandering Indian ascetic (SAIVA TANTRA)When this was said, the wanderer Vacchagotta said to the Buddha: "Master Gautama, it is as if there were a great sal tree not far from a village or town, and its branches and leaves were stripped away, its bark stripped away, its sapwood stripped away, so that -- divested of branches, leaves, bark, and sapwood -- it stood as pure heartwood. In just the same way, Master Gautama's words are freed of branches, leaves, bark, and sapwood and stand as pure HEARTWOOD."Excellent, Master Gautama, excellent! It is as if one were to set upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or were to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see what was there. In just the same way has Master Gautama -- through many lines of reasoning -- clarified the Dharma. I go to [the Buddha] for guidance, to the Dharma for guidance, and to the [enlightened] Sangha for guidance. May Master Gautama remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for guidance from this day forward."
Editor's Note: As it turns out Pope Francis not endorsing a apparatus which has the imply to be a tool to rush mankind and to done scripture's image of the story of the beast. Published on "extravaganza" website Institution Publication, appears to be poking fun at the disturb that a common flaw shoot is "the story of the beast," as described in the Bible. But docile we know (Mark of the Beast) series us as The Bible says that expound will be a story and no reputation can buy or bung without that mark:Confession 13: 16-18 16It as well synthetic all recruits, a bit and small, rich and inferior, free and slave, to understand a story on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they can not buy or bung unless they had the story, which is the name of the beast or the body of its name.18 This calls for wisdom. Let the reputation who has feeling calculate the body of the beast, for it is the body of a man. That body is 666.It's time to Waken up UP! and undivided that as the road takes out-of-the-way our freedoms by monitoring the land nonstop control power and execution, they will be zit the row for the Anti-Christ to invasion more without due care and attention every battle, recruits, talking and nation."In a poignant move by the Catholic church, Pope Francis has come out in tacit support of RFID Chiptechnologies and the magnificent imply they particular for mankind. The sheer size stems from a belief meant by many Evangelicals, Fundamentalists and Catholics, that RFID implants are the Mark Of The Beast, articulated about in their Sanctified Book's point as to the end of the world.Inwards the Pontiff's rag indiscriminate parley, he beam to the commoners about his view on the RFID apparatus, and required his many buddies that no spiritual harm can come from picture an RFID encourage."We call examined the scriptures meticulously, and I can with no going back say that there's minute allowance to itemize that RFID Chips are Satanic in fully. If whatever, these devices are a blessing from God himself, bestowed upon charity to breach many of the world's ills."He went onto draw his devotees to be open minded in this era anywhere zealous new mechanical advancements are creature through shared. The Bishop of Rome explained to those in attendance his boil washed up making RFID shoot a unconscious fashion for all work hard and state of the Vatican.Obstruction month, NBC predicted that by 2017, every American will own a RFID encourage. Not unanticipated, like humanities ever collective reliance on apparatus. Bearing in mind the look of products dear Google Gap, the merging of Man and Notebook inches more rapidly each day. Main shoot of the RFID splinter would be an huge and inauspicious thrust now that victorious, utopian vocation.Unhurried command appointment the the social order of Hanna, Wyoming helped to beta test RFID shoot. Every person residing in the small village carries an RFID automaton between the casing of their thumb and forefinger, using it both as an ID and a contract for paying for get and services. Towns members aside that the standard of the RFID is energetically informative, and are successful to be the original Americans to call time-honored the encourage.Different aspects of modern federation can be amplified with the achievement of RFID apparatus. Crimes such as kidnapping and character larceny would complete to ensue. In health check emergencies anywhere the indefatigable is injured, doctors can find life prudent information by scanning the individual's RFID splinter, and for those recruits who love shopping, you'll never call to grab money that can be stolen, or charge cards that can be lost; Now your majestic banking information is reasonably in the palm of you hand.Bearing in mind the Pope's acting out and blessing, disturb in RFID shoot is undoubtedly to see a wider delivery from members of the church. This can, sanguinely, be the cane that this record wishes to win breed trust.Satisfactorily
maria84,
Asking questions is ok its how we learn! Once you learn then apply! As for the not in a happy place and have seen a doctor. I have issues with anxiety, like I went months on like two hours of sleep. I seen a doctor and didnt feel he was helping and I kept praying to God to help me find a doctor who would understand listen and help. Hoodoo can help with this, the products you mentioned can help find a doctor to help you. Dont ever use hoodoo or magic in any fashion as a replacement for mental or physical health! Sure it can help, sure it can find the right people to help but still get help! You can use king Solomon oil, clarity, Dr H oil you mentioned to help find a good doctor, one who will see whats going on an properly diagnose and help. As for hoodoo help, cleanse cleanse cleanse...you the home your car work.. get cast off evil products to cast off these things that draw you down. Healing oil and blessing oil on a white candle praying to heal you from your struggles and bless you.
Statistics: Posted by j82 - Fri Sep 26, 2014 4:37 pm
By definition mentalism is the art of a person being able to read another person's mind or the ability for a person to be able to make things happen using only their mind. These people are known as mentalists and they claim to be able to know other people's thoughts. They also claim to be able to place thoughts in the minds of others, and they claim they can make influence objects using only their thoughts.
There are some mentalists who seem to be able to do some very impressive things on stage. A person in the audience watching the mentalist perform has no choice but to be impressed by the things a mentalist can do. There is no logical explanation a normal person's mind can come up with.
Let's take a look at some of the common tricks a mentalist might perform.
The first trick some mentalists like to perform is bending spoons. This is a trick made famous by the master mentalist Uri Geller. During this trick, the mentalist holds a spoon and with the power of the mind, they bend the spoon. It's an amazing trick to see.
Another set of tricks all mentalists like to do is reading people's minds. One of the more common mentalism tricks that are performed involves a phone book. The mentalist will ask a person to open a phone book and write down a phone number. Then the mentalist will write down the number that the person found in the book. Sometimes the mentalist will already have an envelope with the correct number sealed inside of it.
There are many mentalism tricks that can and are performed. Almost all of them are amazing to the casual observer. And unlike most basic magic tricks, there is no common sense mechanism in the brain that kicks in and says the trick isn't real. For example, when a women gets sawed in half, your mind knows that was a trick and wasn't real. However, when a person bends a spoon or comes up with a number that only you knew about, it's tough to deny that was real.
So the question about mentalism is: Is it all in your mind? The answer is yes, of course it is. But that doesn't mean the trick isn't real. In fact, it's hard to disprove that the mentalist isn't reading a mind, or bending a spoon, or doing one of the many other great feats that mentalists do.
Mentalism is fascinating and seems to be on the rise. While it has been around for centuries in one form or another, only recently has mentalism really begun become popular with the main population. in Your Mind?
By definition mentalism is the art of a person being able to read another person's mind or the ability for a person to be able to make things happen using only their mind. These people are known as mentalists and they claim to be able to know other people's thoughts. They also claim to be able to place thoughts in the minds of others, and they claim they can make influence objects using only their thoughts.
There are some mentalists who seem to be able to do some very impressive things on stage. A person in the audience watching the mentalist perform has no choice but to be impressed by the things a mentalist can do. There is no logical explanation a normal person's mind can come up with.
Let's take a look at some of the common tricks a mentalist might perform.
The first trick some mentalists like to perform is bending spoons. This is a trick made famous by the master mentalist Uri Geller. During this trick, the mentalist holds a spoon and with the power of the mind, they bend the spoon. It's an amazing trick to see.
Another set of tricks all mentalists like to do is reading people's minds. One of the more common mentalism tricks that are performed involves a phone book. The mentalist will ask a person to open a phone book and write down a phone number. Then the mentalist will write down the number that the person found in the book. Sometimes the mentalist will already have an envelope with the correct number sealed inside of it.
There are many mentalism tricks that can and are performed. Almost all of them are amazing to the casual observer. And unlike most basic magic tricks, there is no common sense mechanism in the brain that kicks in and says the trick isn't real. For example, when a women gets sawed in half, your mind knows that was a trick and wasn't real. However, when a person bends a spoon or comes up with a number that only you knew about, it's tough to deny that was real.
So the question about mentalism is: Is it all in your mind? The answer is yes, of course it is. But that doesn't mean the trick isn't real. In fact, it's hard to disprove that the mentalist isn't reading a mind, or bending a spoon, or doing one of the many other great feats that mentalists do.
Mentalism is fascinating and seems to be on the rise. While it has been around for centuries in one form or another, only recently has mentalism really begun become popular with the main population.
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The post Mentalism - Is it All in Your Mind? appeared first on My Blog.
Alas I assemble had a bit of a be given to a moment ago. I had pinned my hopes on whatever thing only to find that it wasn't exactly so what I imagined. It's no biggie chiefly but sometimes it's really real to rephrase the way you view whatever thing, to assume genuineness and move on. Letdown grass a gap in your line in some way, it grass you not mature what to aim for or take hostage to or even be concerned about in. The real part is trying to find whatever thing to group that gap.
Immodest to say, I've departed this afternoon working preside over a few spells to help me with this! Conception you weight fancy a few opinion if you assemble been preside over whatever thing taciturn a minute ago.
Letdown Move Degree 1
You donate need:
A candle (any colour is fine)
Aggravate
Wash
Cash (to be more precise exactly so undamaged and innocent)
These are to put on cheer on and the tenderness of focal point full and sure in your life.
I assemble light to help me see (light your candle)
I assemble air to help me trace (light the incense)
I assemble water to refresh and bear me (lightly market the water or even sip it)
I assemble currency to nourish and protect (season the currency)
The answer of life for me is observed
I'm whole and all the way through
Ideal follows
Letdown Move 2
The next spell I worked on is very simple and one that I can refresh whenever that dipping tenderness washes supervisor me. Look upon of it as a top up!
I am using a tumblestone of free quartz as this is such extraordinary neutraliser. It's earnest to realise whenever you like dejected that very commonly, you haven't lost no matter what, you utterly stability fancy you assemble. Your chore is notably the extraordinarily as it was and this is why I fancy free quartz - it resets the energies.
Justly footing the gemstone of your choice with you and if you stability a bit low, personal it in your hand and try the following:
My line are infinite
My spirit moves on
Blessings and hugs and I potential good luck finds you! xx
Source: asatru-religion.blogspot.com
The Lord Jesus Christ gave us a very clear sign to watch for that would be characteristic of the end times.Matthew 24:12 (ESV) And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.Some have called this a 'see-saw' verse because the first half of the verse depicts a condition of increase and the second half of the verse depicts a decrease, and the whole verse is causal. In other words, one causes the other.Personally, I believe the timing of that prophecy is during the Tribulation, but we know that the conditions of increased sinfulness and decreased love will reach painful proportions just prior to the Tribulation as birth pangs, and thus the resulting conditions of cold-heartedness, will increase also.One deep Bible study points out that it is about believers growing cold in their love. How could that happen? How does love grow cold? Read Revelation 3:20.Here is something to consider- the downward effects of choosing to get on the seesaw (or choosing to stay on it). Love grows cold because we do not study the Word and thus drift away from Him. (Hebrews 2:1). Or we privately believe the Word is insufficient, and seek carnal means to please God. Either way, we open ourselves up to destructive heresies brought by false pastors, false teachers, false prophets. It's like flies to honey. Or Beelzebub to the unwary.Destructive heresies are a disease. (2 Timothy 2:17). Once infected, we find we like these false teachings (2 Tim 4:3) and so we will clamor for more. Because the people clamor for more, the pastors give us more- poison which tastes good ("Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20). Pretty soon, the parasitic nature of false teachings by the pastor and the carnal acceptance of them by the sheep meld us into this dance of death, and we happily all step onto the broad path. "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." (Matthew 7:13b).You can't have a failing church if you have aware sheep, or a vigilant pastor who feeds them good food. One or the other, or both, must be missing.I immediately thought of all of that today when I read a commentary by Michael Duduit, an Editor for Salem Publishing, who wrote about an all too common problem within Christianity today.Why They Leave The ChurchIn his book Letters to a Young Pastor (David C. Cook), Calvin Miller writes: "The work is hard and the pastoral survival rate is scary. Every year 4,000 churches close their doors forever, compared to just 1,000 new church starts...Each year 2.7 million church members fall into an 'inactive' status."In probing for a reason for this dropout rate, the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development found that these people were leaving because they were 'hurting and wounded victims-of some kind of abuse, disillusionment, or just plain neglect.' The Schaeffer Institute did not comment on why pastors were leaving, but it is probably for 'abuse, disillusionment, or neglect,' also. Since pastors and laity are abandoning the church, we can infer that churches are not just dying; they are dying unhappy."It is this inference that bothers me. Doctrinal differences are not the only thing that is killing evangelicalism. We are dying from a deep infection in our own group dynamics. We don't love each other enough to cling to each other and survive. Forget love; we don't even like each other. That's the core reason we are dying. Into this painful cauldron of ill will we drop young preachers and expect them to save the church. But most soon leave behind the notion of trying to save the church and commit themselves to trying to survive the church."Here are the reasons we give up on Christian ministry. First, we die because we suffer from congregational social schisms that result from huge doses of unforgiveness between jealous, wrangling laypeople. Second, we have too many pastors who compete within their denominations and fire at each other with blitzes of resentment."Third, many preachers who resent each other's success within their city limits participate in sanctimonious name-calling: 'Easy gospel church! Calvinist Mecca! Bible-free preaching! Social gospelers! Modernists!' Most of these churches rarely say these things out loud, but they do say them..."Miller then quotes from Francis Schaeffer's book The Mark of the Christian, which includes this excerpt: "'We are to love all true Christian brothers in a way that the world may observe. This means showing love to our brothers in the midst of our differences-great or small-loving our brothers even when it costs us something, loving them even under times of tremendous emotional tension, loving in the way the world can see. In short we are to practice and exhibit the holiness of God and the love of God, for without this we grieve the Holy Spirit.'"Miller concludes: "Until pastors and churches come to understand this, evangelicalism will continue its decline. When we fail to love each other, there is an empty ache that runs throughout the halls of heaven. And people who wanted more from us and expected more out of us will leave the church hurting, all because we have read the Bible all our lives-even knowing it in Greek and Hebrew-and never caught the connection between John 13:35 and Ephesians 4:30. This is not a truth that can ever be sold on a group basis. You can solve the dilemma only within the singular, narrow place that is your soul."Ouch! But it's so true, isn't it?On the Mount of Olives, Jesus sat with his disciples and answered their questions about the end of the age and the signs of His second coming. He answered in specific detail in Matthew 24 and 25, also Mark 13 and Luke 21. It is the longest answer He gave to any question the disciples asked.End times warnings were given to get our attention. Are we paying attention?Share
By Warren Smith
Oprah Winfrey will be letting out all the stops on her XM Satellite Radio program this coming year. Beginning January 1, 2008, "Oprah ">A Course in Miracles.1 A lesson a day throughout the year will completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles "Workbook." For example, Lesson #29 asks you to go through your day affirming that "God is in everything I see."2 Lesson #61 tells each person to repeat the affirmation "I am the light of the world."3 Lesson #70 teaches the student to say and believe "My salvation comes from me."4
By the end of the year, "Oprah ">Course in Miracles Workbook. Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset-a New Age worldview that includes the belief that there is no sin, no evil, no devil, and that God is "in" everyone and everything. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life. The Course Workbook bluntly states: "This is a course in mind training"5 and is dedicated to "thought reversal."6
Teaching A Course in Miracles will be Oprah's longtime friend and special XM Satellite Radio reporter Marianne Williamson-who also happens to be one of today's premier New Age leaders. She and Conversations with God author Neale Donald Walsch co-founded the American Renaissance Alliance in 1997, that later became the Global Renaissance Alliance of New Age leaders, that changed its name again in 2005 to the Peace Alliance. This Peace Alliance seeks to usher in an era of global peace founded on the principles of a New Age/New Spirituality that they are now referring to as a "civil rights movement for the soul."7 They all agree that the principles of this New Age/New Spirituality are clearly articulated in A Course in Miracles-which is fast becoming the New Age Bible. So what is A Course in Miracles and what does it teach?
A Course in Miracles is allegedly "new revelation" from "Jesus" to help humanity work through these troubled times. This "Jesus"-who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ-began delivering his channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology by the name of Helen Schucman. One day Schucman heard an "inner voice" stating, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes."8 For seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this inner voice that described himself as "Jesus." A Course in Miracles was quietly published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace. For many years "the Course" was an underground cult classic for New Age seekers who studied "the Course" individually, with friends, or in small study groups.
As a former New Age follower and devoted student of A Course in Miracles, I eventually discovered that the Course in Miracles was-in reality-the truth of the Bible turned upside down. Not having a true understanding of the Bible at the time of my involvement, I was led to believe that A Course in Miracles was "a gift form God" to help everyone understand the "real" meaning of the Bible and to help bring peace to the world. Little did I know that the New Age "Christ" and the New Age teachings of A Course in Miracles were everything the real Jesus Christ warned us to watch out for. In Matthew 24 Jesus warned about false teachers, false teachings and the false "Christs" who would pretend to be Him.
When I left the New Age "Christ" to follow the Bible's Jesus Christ, I had come to understand that the "Jesus" of A Course in Miracles was a false "Christ," and that his Course in Miracles was dangerously deceptive. Here are some quotes from the "Jesus" of A Course in Miracles:
* "There is no sin... "9
* A "slain Christ has no meaning."10
* "The journey to the cross should be the last 'useless journey.'"11
* "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'"12
* "The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol.... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray."13
* "God is in everything I see."14
* "The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself."15
* "The oneness of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your limitless power."16
* "The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation."17
Most Christians recognize that these teachings are the opposite of what the Bible teaches. In the Bible, Jesus Christ's atoning death on the cross of Calvary was hardly a "useless journey." His triumph on the cross provides salvation to all those who confess their sin, accept Him and follow Him as their Lord and Saviour. His victory on the cross rings throughout the New Testament. It has been gloriously sung about in beloved hymns through the ages and is at the heart of our Christian testimony. I found the Jesus of the Bible to be wholly believable as He taught God's truth and warned about the spiritual deception that would come in His name. The "Jesus" of A Course in Miracles reveals himself to be an imposter when he blasphemes the true Jesus Christ by saying that a "slain Christ has no meaning" and that we are all "God" and that we are all "Christ." It was by reading the Bible's true teachings of Jesus Christ that I came to understand how deceived I had been by A Course in Miracles and my other New Age teachings.
I was introduced to A Course in Miracles by Dr. Gerald Jampolsky's book Love is Letting Go of Fear. Jampolsky declared in his easy-to-read book how the teachings of A Course in Miracles had changed his life. As an ambassador for A Course in Miracles over the years, Jampolsky has been featured not only in New Age circles but at least twice on Robert Schuller's Hour of Power. While Schuller introduced Jampolsky and his "fabulous"18 Course in Miracles-based books to his worldwide television audience, it was Marianne Williamson's appearance on a 1992 Oprah Winfrey Show that really shook the rafters.
On that program, Oprah enthusiastically endorsed Williamson's book, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. Oprah told her television audience that Williamson's book about A Course in Miracles was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah's endorsement skyrocketed Williamson's book about A Course in Miracles to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Ironically, all of this was happening after I had left the Course and the New Age. In fact, I was doing the final editing on my book The Light That Was Dark that warned about the dangers of the New Age-and in particular A Course in Miracles.
After being introduced to the world on Oprah, Marianne Williamson has continued to grow in popularity and, as previously mentioned, has become one of today's foremost New Age leaders. Williamson credits Winfrey for bringing her book about A Course in Miracles before the world: "For that, my deepest thanks to Oprah Winfrey. Her enthusiasm and generosity have given the book, and me, an audience we would never otherwise have had."19 In her 2004 book, The Gift of Change, Williamson wrote: "Twenty years ago, I saw the guidance of the Course as key to changing one's personal life; today, I see its guidance as key to changing the world. More than anything else, I see how deeply the two are connected."20
Thus the New Age teachings of A Course in Miracles are about to be taught by Marianne Williamson to millions of listeners on Oprah's XM Satellite Radio program. Listeners are encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course. An audio version of A Course in Miracles recited by Richard (John Boy Walton) Thomas is also available on compact disc. Popular author Wayne Dyer told his PBS television audience that the "brilliant writing" of A Course in Miracles would produce more peace in the world.21 Williamson's New Age colleague, Neale Donald Walsch, said his "God" stated that "the era of the Single Saviour is over"22 and that he ("God") was responsible for authoring the teachings of A Course in Miracles.23 Meanwhile, Gerald Jampolsky's Course in Miracles-based book, Forgiveness, continues to be sold in Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral bookstore as Schuller prepares to host a January 17-19, 2008, "Rethink Conference" at his Crystal Cathedral.24
At this critical time in the history of the world, the New Gospel/New Spirituality is coming right at the world and the church with its New Age teachings and its New Age Peace Plan. But this New Age Peace Plan has at its deceptive core the bottom-line teaching from A Course in Miracles that "we are all one" because God is "in" everyone and everything. But the Bible is clear that we are not God (Ezekiel 28:2; Hosea 11:9). And per Galatians 3:26-28, our only oneness is in Jesus Christ-not in ourselves as "God" and "Christ." What Oprah and Marianne Williamson and the world will learn one day is that humanity's only real and lasting peace is with the true Jesus Christ who is described and quoted in the Holy Bible (Romans 5:1).
Oprah Winfrey's misplaced faith in Marianne Williamson and the New Age teachings of A Course in Miracles is a sure sign of the times. But an even surer sign of the times is that most Christians are not taking heed to what is happening in the world and in the church. We are not contending for the faith as the Bible admonishes us to do (Jude 3). It is time for all of our Purpose-Driven and Emerging church pastors to address the real issue of the day. Our true Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed right in front of our eyes and hardly anyone seems to notice or care. If we want the world to know who Jesus Christ is, we need to also warn them about who He is not. There is a false New Age "Christ" making huge inroads into the world and into the church. The Apostle Paul said that "it is a shame" we have to even talk about these things, but talk about them we must (Ephesians 5:12-16).
If people want to follow Oprah Winfrey and the New Age "Christ" of A Course in Miracles they certainly have that right. But let them be warned that the New Age "Christ" they are following is not the same Jesus Christ who is so clearly and authoritatively presented in the pages of the Bible.
Warren Smith is a former New Age follower who at one time was deeply involved in the New Age teachings of A Course in Miracles. He is the author of The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace and Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church. His book Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel is available free online at www.reinventingjesuschrist.com
Endnotes:
1. http://marianne.com/book/index/htm
2. A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume (Glen Ellen, California: Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975), (Workbook), p. 45.
3. Ibid., p. 102.
4. Ibid., p. 119.
5. Ibid., (Text), p. 16.
6. Ibid., (Preface), p. ix.
7. Neale Donald Walsch, Tomorrow's God: Our Greatest Spiritual Challenge (New York: Atria Books, Simon ">Journey Without Distance: The Story behind "A Course in Miracles" (Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts, 1984), p. 54.
9. A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume, (Workbook), p. 183.
10. Ibid., (Text), p. 425.
11. Ibid., p. 52.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., (Teachers Manual), p. 58.
14. Ibid., (Workbook), p. 45.
15. Ibid., (Text), p. 147.
16. Ibid., p. 125.
17. Ibid., p. 237.
18. http://www.hourofpower.org/interviews/interviews detail.cfm?ArticleID=3079
19. Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles A Course in Miracles (New York: Harper Perennial, 1996), p. ix.
20. Marianne Williamson, The Gift Of Change: Spiritual Guidance for a Radically New Life (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), p. 5.
21. Wayne Dyer, "There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem," Public Broadcasting System broadcast in 2001.
22. Neale Donald Walsch, The New Revelations: A Conversation with God (New York: Atria Books, 2002), p. 157.
23. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 1 (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1996), p. 90.
24. http://www.rethinkconference.com (See also WorldNetDaily.com 10/30/07 "What is Robert Schuller 'rethinking'?" by Joseph Farah and "Rethinking Robert Schuller" by Warren Smith. See also Herescope: "Rethinking Culture" and "Rethinking and Reinventing" (10/30/07)
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
A guest speaker at our monthly ladies fellowship meeting brought the following devotion:
Bible Text Galatians 5:22,23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
She made the following comparisons between the fruit of the Spirit and some edible fruits we know:
Love = Strawberries are sweet, red reminding us of the blood of Christ which demonstrated His love for us.
Joy = Watermelons are fun to eat.
Peace = Grapes, they just lay there resting. We can rest in the Lord.
Longsuffering = Bananas. We have to be patient while we peel them. "Also, a banana plant takes at least 18 months to make fruit."
Gentleness = Apples bruise easily like our testimony. We have to be gentle with other people.
Goodness = Pineapples are ugly outside but good inside. We can be good inside.
Faith = Oranges are not easy to peel. Life is not easy either, but we can make it by faith.
Meekness = Blackberries grow close to the ground. "They also have stickers. Life is sometimes uncomfortable, but that can keep us humble. "We should practice humility.
Temperance = Pears are balanced on one end. We need to practice self-control.
"There are over 200 references to the words fruit or fruitful in the Bible."
"The Bible speaks of the fruit of the righteous and the fruit of the wicked."Proverbs 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
I leave you with one question today. What kind of fruit are you producing, Godly fruit or worldly fruit?
"I took the liberty to add the part in italics to the devotion."
Blessings!Lisa
Acts 18:1-4
Tomorrow we celebrate Labor Day, a day set aside to honor all those who labor with a day of rest or play, whichever they should choose. It's also, quite unofficially, the final weekend of summer. So even as we rest, we will also play. Of course, college students are already digging into their books, the teachers have been meeting and preparing their rooms, and by Tuesday the kids will all be back to school. Soon the leaves will fall and the temperatures will cool. Baseball will give way to football. But, for a moment, we can still bask in the glories of summer, as we enjoy our picnics and barbecues.
Labor Day isn't a religious holiday, but then neither is Mother's Day, Father's Day, nor Memorial Day. Still, as with those other days, it's appropriate to stop and consider the meaning of the day. In this case, we want to consider our labor and our work from a theological and spiritual perspective. Indeed, this is a good opportunity to remember our missional calling to bear witness to God's presence in the world in which we live and work.
I decided to use this brief passage from Acts, because it reminds us that Paul supported himself in ministry by engaging in a trade, at least while he was in Corinth. Most translations suggest that he was a "tent-maker," like his partners, Priscilla and Aquila, Jewish Christians who had recently migrated to Corinth from Rome. But, perhaps a better and broader translation would be "leather-worker." Whatever they were doing, they were supporting their ministry through what we might call secular work. Indeed, we often use the term "tent-maker" to describe bi-vocational pastors or missionaries, who support themselves with a "secular" job so they can preach on Sunday. That is what Paul was doing - When he wasn't making tents, he was preaching in the synagogues. The question is - Was he engaging in ministry, even as he was working with his hands?
This morning, as we reflect on the meaning of our labor, I'd like us to consider how this work of ours, whatever its nature, can be an expression of God's mission in the world.
1. The Meaning and Value of Work
Today many people derive their sense of worth from their work or employment. When we meet someone new, we often ask: What do you do? By which we mean - How are you employed? Things were different in the ancient world, you didn't derive a sense of purpose in life from your employment - indeed, work or labor was generally done by slaves; although there were free tradesmen, like Paul. The goal in life wasn't to get a job; it was to be free of work so you could enjoy conversation and leisure.
Now, the biblical texts place a higher value on work than did the Greeks, in part because God is portrayed as one who worked. For six days God created the universe and its inhabitants, and then God rested from this work on the seventh day. This pattern was promoted and celebrated in Hebrew society, so that one worked six days, and then took off the seventh day as a Sabbath, a day of rest.
Jesus took things even further. He lifted up the servant and the slave, even portraying himself as a servant. He then called on his followers to be servants of God and humanity. In doing this, he turned the world's expectations upside down. He lifted up those who had been brought down by society.
While many of us long for "days off," for vacations, or for early retirement, our lives still seem defined by our work. Many of us will work sixty and seventy hour weeks; and to be unemployed in our society is to be without value. As for retirees, I'm reminded of the image developed so vividly in the movie About Schmidt. In this wonderful movie, Jack Nicholson's character retires after a career as an extremely successful insurance salesman. He'd poured his life into his work, so much so that he didn't have a relationship with his wife or with his daughter. Once the thing that had given him meaning was gone, he didn't know what to do with his life. Then his wife, who had been looking forward to the day when she could share life with him again, died suddenly, he was truly lost and alone. Now, life lacked any sense of meaning and purpose.
As we celebrate Labor Day, we must ask the question - is there more to life than our jobs? But, more than that, can this work of ours not only provide food for the table, but also be an arena of ministry? And if so, how might this be expressed? In the coming weeks, we'll be focusing on our congregational core values. I wonder, how might we live out these core values not only as a church, but in our day-to-day lives?
There was a time, back in the middle ages, when Christians distinguished between spiritual work and secular work. If you really wanted to serve God, then you became a monk, a priest, or a nun. The greatest work of all was to spend one's day in prayer, cloistered and separated from society. Then came the Reformation, and Martin Luther and John Calvin insisted that we are all priests before God. They broke down the distinction between spiritual and secular. Or, as theologian J"urgen Moltmann put it, the
"Reformation was understood not only as the reformation of the church, but at the same time, as reformation of the world, that is, as reform of the working conditions of Christians" (Moltmann, On Human Dignity, Fortress, 1984, p. 45).
Unfortunately we can too easily fall into the trap of separating our worlds into spiritual and secular spheres. What we do at church is spiritual work. What we do outside the church is secular work. At the risk of excusing you from volunteering at the church, I believe it's important for us to understand that God is at work outside the church walls, and that what we do outside the church walls is service to God and is an expression of God's mission. We've been talking about that 5-mile radius for the past year. Well, even as this congregation has a 5-mile radius, do we, might we, as individuals have our own "5-mile" radius, so that the places we live, work, and volunteer, become our own spheres of mission.
2. Missioned for Labor
We have sensed a calling to be a missional church. Since before I even got here, this congregation was exploring what it means to be missional, and we're still trying to figure out what that means for us. But, as we observe Labor Day, may we reflect upon the connections between our labor and our mission. Indeed, it might be helpful to remember that the Latin root for the word we use for work, the word vocation, means "calling." So, the question is, in what way are we, as individuals, called to be missional? In other words, being missional is more than a church thing. It's a total-life thing. It's not just about Sunday. It's also about what we do from Monday to Saturday as well.
What if there wasn't a distinction between Sunday and Monday, between clergy and laity? What if God had called each of us to ministries of witness and service in the very places we work and volunteer and even play. We don't have to preach or even proselytize. But, we can bear witness to God's grace and love and mercy in everything we do, even as we show compassion, acceptance, service and live lives of honesty and integrity. Indeed, we bear witness to God's grace in the way we treat the people we work with, play with, and live with.
This aspect of being missional hit home as I was reading Gary Nelson's book Borderland Churches (Chalice Press, 2008). He pointed out that churches regularly commission/ordain/acknowledge people for their church work, whether it's being an elder, Sunday school teacher, or church officer. But rarely, if ever, do we "mission" people for service in the world. Rarely do we affirm and recognize people's "secular" vocations as a calling and ministry of God - whether one is a teacher, an attorney, an engineer, or a volunteer in a non-church related area of life.
Nelson writes that maybe the reason we don't "mission" people is that we "ultimately need them to serve the structures inside the church" (Nelson, p. 112). I think he's right, because I regularly hear complaints that it's hard to find volunteers to do church work. There is truth to this. We need lots of volunteers, and there seem to be fewer of them to be found. But, that doesn't mean that we should devalue what people do outside church as being less than spiritual. It is in this daily work that we bear witness to the reign of God in the World. Gary Nelson writes:
The church becomes both an instrument and a sign of what God wants to do in his kingdom that Jesus brought to earth. The purpose of the church and its mission is to incarnationally point to what it might look like when a community of people becomes alive under God's reign. By "missioning," the church is making visible to each member, to the church community, and to the world that God's people are at work. (Nelson, Borderland Churches, p. 113).
Inspired by this call to mission, not only in the church, but also in the world of everyday life, I invite you to share in a litany of missioning, which you'll find printed in the bulletin.
Litany of Missioning God has called each of us to mission.
THIS MISSION OCCURS WHEREVER WE LIVE AND WORK AND PLAY.
This mission occurs because God is at work in the world, not just in the church.
This mission occurs because we are all priests before God.
Empowered for service to God's kingdom in the worship, study, and fellowship of the Christian community.
We are missioned by God to be God's ministers in our work and community volunteer activities.
As we serve God through our work in:
"Sales, Medicine, Business, Law, Information Technology, Education, Engineering, Manufacturing, as Students, Finances and Banking, Government Services, Service Industries, Management, Homemaking, Community volunteers, or wherever God places us."
God missions us to bear witness in our words and in our deeds, to the grace and love of God for the World. Therefore:
God, send us into our work with new resolves.
Help us to work out the problems that have perplexed us, and to serve the people we meet.
May we see our work as part of your great plan and find significance in what we do.
We do not know what any day will bring us, but we do know the hour for serving you is always present.
We dedicate our hearts, minds, and wills to your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen*
*Prayer taken from "Chalice Worship", (Chalice Press, 1997), p. 176."Preached by:"Dr. Robert D. Cornwall"Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)"Troy, MI"Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost"September 6, 2009"
Origin: i-love-witchcraft.blogspot.com
