Dream.

Dream of a time

when heroes ruled

and monsters

threatened the ones

we love.


Dream of a time

when heroes were good

and friendship and love

were allies of

virtue.


Dream of a time

when evil was challenged

and heroes were gods

who followed

their hearts.


Photo Credit: Sagram Chougule.

The Kingdom of God.

                            

"'From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.'"  Matthew 11:12 (NRSV)

This is the way that the world responds to the Good News - to take it by force and violence.

But what is force and violence but fear.

Fear of poverty, fear of starvation, fear of work.....

This is the motivation of the rich and powerful.

They think that they can win by force and violence.

And it was with force and violence that they crucified Jesus.

But death is not the end.

On the third day God resurrected Jesus and raised him to Eternal Life!


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Declaration of Love.

I love you.

My heart overflows with love.

I catch a glimpse

of your sparkling smile.

I hear the music

of your resonant voice.

I watch the grace

of your comely body.

My heart overflows with love.

I love you.


Photo Credit: Leo Bartenev.

Creation.

Billions of stars,

Each a mighty sun,

Surrounded by planets,

And circling moons,

Populate the night sky.


Our own planet Earth,

Tiny as it is,

Hosts massive mountains,

Torrential rivers,

Dense jungles,

Oceans deep,

All teeming with life!


Lions and lambs,

Birds of the air,

Tropical fish,

Great whales.....


And humans

To marvel

At this

Wondrous sight.


To worship

The One

Who created

All this.


And to find

At its heart

Its Genesis:

Love.


Photo Credit: nature.com.

Passion.

The deep red rose has always been the symbol of passionate love.

It has the most exquisite perfume of all God's flowers.


Photo Credit: harney.com.

Let Them Live!

                            

What seems foolishness to the worldly-wise is what seems good to God.

Honesty, truthfulness, non-violence, generosity, virtue, mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional love.

These things seem naive and impractical in the world.

But these things are the very things that God requires of us.

To lay down the sword and call on God seems foolhardy even to the most idealistic among us.

And yet this is Jesus' example.

God has ways of solving problems that we do not understand.

He can resolve conflict without harming either side.

But to do this we must let them live.

God punishes no one.

And no one is condemned.

We must live and let live.

God forgives even the most heinous iniquity.

He knows the hidden reasons for their crimes.

And so all are forgiven.

And the lion lies down with the lamb.


Photo Credit: tricky (rick harrison) Flickr via Compfight cc
(The image has been slightly modified.)

Brown Lives Matter.

Your skin is brown.

My skin is pink.

I can see in your eyes

the hurt of your lives.

The pain of daily

oppression and struggle

to stay above water

and continue to breathe.

But brown skin is beauty

and brown lives still matter.

If friendship and brotherhood

still mean

we care.


Photo Credit: Pinterest.

Coming Through.

It's been a long, cold Winter.

Sitting alone

In my solitary room.

But now the mornings

are becoming lighter.

And the almond blossom

is budding on the trees.

We're coming through.

And soon

I will see you.


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His Heart.

Although the dark

Be all around you,

And daggers drawn

By jealous hands.

The light of love

Be e'er before you,

And tender mercies

Touch your heart!


Photo Credit: World Bodybuilders.

My Beloved.

"My beloved is all radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
His head is finest gold;
his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves beside springs of water,
bathed in milk, fitly set.
His cheeks are like beds of spices,
yielding fragrance.
His lips are lilies,
distilling liquid myrrh.
His arms are rounded gold,
set with jewels.
His body is ivory work,
encrusted with sapphires.
His legs are alabaster columns,
set upon bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
His speech is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem."

Song of Solomon 5:10-16 (NRSV)


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Photo Credit: Edward Duque.

Love.

                            

We fear that we are not worthy of love.

A massive inferiority complex makes us doubt that we are lovable.

But God's Love is constant.

God loves all of His children.

To be human is to be worthy of love.

Even animals and trees are worthy of love.

And it is fear that inhibits our love.

Love God and love your neighbor.

Love even your enemies.

Because we are all equally worthy of love.


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Chains.

                            

Rock music stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain.

It addicts you to pleasure like a drug.

This is why you see young people on public transport and in the streets with earplugs in listening to rock music all the time.

They are pleasuring themselves to escape work and school which makes too great demands on them.

But they are in chains.

Addiction to pleasure is slavery.

And it costs you more than just money. 


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Slavery.

                            

The slavery which results from addiction to pleasure is quite deliberately induced.

Rock stars and celebrities deliberately lead us into sin in order to chain us to the devil.

"Addicted to Love", "I'm in Chains", "Slave to the Rhythm", etc..

This (they believe) leads to death which is the spiritual state of separation from God.

You will see many images of death: skulls, graves, black, veils, funerals etc. in their videos and movies.

This is malicious.

They hope that your soul will be damned to hell.

But there is no devil in reality.

No hell to go to.

God's mercy and forgiveness are infinite.

He will rescue you and save you from evil.


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From Fear to Love.

                            

If I can do one thing in this world it is to change people's motivation from fear to love.

So much of what motivates us is fear.

Fear of poverty.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of ridicule.  Fear of God.

So much of traditional Church doctrine is based on fear.

Fear of judgement.  Fear of damnation.  Fear of hell.

But God does not judge us for our mistakes.

He does not punish us.

So there can be no hell.

Once we realize this we lose our fear.

And we are secure in the Love of God.

God loves us like a Father.

And He requites our love for Him.

"We love because he first loved us."  1 John 4:19 (NRSV)

If we overcome our fear we can show our love for everyone.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Jar.

The Jar of Aquarius

Is the human heart.

And the Water within it

Is Love.


The hieroglyph ab

Is the hidden key.

And the clue

Is ancient pottery.


The heart contains

The human soul.

And there resides

All wisdom.


A treasure hidden

In a field.

A pearl of

Priceless beauty.


For Ja, Yahwey, Jesus Christ

Dwell within the heart.

At once to give to one and all

The bounty of their Love.


Photo Credit: mercatoantiques.com.

Sheep Dog.

                            

Once we realize that we have a place at God's Celestial Banquet table it no longer matters whether we have a place of honor or otherwise.

In fact I would be happy with any place.

I could ensure that others are safely Home.

Like a sheep dog.

So be thorough in your devotions and your practices.

And pray everyone Home.


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Aquarius.

The Waters of Aquarius

Surround the open-hearted.

They give their love with fearless grace

And never would be parted

From those they love

And those they pity,

Those who live in exile.

For Water Carriers will not see

Distinctions in humanity.


Photo Credit: Worldwide Bodybuilders.

Servants.

                            

My experience of people who talk about service all the time is that they want servants.

They mix up ministry with mastery and counsel with command.

They claim that they are serving when they are self-serving.

And they reinforce their own power and position.

Rather than serving I would prefer to love.

There can be no confusion.

We are here to love.

Not to lord it over others.


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Glory.

The Glory of God.


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Gentleness.

                            

The philosophy of God is gentleness.

Jesus said: "'Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.'"  Matthew 11:29 (NRSV)

God is all those things that the world is not.

God is considerate.

God is reliable.

God requites our love.

God listens.

God helps.

If we can reflect these things then we are creating the Kingdom of God on Earth.

This is how we make a difference.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Photo Credit: -JosephB- Flickr via Compfight cc

Come Out!

                            

Jesus said:"'I have chosen you out of the world.'"  John 15:19 (NRSV)

What does it mean to come out of the world?

Fundamentalists will tell you it is all about sex - coming out of the Whore of Babylon and coming out of Sodom.

This betrays their deep-seated phobias about sex.

And it is wrong.

Coming out of the world means denouncing the ways of the world - i.e. the brutality and materialism of our masters, the worship of money and status, the corruption and evil of the world.

God calls us out of this dog-eat-dog world of violence and domination in order to teach us the ways of Love.

And then He sends us back into the world as agents of Love.


[Scripture quotation (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Rivers in the Desert.

"For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;"
           
                     - Isaiah 35:6,7 (NRSV)

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Photo Credit: diana_robinson Flickr via Compfight cc

The Water Carrier.

Pour out your love

upon all who are thirsty.


Open your heart

to all those in need.


Make loving kindness

your steadfast commitment.


Worship the God

who is present in these.


Photo Credit: Pinterest.

Tears.

                               

"Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces."  Isaiah 25:8 (NRSV)

These words, echoed in Revelation, are the promise of God.

And this is the attitude we should take to human sexuality.

God will wipe way our tears.

For human sexuality, including homosexuality, is a matter of the heart.

And "the Lord looks on the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7 (NRSV)

So we should not be concerned about sexual indiscretions which compensate for our heart's desire.

These will be taken away.

For God is near to the broken-hearted.

And God's mercy will restore us.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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God's Blessing.

                            

We seek God's Blessing on our homosexual sex.

Whether this is in marriage or outside of marriage we seek God's Blessing.

Heterosexual people are able to engage in sex with impunity.

But homosexual people are subjected to contempt.

We are called immoral and disgraced.

Women indulge in all manner of sexual excess and no one says a word.

But homosexuals are called sinful and an abomination to God.

So we seek God's Blessing on our homosexual sex.

Whether in marriage or outside of marriage we seek God's Blessing.


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Charis.

Charis is Greek

for Grace.


A man was said

to have given

his Charis

when he gave

his consent.


So respect

a man's

Charis,

his Grace,

and wait on

Him.


Photo Credit: Jay Cutler.

Admitting It.

                            

We will not admit what we have done for fear of what people will think of us.

They will think we are weak.

They will pick on us.

We cannot afford to show any weakness.

But if we are truly strong we can admit our mistakes and even enhance our self-respect.


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Help Them.

Help them, Lord.

Not to be conceited,

Not to be afraid of us,

Not to be defeated.


Help them, Lord.

Not to punish passions,

Not to fall for Satan's wiles,

Not to feign reactions.


For hardness is not strength at all,

And toughness is not courage.

The fearless love with open hearts,

And give their love with charis.


(Charis is Greek for grace.)

Photo Credit: Jay Cutler.

Being Wrong.

                                          

Why do we insist on things even when we know they are wrong?

Fear of being wrong is a major motivation for injustice in our world.

We fear looking foolish.

We fear losing respect.

We fear losing our position in society or our job.

This was a major motivation for Jesus' crucifixion.

The Pharisees feared losing their position as the Spiritual Shepherds of Israel.

And the Romans feared insurrection because Jesus was being hailed as the Messiah - the King of the Jews.

So do not be afraid of being wrong.

God will still love you.

And you may even earn the respect of society.


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1+1 = 2.

It has been said that wherever there is Aquarius you will find Taurus also.

Whether it be a mother or a brother or a close relative there is always Taurus.

Perhaps the reason for this lies in the house numbers for Aquarius and Taurus.

Aquarius corresponds to the 11th House.

Taurus corresponds to the 2nd House.

1+1 = 2.

So there is a numerical relationship between the 11th Sign (Aquarius) and the 2nd Sign (Taurus).

This may be the hidden reason for their relationship.


Photo Credit: Pinterest.
(The image has been slightly modified.)

What is Good?

                            

To bring life where there is none.

To bring joy where there is sorrow.

To bring light where there is darkness.

To bring peace where there is conflict.

To bring mercy where there is judgement.

To bring forgiveness where there is punishment.

To bring charity where there is fear.

To bring compassion where hearts are hard.

But most of all:

To bring Love.


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Love.

Love inspires us

to respect you.

Love requires us

to respond.

Love inquires of

our intention.

Love connects us

with beyond.


Love surrounds

with tender feelings

Love crowns us

with delight.

Love satisfies

our deepest longing.

Love banishes

the night.


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The Desert Blooms.

I was born into a desert.

My life was loneliness and pain.

I reached a verdant, cool oasis -

The vague idea of passionate love.


But when at last the Lord approached me

And touched the chambers of my heart;

I learned to give the love within me

And all at once the desert bloomed.


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Which God?

                            

When we are young we are presented with various versions of God.

The Orthodox God, the Fundamentalist God, the Protestant God, the Catholic God, the Penecostal God, the Islamic God, the Hindu God, the Buddhist God, the Aboriginal God.....

Most of these Gods are judgemental and punitive.

But intuitively we know that God is benevolent.

So which God do we choose?

The only way to know God is through direct experience.

Once we have made contact with God we find that most of the versions of God that we have been taught are false.

God does not judge us.

God does not punish us.

God forgives us.

God's mercy is infinite.

And God's goodness is ubiquitous.

God is reliable.

God is trustworthy.

God is truthful.

But most of all:

God is Love.


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More Than You Think.

                  

When I was growing up there would occasionally appear in the Sunday Press an article about Satanism.

This appeared to be a fringe phenomenon which practised bloody and salacious rituals.

It was the stuff of sensationalism.

But later in life I began to realize that Satanism was more widespread than I had thought.

Many rock bands and sports stars, movie stars and directors, even authors have sold their souls for fame and fortune and the perfection of their art.

This goes back a long way in history but it is since the 1960s that the mass media has enabled these celebrities to spread their evil to all humanity.

But they are cleverly disguised as the heroes and saviors and icons of our popular culture.

They are Divas and Dogs (gods backwards).

So don't just take everything at face value.

There is more Satanism in our world than you think.


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A Greater Power.

                            

Most of us think that the greatest power on Earth is the rich plutocrats who run the multi-national corporations.

They own everything including the media which they use to control what we think and do.

But there is a greater power this in the world.

And that is the Living God.

God is real.

God is not just a relative perception of the religious.

There is an ultimate truth.

And the reality of this truth is greater than any lie that they may force on us.

So cry out to God!

God will hear you and deliver you from evil.


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