Ban the Bomb.

Ban the bomb.

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The Lotus Eaters.

Satanists in rock music and sports will tell you to take drugs and indulge exclusively in pleasures.

This may seem like an answer at first.

But it will lead to emptiness and burn-out.

The reason people take drugs is because they don't feel OK. 

And they think that the hit they get from drugs will make them feel better.

But it doesn't last.

It leads to addiction and mental illness.

But when you realize that it is love that makes you feel better and to give love is better still then you will feel OK all the time.

And you don't need drugs anymore.

Photo Credit: AFL (Dane Swan).

Devil-Worship.

I told you:

There's Devil-Worship in the AFL.

Photo Credit: AFL.

God.

God will not do anything for you that you can do yourself.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.

Prosperity Theology.

In the Old Testament the idea that obedience to God's Law brought blessings and disobedience brought curses is clearly stated.

This Prosperity Theology survived to the time of Jesus and formed the basis of the Pharisees' beliefs.

We will also find it in the minds of the disciples.

The idea that God will cause you to prosper - to be rich, with many cattle and goats, fertile fields, victory in war, and happy healthy children - if you obey Him is embedded in the Law.

But the curses that will befall you if you disobey God's Law include misfortunes of all kinds: poverty, loss of livestock, crop failure, defeat in battle, death of children,.sickness etc..

It is interesting that the misfortunes said to befall those who disobey God's Law are almost exactly those which befell the righteous Job - even to the affliction of sores and boils.

So why is the Bible contradicting itself?

It must be said that by the time the Book of Job was written it must have become obvious that this Prosperity Theology was not what people experienced.

Why do the wicked prosper?

The rod of God is not against them. (Job 21)

And yet the righteous Job is afflicted.

It is interesting that in the end Job's prosperity is restored two-fold including his sheep and camels, his oxen and donkeys, and his seven sons and seven beautiful daughters.

So what are we to make of this?

What are we to make of our experience of life on Earth?

I would suggest that Prosperity Theology is bankrupt.

There is no evidence that this is how God behaves towards us during our lives.

On the other hand what are we to make of the death and resurrection of Jesus?

Certainly we cannot say that Jesus was a success in a worldly sense.

God did not bless him with prosperity.

He was constantly challenged by the religious authorities of his day who plotted to kill him.

And he was punished and crucified by the Romans.

          

And yet Jesus was the blessed one of God.

There are echoes of the Psalms in which David constantly complains about the attacks of his enemies.

In fact God's blessing can bring suffering and persecution.

"'If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.'"  John 15:18 (NRSV)

So Prosperity Theology, which promotes worldly success, is not what Jesus taught, nor is it what we experience.

But that is not to deny the Love of God. 

If we have faith and pray God will rescue us and help us.

But He will not make us rich and successful.

He may, however, make us happy and whole.

[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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(The image has been slightly modified.)

God's Plan.

You will often hear people talking about God's Plan.

But no one seems to know exactly what that plan is.

However, I believe that God has a dream.

A dream that everyone will live in harmony and joy together.

I do not believe that God (or Jesus) will come to judge us and bless those who are good and damn those who are evil.

I believe that God judges no one.

And this is backed up by the Biblical witness.

No one will perish.

Rather God will pardon them and write off their debts.

Then we will be free to pardon those who have harmed us.

As for evil people God will take their demons from them and make them new people.

They will be transformed by the Love of God.

Then we will want only to do good in the world and give our love to everyone.

Photo Credit: bratispixl Flickr via Compfight cc

Money for Nothing.

When Mark Knopfler and Sting brought out Money for Nothing in 1985 they were not just singing the praises of rock music.

They were pushing the benefits of Satanism.

What they didn't tell you is that it requires you to go to hell forever.

Hence all the flames we see.

It's hot in hell!

So don't just take what you see at face value.

There is evil hidden beneath.

Photo Credit; delirivmcodia.wordpress.com

Domination.

Jesus was killed by the domination system of his time.

Because he dared to challenge the powers of the world by proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

This was a threat to the powers of this world because the Kingdom of God was ruled by God not by men.

But God does not rule by force.

He said to the powers; "Do your worst."

And they did.

They crucified and killed Jesus.

And they thought that they had won.

But God is faithful.

He resurrected Jesus to Heaven.

The trouble is that since Constantine the Church has been associated with the State.

And as such it has become part of the domination system.

And so it serves the purposes of that system.

That is why the Church reinforces the Status Quo.

That is why the Church preaches punishment for sins and judgement and heaven and hell.

This is the carrot and stick approach of the domination system.

The system is ruled by the rich and powerful.

Its purpose is to subjugate the masses.

The Church served this purpose.

And that is why, even when the churches were full, it was still "a jungle out there'.

The leaders of the Christian Churches were seduced by power and privilege.

They ruled by fear and threat.

And they did not know God. 

Jesus said of them: "'you did not enter youselves, and you hindered those who were entering.'"  Luke 11:52 (NRSV)

God: "The shepherds also have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, to their own gain, one and all."  Isaiah 56:11 (NRSV)

So they called Jesus Beelzebub* and they crucified him.

(* The devil.)

[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: The Sun.

Satanic Rock.

Rock music is Satanic.

It would seem that when religious groups said that rock music was the devil's music they took it literally.

Poison, backtracking, hedonism, excess, violence, hate, and evil saturate their music.

And much of this is hidden, even beneath a facade of sugary pop.

So don't dismiss the rumors about rock stars.

They might just be true!

Photo Credit: YouTube.

The World.

Jesus said: "'The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.'"  John 7:7 (NRSV)

But I say that the evils of the world are caused by fear.

So the remedy is not to attack evildoers but to love them.

Because "perfect love casts out fear."  1 John 4:18 (NRSV)

And when their fear is gone their evil will be gone also.

[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: Pinterest.

Taking the Law Into Your Own Hands.

What Fundamentalists - Islamic and Christian - do is take the law into their own hands.

Instead of leaving the dubious business of judgement to God they take it upon themselves to execute the judgement that they expect.

Needless to say that judgement falls on the heads of their enemies.

Jesus said: "'The Father judges no one.'"  John 5:22 (NRSV)

And: "'You judge by human standards, I judge no one.'"  John 8:15 (NRSV)

So all those who judge in Jesus' name or in the name of God are misguided and misrepresenting those who they worship.

They mistake aggression for righteousness.

And certainty for truth.

But the fact remains they should not take the law into their own hands.

[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: cattias.photos Flickr via Compfight cctt

Falling Down.

 

There is no shame in falling down.

Jesus fell three times on the way to the cross.

Photo Credit: The Way of the Cross.

Gay Love.

Homosexuality is Love.

We experience attraction and tenderness in the same way as heterosexuals.

We admire him immensely.

And we desire him intensely.

Our love is subject to he same exigencies as heterosexual love.

And we long for companionship and faithfulness in the same way.

Homosexuality occurs in nature.

So you cannot say it is unnatural.

And homosexuals go to Heaven.

Of this there is no doubt.

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God's Blessing.

To be cursed by the devil

is to be blessed by God.

To be scorned by society

is to be honored by God.

To be hated by the world

is to be loved by God.

Photo Credit: Sistine Chapel.

Gay Martyrs.

The first recorded gay martyr is Saint Sebastian.

But history has crucified gay people to this day.

From Oscar Wilde to Matthew Shepard we have witnessed the persecution, torture, and death of gay people in modern times.

The coming of the AIDS Pandemic heightened and hardened a prejudice which was already present in our conscious and unconscious minds.

But none of this justifies the hate speech put out by Christian Churches like Westboro Baptist Church and the Truth of Jesus Christ Church.

Hate speech inspires and justifies violent crimes against gay people.

It is unacceptable and it should be banned.

Talk of religious freedoms should not justify the vilification and persecution of gay people.

Not all Christians believe that gay people go to hell.

The Episcopalian Church in America and the Uniting Church in Australia allow gay marriages in their churches.

It is clear that God does not discriminate.

Those tortured and killed because they are gay will be remembered as gay martyrs in the future.

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The Wall.

All around us there is a wall.

A wall beyond which we cannot see.

It is built by the media.

They don't show you anything they don't want you to see.

They hand out rationalizations.

They justify what they want you to think.

They demonize the poor, minorities, and immigrants.

They sow fear and hate.

They distract you.

They sell you.

They conspire with evil.

All for money.

And the power of the rich.

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