The Galactic Center.

                            

There was an article on the Internet claiming that scientists had proved that there was a cluster of black holes at the center of our galaxy.

Despite the fact that all they had discovered was x-ray emissions close to the Galactic Center which indicated the possible existence of binary systems they still insisted that this proved the black hole theory.

But black holes suck in light from stars so the center of our galaxy would look dark.

But in reality the Galactic Center shines with beautiful light.

It is not necessary for a black hole to attract the clusters of stars at the center of our galaxy.  All that is required is a huge mass of some sort.

For example the center of our Solar System is not a black hole but the Sun.

The planet revolve around the light.

So the black hole theory is bankrupt.

It cannot withstand scrutiny.

Our Galactic Center shines with beautiful light.


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1955.

                            

If Jesus saves.

And the churches were full every Sunday.

Why then was it a "jungle out there".

Either they were teaching the wrong things.

Or they were just not doing it.

Or both.


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One.

                            

Although countering the negative messages put out by Satanists in our popular culture is worthwhile we should avoid splitting everyone into two camps.

The temptations of Dualism will perpetuate endless conflict between us  and them.

Better to be mindful of the fact that all these things are done by people.

And as such we are all equal in the sight of God.

Even those who follow Satan.

God does not battle against them.
Or try to destroy them.

God offers Light to them as He does to others,

They will stop when they see.

God is One.

And so we enlighten everyone.


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Dogs and Divas.

                            

People who have sold their souls - rock stars, celebrities, and sports men and women - believe that because they have paid with their souls they are entitled to fame and fortune and the perfection of their art.

They expect "money for nothing and their chicks for free".

They have confidence in the power of Satan to deliver these things and also to hide them in the darkness.

This is the arena of the dark arts: black magic, witchcraft, and Satanism.

But they are false prophets.

Dogs and Divas.

They distract and they disturb.

They divert and they deceive.

So beware!

We have been betrayed.


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After-Image.

                            

After spiritual teachers have died their disciples and followers apply their limited knowledge to the memory of that teacher.

This is why the original vision, which is transcendent and free, is subjected to ideas of barter and atonement.

Fantastic stories grow up around them and their message is compromised.

Good News becomes condemnation.

And forgiveness becomes penitence.

The message may even be usurped by the teacher's enemies and modified to meet the needs of the establishment.

In this way the carrot and stick religion of rewards and punishments is re-established as the norm.

They put words in his mouth and write back their Machiavellian philosophy into the legend.

But all of this is a perversion of the original revelation which was good news indeed.

And that news is that we are all forgiven and loved by God.

He does not punish us or judge us.

He loves us like a Father.

And therefore there can be no hell.

Hell is a weapon that the conservative establishment uses to subjugate the masses.

It has nothing to do with God.

God loves us.

And we go to be with Him when we die.


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Peace.

                                                                               

How are we to bring peace between the Religious Right and the Religious Left?

To make one Temple of the House of Judah and the House of Joseph?

Both are Biblical.

But they differ in interpretation.

The Religious Right is literal.

The Religious Left is metaphorical.

The Religious Right is faithful through obedience.

The Religious Left is faithful through love.

Both seek to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.

But they differ in their vision.

So, rather than trying to win out over the other, perhaps we should heed the words of Jesus and love our enemies.

We should pray for those who attack and oppose us.

Pray for them to overcome their fears and see more clearly.

That both sides use the words of the Bible.

The Religious Right in an orthodox way.

The Religious Left in an unorthodox way.

But both are Biblical.

To give precedence to the words of Jesus:

"'Blessed are the peacemakers.'"  Matthew 5:9 (NRSV)

"'"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'"  Matthew 22:37-40 (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.]   

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Beatitudes.

                            

Feed the poor.

Comfort the afflicted.

Assume humility.

Strive for justice.

Show mercy.

Give love.

Make Peace.

Have faith.

Endure.


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Kenosis.

                            

Kenosis is the mystical science of becoming a channel of God's Love on Earth.

This involves humbling the self and indeed denying the personal ego and becoming totally submissive to the Will of God.

The Buddha described Nirvana as a snuffing out.

This means the end of the personal individuality which is completely subsumed by the Divinity.

As if this were possible.

Alternatively we can become co-creators with God.

This involves maintaining the personal individuality and harmonizing it with the Will of God.

The opening of the heart to give love to everyone from the infinite source of love within us rather than a channel of Divine Love.

This may sound like the same thing.

But there is a subtle difference.

And it is the difference between self-denial and self-expression.

It is the difference between the Way of Self Denial and the Way of Love.

The difference between the head and the heart.

I choose the way of the heart which is Way of Love


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Muscle Worship.

                                   

Those who sell their souls for muscle men are really selling their souls for love.

Because the great desire that men and women feel for beautiful musclemen is love.

And because these desires are impossible drastic measures are necessary.

So they sell their souls and tempt beautiful men by telling them they will be worshipped like gods.

But the fact remains that it is love that inspired them.

So when God comes and His Light shines upon them they will see that it was love and they will be redeemed.


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Ganymede.

Beautiful Youth.

Lover of Zeus.

Stolen away

To Olympus' Heights.

Ever to bear

The Immortal Cup

Brimful of Nectar -

The Wine of the Gods.


Forsaking the Earth

A Memory,

A Dream.

Ever to Live

In Eternity's Heart.

Blissful, Content.

A Life Apart.

Immersed in the Wine

Of the Great God's

Love.


Photo Credit: Alexey Lesukov.

Gay Rights.

                            

Gay people are seeking God's Blessing on official Gay Marriages in churches.

We do not seek a second best substitute but the equal blessing received by heterosexual couples.

This, of course, sets us on a collision course with prejudice in God's Churches

And make no mistake it is prejudice.

But we will not be deterred by obstruction or threats.

Our path is set.

We will gain God's Blessing.


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Traditional/Progressive.

                            

The Church has traditionally taught the Fall/Redemption model of Christianity.

That is: we are all condemned because of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve but Jesus has paid the price to atone for our sins on the cross.

We have been told that sex is a sin.

And that we must earn our place is Heaven by doing good works.

It is no coincidence that these good works, as set out in Matthew 25, are accompanied by terrifying threats of damnation.

Progressive Christianity, however, teaches that Jesus' commandment was to love.

To love God and love our neighbor.

To love one another as he loved us.

And that Matthew 25 teaches us that everyone is our neighbor.

Many Progressive Christians believe that God does not judge us at all.

So there can be no hell.

Hell is totally out of character for a loving God.

And God is Love,

So we seek to replace the motivation of fear with a motivation of love.


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Pharisees.

                            

The Religious Right is made up of Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Pentecostalists, Orthodox Christians, and some elements of the Catholic and Anglican Churches.

In the story of Jesus the Religious Right is represented by the Pharisees.

And the Pharisees conspired with the dominant power - the Romans - which is now the Corporate Plutocrats - to kill Jesus.

So, far from representing God on Earth, the Religious Right has conspired against God to establish their own position of power and privilege in the world.

This can be clearly seen in their attitude to authority.

The first thing they talk about is authority.

By which they mean their authority over you.

In the Bible it is the Pharisees who question Jesus about authority.

"By what authority are you doing these things?  Who gave you this authority to do them?"  Mark 11:28 (NRSV)

To which Jesus responds with a question: "'Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?"  Mark 11:30 (NRSV)

When they answered that they did not know Jesus refused to tell them by what authority he was acting.

So the issue of authority was central to the Pharisees' philosophy because it was by this authority that they established their power and privilege on Earth.

It is the same with the Religious Right.


[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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Good Works.

                            

If we are acting mostly out of fear of damnation and hell then are our works good at all?

Are we not just spreading fear in the world?

And if we are acting our of compelling mental principles are we not just spreading ideology?

But if we open our hearts and do what our heart says we will be acting out of love.

And spreading love throughout the world.


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Adonis.

Hail Adonis!

Beautiful Youth.

Inspiring Desire.

Engendering Love.

A Fleeting Glimpse -

A Modern Reflection

Invoking the Memory

Of Ancient Perfection.

A Precious Moment

Enters Eternity.

Imprinted Forever

On our Reverent Hearts!


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Yin and Yang.

                                          

In the 1980s Generation X suggested that Yin and Yang represented Evil and Good.

This is Satanic nonsense.

Yin and Yang, with their opposing centers, represent something more like Female and Male, or Lunar and Solar.

It was never intended to represent Evil and Good.

This is just one more piece of evidence that Satanism is lies.


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The Kingdom of God.

                            

Some time ago we had the reading from 1 Samuel where the people of Israel wanted a king like other nations.

Previously Israel had been ruled by Judges who were instructed by God Himself.

God said to Samuel, "'they have rejected me from being king over them.'"  1 Samuel 8:7 (NRSV)

This throws a whole new light on the Lord's Prayer where Jesus said, "'Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'"  Matthew 6:10 (NRSV)

Was Jesus proposing a return to the rule of God?

It is interesting that the early Christian martyrs were mostly executed for refusing to bow down to Caesar.

They insisted that Jesus was their king.

So what does it mean to accept God as king over you?

It means accepting the ways of God which are the ways of mercy and compassion.

And rejecting the ways of the world which are: materialistic, self-serving, egotistical, ruthless, cold, hard, and violent.

It means that every decision we make is informed by the Love of God through prayer and devotion.

This is what it means to build the Kingdom of God on Earth.


[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.)

Fear.

                                         

There are only two things in the world:

Love and Fear.

Whether directly or indirectly all evil, violence, and hatred in our world come from fear.

Whether it be deliberate evil chosen as an alternative to a fearful image of God.

Or force and violence in response to fear of hell and damnation.

All theses abominations stem from fear.

But God does not punish us.

God is our loving Father.

And a father does not condemn his children.

The traditional image of God as a harsh judge and vindictive punisher of men and women is false.

It stems from fear.

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

The Love of God overcomes our fears.

Love God and love your neighbor.

And your fears will dissolve like the mist.


[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.]

(Rock Band: Primal Fear.)

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Weeds.

                            

In The Parable of Weeds Among the Wheat Jesus says not to gather the weeds, "'for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.'"  Matthew 13:29 (NRSV)

This means that we should not attack and destroy evil because we would not be able to differentiate between those who are evil and those who are good.

And many Fundamentalist Christians do exactly this.
Especially those who practise Spiritual Warfare.

They attack Hippies and Gays because they are left-wing and liberal and they support right-wing racism and prejudice.

They also support the rich.

So Jesus was quite right to tell his disciples not to uproot evil because they would not have seen clearly enough to do so.

"'You hypocrites, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.'"  Matthew 7:5 (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.] 

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Thieves.

                            

After I am dead no doubt the powers that be will put words in my mouth and claim that I was some sort of Orthodox Conservative Christian who believed in judgement, punishment, the devil, and hell.

But these are lies.

And those who say them are thieves.


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Pseudo.

                              

Why is it that in this post-religious era so much of the language in our popular culture is pseudo-religious.?

From rock music to headlines, from movies and literature to T.V. - the language is saturated with religious references.

The secret behind this phenomenon is the covert practise of Satanism by rock stars and celebrities, including sports men and women.

Our popular media has been secretly infiltrated by those who have sold their souls to the devil.

And they do the devil's work.

Or so they believe.

Temptation, corruption, violence, evil.....

All these things derive from popular entertainment.

Even children's entertainment is affected.

So don't just swallow this whole.

Learn to discriminate and analyze what you see and hear.


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(The image has been slightly modified.)

Black World.

                            

For thirty-five years the political and popular landscape has been dominated by corporate ideology.

Sack staff, cut taxes, bash unions, blame the left, persecute minorities, cut immigration, cut foreign aid, oppose the United Nations, avoid taxation, exploit labor, force wages down, work harder, cut welfare, support war, romanticize the military, push nationalism.....

And all their workers dressed in black.

Any questioning is deflected with jargon that would rival 1984's Black/White and New Speak.   

We have no power.

Our politicians are firmly in the hands of the plutocrats.

We no longer live in a democracy.

We live in a corporate plutocracy.

And we're well and truly sick of it.


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A Humane World.

                            

How can we make a more humane world?

Only by becoming more humane ourselves.

And that is to practise mercy, forgiveness, and love.


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Twice Hell.

                            

By inciting Generation X to damn Hippies and Gays Ronald Reagan made his converts twice the sons and daughters of hell.


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Cheap Trick.

                            

The trick of Satanic rock music in our popular culture is to look like what we believe in or aspire to and then to sabotage any good, ideals, or progress we have made.

They tempt and pervert us.

They corrupt and disturb us.

They lead us astray.

Then they curse us to hell.

This applies to all rock music in our popular culture.
But it is cleverly disguised.

We are being deceived.

We are being betrayed.

We are blinded and distracted.

We are ripped-off and blamed.

We would be better off without it.


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God's Church.

                            

Only about 5% of God's priests and ministers are involved in child sexual abuse.

A further 20% may be involved in inappropriate relationships with women or men.

But the sexual abuse scandals besmirch the whole of God's Church and even God Himself.

The fact that the hierarchy of the Church tried to protect the name of the Church rather than deal with sexual abuse according to the law is a secondary matter.

But the fact remains that 75% of priests and ministers are good, law-abiding citizens.

It is unfair of society to condemn the whole of God's Church for the actions of a minority.

With the cry: Bring down the Patriarchy the Church is dying a slow death.

Churches are empty across the whole of the Western World.

But what will replace it?

If God tries to revive His Church you will say that it is a bankrupt institution.

Young people won't go near it.

So we are at the mercy of evil.

Corporate plutocrats enslave us.

Rock stars betray us.

Politicians ignore us.

The only answer is to make the public aware of the 75% of God's Church that is good.

And ask for the forgiveness of society.


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Christian Countries.

                            

How could it be that Christian countries claim to support the poor when the majority of the economic development which reached the Millennium Development Goals was in godless China and idolatrous India?

Evangelical Christians in America voted for millionaire Donald Trump and called Barak Obama evil.

Donald Trump has just slashed corporate taxes increasing the inequality of wealth in our world.

Obamacare supported health care for the poorest in America.

And yet Christians claim to worship God.

How can they worship God and oppress the poor and persecute minorities, and call evil good and good evil*?

Even the Pope was called a Marxist by Fox News.

The rich (Christian) countries of the world must look to their practices and conventions if we are to address poverty in our world.

We need look no further than our own System. 


(*See Isaiah 5:20)

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The Enemy.

                            

Far from our enemy being the Religious Right or the Corporate Plutocrats our enemy is fear.

It is fear that drives these conservative elements to oppose and attack God's messengers.

Fear of God, fear of poverty, fear of failure, fear of justice, fear of the masses.....

These fears underpin their policies and actions.

So to overcome the darkness which has engulfed us we must look for the fears which lie under aggression and violence.

Only then will we have peace.


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Curses.

                            

In the temples of the ancient world there were stone tablets called curse tablets.

These were requests addressed to the god to curse a person's enemies.

We also find this in the Bible.

God says to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse."  Genesis 12:3 (NRSV)

This thinking is also evident in the Psalms where David repeatedly calls on God to destroy his enemies.

But this is a serious misunderstanding of the nature of God.

God does not curse anyone.

God is a constant blessing to all people.

The idea that God  will bless you and curse your enemies is false thinking.

It comes about through humankind's dualistic thinking.

But God is One.

A blessing to us all. 


[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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Hearts of Stone.

                            

Contrary to the opinion that hearts of stone are a sign of toughness and strength I say that hearts of stone are the result of fear.

So if your heart is hard and unforgiving.

If you are selfish and miserly.

You are most likely afraid.

This is why it is important not to preach fear.

Fear of judgement, fear of punishment for sins, fear of hell create a heart that is cold and hard.

The result is violence and force.

But contact with the true God softens our fears and softens our hearts.

We feel love and compassion.

We care and we help.

We have hearts of flesh.


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