Toys.

I remember my brother-in-law quoting Jean-Paul Getty: "He who dies with the most toys wins."

And he spent his life chasing toys.

But I don't think he was happy.

He left his wife and sold his business.

He was taken to court by a subsequent partner.

And he bought a Harley-Davidson motorbike.

He died at the age of 64.

Do you think this brought happiness?

I doubt it.

But many people spend their lives doing exactly this.

They buy the lie that material wealth and possessions will bring happiness.

But they don't.

The only thing that brings happiness is love.

And our love is buried deep inside us.

It is protected by fortifications erected out of fear.

We have been told all the wrong things.

And those who told us these lies were acting out of fear themselves.

So do not listen to those who tell you that material wealth will bring happiness.

Material wealth, status, and fame are illusions.

They do not bring happiness.

Only love can bring happiness.

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The Right Hand of the Beast.

Ronald Reagan unleashed the Beast.

He incited violence - verbal, emotional, psychic, spiritual, and physical - against the Left - his political opponents.

And Pope John Paul II assisted him.

But the damnation, blaming, shaming, and hate they inspired in Generation X is not from God.

It is merely the right hand of the Beast*.

(*In the Book of Revelation the followers of the Beast receive the mark in their right hands or their foreheads.)

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Psalm.

In the dark of night I was assailed by demons

with lying tongues and evil minds.

They cursed and tormented me,

Tortured and harrowed me.

Telling me that I was destined for hell.

But I threw myself down 

and cried out to God:

"Father in Heaven, have mercy on me."

He heard me and answered with these words:

"I will."

The black clouds dispersed,

The voices fell silent,

The pain disappeared,

And my spirit revived.

And now I am joyful,

My spirit is blissful,

My mind is at peace,

And my Faith has increased!

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Speak!

Pope Francis said to a group of parents of LGBT+ children "God loves your children as they are, we are all children of God."

This is in direct contradiction of the Catholic Bishops of Poland who wanted to set up special clinics to "help" LGBT+ people recover their "natural sexuality".

The Pope's statement contradicts both the political and religious leaders who supported LGBT-Free Zones and called us "enemies of the State" and a "rainbow plague".

So the Fascist persecution of LGBT+ people has been condemned by the leader of the Catholic Church itself.

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(The image has been slightly modified.)

Fortress.

When we go to school, or even before, we learn to protect our selves from threats in the outside world.

We bury our real selves, our souls, deep beneath a pile of defenses.

We become fortresses.

The outward appearance of this fortress may be: amiable, friendly, threatening, bad-tempered, extroverted, timid, or bold.....

But the fact remains: it is a facade.

Our real selves are buried deep within us.

We lose contact with our own souls.

And our dream of love is lost.

What God can do is reconnect us with our own souls.

By allaying our fears God frees us from our prison, our fortress, and reconciles us with others.

This is what good religion can do.

Bad religion increases our fears and separates us further from our souls.

But you have nothing to fear from God.

God will not punish you or judge you.

God will show mercy and forgive our mistakes.

God will love you.

So fear not.

This is the Good News.

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Transformation.

Instead of sex and death we should think of Scorpio as life and transformation.

Sex does not create death.

Sex creates life!

And death is not a state, or a realm, or a kingdom.

Death is transformation.

Just as the ugly grub is transformed into a beautiful butterfly so men and women will be transformed into citizens of Heaven.

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God.

The traditional image of God as a punisher and judge of human beings is wrong!

God does not punish us.

God does not judge us.

God loves us as a father loves his children.

He does not expect us to be perfect.

It is inevitable that we will make mistakes.

God will forgive us.

God forgives even the most heinous sinners.

No one will perish.

So there can be no hell.

God is beyond our concepts of sin and evil.

God is beautiful!

God is sublime!

God is all Good!

God is all Life!

God is all Light!

God is all Love!

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Homosexuality.

The practices referred to in St. Paul's letters are not what we currently refer to as homosexuality.

St. Paul was talking about such things as temple prostitution.

And he asserted that such people were born heterosexual but behaved perversely.

This is not our modern understanding of homosexuality.

Most homosexual people will assert that they were born with a same-sex attraction.

It was not acquired.

Neither was it a choice.

It is merely how we are made.

And God made us this way.

So don't tell me that the Bible proves God hates gays.

The Bible proves nothing.

God loves gays as He loves all His children.

And same-sex attraction is love.

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Evil.

Evil was created by humans.

It is based on conceptual Dualism which states that if there is a God who is good then there must be a devil who is evil.

This is merely one explanation for the question: Why is there evil in a world created by a good God?

But evil in our world is the result of human ignorance and fear; there is no need for a supernatural devil.

The only supernatural being is God.

And God is good.

So those who deliberately practise evil in the hope that the devil will reward them are deluded.

Unfortunately the evil they do remains.

But God is One.

And God is transcendent - beyond sin and evil.

This is Good News.

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Love.

Love comes from God.

Some say:

God is Love.

So we should center ourselves in our hearts.

Love is the Water of Life.

Love is the essential ingredient.

Love is the Universal Panacea.

And love is the basis of our relationship with God.

So put aside your fears.

And open your hearts.

Love is the path to Enlightenment and Salvation.

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Beast Mode.

Beast Mode is Satanism.

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The Gospel of Love.

The Gospel of John is known as the most spiritual of the Gospels.

It is the Gospel of Love.

In John we find a contrast between the ways of the world - which are evil - and the way of God - which is Love.

This is further contrasted as darkness and light.

But the primary insight in the Gospel of John is that the way of God is the way of Love.

Jesus aligns himself with God by asserting his love.

"'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.'"  John 15:12 (NRSV)

And this is further emphasized in the letter of John.

"God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them."  1 John 4:16 (NRSV)

So do not follow the idols of this world.

But align yourself with God.

And that is to love one another.

[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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Devil Horns.

 

There is Satanism in the AFL.

Photo Credit: AFL. 

Tragedy and Tears.

We carry with us all the pain and hurt we have experienced in our lives.

We hide our broken hearts.

But God can touch this frightened child, this precious soul within us.

And tears will flow uncontrollably.

God restores our soul.

And we can live again.

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Fear Not.

If the traditional image of God as a harsh judge and punisher of humans is wrong where does it come from?

The answer is fear.

When Jesus and the disciples went up the mountain and experienced the Transformation Peter and James and John were "terrified".

This was not caused by anything that God did but was caused by the disciples' fear of incurring God's displeasure.

Contact with the Divine can cause people like Peter, who knew that he was not perfect, to fear God.

But God says "Fear not!"

God does not act in the way that earthly authority figures act.

He does not punish us.

He does not judge us.

God loves us.

And it is His pleasure to do so.

God does not expect us to be perfect.

This is not possible in any case.

Everyone will inevitably make mistakes.

But God does not punish us.

He forgives our mistakes and sets us on the right path.

So fear not!

This is good news.

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(The image has been slightly modified.)

Shepherds.

"Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves!"  Ezekiel 34:2 (NRSV)

You have not guided the sheep with love.(sic)

"but with force and harshness you have ruled them."  Ezekiel 34:4 (NRSV)

This was the judgement of God towards the Shepherds of Israel - His own Priests - in the time of Ezekiel.

And it is still true today!

[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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Love is Love.

Homosexuality is love.

And as such it is in harmony with God.

"God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them."  1 John 4:16 (NRSV)

So do not refer to Old Testament prohibitions.

Many of these are superfluous.

They do not apply to 21st Century Christians.

Their understanding of same-sex attractions is not our modern understanding.

Homosexuality is not immorality.

Homosexuality is love.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken form 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 Devil.

The Goat is the devil.

Photo Credit: Betr.

The Last Step.

The last step, when we have established a relationship with the Living God and experienced His unconditional Love, is to realize that all the problems we experience - all the hatred, violence, and rejection - are caused by fear.

And so it is true: there are only two things in the world - love and fear.

And "perfect love casts out fear."  1 John 4:18 (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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