Treasure.

"'Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.'"  Matthew 13:52 (NRSV)

And so we bring out the best of both worlds:

What is new: tolerance, liberty, pacifism, positivity, benevolence, universalism, unitarianism, humanitarianism, unconditional love.....

What is old: altruism, reverence, respect, gratitude, selflessness, charity, mercy, forgiveness, prayer, faith.....

And we discard what is outmoded:

What is new: license, excess, extremism, obsession, promiscuity, drugs, degradation, negativity, hedonism, cynicism, alienation.....

What is old: violence, vengeance, judgement, punishment, hate, callousness, pragmatism, legalism, materialism, hypocrisy.....

And so we salvage the treasure from the dross.

[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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Gay Angels.

Gay men and women are androgynous.

That is they are half male and half female.

This is like the Angels in Heaven.

And even like God Himself.

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Wicked.

Wicked for Good is the work of devil-worshippers.

The idea is to corrupt you and encourage you to sin.

And then your soul will be damned to hell!

(Or so they think).

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Hunger.

We pray for all those who are hungry,

And the children who will die

Because of our corrupt Financial System.

Take them to your bosom, Lord.

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Good.

Jesus said: "''Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.'"  Mark 10:18 (NRSV)

And wicked for good is the work of 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.]

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Grace.

"let the wicked forsake their way,

and the unrighteous their thoughts;

let them return to the Lord,

that he may have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Isaiah 55:7 (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.]

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Inhumanity.

God is not responsible for the suffering in our world.

It is not God's actions nor is it God's Will.

Our suffering is caused by our inhumanity to each other.

And our inhumanity is caused by fear.

It is God's Will that we love one another.

If we do this simple action.

Our suffering will disappear.

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God's Love.

When all men and women 

realize that they are brothers and sisters

I will send the Spirit of my Love

into all Humanity.

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Turning Points.

1. The Bible is a collection of writings from a variety of writers over hundreds of years. Each text reflects the character and worldview of the writer and his time.

2. The Bible should be interpreted metaphorically not literally.

3. The story of Adam and Eve, the Virgin Birth, and many of the miracle stories are not to be taken literally. They are mythological at best.

4. The Fall/Redemption model of Christianity is bankrupt.

5. The traditional image of God as a punisher and judge of humans is false.

6. Hell is out of character for a loving God.

7. We are not to battle against evil but to lay down the sword and cry out to God for help.

8. God is transcendent - beyond sin and evil.

9. God's inmost nature is Love.

10. The path to God is contemplation and prayer and love.

11. God is real.

12. Love God and love your neighbor.

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The Tears of Heaven.

The Tears of Heaven

Rain down from above,

To water the Earth

With life-giving Love.

To extinguish the fires of hell

That attack us,

And dissolve the ramparts of fear

That enslave us.

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Back to the 50s.

Going back to the 50s 

is merely going back to 

hypocrisy and cheap grace.

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Knowledge.

Those who have chosen the Path of Knowledge study scriptures and philosophy and learn from life and art.

The culmination of this knowledge is the realization of the knowledge of God.

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St. Sebastian.

St. Sebastian is the Patron Saint of plague victims.

He offers protection against plagues.

My advice: "All things in Moderation."

        (Hesiod - Greek Poet 700 BCE.)

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Stiff-Necked.

"I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day, yet they did not listen to me. or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks."  Jeremiah 7:25,26 (NRSV)

".....they have stiffened their necks, refusing to hear my words."  Jeremiah 19:15 (NRSV)

This describes the reaction of Israel's spiritual leaders when God sent His prophets to them.

And this is confirmed by Jesus.

"'For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed!'"  Luke 11:47 (NRSV)

So do not blame God when we are indoctrinated with false teachings.

Religious leaders have long preferred fear to love.

[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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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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