Forgiveness.

                            

In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant  a slave who is forgiven a huge debt refuses to forgive another who is in debt to him.  (Matthew 18:23-35)

This is dealt with in Matthew's traditional way of harsh punishment.
This is a form of hyperbole used by the writer of Matthew and is not to be taken literally.

But the lesson remains - we should forgive others as we have been forgiven. 


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Pure Evil.

                            

In the 1980s when Satanic rock music emerged from its hiding place many people turned to evil in order to win.

13, 666, Friday the 13th, the Beast, black, hate, horror, demons, violence, and pure evil became household words.

We were faced with violence on one side and political persecution on the other.

This is when the Hippie Generation was deconstructed.

We were condemned and abused, intimidated and attacked.

Only to be reconstructed by our political enemies.

But this kind of victory - a victory by violence - is no victory at all.

The attitudes of the Hippie Generation before they were reconstructed, before they were betrayed by their rock stars, represents the closest attitudes to God.

Peace, love, non-violence, benevolence, and tolerance are the ways of God. 


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Authority.

                            

Where then is our authority?

If scripture alone - sola scriptura - is no longer our authority in spiritual matters where then is our authority?

In the 21st Century authority will come from personal experience.

No other source of authority is acceptable to people in our post-modern world.

People want to experience God directly not through some mediating agent.

This is why so many people have embraced Eastern religions and Yoga with their meditation practises and their promise of personal enlightenment.

Not that many have achieved enlightenment.
But it is personal experience they seek.

The Churches can no longer dictate to people what they should believe or even what they should do.

The only religion people will accept is one that leads to personal experience.

So the religion of the future will be a kind of mysticism with the promise of union with God.

We are seeing a surge in interest in mysticism in our world right now.  And this is the reason.

So rather than the old exoteric religion of rules and beliefs we should be concentrating our efforts on esoteric mystical practises and teachings.

There is a glimmer of hope.

And it is here that it resides.


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Goodwill.

                                   

Peace on earth, and goodwill to all.

With this blessing God broke into human history with the birth of Jesus, the light of the world.

And this is His Will - that there should be peace on earth and goodwill between all.

This is consistent with His word through the prophets and indeed through Jesus himself.

Let the discerning mind see.

No longer should we live in fear.

No longer should we make war.

No longer should we destroy the environment.

Peace on earth, and goodwill to all.


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Atheists.

                            

If you're young and gay the natural position is to say that you don't believe in a God that hates, punishes, and tortures people.

So they will say that they are atheists.

This is because atheism seems to be the more sensible position.

What they don't realize is that Satanists in our popular culture encourage this approach.

They deny God and preach sex.

Little did we know that they believe this ends in hell.

Some may even say that they want to go to hell.

This is our dilemma.

I don't believe that there is a hell.
Or a devil for that matter.

But they do.

Turn to God with a sincere heart.

God will wipe away our tears.

And surround us with His Love.


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Sin.

                            

I am loathe to use the word sin.

One translation of the Hebrew word for sin is to miss the mark.

The word sin is associated with bad behavior.

But there are reasons why people commit sins.
Mostly out of fear.

So, if there are reasons for our sins, are they really sins?

Are they not merely mistakes through which we learn?

Traditionally sin has been used to place human beings in debt in order to control their behavior.

This is an abuse of theology.

The emphasis should not be on our sins but on the forgiveness we have received from God.

May we forgive those who have sinned against us as we have been forgiven.


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Birth.

                                    

Whenever a child

is born

we experience joy

and hope and wonder.

For once again

Life

is born

into the world.



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