Geert Wilders wants mandatory blackface at Dutch festival

Posted on 2014/10/10 by Guestspeaker

How would Anne Frank look at the silly situation which happens so many decades after she saw the horror which came into existence because certain people became too serious about a pure race and typical morphology of the Caucasians.

Instead of seeing a “butterfly effect“ the Low Countries may have a Big Black Book or should I say a Big Red Book slammed in their face.

Photo of Jonathan G. Meath portraying Santa Claus.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In many countries all over the world it is a tradition to come up every year with a very big lie for the children. All over the world we can find a ‘children festival’ were parents lie about the presents the children receive. In some countries it are the ‘Bells of Rome‘, in others it are ‘the eggs of Spring’ or the ‘Easter Bunnies‘,in others it are Saint Martin, Saint Nicholas the Santa, or even the elfs from High up North.

Best, naturally, we would not tell such lies to our children, but as people living in a democratic state we should allow such stories to stay alive and have people amusing themselves with fairy tales and traditional songs and feasts.

.

Trying to be over politically correct is not doing good to society. We should know what happen in the past, be aware of differences and changes, and allow traditional fun to those who want to have such fun.

.

We may have certain countries around us which may have a very philistine tradition and who are afraid to change things. Others do think they have to advance so much that they better get rid of all the past, like it never happened? We may find everywhere anti-intellectual groups which prefer to be a-theoretical an which to stay pragmatic. But we may encounter those people who seem to be much more afraid, instead of being sure of themselves and of their society where they live in. In case the Dutch people were sure enough they are liberal and free they should not make such a fuss about the old children songs and the tradition of Saint Nicholas, whilst they find nobody may touch Christmas because that is holy fro them, forgetting that it has nothing to do at all with the birth of Christ (who was born in October) in Palestine, where there are no fur trees and at that time no snow and certainly no elfs and flying Nordic men. Though the lie for the children about the man and his servants worries them so much that even shopkeepers become afraid to sell certain products which may relate to the servant of Saint Nicholas.

In the Netherlands the far right movement has won a lot of people. Is it not that we may find a lot of Right-wing liberals who are libertarians, who are fanatically pro-market and pro-United States, who would like to leave the European Union and join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and would therefore really just swap one federation for another? They also will feel happy with the many fundamentalist evangelicals who consider the white race the better and chosen people by their god Christ, who according to them was a white man and not a Palestinian nor a Jew. The others were lots of Dutch people are getting afraid for are those sympathetic to the far Right. Because both being against coloured people others think they have to defend the coloured in such a way, as if they can not speak for themselves, that anything which shows up a placing of such a coloured person should be considered as discrimination. They even do not want to take in consideration where the tradition came from or what it really meant, having a person becoming black because in the chimneys the soot made the servants black.

.

Black Pete or Zwarte Piet may be a caricature of nineteenth century house slaves, in servant’s uniform, with big red lips and golden earrings, in the Netherlands even speaking with a supposedly Surinamese accent, and in Belgium with a French/Spanish or Afrikaans accent. If we have to going to erase all sorts of caricature we shall have a lot of work, like Kitty in her article also rightly points out. But the Dutch, Belgians and French shall have to seriously consider what they are going to do with all their rebellious old popular songs and even with their national hymns. With Austrian, French, British, Spanish, Dutch, coming to fight on our grounds and terrorising people in the past, the very young Belgium has lots of songs where is being mocked with those people. When protests against such lyrics will come up and children will have to adapt and re-adapt the songs they learned in childhood it shall only contribute of many forgetting all those songs and the old culture, having them at last no ground to be proud of to belong to such or such people. At last Europe seems to find a way to have the people loose all connection with their birth-ground and their nation. And in the mean time nobody worries about all the lies which are told by parents and politicians.

+++

Related articles

The Missing Education on Black Hair (exquisitemag.com)
Tiffany Bryan, a 27-year-old cancer survivor from New York, was fired from her job for wearing an Afro. This event is not the first: Within the last 12 months soldiers in the military, grade school students, university students and hard-working members of society have been discriminated against because of their hairstyle. These women wore their hair in Afros, twist, dreadlocks and braids not because of some hair fad, but because these styles are essential for their texture of hair. Each of these events, created by a lack of fundamental knowledge on Black hair, offers an opportunity for us to talk openly about the hair of women of color. If the people that committed these acts of discrimination understood that the morphological differences of Afro-textured hair requires a different type of hair care and hairstyles than other ethnic groups, future events of discrimination can be avoided.

Orientalism (1986). Dismantling arab stereotypes perpetuated by western media. (reddit.com)

Edward Said must have one of the worst cases of “I can’t believe I still have to keep reminding you people of this shit” in history, considering “Orientalism” came out in the 70s.

Rather than learning anything, popular culture in the west seems intent on constantly forgetting as much of anything it accidentally learned about the middle east as possible.

Renewing the Radical Right (counter-currents.com)
everything’s material; all people are equal; all lives are equally important; tragedy is largely fictional; “grin and bear it.”
+
I believe human inequality is the basis of life, but also the basis of morality, because I believe inequality is a moral force. The real division between the Left and Right is not about people who support socialized medicine or even much more harsh measures, if you like, or divisive measures like ethnicity or abortion or whatever. The real division, philosophically, is those who believe that equality, enforced or otherwise, is a moral good (broadly the general Left) and those who believe—and are often are too frightened to say so—that inequality is a moral good, which is what the philosophical Right really believes in.

Renewing the Radical Right (therebel.org)
ere a reaction against the tendentious propositions that liberalism enfolds: everything’s material; all people are equal; all lives are equally important; tragedy is largely fictional; “grin and bear it.” Do you remember the Panglossian sort of attitude that you get in Voltaire’s Candide? You know, everything’s always for the best and this sort of utterly trivial and, in one sense, irreligious attitude towards life just sort of nauseated and appalled me. I thought that there has to be something better than this.

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video, by the Daily Telegraph in England, recorded in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, says about itself:

17 November 2013
Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Father Christmas and his blacked-up helpers Zwarte Pieten, or Black Peters, arrive in Amsterdam amid protests claiming the tradition is racist.

Sinterklaas is not really ‘the Dutch version of Father Christmas’. The festival is on 6 December (and mainly on 5 December, the evening before 5 December), remembering the Christian Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop in what is today Turkey. Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, was derived from Sinterklaas later in the USA, and connected to Christmas, not 5 or 6 December.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands today:

The PVV

Geert Wilders‘ xenophobic party in the Netherlands

wil propose a bill which will protect Zwarte Piet.

Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) is a blackface character in the Dutch…

View original post 437 more words

Autumn traditions for 2014 – 1: Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

Posted on 2014/10/10 by Bijbelvorsers

The sun did not yet go under for the Summer 2014 or Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas), Sancta Claus, the Santa, and all Winter presents were already to be found in the shops. In Flanders in May we had already a garden centre which presented a huge Christmas show, with all the new decoration gadgets for December 2014. That month there was also lots of protest having to be confronted as consumer with the Christmas period, whilst Summer had yet to start.

Sinterklaas and his servants in Amsterdam

In the Low countries we for centuries do have a children festival where on the night of 5 December presents are brought by a so called saint Nicolas and his servants who are called “zwarte pieten” “black guys” (often translated in English as Black Peters or “Black Pete“, thinking a Piet is the name of a Peter or Pete instead of the slang for a worker or guy, a toff, a bigwig or “Johnnie”). This labourer who helps to make, transport and delivers the presents by going through the chimneys, by which he becomes so black, has been the dispute already since 2012, but got in real high discussion last year. We thought we had seen it all, but this year many communities bear the consequences from the zwarte Piet” (“Black Pete”). They are afraid to have black persons standing next to Sinterklaas on the ship or on the road, on horses close to Sinterklaas risking to receive a fine or to be put in jail. Those against the colour of the ‘black petes’ have clearly forgotten that the white bishop had worked in Turkey and brought his helpers from there en from Spain, where he found Moors or Moroccan people who were willing to help him to bring goods to the poor and need, plus to the small children who could be made happy with a surprise.

Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan had to hear in July that the Amsterdam District Court found the character of Zwarte Piet a racist caricature.. He was advised to reconsider his licensing of the annual Sinterklaas parade where the Saint enters the city on a boat with several balck sevants on the deck. In August van der Laan got back to them and said that the character of Zwarte Piet would change over the next four years; the black paint, red lips and afro wigs would be ‘toned down’.

On television several shopkeepers declared even not willing to sell black greasepaint these months, because it could be associated with them liking a Black Pete, and as such being ‘discriminating black people’. What those people against the black Pete do not want to see is that the blackness of the person has nothing to do with discrimination or by preferring black slaves. Zwarte Piet or Black Pete is a helper and not a slave of Saint Nicholas. Either on the 5th of December (in Holland) or the 6th of December (Holland and Belgium -except some parts of Flanders, Holland, North France and German districts, where they have Sint Maarten on the 11th of November in) several children in the Low Countries look forward for Saint Nicholas’ Day (6 December) where they can have a day where they can play freely with their presents of ‘the holy man’.

The whole situations seems to get out of hand when we do hear that even people are receiving death treats on both camps. In August the judicial advisor to the anti-Zwarte Piet movement, Frank King, removed himself from the judicial process around the issue after receiving several death threats, the Algemeen Dagblad reported. In an interview with the AD, King says that his heart is still in the case, and that he may get involved again some time.

“If the topic makes it to the European Human Rights Court, they can call me”,

King tells the AD.

Every one should have to have the right to have a defence layer or professional advisor, not having to mean that this adviser totally agrees with the person he talks for. from Leiden is done. Frank King believes that there is some kind of schism between what he thinks he is doing, and what others think he’s doing.

“I seem myself as lawyer of the counter-movement against Zwarte Piet. But the supporters see that differently. They now see me as the face of the counter-movement. And are directing their anger at me.”

Recently, the lawyer has received threats and abuse on all levels of communication. He receives the worst by mail. He is threatened, and he is abused because he has parents from Suriname.

“One mail said that I should have been put on a 17th century slave ship, just like my ancestors.”

King has had enough of the abuse, as well as the case, which is taxing in time. Though King does emphasize that he is proud of his involvement, and proud of the progress made.

Geert Wilders and his followers do have a problem with coloured people and made it that several Dutch people have become weary about the black coloured people and traditional black figures. In Belgium and Holland or the Netherlands we even do not know any more what we are allowed to say for a person with an other skin than the Caucasian race. There was a time we were not allowed to say ‘zwarte’ (‘black’) any more and had to say ‘neger’ (niger) but then this was not as seen as polite any more so ‘negro type’ and ‘negroïde’ were introduced. After a while this was not done any more and we had to use “immigrant” (“immigrant”) but soon this was considered to be a sobriquet and was to be replaced with “allochtoon” (foreign, alien, allochthonous), which is now also nearly becoming a nickname or giving a sign of ‘giving the other person the stigma’ of being a ‘profiteer’. This really indicates in our regions we are getting a real race problem.

Classic drawing of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (Saint Nicholas and Black Pete) every young person in the Low Countries formerly grew up with

For centuries at schools across the country, children sang songs referring to the skin tone and character of the black servant “…even if I’m black as coal I mean well…”, “Saint Nicholas, enter with your black servant”, etc,. Many object that in some old songs about Zwarte Piet, he is presented as not being a very clever boy, even being a little bit stupid, a little bit clumsy, more akin to a child than an adult, the same generalisations previously applied to black people, but which can no longer be made explicitly.

Now nothing may be black any more or it would be associated with denigration. As a joke in 2012 already a funny video was introduced where a “zwarte piet” was presented as a worker you could hire or buy to do all the little and harder works in the household and at the office or could even be used as you masseur or “puppy” or “doll” in bed.

The whole situation became so ludicrous that several funny video’s turn up and even companies are making advertisement spots, like we could see one, last night for fund recruitment for cancer treatment, where we could see a “Zwarte Pieten” training school in Africa which had lost so much money because nobody wanted a black Pete any more, they nearly could continue working but a solution was found having new recruits with white bold children wanting to learn for ‘piet'[(Sorry no video available of this (yet)].

Concerning supermarkets not willing to present anything any more which refers to ‘Zwarte Piet’ a satirical video was already placed on Youtube. It was first presented on The PowNews of October 9, 2014: The Albert Heijn wants Zwarte Piet “wegjorissen” (take them out of the picture), but the helpers are not pleased with it and do not want to give up their job, which they like very much. Therefore a boycott was set up before the Alber Heijn supermarkets by the helpers of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) in Appie, Oostzaan.

Geert Wilders wants mandatory blackface at Dutch festival (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
If Wilders wants to ban changing songs’ lyrics, then he will have very much work to do. Throughout history, old songs have been adapted with new lyrics. Protestant churches in the Netherlands and elsewhere have changed the lyrrics of their hymns and psalms frequently. Does Wilders want to jail the Protestant dignitaries responsible for that? He can’t jail all of them, as most are already dead. The Belgian national anthem’s lyrics have changed many times.
Santa’s helper is a racist caricature (newint.org)

It’s been a month since Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan announced his decision to cancel Christmas. Or at least that’s how Anneka Hendriks laughingly describes it to me. Hendriks is one of the hundreds of people in Amsterdam who enjoy painting their faces black, donning afro wigs and gold hoop earrings, and celebrating the festive season by masquerading as Zwarte Piet (Dutch for ‘Black Pete’).

‘Hundreds’ is a conservative estimate; it’s probably more like thousands or tens of thousands when the rest of the Netherlands is taken into account.
The Netherlands plan a nationwide consultation on the controversial Black Pete tradition (independent.co.uk)

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands has announced that he will be organising a consultation on the role that ‘Black Petes’ should play during the festive opening of the Sinterklaas season this year.

Minister Lodewijk Asscher plans to bring relevant parties together to discuss possible changes to the controversial tradition ahead of the televised event on 15 November. The talks will include the national broadcaster and the council of Gouda, the host town.

Asscher says: “Last year things were very polarised. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities again.”
+
The Dutch have indeed taken a clear stance in defence of their beloved Pete. The Prime Minister Mark Rutte reflected the feelings of the majority of the population when he responded to criticisms by saying: “Black Pete, that already says it, he’s black. We can’t change much about that”.
Dutch ‘Zwarte Piet’: Innocent Holiday Tradition or Inadvertent Racism? (ny.thedailydigest.org)
When I was a little kid (“little” being ages 10 through 17), I lived in the Netherlands Antilles and in the Netherlands. That was back in the 50s.
+
I remember them (sometimes there were dozens of them) running and clowning around with their burlap sacks — scaring the daylights out of some little kids might be a better term — in parades, shopping centers and, as legend had it, coming down the chimney while you were sleeping.
Dutch ‘Zwarte Pieten’: Innocent Tradition or Inadvertent Racism? (themoderatevoice.com)
going back 60 years, Zwarte Pieten were white adolescents with painted black faces (supposedly from the soot picked up scaling down all those chimneys), thick, painted-on, bright-red lips, lots of frizzy black hair, many other “ornaments” such as big gold hoop earrings…and beautiful Dutch blue or green eyes. (No colored contact lenses in those days).

They were Sinterklaas’ knechten (servants) who would help Sinterklaas deliver sweets and gifts to those kids who had behaved throughout the year and would leave only a lump of coal for those children who had not been very nice. Legend and rumor also had it that they would stuff kids who had been naughty and bad into their burlap sacks and haul them back to Spain, or Morocco, or Turkey or wherever current folklore had it that the Zwarte Pieten came from.
The Dutch Christmas with Zwarte Pieten in Blackface (usslave.blogspot.com)

From Forbes, “The Unbearable Whiteness of Piet-ing: Dutch Santa’s Blackface Elves,” by John Giuffo (Contributor), on 4 December 2012 — Christmastime in Amsterdam has a special kind of magic, and a unique kind of controversy.

+
White lights slide down buildings and arch across shopping streets, multiplying their twinkle in canal reflections. No garish multi-color, animatronic ego contests anywhere. You will hear Christmas music, but you’re not assaulted, and dreams of restraining orders against Bing Crosby never fill your head (unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of his children). No one is trampled in shopping frenzies, no one gets arrested for assaulting line-cutters, and the gift giving comes in early December, separate from the more low-key holiday of the 25th. Family members write sardonic poems for each other. Poems! Glühwein – a sort of hot Christmas sangria – warms hands and bellies. And Sinterklaas arrives not on a reindeer-pulled sleigh laden with loot, but on a white horse, accompanied by a small cohort of his helpers, the Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes – white revelers coated in blackface.
Virtual Advent Tour & Giveaway: The Dutch Celebration of Sinterklaas (leeswammes.wordpress.com)
Sinterklaas has been a tradition in the Netherlands for hundreds of years. Originally, this bishop came to bring money to the poor, but these days it’s a children’s celebration.
+
Just like lots of children all over the world believe in Santa Claus, in the Netherlands it’s Sinterklaas they believe in and usually stop believing in around 7 or 8 years’ of age.
+
Zwarte Piet has sweets in his bag (although in the old days he would use his bag to transport naughty children back to Spain!), notably pepernoten, which are small, slightly spicy biscuits (cookies). Usually Zwarte Piet will throw these around and kids collect them from the floor (when outdoors they get a fistful in their hand).
Sinterklaas, A Historically Correct (But Politically Incorrect) Children’s Tradition (urbantimes.co)
The Dutch picture the character of ‘Zwarte Piet’ (translated Black Pete) as helper with a controversial black African look: blackface, curly wig, red lips, sometimes Creole earrings. The outfit is colourful, topped of by a cap with feathers and a ruffle like a Renaissance page.
+
This year, the usual discussion has been overrun by the decision of the former Dutch colony Suriname to ban Sinterklaas completely. Up until now Sinterklaas had been celebrated in Suriname the same way as in Holland: with a white priest coming from Spain on a boat with his black helpers… Evidently, this custom doesn’t fit in a country where white people only account for 5% of the population.
be what you want to be (piadrent.blogspot.com)
The helpers are called ‘Black Petes’ and they are funny and a bit stupid.

This may have been fine half a century ago, but in today’s day we find that discriminative and offensive. So there is a restyling movement for Black Petes happening right now. First, we will be calling them Petes, and second, their skin tone is becoming more flexible.

Shariah and child abuse – Is there a connection?

Posted on 2014/10/08 by Guestspeaker

People may have something against a certain faith. That we can see in many countries today, like it was foretold in the Bible, what would happen at the end of times.

In the Middle East we have Muslims fighting Hindus or Hindus fighting against Christians, but also Christians having to defend themselves against severe attacks by other religious people, but also against denominations which belong to the same group, namely Christendom.

.

Muslims know that when there comes to them some matter touching (public) safety or fear, they have to make it known (among the people), if only they had referred it to the Messenger or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have understood it from them (directly). In many countries where Christendom was the main religion lots of people have lost contact with their God, in case they had already contact with Him. In the West lots of people were by birth belonging to one or the other Christian denomination, but many did or do not believe really.

.

To say, like the author of the reblogged article claims, that “It has been suggested that the pre-Islamic Allah was the Babylonian deity Ba’al, not the Hebrew Yahweh as suggested in the Quran. ” is probably distorting history, like it is depicting it not rightly to say there is one huge difference between the Yahweh of Jewish and Christian literature and the Allah of Islamic literature.

.

Allah was already in the time of Muhammad the Arabic word for the title of God (not His Name) and was already used many years before Muhammad was born by the Christians, but also by others who used the title for their gods, like Pharaoh and Moses were also called allah or god. The Allah/God of the Islamic prophet came confronted with was the same Allah Abraham got to hear.
Allah or God, whose Name is Jehovah or called Yahweh can and does defend his own holiness, to say Allah’s holiness (and therefore that of Mohammed’s) has to be avidly and violently defended by his followers is doing disrespect to the real followers of Allah, who do not let themselves be mislead by human writings, like many Christians have in the past let themselves been mislead by many different people who called themselves ‘theologian‘ and by the different denominations which brought unto their people different dogma‘s.

.

As in Christendom Muslims also took to human writings. Instead of just taking the words of the Quran they preferred to follow more the words of tradition, like the writings of the hadith, which may leave many Christians with the impression that when Mohammed/Muhammad wanted something, he would go into a trance and Allah would then respond to Mohammed’s request. That is why many Christians did come to see a Quran that seems to contradict itself, like others have come to see a Bible that seems to contradict itself,
For sure it is by the false teachers and false prophets we have come to see, by the years, an abrogation of the mainly ‘peaceful’ passages, to the much more violent passages as time passes, and several people, on the different sites (Islam and Christendom) misusing the title of God (or if you want: misusing the Name of God) to get their political desires in the forefront and to regain or to get more power.

+

In the article is further questioned:

Do we really need a system of laws that sees nothing wrong with a man in his forties marrying a pre-pubescent child?

The place of women in society

It also says:

Shariah defines female unbelievers as the property (slaves) of believing males who have no rights at all; subject only to the whim of their owners.

To some Muslims, grooming underage non-Muslim girls is totally acceptable within Shariah,==> by doing nothing, and by failing to do their jobs – negligently and shamefully allowed to be implemented in Rotherham and other places; all part of the creep of Shariah into our society.

those who refused to investigate complaints => were thus accessories after the fact

those who further victimized the victims saying that the sex was ‘consensual’

==> very loud, clear message to every authority in the country, its ok to implement Shariah as an alternative to English law.

+

Find also to read:

Titles of God beginning with the Aleph in Hebrew

Attributes to God, titles ascribed to Him or Names given to JHWH, the God of gods.

Patriarch Abraham, Muslims, Christians and the son of God

+++

Additional material of interest:

Shariah Law Dispute Goes to Court; Judge to Consider Arguments on Injunction of Ban in Okla

Shariah Is Incompatible with Liberty; Many Americans Still Don’t See the Threat of Islamic Law

Shariah’s Trojan Horse

Examining the Anti-Shariah Movement in America

Treasury Submits to Shariah

+++

Related articles

Muhammad’s Opinions Regarding Jesus (biblicalmissiology.org)
Nearly six centuries before the advent of Muhammad, the aged prophet Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and said, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). As it was then, so it is today. Each person’s eternal destiny is linked to his or her response, and relationship to, Jesus.
+
The “Muhammad against Jesus” position seemed the most likely option for Muhammad, yet he did not choose it. Muhammad considered ridding the world of idol worship to be a major component of his message. He was pained by the idolatry of his kinsmen in Mecca, which he rightly rebuked. He ultimately made associating partners (Arabic, shirk) with the one true God, Allah, as the unpardonable sin in Islam (Sura 4:116).

The Islamic State claims to be regulated in strict accordance with Koranic instruction, and to follow the example given by Mohammed. This is not some Looney Tunes “misinterpretation” of Islamic scriptures – those who support Islamic State provide an abundance of Koranic quotations, and references to the Sunnah (the Islamic record of Mohammed’s life).

On the other hand, some who call themselves Muslims believe that participation in ethnic cleansing, slaughter of prisoners and mass rape is not the most appropriate way to emulate Mohammed’s example. This interpretation of Islamic scriptures is less literal, more contextualised and more nuanced.

In the absence of a religious authority – an Islamic Pope – to define a “correct” interpretation, I find it difficult to concede that one form of behaviour is any more – or less – Islamic than the other.

What part of “Islamic State” don’t they understand? (my.telegraph.co.uk)
some who call themselves Muslims believe that participation in ethnic cleansing, slaughter of prisoners and mass rape is not the most appropriate way to emulate Mohammed’s example. This interpretation of Islamic scriptures is less literal, more contextualised and more nuanced.
+
Those in the Middle East who wish to live under the Shariah (provided that this is the wish of the majority) are not the enemy. Those who wish to impose Islamic laws and customs upon non-Muslims are the enemy; and so are our elected leaders who pretend that this is somehow unconnected with Islamic belief.

On Islam, do we believe Obama or Muslim Ph.D.? (wnd.com)
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, with reference to Obama’s similar comment made earlier in September, explained that, “In making this preposterous claim, Obama joins his two immediate predecessors in pronouncing on what is not Islamic. Bill Clinton called the Taliban treatment of women and children ‘a terrible perversion of Islam.’ George W. Bush deemed that 9/11 and other acts of violence against innocents ‘violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.’”

Jihad’s Secret Weapon Against America (frontpagemag.com)
Scholars such as Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller and Daniel Pipes have warned for years of the Muslim Brotherhood’s doctrine of immigration, or “al-hijra,” as the long-term strategy to transform America into a different type of society – one that subjugates all other religions under Islam.Now, another man has stepped up to sound the alarm. And his credentials make him hard to ignore.Dr. Mark Christian, an obstetrician and former Egyptian Muslim with direct family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, is talking a lot these days about “stealth jihad.” He says it’s the Brotherhood’s way of exploiting liberal immigration policies while working relentlessly through various Islamic front groups to pressure government, education and religious institutions to make concessions to Islam.
+According to the Pew Research study on the religious affiliation of immigrants, the number of Muslims entering the U.S. as a percentage of the total immigrant population has doubled over a recent 20-year period, going from 5 percent in 1992 to 10 percent in 2010.

While America’s overall Muslim population is only 0.8 percent according to Pew, 0.6 percent according to the CIA World Factbook, and up to 2 percent according to other sources, the European experience shows that Islam does not need anywhere near a majority of the population to begin influencing a country’s laws and culture.

The largest Muslim population in Europe resides in France, where the CIA World Factbook estimates 5 to 10 percent of that country’s overall population claims faith in Allah. Pew Research puts the figure just under 6 percent and projects that it will continually balloon to 7 percent by 2020, to 8.5 percent by 2030, and that by 2050, nearly a third of the nation’s people will identify as Muslim.

And the picture is not much different in other European countries. Germany’s Muslim population, mostly from Turkey, is estimated at 5 percent, Belgium 6 percent, Austria 5.7 percent, the Netherlands 5.5 percent, Sweden 4.9 percent and the U.K. 4.6 percent. Almost all of these countries will have Muslim populations of 10 percent or more within 20 years, based on current birthrate

UK Home Secretary: “ISIS Is Not Islamic; Their Actions Have Absolutely No Basis In Anything Written In The Koran” (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
The terrorists who murdered David Haines like to call themselves the Islamic State. But I will tell you the truth: They are not Islamic. And they are not a state. Their actions have absolutely no basis in anything written in the Quran. What they believe has no resemblance whatsoever to the beliefs of more than a billion Muslims all over the world. And, like all the other Islamist terrorist organisations, they have caused the deaths of many thousands of innocent Muslim civilians. They occupy large parts of Syria and Iraq, and not only are they bringing death and destruction to the people of those countries, they have made absolutely clear their desire to attack Britain, America and the West.
+
The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran.The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God, however this can work both ways. Most of today’s Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book’s call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.

Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad’s own martial legacy – and that of his companions – along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.

Anti-semitic ancient evil (conservativenewsandviews.com)
Anti-Semitic feeling was “in the air” throughout the Western world. William Shakespeare wrote the prize example in popular culture: his comedy The Merchant of Venice. Martin Luther was more serious: he openly blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. (In so doing, he forgot that Jesus Himself said, “No one takes my life; I lay it down.”) Even James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, succumbed to an anti-Semitic mind-set. He ended his Annals of the World by describing the Jewish Wars of A.D. 70-73. “This was the end of Jewish affairs,” he wrote.But what put anti-Semitic feeling into the air? For that we must turn to the Bible.

Ariel speaks with the voice of a spirit medium (jwdoctrine.com)
Isaiah foretold a dramatic change in spiritual’s Jerusalem’s earthly counterparts for the times ahead : “From the ground you will speak”(Isaiah 29:4) Like Jerusalem of Isaiah’s days had been accustomed to pride itself on its strength and immunity of Godly judgment similarly the Watchtower has elevated itself to the sole channel of communication with God but future events are sure to overtake them .They will be greatly humbled and subdued. Its loud and lofty tone will change to mere whisper. It would use the suppressed language of fear and alarm as if it spoke from the dust, or in a shrill small voice, like a spirit medium or a necromancer of the dead communicated in ancient Israel with the spirits.

From Transfiguration to Transhumanism: Taking Seriously Theology as … (ct.moreover.com)
theologians need to consider whether a “science of God” ultimately turns out to be anything other than science itself – or put more normatively, “science properly done.” In other words, as theologians try to fathom the mind of God, they are coming to terms with reality’s intelligibility, in the strict sense, which requires that we have minds that are designed not merely to make sense of our everyday environments (that is, the adaptive forms of intelligence that most “naturalistic” and “evolutionary” epistemologies try to explain) but more tellingly, the entire cosmos, the vast majority of which we have never empirically encountered, let alone inhabited. Of course, God would “always already” have access to the entirety of this extended realm. Theology’s task, then, put in today’s terms, is to “occupy God” – but that may mean abandoning conventional religion.

~~Defender of Faith~Guardian of Truth~~

by Sharia Watch

What is Shariah Law? To answer this question, one must understand that Shariah Law stems from the justification of the acts of physical and sexual violence of one man some 1400 years ago.

Mohammed proclaimed himself as the prophet of Allah, one of a pantheon of Gods worshipped in and around the Middle East at the time. It has been suggested that the pre-Islamic Allah was the Babylonian deity Ba’al, not the Hebrew Yahweh as suggested in the Quran. There is one huge difference between the Yahweh of Jewish and Christian literature and the Allah of Islamic literature; and that is that whilst Yahweh can and does defend his own holiness, Allah’s holiness (and therefore that of Mohammed’s) has to be avidly and violently defended by his followers.

According to Islam, Muhammad’s first revelation was the event in which Muhammad was visited by the Arch-angel Gabriel who…

View original post 617 more words

Al-Fatiha [The Opening] Süra 1: 4-7 Merciful Lord of the Creation to show us the right path

Posted on 2014/10/08 by Marcus Ampe

Saint Gabriel archangel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In our first article in the series on the Quran reading Muslims got to believe Allah revealed this prayer to Muhammad early in his career as a prophet (which began in the year 610 AD, when he received his first revelation from Allah through the angel Gabriel – a revelation that is now contained in the Qur’an’s 96th chapter) so that the Muslims would know how to pray.

In the 96 chapter verses 1-5 we are asked to “Proclaim!” or “read!” in the name of the Lord and Cherisher, Who created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood (hence the name Adam: the red blood), but also from the “black mud”, and Who is the is Most Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the pen (4), taught man that which he knew not.

In the Bible are the human beings created in God’s image. According to the Islam the Quran/Koran rejects such a similarity of the image between God and man explicitly.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26 ASV)

“And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7 ASV)

“And also the {1} Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. {1) Or [Victory]; Or [Glory]}” (1 Samuel 15:29 ASV)

“وقال الله نعمل الانسان على صورتنا كشبهنا.فيتسلطون على سمك البحر وعلى طير السماء وعلى البهائم وعلى كل الارض وعلى جميع الدبابات التي تدب على الارض.” (تكوين 1:26 Arabic)

“وجبل الرب الاله آدم ترابا من الارض.ونفخ في انفه نسمة حياة.فصار آدم نفسا حيّة.” (تكوين 2:7 Arabic)

“وايضا نصيح اسرائيل لا يكذب ولا يندم لانه ليس انسانا ليندم.” (1 صموئيل 15:29 Arabic)

Musa (Moses), the prophet who wrote down the Word of God over the beginning of time (Genesis) and proclaimed God’s Word – in a Persian miniature from the 15th century

Allah is presented as the Most Gracious, Most Merciful Who brought His Message to humankind. According to Muslim tradition it was revealed in a chain of messages starting to the Archangel Gabriel (Jibreel). Soon in the text we remarked that the Islamic community went into the same fault as many Christian denominations taking more attention to traditional human thoughts instead of keeping to the words of their Holy Scripture itself. As such we noticed that by “the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds” several Muslims created their worlds of demons and djinns or Gjinn-people, and like several Christians started to believe in a place of damnation being called “hell“. But from the Quran and the Bible we can only find two worlds: namely the world of the human beings (earth and waters) and the world of the celestial beings (heaven).

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
And certainly We created man, and We know what his mind suggests to him, and We are nearer to him than his life-vein.(50:16)

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَنْدَادًا وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

Who made the earth a resting place for you and the heaven a canopy and (Who) sends down rain from the cloud, then brings forth with it subsistence for you of the fruits; therefore do not set up rivals to Allah while you know.(2:22)

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth, and He directed Himself to the heaven, so He made them complete seven heavens, and He knows all things.(2:29)

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

Most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ships that run in the sea with that which profits men, and the water that Allah sends down from the cloud, then gives life with it to the earth after its death and spreads in it all (kinds of) animals, and the changing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between the heaven and the earth, there are signs for a people who understand.(2:164)

وَعِنْدَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ ۚ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ

And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures– none knows them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book.(6:59)

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَكُمْ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْفُلْكَ لِتَجْرِيَ فِي الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْأَنْهَارَ

Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as a sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you.(14:32)

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ

And when your Lord said to the angels: Surely I am going to create a mortal of the essence of black mud fashioned in shape.(15:28)

The opening of the Quran, starting with the prayer:

1 Fatiha, or the Opening Chapter. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
2 Praise be to Allah, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;
3 Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
4 Master of the Day of Judgment.
5 Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
6 Show us the straight way,
7 The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose portion is not wrath, and who go not astray.

In certain translations is indicated that it is only to Him (Thee alone) to give worship and (Thee alone) to ask for help.

Shakir translates:

5 Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.
6 Keep us on the right path.
7 The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not the path of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.

Ysufufali and other translaters give:

5 Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
6 Show us the straight way,
7 The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose portion is not wrath, and who go not astray.

It is clear that to the Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement the Muslims do want to give praise. It is Him Who they do worship and Whose aid they seek. Normally, like they pray, to worship Him alone, and no imams or khomeinis they also say in their prayer they only ask Allah for help (for each and everything) (5).

001.006 اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
001.006 Show us the straight way,/ Guide us to the Straight Way

001.007 صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ
001.007 The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.

In verse 7 the Muslims often add themselves:

The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace , not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).

We also hear Muslims speaking about Ṣirāṭ, Siraat, Serat, As-Sirāt

اهدنا الصراط المستقيم

Guide us to the straight path: — Abdel Haleem

Guide us along the straight way— — Ahmad Zaki

Guide us on the straight path, — Ali Quli Qarai

In the previous article we saw the opening prayer, in which one wants to give his gratitude to the Supreme Creator of heaven and earth. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful they call onto Him and say that He (Allah), the Lord of the Worlds, belongs all praise (2), which means that world also does not belong to imams or Khomeinis, who one really should not support, too, because the Muslims pray and claim that they only beg for help unto the Beneficent, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment. (4-5).
Judgement belongs to the fifth pillar of iman (Imaan) [of the six pillars of Iman (faith)] in addition to the belief in the existence of Angels. The Muslim believes that Judgement Day will come at the time provided for. On this day Allah will judge between people and reward everybody for what he has done.
The Five Pillars of Islam and six pillars of Iman are the foundation of Islam.

It is up to Allah/God that they ask to be lead to the straight path. The path which according to them, that way what God would have them presented by whom He has bestowed favours – not that of those who earn His anger nor went astray.

The Maker and Sustainer of the world, the Creator of and Provider for man, the Active Force and Effective Power in nature are all one and the same, and that is known to be Allah or God. This is the Secret of all secrets and the Most Supreme of all beings. The Holy Qur’an claims to be the True Book of God, in which He says:

It is God Who has made the night for you, that you may rest therein, and the day to see. Verily God is full of Grace and Bounty to men. Yet most men give no thanks. Such is God, your Lord, the Creator of all things. There is no god but He; why then do you turn away from Him. Thus are turned away those who deny the Signs of God. It is God Who has made for you the earth as a resting place and the sky as a shelter, and has given you shape and made your shapes beautiful, and has provided for you sustenance of things good and pure; such is God your Lord. So glory to God, the Lord of the worlds! He is the Living (One); There is no god but He: Call upon Him, giving Him sincere devotion. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (Qur’an, 40:61-65).

In the Bible we are warned we do have to seek the Most High and be ready before His Day of Judgement will come.

“Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3 ASV)

“And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:11 ASV)

“The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, [even] the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man crieth there bitterly.” (Zephaniah 1:14 ASV)

“to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;” (2 Thessalonians 2:2 ASV)

“Ask of me, and I will give [thee] the nations for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” (Psalms 2:8 ASV)

“And as for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.” (Daniel 11:27 ASV)

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 10:22 ASV)

“And {1} this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole {2} world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come. {1) Or [these good tidings] 2) Gr [inhabited earth]}” (Matthew 24:14 ASV)

“Now these things happened unto them {1} by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. {1) Gr [by way of figure]}” (1 Corinthians 10:11 ASV)

“but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been {1} stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. {1) Or [stored with fire]}” (2 Peter 3:7 ASV)

“But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5:13 ASV)

“[Let] marriage [be] had in honor among all, and [let] the bed [be] undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (Hebrews 13:4 ASV)

“And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and [the time] to give their reward to thy {1} servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. {1) Gr [bondservants]}” (Revelation 11:18 ASV)

“But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32 ASV)

“inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge {1} the world in righteousness {2} by {3} the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. {1) Gr [the inhabited earth] 2) Gr [in] 3) Or [a man]}” (Acts 17:31 ASV)

“اطلبوا الرب يا جميع بائسي الارض الذين فعلوا حكمه.اطلبوا البرّ .اطلبوا التواضع.لعلكم تسترون في يوم سخط الرب” (صفنيا 2:3 Arabic)

“والرب يعطي صوته امام جيشه.ان عسكره كثير جدا.فان صانع قوله قوي لان يوم الرب عظيم ومخوف جدا فمن يطيقه” (يوئيل 2:11 Arabic)

“قريب يوم الرب العظيم قريب وسريع جدا.صوت يوم الرب.يصرخ حينئذ الجبار مرّا.” (صفنيا 1:14 Arabic)

“ان لا تتزعزعوا سريعا عن ذهنكم ولا ترتاعوا لا بروح ولا بكلمة ولا برسالة كانها منا اي ان يوم المسيح قد حضر.” (2 تسالونيكي 2:2 Arabic)

“(2:9) ‎تحطمهم بقضيب من حديد.مثل اناء خزّاف تكسّرهم” (مزامير 2:8 Arabic)

“وهذان الملكان قلبهما لفعل الشر ويتكلمان بالكذب على مائدة واحدة ولا ينجح لان الانتهاء بعد الى ميعاد.” (دانيال 11:27 Arabic)

“وتكونون مبغضين من الجميع من اجل اسمي.ولكن الذي يصبر الى المنتهى فهذا يخلص.” (متى 10:22 Arabic)

“ويكرز ببشارة الملكوت هذه في كل المسكونة شهادة لجميع الامم.ثم يأتي المنتهى” (متى 24:14 Arabic)

“فهذه الامور جميعها اصابتهم مثالا وكتبت لإنذارنا نحن الذين انتهت الينا اواخر الدهور.” (1 كورنثوس 10:11 Arabic)

“واما السموات والارض الكائنة الآن فهي مخزونة بتلك الكلمة عينها محفوظة للنار الى يوم الدين وهلاك الناس الفجار” (2 بطرس 3:7 Arabic)

“اما الذين من خارج فالله يدينهم.فاعزلوا الخبيث من بينكم” (1 كورنثوس 5:13 Arabic)

“ليكن الزواج مكرما عند كل واحد والمضجع غير نجس.واما العاهرون والزناة فسيدينهم الله.” (عبرانيين 13:4 Arabic)

“وغضبت الامم فأتى غضبك وزمان الاموات ليدانوا ولتعطى الاجرة لعبيدك الانبياء والقديسين والخائفين اسمك الصغار والكبار وليهلك الذين كانوا يهلكون الارض.” (رؤيا 11:18 Arabic)

“واما ذلك اليوم وتلك الساعة فلا يعلم بهما احد ولا الملائكة الذين في السماء ولا الابن الا الآب.” (مرقس 13:32 Arabic)

“(17:32) ولما سمعوا بالقيامة من الاموات كان البعض يستهزئون والبعض يقولون سنسمع منك عن هذا ايضا‎ .” (اعمال 17:31 Arabic)

Preparing for the Day of Judgement can be managed by seeking Him and by making sure you can find Him and by keeping His commandments. God has given His word to man as a guidebook and help. In the Bible we can find the answers to our questions and we can find sufficient data to ensure that we will be ready when the day of Jehovah comes. For this we have to find the right direction where to go to and have to take the right path on the (high)way to God’s Kingdom.

وَآتَيْنَاهُمَا الْكِتَابَ الْمُسْتَبِينَ

And We gave them both the Book that made (things) clear.(37:117)

وَهَدَيْنَاهُمَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

And We guided them both on the right way.(37:118)

وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ قَالُوا مَا هَٰذَا إِلَّا رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَصُدَّكُمْ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَقَالُوا مَا هَٰذَا إِلَّا إِفْكٌ مُفْتَرًى ۚ وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ

And when Our clear communications are recited to them, they say: This is naught but a man who desires to turn you away from that which your fathers worshipped. And they say: This is naught but a lie that is forged. And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it comes to them: This is only clear enchantment.(34:43)

وَمَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ مِنْ كُتُبٍ يَدْرُسُونَهَا ۖ وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَكَ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ

And We have not given them any books which they read, nor did We send to them before you a warner.(34:44)

“Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, For his wrath {1} will soon be kindled. {2} Blessed are all they that take refuge in him. {1) Or [may] 2) Or [Happy]}” (Psalms 2:12 ASV)

“Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalms 16:11 ASV)

“NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105 ASV)

“But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:18 ASV)

“And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth {1} the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. {1) Or [instruction]}” (Isaiah 2:3 ASV)

“and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not {1} turned out of the way, but rather be healed. {1) Or [put out of joint]}” (Hebrews 12:13 ASV)

“The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4 ASV)

“Show me thy ways, O Jehovah; Teach me thy paths.” (Psalms 25:4 ASV)

“Good and upright is Jehovah: Therefore will he instruct sinners in the way.” (Psalms 25:8 ASV)

“For {1} the commandment is a lamp; And {2} the law is light; And reproofs of instruction are the way of life: {1) Or, their [commandment] 2) Or, their [teaching]}” (Proverbs 6:23 ASV)

“There is a way which {1} seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death. {1) Or [is straight before]}” (Proverbs 16:25 ASV)

“Train up a child {1} in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it. {1) Heb [according to his way]}” (Proverbs 22:6 ASV)

“And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth {1} the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. {1) Or [instruction]}” (Isaiah 2:3 ASV)

“and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21 ASV)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah.” (Isaiah 55:8 ASV)

“{1} For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. {1) Many ancient authorities read [How narrow is the gate, etc]}” (Matthew 7:14 ASV)

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but {1} by me. {1) Or [through]}” (John 14:6 ASV)

“And they sing the song of Moses the {1} servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the {2} ages. {1) Gr [bondservant] 2) Many ancient authorities read [nations]; Jer 10:7}” (Revelation 15:3 ASV)

“(3:1) مزمور لداود حينما هرب من وجه ابشالوم ابنه‎ .‎يا رب ما اكثر مضايقي.كثيرون قائمون عليّ‎ .” (مزامير 2:12 Arabic)

“(17:1) صلاة لداود‎ .‎اسمع يا رب للحق.انصت الى صراخي اصغ الى صلاتي من شفتين بلا غش‎ .” (مزامير 16:11 Arabic)

“(119:106) ‎حلفت فأبره ان احفظ احكام برك‎ .” (مزامير 119:105 Arabic)

“اما سبيل الصديقين فكنور مشرق يتزايد وينير الى النهار الكامل.” (امثال 4:18 Arabic)

“وتسير شعوب كثيرة ويقولون هلم نصعد الى جبل الرب الى بيت اله يعقوب فيعلّمنا من طرقه ونسلك في سبله لانه من صهيون تخرج الشريعة ومن اورشليم كلمة الرب.” (اشعياء 2:3 Arabic)

“واصنعوا لارجلكم مسالك مستقيمة لكي لا يعتسف الاعرج بل بالحري يشفى.” (عبرانيين 12:13 Arabic)

“هو الصخر الكامل صنيعه.ان جميع سبله عدل.اله امانة لا جور فيه صديق وعادل هو” (تثنية 32:4 Arabic)

“(25:5) ‎دربني في حقك وعلمني.لانك انت اله خلاصي.اياك انتظرت اليوم كله‎ .” (مزامير 25:4 Arabic)

“(25:9) ‎يدرب الودعاء في الحق ويعلم الودعاء طرقه‎ .” (مزامير 25:8 Arabic)

“لان الوصية مصباح والشريعة نور وتوبيخات الادب طريق الحياة.” (امثال 6:23 Arabic)

“توجد طريق تظهر للانسان مستقيمة وعاقبتها طرق الموت.” (امثال 16:25 Arabic)

“ربّ الولد في طريقه فمتى شاخ ايضا لا يحيد عنه.” (امثال 22:6 Arabic)

“وتسير شعوب كثيرة ويقولون هلم نصعد الى جبل الرب الى بيت اله يعقوب فيعلّمنا من طرقه ونسلك في سبله لانه من صهيون تخرج الشريعة ومن اورشليم كلمة الرب.” (اشعياء 2:3 Arabic)

“واذناك تسمعان كلمة خلفك قائلة هذه هي الطريق اسلكوا فيها حينما تميلون الى اليمين وحينما تميلون الى اليسار.” (اشعياء 30:21 Arabic)

“لان افكاري ليست افكاركم ولا طرقكم طرقي يقول الرب.” (اشعياء 55:8 Arabic)

“ما اضيق الباب وأكرب الطريق الذي يؤدي الى الحياة.وقليلون هم الذين يجدونه” (متى 7:14 Arabic)

“قال له يسوع انا هو الطريق والحق والحياة.ليس احد يأتي الى الآب الا بي.” (يوحنا 14:6 Arabic)

“وهم يرتلون ترنيمة موسى عبد الله وترنيمة الخروف قائلين عظيمة وعجيبة هي اعمالك ايها الرب الاله القادر على كل شيء عادلة وحق هي طرقك يا ملك القديسين.” (رؤيا 15:3 Arabic)

Free choice to follow the Holy Scriptures or not; from Smithsonian :Folio from a Koran :9th-10th century :Abbasid dynasty :Ink and color on parchment; Egypt :Purchase, F1929.71 The verses are from sura (chapter) 22, entitled al-Hadj (Pilgrimage) and include a discussion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hadj is one of the five principal duties of every Muslim. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Each of us has to make their own choice, and have to do everything to stay on the right track. As human beings we are weak and it can and probably shall happen that we sometimes go wrong. Each time we shall have to adjust and should take care to come back on the right way aiming for the best what is laid in front of us. All people should know they are able to get salvation, and we should look forward to that time that the Word of God is preached all over the world, because than we know that the time is ripe to find the Kingdom of God, close to us.

“and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens.” (Ezra 9:6 ASV)

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalms 51:5 ASV)

“If thou, {1} Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? {1) Heb [Jah]}” (Psalms 130:3 ASV)

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 ASV)

“And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me.” (Jeremiah 33:8 ASV)

“{1} let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins. {1) Some ancient authorities read [know ye]}” (James 5:20 ASV)

“For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;” (2 Peter 2:18 ASV)

“This also shall be my salvation, That a godless man shall not come before him.” (Job 13:16 ASV)

“Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.” (Job 17:8 ASV)

“For what is the hope of the godless, {1} though he get him gain, When God taketh away his soul? {1) Or [when God cutteth him off, When he taketh etc]}” (Job 27:8 ASV)

“{1} Like the profane mockers in feasts, They gnashed upon me with their teeth. {1) Or [Among]}” (Psalms 35:16 ASV)

“With his mouth the godless man destroyeth his neighbor; But through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:9 ASV)

“Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for every one is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” (Isaiah 9:17 ASV)

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isaiah 33:14 ASV)

“For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid [my face] and was wroth; and he went on {1} backsliding in the way of his heart. {1) Heb [turning away]}” (Isaiah 57:17 ASV)

“وقلت.اللهم اني اخجل واخزى من ان ارفع يا الهي وجهي نحوك لان ذنوبنا قد كثرت فوق رؤوسنا وآثامنا تعاظمت الى السماء.” (عزرا 9:6 Arabic)

“(51:6) ها قد سررت بالحق في الباطن ففي السريرة تعرّفني حكمة‎ .” (مزامير 51:5 Arabic)

“(130:4) ‎لان عندك المغفرة لكي يخاف منك‎ .” (مزامير 130:3 Arabic)

“وهو مجروح لاجل معاصينا مسحوق لاجل آثامنا تاديب سلامنا عليه وبحبره شفينا.” (اشعياء 53:5 Arabic)

“واطهرهم من كل اثمهم الذي اخطأوا به اليّ واغفر كل ذنوبهم التي اخطأوا بها اليّ والتي عصوا بها عليّ .” (ارميا 33:8 Arabic)

“فليعلم ان من رد خاطئا عن ضلال طريقه يخلّص نفسا من الموت ويستر كثرة من الخطاياٍ” (يعقوب 5:20 Arabic)

“لانهم اذ ينطقون بعظائم البطل يخدعون بشهوات الجسد في الدعارة من هرب قليلا من الذين يسيرون في الضلال” (2 بطرس 2:18 Arabic)

“فهذا يعود الى خلاصي ان الفاجر لا يأتي قدامه.” (ايوب 13:16 Arabic)

“يتعجب المستقيمون من هذا والبريء ينتهض على الفاجر.” (ايوب 17:8 Arabic)

“لانه ما هو رجاء الفاجر عندما يقطعه عندما يسلب الله نفسه.” (ايوب 27:8 Arabic)

“(35:17) يا رب الى متى تنظر.استرد نفسي من تهلكاتهم وحيدتي من الاشبال‎ .” (مزامير 35:16 Arabic)

“بالفم يخرب المنافق صاحبه وبالمعرفة ينجو الصدّيقون.” (امثال 11:9 Arabic)

“لاجل ذلك لا يفرح السيد بفتيانه ولا يرحم يتاماه وارامله لان كل واحد منهم منافق وفاعل شر.وكل فم متكلم بالحماقة.مع كل هذا لم يرتد غضبه بل يده ممدودة بعد” (اشعياء 9:17 Arabic)

“ارتعب في صهيون الخطاة.اخذت الرعدة المنافقين.من منا يسكن في نار آكلة.من منا يسكن في وقائد ابدية.” (اشعياء 33:14 Arabic)

“من اجل اثم مكسبه غضبت وضربته.استترت وغضبت فذهب عاصيا في طريق قلبه.” (اشعياء 57:17 Arabic)

Those upon whom God’s wrath rests are those who do not want to know Him and do not want to keep His commandments, those who reject the Truth or want to hide it. The ‘erring’ are those who have been misled and who are inconsiderate or choosing human traditions above the Laws of God.

Let us all look for the Most High God and pray:

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلا الضَّالِّينَ

Dear God,
Show us or Guide us to the straight way
The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.

Preceding article: Al-Fatiha [The Opening/De Opening] Süra 1:1-3 In the name of Allah the Merciful Lord Of The Creation

Find the introduction to this series:

Public not informed enough about Jihad terrorism in Belgium

Quran versus older Holy Writings of Divine Creator

Notes:

* Five Pillars of Islam (arkān al-Islām أركان الإسلام; also arkān al-dīn أركان الدين “pillars of the religion“) are five basic acts in Islam, considered mandatory by believers and are the foundation of Muslim life:

Shahadah: declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God’s Messenger
Salat: ritual prayer five times a day
Zakat: giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy
Sawm: fasting and self-control during the holy month of Ramadan
Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime^[5]^[6] if one is able

** Belief in the six articles of faith, known as arkān al-īmān: Iman (Arabic: الإيمان‎) in Islamic theology denotes a believer’s faith in the metaphysical aspects of Islam.

Additional reading:

+++

Benefits of Fasting in Ramadan (islambestreligion.wordpress.com)
Fasting has been made obligatory (Fardh) By Allah in Ramadan and every Muslim needs to observe entire month’s fasts. Allah, the All Powerful and Creator of Universe say in Holy Quran
+
knowing the benefits of good deeds will increase our Imaan and actually it is part of the Imaan, as we will get to know what Allah is going give us on this particular deed in this world and hereafter. This helps us in performing the good deeds steadfastly and consistently.
Concept of Revivalist [Mujaddid] in Islam (madinasharif.wordpress.com)
Commenting on the authenticity of the above Hadith Shareef, Allama Imam Isma’eel Haqqee records in his marginal notes of Siraj al-Muneer Sharh Jame’h al-Sagheer:

“My Shaykh said that there is a consensus of the Hadith Masters that this Hadith is Sahih.”

Amongst the later Hadith Masters that verified this Hadith Shareef as Sahih are Imam Allama Abul-Fadl Iraqee and Imam Allama ibn Hajr and amongst the predecessor Masters, Imam Hakim author of Sahih al-Mustadrak and Imam Bayhaqee author of al-Mudkhal.
+
when there comes a period in which there is a shortage of knowledge and a deterioration in following of the Sunnah; when there is an increase in false innovations and ignorance; then Almighty Allah will send a person at the beginning or end of every century who will show the difference between Sunnah and Bid’at. He will refute and destroy false innovations and will fear none but Almighty Allah. He will very bravely and sincerely hoist the flag of Deen-e-Muhammadi (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam). Such a person is known as a “Mujaddid” (Reviver) of Deen.

Allah loves (1) the kind good doers (safaafromcaeg.wordpress.com)
“That which is lawful is clear and
That which is unlawful is clear, and
Between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know.
Thus,
• He who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but
• He who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that which is unlawful,
+
The best Quotes (127) Niyyah = free will“Actions are (judged) by motives (Niyyah, which is the intended and predetermined free will),
Therefore, each man will have what he intended.
Hajj Round The Ka’bah Craft (greenbirdbooks.com)
Hajj is the great pilgrimage made by Muslims which includes walking around the special house named the Ka’bah. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and all Muslims if they are able to make this great journey once in a lifetime. This pillar is observed during the month of Thul-Hijjah
Lessons of festival of ram sacrifice (vanguardngr.com)
Yesterday specifically, pilgrims observing the core of the worship of Hajj gathered at the plains of Mount of ‘Arafah, outside Makkah where they spent their time totally in worship and proceeded from Arafah to Muzdalifah to offer prayers and cast seven stones at the symbols of Satan and other devotional course.
+
it shows the spiritual committment to the covenant with Allah and absolute submission to His will at all times, in times of pain and joy. Although, the solemn pronouncement of Allah’s name over the sacrifice is an essential part of the rite, Allah does not take delight in flesh and blood, rather, it is a symbol of thanksgiving to Allah by sharing meat with fellow humans.

The Feast of Sacrifice: What is Eid Al-Adha? (tnnegypt.com)
‘Eid’ is an Arabic word referring to a celebration that is repeated annually.There are two great ‘Eid’ festivals in Islam, ‘Eid Al-Adha’ – Festival of Sacrifice, which occurs on the tenth day of the last month of the Muslim year ‘Thul Hijjah’ and coincides with the last day of the Hajj pilgrimage.‘Eid Al-Fitr’ – Festival of Breaking the Fast occurs on the first day of the month of ‘Shawwal’ following the month of ‘Ramadan’.

However, the Festival of Sacrifice is also regarded as the ‘Eid Al-Kabeer’ – the Great Festival, while the other is known as ‘Eid Al-Sagheer’ – the Small Festival.
Humbleness in Prayer (jamkarani.wordpress.com)
20ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): لا صَلاةَ لِمَن لا يَتَخَشَّعُ في صلاتِهِ.

20- The Prophet (S) said; ‘The prayer of one who does not humble himself in his prayer does not count.’[al-Firdaws, v. 5, p. 195, no. 7935]

21ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) ـ لَمّا سُئلَ عنِ الخُشوعِ ـ: التَّواضُعُ في الصَّلاةِ، وأن‏ يُقبِلَ العَبدُ بقَلبِهِ كُلِّهِ على رَبِّهِ.

21- The Prophet (S), when he was asked about humbleness in prayer, said; ‘It is to abase oneself in the prayer, and for the servant to come to his Lord wholeheartedly.’[Da`aim al-Islam, v. 1, p. 158]
The Excellence of Du’a [The Essence of Worship] (madinasharif.wordpress.com)
Du‘a is the most powerful weapon of a believer. It can change fate, while no action of ours ever do. It is the essence of ‘Ibadah or worship. With it we can never fail; without it we can never succeed. With all the suffering and disasters Muslims are facing in various parts of the world, the question of Du‘a can be directed to all of us today.
+
Sayyiduna Rasoolullah SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam states that Almighty Allah says:

أنا عندَ ظنِّ عبدي بي

I am with the supposition of My servant. [Recorded in Bukhari (Hadith 7239), Muslim, Tirmidi, Nisa’i and Ibn Maja on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah]

This means that as a servant imagines or has an opinion concerning Allah, the Merciful Lord accordingly reacts with him. Knowledge and Qudrat is with everything but there is a special proximity of mercy with those who make Du’a to Him. What bigger mercy can a servant ask for than being blessed with the Divine Proximity of the Sublime Lord? Thousands of acceptances and millions of desires and intentions may be sacrificed on such Divine Proximity!
The Prayer (jamkarani.wordpress.com)
ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): الصَّلاةُ تَستَنزِلُ الرَّحمَةَ .

3- Imam Ali (A) said; ‘Prayer elicits the descent of divine mercy.’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2214]

4ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): كانَ رسولُ اللّه‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) لا يُؤثِرُ على الصَّلاةِ عَشاءً ولا غَيرَهُ، وكانَ إذا دَخَلَ وَقتُها كأنّهُ لا يَعرِفُ أهلاً ولا حَمِيماً.

4- Imam Ali (A) narrated; ‘The Prophet (S) never put anything before his prayer, neither his dinner nor anything else. When the time for prayer would set in, it was as if he knew neither family nor close friend.’[Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 2, p. 87]
With what do you direct the student and the beginning seeker of knowledge with? – By: Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan (salaf-us-saalih.com)
I say, and with Allāh is the success, without doubt seeking knowledge is an important affair. Allāh جل وعلا says: “Know! That none has the right to be worshipped except Allāh, and ask for forgiveness of your sins and for the male and female believers” (47:19)Imām al-Bukhārī (May Allāh have mercy on him) said in his chapter “Knowledge proceeds speech and action” then he mentioned this verse.This is because if actions are not based upon knowledge, founded upon knowledge, then it is misguidance and tiring without benefit.Because the affair is like this it’s an obligation upon the Muslim to seek knowledge.

Jerusalem and a son’s kingdom

Posted on 2014/07/27 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

The Name of the God and of the City written upon the pillar

In the inspired Revelation, the apostle John records information concerning the “new Jerusalem.”

12 “‘The one who conquers—I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will by no means go out from it anymore, and I will write upon him the name of my God+ and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem+ that descends out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.+ (Revelation 3:12)

2 I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God+ and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.+ (Revelation 21:2)

The apostle Paul speaks about a holy city and Mount Zion:

22 But you have approached a Mount Zion+ and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem,+ and myriads* of angels(Hebrews 12:22)

God fearing people and their land

After Babylon was overthrown in 539 B.C.E King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree enabling God-fearing Jews to return to Jerusalem and restore Jehovah’s worship. (Ezra 1:2-4) In 537 B.C.E., the first returning Jews were back in their homeland. Jehovah once again showed favor to Jerusalem, as is reflected in the warmth of his prophetic declaration:

“For the sake of Zion I shall not keep still, and for the sake of Jerusalem I shall not stay quiet until her righteousness goes forth just like the brightness, and her salvation like a torch that burns.” (Isaiah 62:1.)

Pope’s Road leading up to Mount Zion (Jerusalem) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 537 B.C.E., Jehovah fulfilled his promise to restore Zion, or Jerusalem. Her inhabitants experienced salvation by him, and their righteousness shone brightly. Later, though, they again drifted away from pure worship. Eventually, they rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and Jehovah finally abandoned them as his chosen nation.

42 Jesus said to them: “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this has become the chief cornerstone.*+ This has come from Jehovah,* and it is marvelous in our eyes’?+ 43 This is why I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits. 44 Also, the person falling on this stone will be shattered.+ As for anyone on whom it falls, it will crush him.”+ (Matthew 21:42-43-44)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her+—how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you did not want it.+ 38 Look! Your house is abandoned to you.*+ 39 For I say to you, you will by no means see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in Jehovah’s* name!’”+ (Matthew 23:37-38-39)

9 The true light that gives light to every sort of man was about to come into the world.+ 10 He was in the world,+ and the world came into existence through him,+ but the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own home, but his own people did not accept him. 12 However, to all who did receive him, he gave authority to become God’s children,+ because they were exercising faith in his name.+ 13 And they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.+ (John 1:9-13)

A new nation to be born

Jehovah caused a new nation, “the Israel of God,” to be born. This new nation became his special people, and in the first century, its members zealously preached the good news throughout the then-known world.

16 As for all those who walk orderly by this rule of conduct, peace and mercy be upon them, yes, upon the Israel of God.+ (Galatians 6:16)

23 provided, of course, that you continue in the faith,+ established on the foundation+ and steadfast,+ not being shifted away from the hope of that good news that you heard and that was preached in all creation under heaven.+ Of this good news I, Paul, became a minister.+ (Colossians 1:23)

Falling away from true religion

Already soon after the death of Jeshua, Jesus Christ, several opportunists saw chance to get more interest and followers by pretending they were followers of that popular Nazarene, who was considered to be the Messiah. The apostles saw everywhere preachers bringing false teachings. They warned their followers for the dangers of such false teachers. But those false teachers attracted more people by their allowance of traditions and popular ideas from Roman and Greek culture which looked more interesting or captivating than the ‘dry’ Christian teaching which left no opportunity to worship other gods, nor dream of an afterlife.

Unhappily, following the death of the apostles, there was a falling away from true religion. As a result, an apostate form of Christianity developed, as found today in Christendom.

24 He presented another illustration to them, saying: “The Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to a man who sowed fine seed in his field. 25 While men were sleeping, his enemy came and oversowed weeds in among the wheat and left. 26 When the stalk sprouted and produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared. 27 So the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow fine seed in your field? How, then, does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy, a man, did this.’+ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go out and collect them?’ 29 He said, ‘No, for fear that while collecting the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest season, I will tell the reapers: First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up; then gather the wheat into my storehouse.’”+ … 36 Then after dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples came to him and said: “Explain to us the illustration of the weeds in the field.” 37 In response he said: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; 38 the field is the world.+ As for the fine seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one,+39 and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things,* and the reapers are angels. 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things.*+41 The Son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out from his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and people who practice lawlessness, 42 and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace.+ There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be. 43 At that time the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun+ in the Kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears listen. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

29 I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you+ and will not treat the flock with tenderness, 30 and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.+ (Acts 20:29, 30)

Renewed earth and heavens foretold

Long before Christ Isaiah had already described conditions that were far better than those the Jews had lived under in Babylon. He foretold joyfulness and rejoicing. In the Old testament we can find the expression “new heavens and a new earth.”

17 For look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth;+ And the former things will not be called to mind,* Nor will they come up into the heart.+18 So exult and be joyful forever in what I am creating.

For look! I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joy And her people a cause for exultation.+19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people;+ No more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or a cry of distress.”+ (Isaiah 65:17-19)

The ancient Jews who, as Isaiah accurately predicted, did return to their homeland, and gained what might be called a new system of things, also reestablishing pure worship. (Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-4)

There was a new ruling body. Zerubbabel, a descendant of King David, was governor, and Joshua was high priest. (Haggai 1:1, 12; 2:21; Zechariah 6:11) These constituted “new heavens” over “a new earth,” the cleansed society of people who were back in their land in order to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple for worshiping Jehovah. Hence, in this real sense, there were new heavens and a new earth in the fulfillment involving the Jews at that time.

The apostle Peter also writes in his second letter:

“There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”(2 Peter 3:13)

You may already have learned that Jesus in heaven is the key Ruler in the “new heavens.”

A son to reign on the throne of David to rule over the house of Jacob and Gentiles

Taking in mind that the angel spoke to Miriam (Mary) that she will bear a son who will come to reign on the throne of David to rule over the house of Jacob, we should wonder who can make up this hose of Jacob. The one who has “the legal right” to the Davidic crown lost by Zedekiah is demonstrated in the Christian Greek Scriptures to be Christ Jesus, of whom the angel, announcing his future birth, said:

32 This one will be great+ and will be called Son of the Most High,+ and Jehovah* God will give him the throne of David his father,+33 and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his Kingdom.”+ (Luke 1:32, 33)

With Jerusalem’s fall in 607 B.C.E. the Gentile powers exercised domination over the entire earth. The Davidic dynasty and rule suffered interruption, and so Jerusalem, or what it stood for, would continue to be “trampled on” as long as God’s kingdom, as functioning through David’s house, was kept in a low, inoperative condition under the Gentile powers. Observing this connection with rulership Unger’s Bible Dictionary (1965, p. 398) comments:

“Consequently Gentiles move on as ‘the nations’ to the end of their stewardship as earth rulers. The termination of this period will be the end of the ‘times of the Gentiles’(Luke 21:24; Dan. 2:36-44).”

— Compare Ezekiel 17:12-21; also the description of Medo-Persia’s fall at Daniel 8:7, 20.

Domination of the earth by the Gentile powers

At least twice in this prophecy concerning the time of the end, Jesus referred to the contents of the book of the prophet Daniel. (Compare Matthew 24:15, 21 with Daniel 11:31; 12:1.) In the book of Daniel we find a picture drawn of the domination of the earth by the Gentile powers during their “appointed times.” The second chapter of Daniel contains the prophetic vision (received by King Nebuchadnezzar) of the great image that Daniel by inspiration showed to represent the march of Gentile world powers, ending with their destruction by the Kingdom set up by “the God of heaven,” which Kingdom then rules earth wide. (Daniel 2:31-45) It is of note that the image begins with the Babylonian Empire, the first world power to ‘trample Jerusalem’ by overthrowing the Davidic dynasty and leaving “Jehovah’s throne” in Jerusalem vacant. This also confirms the start of “the appointed times of the nations” in the year of Jerusalem’s destruction, 607 B.C.E.

The dream vision of Nebuchadnezzar, in the book of Daniel shows that God’s self-restraint (represented by the bands of iron and of copper around the stump of the tree) would continue until “seven times pass over it.” (Daniel 4:16, 23, 25) Then, since “the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind,” God would give world domination “to the one whom he wants to.” (Daniel 4:17) The prophetic book of Daniel itself shows that one to be the “son of man” to whom are given “rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him.” (Daniel 7:13, 14) Jesus’ own prophecy, in which the reference to “the appointed times of the nations” occurs, points definitely toward Christ Jesus’ exercise of such world domination as God’s chosen King, the heir of the Davidic dynasty. (Matthew 24:30, 31; Luke 21:27-31, 36) Thus, the symbolic stump, representing God’s retention of the sovereign right to exercise world domination in “the kingdom of mankind,” was due to sprout again in his Son’s Kingdom. (Psalm 89:27, 35-37).

The Delight Zion Owned as a Wife

Jehovah declares that Zion will be called “My Delight Is in Her,” and her land, “Owned as a Wife.”

54.1 “Shout joyfully, you barren woman who has not given birth!+Become cheerful and cry out for joy,+ you who never had birth pains,+For the sons* of the desolate one are more numerous Than the sons of the woman with a husband,”*+ says Jehovah. …

5 “For your Grand Maker+ is as your husband,*+ Jehovah of armies is his name, And the Holy One of Israel is your Repurchaser.+ He will be called the God of the whole earth.+6 For Jehovah called you as if you were an abandoned wife and grief-stricken,*+ Like a wife married in youth and then rejected,” says your God. (Isaiah 54:1, 5, 6)

8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Will a land be brought to birth in one day? Or will a nation be born all at once? Yet, as soon as Zion went into labor, she gave birth to her sons. (Iasiah 66:8)

5 “Look! The days are coming,” declares Jehovah, “when I will raise up to David a righteous sprout.*+ And a king will reign+ and show insight and uphold justice and righteousness in the land.+6 In his days Judah will be saved,+ and Israel will reside in security.+ And this is the name by which he will be called: Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.”+

7 “However, the days are coming,” declares Jehovah, “when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive, who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt!’+8 but rather, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive, who brought out and brought back the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands to which I had dispersed them,’ and they will dwell in their own land.”+ (Jeremiah 23:5-8)

17 “But I will restore your health and heal your wounds,”+ declares Jehovah, “Though they called you an outcast: ‘Zion, for whom no one searches.’”+ (Jermiah 30:17)

Picture of Jerusalem from mount zion (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today Jerusalem is being scorned. It is like all that pass by clap their hands at this city not to favour it but to laugh at it. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, laughing at it because it is preferred as their holy city that they call the perfection of beauty, even the joy of the whole earth.

15 At you all those passing by on the road scornfully clap their hands.+ They whistle in amazement+ and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: “Is this the city about which they said, ‘It is perfect in beauty, the joy of all the earth’?”+ (Lamentations 2:15)

The desolate woman

Many today like to look at the city in the Middle East as the barren lay where no fruits come from, bearing no children. But the world should now that it will be breaking forth and cry aloud having no labour pains any more; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. {Isaiah 54:1} And in the world will come brothers and sisters, like Isaac, children of promise, remembering the time when the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.
It is in this time now that we should do what the Scriptures ask from us to get rid of the slave woman (the false church and those followers who want to keep to all traditions) Those falls institutions, with misleading doctrines, will present itself as the best marriage bond for people with Christ.

We all have our own choice and can either go with those false doctrines and enjoy the traditional churches. But we should come to see that it is impossible for us to share equality in the judgement, for “the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” {Gen. 21:10} Therefore the lovers of God should make up their choice to become brothers and sisters in Christ, not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

27 For it is written: “Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break into joyful shouting, you woman who does not have birth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of her who has the husband.”+ 28 Now you, brothers, are children of the promise the same as Isaac was.+ 29 But just as then the one born through natural descent* began persecuting the one born through spirit,+ so also now.+ 30 Nevertheless, what does the scripture say? “Drive out the servant girl and her son, for the son of the servant girl will by no means be an heir with the son of the free woman.”+ 31 So, brothers, we are children, not of a servant girl, but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:27-31).

Returners from exile

Zion’s returning sons released from Babylonian exile (attempted extermination of the Jews; the Shoah or Holocaust) took possession of the old capital city and settled in her once again. We are told that when that happens, Zion is no longer desolate but filled with sons.

14 “Return, you renegade sons,” declares Jehovah. “For I have become your true master;* and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.+ (Jeremiah 3:14).

Jehovah God will give the universe shepherds after His own heart, who will lead the people in the world, who are willing to listen to God’s Word, with knowledge and understanding. And there shall come a time that in those days, when their numbers have increased greatly in the land. The ark of the covenant of the Most High will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honour the name of the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,+ and they will feed you with knowledge and insight. 16 You will become many and will bear fruit in the land in those days,” declares Jehovah.+ “No more will they say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Jehovah!’ It will not come up into the heart, nor will they remember it or miss it, and it will not be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah;+ and all the nations will be brought together to the name of Jehovah at Jerusalem,+ and they will no longer stubbornly follow their own wicked heart.” (Jeremiah 3:15-17)

Walking together and partakers

Jerusalem, Ziongate, Townside Deutsch: Jerusalem, Ziontor, Stadtseite Français : Vieille ville de Jerusalem, Porte de Sion (vue depuis l’intérieur des murailles) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At that time the house of Judah alongside the house of Israel will walk together, and together they will come from the land of the north into the land that Jehovah, the God of gods gave to their and our forefathers as an inheritance. (Jeremiah 3:18) The house of Israel, have dealt treacherously with Jehovah and did not want to accept the Send One from God. This Messiah formed his pupils to go into the world to preach the Good News of the coming Kingdom. He promised that the apostles and some others like them would have a place in heaven.

In the book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul described such ones as “partakers of the heavenly calling.” And Jesus said that those of this group would sit on thrones in heaven with him. (Hebrews 3:1; Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:28-30; John 14:2, 3) The point is that others reign with Jesus as part of the new heavens. Then what did Peter mean by the term “new earth”?
For centuries, Christendom had been allowed to bring great reproach upon Jehovah’s name.

People willing to bring forth fruits

Those now who are prepared to obey God’s Law and are willing to be part of the Body of Christ may also enter that spiritual estate, which has the prophetic name “Owned as a Wife.” Their Christian activity in that land has made it evident that these anointed Christians are the “people for [Jehovah’s] name.”

14 Sym′e·on+ has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.+ (Acts 15:14)

Those people who are willing to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom and making the Name of God known to the world may become part of the Body of Christ, when they do accept Jesus as the only begotten son of God sent to the world to save it. We may look forward to it that Jehovah shall take delight in these Christians. By anointing these Christians with holy spirit, liberating them from spiritual captivity, and using them to preach the Kingdom hope to all mankind, Jehovah has demonstrated that he rejoices over them with the joy of a bridegroom over a bride.

36 “Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says concerning this city that you are saying will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, 37 ‘Here I will gather them together from all the lands where I dispersed them in my anger and in my wrath and in great indignation,+ and I will bring them back to this place and let them dwell in security.+38 And they will be my people, and I will be their God.+39 And I will give them one heart+ and one way so that they may always fear me, for their own good and the good of their children after them.+40 And I will make with them an everlasting covenant,+ that I will not turn away from doing good to them;+ and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from me.+41 I will exult over them to do good to them,+ and I will firmly plant them in this land,+ with all my heart and with all my soul.’”* (Jeremiah 32:36-41).

Faithful remnant

In Jehovah’s due time after the return of the faithful remnant from Babylon, Jerusalem does become “a praise in the earth”—a walled city providing safety to her inhabitants. Day and night, watchmen on those walls are alert to ensure the security of the city and to relay warning messages to her citizens.—Nehemiah 6:15; 7:3; Isaiah 52:8.

Today we can see those Chosen People coming to the city of God, Jerusalem, and other believers in God, willing to become part of that Body of Christ, prepared to unite with each other in the love of Christ.

In the apostle John his vision he sees the “holy city” as “coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” This is in relation to the vision he sees of “a new heaven and a new earth.” This “bride” was said to be “the Lamb’s wife.” (Revelation 21:1-3, 9-27) Other apostolic writings apply the same figure to the Christian congregation of anointed ones. (2Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:21-32) In Revelation chapter 14 “the Lamb” Christ Jesus is depicted as standing on Mount Zion, a name also associated with Jerusalem (compare 1Peter 2:6), and with him are 144,000 having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.—Revelation 14:1-5;

A bride adorned for her husband, Lamb of God

Dormition Church, situated on the modern “Mount Zion” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Near the end of that series of visions, and after seeing Babylon the Great destroyed, the apostle John sees the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2).

In the light of other scriptures, the identity of New Jerusalem is made certain. She is “as a bride.” Farther along, John writes:

“One of the seven angels . . . spoke with me and said: ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ So he carried me away in the power of the spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God and having the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone shining crystal-clear.” (Revelation 21:9-11).

New Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who shed his blood sacrificially for mankind. (John 1:29; Revelation 5:6, 12; 7:14; 12:11; 21:14) She is composed of the members of the glorified Christian congregation. The congregation on earth was likened to “a chaste virgin” to be presented to the Christ. (2Corinthians 11:2) Again, the apostle Paul likens the Christian congregation to a wife, with Christ as her Husband and Head. (Ephesians 5:23-25, 32).

Furthermore, Christ himself addresses the congregation at Revelation 3:12, promising the faithful conqueror that he would have written upon him

“the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God, and that new name of mine.”

Earthly and heavenly

A wife takes her husband’s name. Therefore those seen standing with the Lamb upon Mount Zion, numbering 144,000, having the Lamb’s name and that of his Father written in their foreheads, are evidently the same group, the bride. (Revelation 14:1).

We can see a new Jerusalem in construction on this earth, but this will only be the shade and the capital of the Kingdom of God, where there shall also be the spiritual or heavenly New Jerusalem. It is that heavenly, not earthly Jerusalem which shall come down “out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:10) So this city is not one erected by men and consisting of literal streets and buildings constructed in the Middle East on the site of the ancient city of Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 70 C.E. The members of the bride class when on earth are told that their “citizenship exists in the heavens” and that their hope is to receive “an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance.” “It is reserved in the heavens for you,” says the apostle Peter.—Philippians 3:20; 1Peter 1:4.

Measures of Heavenly City

That the New Jerusalem is indeed a heavenly city is further supported by the vision of her that John beheld. Only a symbolic city could have the dimensions and splendour of New Jerusalem. Its base was foursquare, about 555 km (345 mi) on each side, or about 2,220 km (1,379 mi) completely around, that is, 12,000 furlongs. Being a cube, the city was also as high as it was long and wide. No man-made city could ever reach that far into “outer space.” Round about was a wall 144 cubits (64 m; 210 ft) high. The wall, itself constructed of jasper, in turn rested on 12 foundation stones, precious stones of great beauty—jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, hyacinth, and amethyst. On these 12 foundation stones were engraved the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. The city proper within these beautiful walls was no less glorious, for it was described as “pure gold like clear glass,” having a broad way of “pure gold, as transparent glass.” {Revelation 21:12-21}.

A Pure, Beneficial Rule.

Entrance into the New Jerusalem through its magnificent walls was by means of 12 gates, three on a side, each made of a huge pearl. Although these gates were never closed, “anything not sacred and anyone that carries on a disgusting thing and a lie will in no way enter into it; only those written in the Lamb’s scroll of life will.” A holy and sacred city indeed, yet there was no visible temple of worship, for “Jehovah God the Almighty is its temple, also the Lamb is.” And there was “no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lighted it up, and its lamp was the Lamb.” Its rulership over the nations will be beneficial to them, for “the nations will walk by means of its light.” (Revelation 21:22-27).

Find in this series:

Marriage of Jesus 1 Mary, John, Judas, Thomas and Brown

Marriage of Jesus 2 Standard writings about Jesus

Marriage of Jesus 3 Listening women

Marriage of Jesus 4 Place of the woman

Marriage of Jesus 5 Papyrus fragment in Egyptian Coptic

Marriage of Jesus 6 Jesus said to them “My wife”

Marriage of Jesus 7 Impaled

Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh

Marriage of Jesus 9 Reason for a new marriage

Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant

The Bride New Jerusalem

A royal wedding due to take place

Reply to questions concerning The Bride of Christ

Magnificent bride for royal wedding

Additional reading:

+++

The rebuilding of the next Jewish Temple (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
The Bible mentions about the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. This would be the third temple then. The rebuilding of the Temple is one of the signs of the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ. In fact the Anti Christ will enter the Temple and as an act of blasphemous portray himself as God. At the present moment the Temple of Jerusalem is in ruins. The Jews of today are very eager to rebuild it again so that the old manner of worship and sacrifice to the Living God (whom Christians know as Jesus’ Father and God) is restored to its former glorious state. It’s a known fact that the Jews hold their traditions with great respect and will go to any lengths to defend it. They believe that their Messiah will come to the Temple of Jerusalem and reveal himself as sent from God. Due to this they are desperate to complete the task of rebuilding it. With the way Israel has been advancing on the financial, technical and most importantly in the field of warfare the construction will surely happen. This is the will of God and no man, no nation nor the Devil can stop it.
The Preciousness of Zion and Jerusalem and the Situation of the Overcomers in Zion (matassew.wordpress.com)
Zion and Jerusalem are the earthly signs that shows us the existence of the invisible and misterious God. Zion is not only the center but also elevated peak. That is where we have the church, the body of Christ, yes the economy of God! Praise the Lord about Zion! Hallelujah for Zion!

Speaking about Jerusalem, she typfies the churh, and Zion typfies the overcomers!

The people of Israel love the law of God! But the couldn’t fullfil it. Instead the law exposed who the are, showed their real codition.
Revelation and You (illustrationstoencourage.wordpress.com)
The anointed remnant today have obeyed the words of the angel. They have not sealed up the words of the prophecy. Why, the very first issue of Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence (July 1879) set out comments on numerous verses of Revelation. As we noted in our opening chapter, Jehovah’s Witnesses have over the years published other enlightening books on Revelation. Now we again draw the attention of all truth-lovers to the powerful Revelation prophecies and their fulfillment.
+
lend your voice to the joyful proclamation of the everlasting good news concerning the established Kingdom of Jehovah and his Christ. (Revelation 11:15; 14:6, 7) Be at this work urgently. And may a realization that we are in the Lord’s day move many who are not yet serving Jehovah to join in the work of proclaiming the good news. May these also progress toward dedicating their lives to God with a view to baptism. Remember, “the appointed time is near”!—Revelation 1:3.
New Jerusalem is the Eternal Marriage (3) (newjerusalem12.wordpress.com)
Isaiah 54:5 is so clear: “For your Maker is your Husband; Jehovah of hosts is His name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; Heis called the God of all the earth.” Here the Lord is saying to the Old Testament part of Hispeople that He is the Husband. And they are the wife.In this verse “Husband” is first, then “Redeemer.” As here, there are other examples in the Bible where words are not in time order but arranged to place God’s purpose first. To be our Husband, God must first (in time) be our Redeemer. But, Husband is first in Isaiah 54 because that is what God desires.
Daily Tidbits 5/9 – Jerusalem Above vs. Jerusalem Below (littleguyintheeye.wordpress.com)
The word for ‘Christian’ (נצרות ‘Naztrut’) is 746. The phrase, ‘therefore ye are my witnesses, saith YHWH, that I am El’ equals 746. And the Greek word ‘authority’ has the same numerical value.
+
The numerical value of מקום ‘maqom’ without using thefinal form as 400 but as 40 (normal value) is 186. ‘His work’ in Hebrew (פעלו ‘pa’alu’) also has the numerical value of 186.YHWH is also related to 186. Take each of the letters from YHWH, square them (since a “place” is an area, so squared units), and you get 100+25+36+25=186.
+True Zion are those who are grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel, who is Messiah. The counterfeit is the Zionism we see in the world today which uplifts a false olive tree of Israel. As Paul says, not all those of Israel are Israel (Romans 9:6).Those grafted into the Olive Tree are Zion, the new creation…born again.
Awaiting Revelations 21, The New Jerusalem Will Be My Dwelling Place Forever. (deadcitizensrightssociety.wordpress.com) >
Awaiting Revelation 21, The New Jerusalem Will Be My Dwelling Place Forever.Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
New Jerusalem Prepared as a Bride (newjerusalem12.wordpress.com)
The first wife in the whole universe was Eve. In Ezekiel 23 the children of Israel are referred to as the wife of Jehovah (vv. 1-4). In John 3 all the regenerated believers are the bride of Christ to be His increase, His enlargement (vv. 29-30). In Ephesians 5 the church is the wife of Christ, and in 2 Corinthians 11:2 the believers have been engaged, or betrothed, to Christ as their Husband. In Revelation 19:7-9 there is a universal wedding day, the marriage of the Lamb. Finally, in the last two chapters of the Bible there is the wife of the Lamb. Revelation 21:2 tells us that the New Jerusalem is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, and verse 9 refers to the New Jerusalem as the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
Let Us Rise For The Bride! (thejaggedword.com)
when in doubt, cast your eyes upon the bride descending down the aisle and get a glimpse of heavenly reality!Rise now and rise then! Until He comes again!
Redemption and Life for the Bride (newjerusalem12.wordpress.com)
Christ, the Lamb of God who died, took away sin. Because of this, we can be born again and have eternal life (John 3:3, 5-7, 15-16). However, after we were born again, there were still many attitudes in us and actions by us that were not suitable for the bride of Christ. Nevertheless, through our entire Christian life, eternal life operates in us to make us the bride to match Christ in every way. The result is “New Jerusalem prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
New Jerusalem is a Living City (newjerusalem12.wordpress.com)
Throughout the New Testament, God is building His people together in Jesus Christ (an overview with verses). New Jerusalem is the consummation of this New Testament building work and maintains the same structure—God’s people built together in Christ.

Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

Posted on 2013/12/18 by Bijbelvorsers

Today lots of youngsters their understanding of their faith is the faith that was “once for all entrusted.” This makes that often the “spiritual but not religious” group can be the most difficult to work with, primarily because they believe they have found a personalized expression of faith. But their faith was not placed in a seed that could grow in fertilized ground.

Religious men and their actions because of their faith- Painting is on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) in Vienna, Austria (site). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Church should bring in the fertilisation for its members to grow, be it slow but strong.

Much has been made about the growth of “nones” in the past few years, the group who consistently checks “none” on surveys about religious faith. As with all surveys, how questions are shaped determines how good the data is. If a question is multiple choice, the answers must fit within the parameters of the possible responses. For example: What is your faith? a. Christian b. Buddhism c. Islam d. Judaism e. Hindu f. none.

Clearly, that’s a poor question. It assumes the five major faiths are the primary conduits for the transmission of religious frameworks. While I believe that is largely true, there are other factors at work culturally right now. What does none or spiritual but not religious really mean?

writes a teacher of a Teaching World Religions summer term. {Spiritual but not Religious, or A Disconnect on the Faith Divide}

In such courses about world religions or religion tous-court, you can see that lots of people want to restrict their idea about their god on others. They may say

I just believe in God

But then we should ask which God? Most people do take only a story from the four Gospels, one that is canonized by Church Councils, propagated by ministers and missionaries, and communicated to them through Christian denominational speakers. They are brought up with the religious concepts of their family idea and than they believe that their story is just one wherein they simply believe in God.

Vermeer The Allegory of the Faith (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The radical individualism and consumerism in our culture makes a personalized faith seem perfectly normal. In Belgium, which is considered to be a Roman Catholic Country (though only 6% of the population still go sometimes to mass whilst 25% of the population visits the mosque very regularly), when you would ask what they believe and whom they think Jesus or God is, you would find very individual interpretations of the person Jesus, which some Catholics say is the son of God and do not believe he is God, though the godhead of Jesus is part of the Trinitarian dogma of the Catholic Church. But most Belgians want to believe their own thing and do not bother what the church may say. Lots call themselves Catholic or Christian (meaning the same for them) but do not follow the rules of the Pope and their church, not bothering to use preservatives or having abortions, having sexual relations than the own ‘regular’ partner, etc. Their religious life is standing far away from a spiritual life and from church life. The church is mostly only used to have a child baptism, a first and second communion, a wedding service and a funeral. That is what church stands for in Belgium, when they are not talking about all the abuses in that church.

According to some

All the new Christian categories — Christ follower, Jesus follower, follower of the Way (hell, just pick one)—are all concepts that are used intentionally to avoid the unhappy conclusion that the follower is really a Christian, but a Christian who doesn’t like the Christian tradition or church or some doctrine. Better to own the word Christian than have me interrogate you only to discover that you are actually a Christian. At that point, I think you’re dishonest, disingenuous, ignorant, narcissistic, or confused. None of those are good. {Spiritual but not Religious, or A Disconnect on the Faith Divide}

Wherever you may look you shall see that many of your spiritual but not religious acquaintances have no genuine framework for their faith. Lots of the people who say they are religious or spiritual, are mostly enjoying some trend which is popular at the moment, and go from one fling into the other, but never stick to one ‘faith‘ for a long time.

The writer of The Parish believes that it’s a completely self-serving construct that allows them to believe, in the words of Christian Smith,

“God loves me and wants me to be happy.”

What that requires is no commitment to a larger tradition, and a radical internalizing of metaphysical assumptions, all of which are exempt from criticism.

Do you pray? Yes. Do you attend worship services? No. Do you have a sacred text? No. Will you go to heaven? Yes. What will it be like? It will be what I make it. How do you know there is a God? I just do. What’s he or she like? He loves me. He’s kind and forgiving and gracious. Why should he be those things and not angry, vengeful and capricious? He’s not. How can you know this? What tradition taught you this? I have no tradition. I just know this. I’m not a religious person, just spiritual.

Faith (Photo credit: sspantherss)

Often when you will present students of religion or people on the street and you

talk about all the Saturnalia and pagan syncretism you like, talk about substituting one pagan holiday for a Christian one, talk about borrowed symbols and commercialism, talk all you want about it; at its core, theologically (for Christians), Christmas is the coming of Messiah, and therefore, a religious high, holy day. It’s a celebration day, much like Easter (another holiday about which I’m weary of hearing stories of syncretism. One thing is clear, however it started, the Christian narrative won.), not a fast day like Good Friday. It is, by my estimation, the second most important day on the church calendar, following Easter, of course. {Christian Identity, or Can Baby Jesus Get Some Love?}

The great church institutions by the years have mixed their theology with philosophical and pagan teachings so that that more became “great pagan institutions” which allegedly “pickle” children’s brains by pouring “paganism” into them. We can see a society in decline where parents do not to set any more good religious examples for their children. It is time they will concern themselves with their offspring’s spiritual state, and again “plead God’s promises” to their children. We should long to do well by our children and grandchildren, striving to raise them well and encouraging other parents to do the same. Parents should come to teach their children spirituality again. That spirituality must also include empathy, humanity, and critical thinking. Piety without these elements can devolve into fanaticism, with unsettling results.

Lots of people may know that lots of elements in their celebrations are from pagan celebrations, but they do not want to change their similar manner of celebrating what they want to place on that day the heathen use for their celebration. It does not matter for them that Jesus was a Jew who is not born on the 25th of December (Christmas-day); It is just a lovely time for them to be together and have everybody having a good time, giving each other presents and enjoying some nice food. Why should they change the tradition of their forefathers? And why should churches abandon such a festivals when those are the few occasions that they can get some people in their churches and get some more money in the till?

Almost all American and European forms of Christianity are first cultural, traditional and secondly theological. In the capitalist countries the people are more concerned with their material wealth than their spiritual wealth. Europeans like

Americans are largely shaped by consumerism, individualism, and materialism, the three idols of the market that serve to make all of us mini-narcissists. {Christian Identity, or Can Baby Jesus Get Some Love?}

They want to enjoy their life with good food and lovely goods for their enjoyment. Fairy tales and mythical stories, ‘little lies for fun’ seem to be harmless for them and to create the mysterious atmosphere which attracts them and their children. The unknown and mysterious has always been an attraction.

The Knights of Columbus exhibiting their group identity in American society

In the United States some Christians do not want to know about the ‘unknown’ and do think the bible has to be take literally on all fronts. Their creationist and revisionist education might leave children ill-prepared to integrate into American society, and failed to grasp that some children might reject their fundamentalist upbringing altogether. For this reason it is important that God-loving people make it clear how we do have to interpret and follow the Bible. God loving people should be challenging historical revisionism. By remembering that history encompasses many narratives, not just one. By demanding accuracy in home school curricula. By reaching out to current and former home-schoolers and making accurate information available to them. And finally, by educating ourselves on the past and recognizing its impact on the present. Home-schooling and schooling at the church (Sunday school, Bible Study or Children’s Bible class) are powerful, useful tools. It represents a democratic approach to educational progress, innovation, and creativity. It allows a child’s learning environment to be tailored to individual and personal needs. When home-schooling or Sunday-school is done responsibly, it can be amazing. We should oppose irresponsible home-schooling or church training, where the educational method is used to create or hide abuse, isolation, and neglect, and where the child is not educated to go and search, to explore the world and to explore the Bible. They should train the children to read and study the Bible thoroughly and to go deeper into their own soul, learning them to meditate about everything they learn, be it in their daily school or at the church. The trainees at the church should make sure that social contact outside of church, family, and the home-school umbrella group is provided so that children do get to know the outside world and are aware of the world its ideas and way of living. Only by growing up in a church which is open to what is happening in the world the children would not become what we can call socially retarded to use the pedagogical technical term.

In certain developed countries we see a growing tendency to protect church life and to get the children away from what is really happening in the world. The religious sheltering of such a childhood in recent years has come more extreme and miserable by greater institutions and international homeschool conglomerate cults. Those groups not only present childish stories in which all do have to believe and activities everybody has to follow with the right dress-code, otherwise they are considered to be against the group. More attention is given to the outside appearance of the persons gathering than on the inner spirit. Often it is all about the creationist teaching and opposing scientists, not willing to see archaeologist their findings, which are all considered as contra-actions of the evil world.

They often try to drive home to their ‘trainees’ (typically 16-18 years old) that no matter what adversity or difficulty they are facing, either physical, mental, or spiritual, all they need to do is cry out to God and He will get them through it. But they forget that we did have received the responsibility to become resourceful fellows who should try to grow from the understanding of the Scriptural knowledge and use it in their daily life. To be able to stand strong in that daily life there should be a good relationship with the Supreme Being.

Most people are not interested in a good relation with their god, but with themselves. It has become already very difficult to build up a good relationship with one partner in this world which can be seen and touched. So who would try to have a good relationship with somebody who can not be seen nor touched, and who nobody has ever seen, or when it is Jesus who is already long ‘dead and forgotten’?

Dr. Tom Kennedy does find that correct religion, like bones, provides the proper structure for spirituality. Spirituality grows in distorted ways without religion.

Imagine reaching over and grabbing the child’s head. Then imagine lifting up the skeleton out of the imaginary child. What would happen? Spirituality would collapse to the floor. {Can You Be Spiritual and Not Religious?}

Religion, like bones, also provides much of the immune system for spirituality.

It helps to fight toxic influences that may corrupt one’s spirituality. Two of the most toxic influences are the individual’s own selfishness and the willingness to let other people control one’s spirituality. Of course, if religion itself becomes corrupt, one’s spirituality also becomes corrupt. {Can You Be Spiritual and Not Religious?}

Like the religion can be corrupted we should know that spirituality is not always so ‘clean’ as it may seem.

Many people think of spirituality as perfect and incorruptible. Unfortunately, that is not true. Non-religious spirituality emphasizes special experiences, something you feel. If there are no feelings to this kind of spirituality, people would not pursue it. I have heard of many strange experiences that were labeled ‘spiritual’ just because there was a burst of pleasant feeling involved. {Can You Be Spiritual and Not Religious?}

Faith in words from a Book of books (Photo credit: hannahclark)

Religion in the Bible is a catalyst for our relationship with God, to Whom we have to bring a spirit which is pure and not hiding things for God Who sees everything, so that would be useless to hide something for Him. Our state of mind we do have to build ourselves. Others may help us but they can not do it for us or make it work for us. We ourselves our responsible for the way we want to think and the way we want to use the knowledge we receive by the years.

Jesus died on the wooden stake to make God’s religion and spirituality alive, dynamic and interactive with each other. He opened the way for humankind to come directly to the Creator God. Today Jesus sits at the right hand of God to be the mediator between God and man. by the brothers and sisters in the church we should be exhorted therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made not only for ourselves but for all men. We should know we live in a world where there are kings, presidents and members of parliament who have to make decisions for the community. So we better also pray for them that they may make the right decisions. Yes we should have our thoughts also at all that are in high place and pray for them and for that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.
Each of us should look to find in himself or herself the way to become acceptable in the eyes of God. He that provided the human Saviour, who could understand his fellow man, who wanted that all men should be saved, and will come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times; where-unto several people like the apostles and religious men were and are appointed a preacher and a teacher of the Gentiles or those who are not in the faith in Christ Jesus, in faith and truth.

” I Beseech you, therefore, first of all to offer to God, petitions, prayers, supplications, and thanksgiving for all men, (2) For kings and for all in authority; that we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all purity and Godliness. (3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour: (4) Who desires all men to be saved and to return to the knowledge of the truth. (5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (6) Who gave himself a ransom for all, a testimony which came in due time. (7) For that testimony I was appointed a preacher and an apostle; I tell the truth and I lie not; and I became the teacher of the Gentiles in a true faith. (8) I wish, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up their holy hands, without anger and doubting thoughts.” (1Ti 2:1-8 Lamsa NT)

Religion, Catholic Community having prayers and meditation together at a meeting (Photo credit: Parker Knight)

Lifting up the hands or going in prayer can be done on our own. But to come to a good prayer we better also do come close to ourselves. Be it also becoming in a more concrete relationship the world can offer. Away from the materialisation of things we can come in a transcendent form.

Where Transcendentalists assert their natural right to an individual relationship with God, defined only by one’s own will and a communing with nature, Puritans “sought both individual and corporate conformity to the teaching of the Bible, with moral purity pursued both down to the smallest detail, as well as ecclesiastical purity to the highest level. They believed that man existed for the glory of God, that his first concern in life was to do God’s Will and so to receive future happiness”. Puritans were largely responsible for amendments that mandated public education inspired by their belief that children could only conform properly to biblical and legal tenants if they could read them for themselves.

To come to the Truth, each person has to make the free choice to study the matter. Without reading the Bible and without the will to think about what is written a person shall not come to the Truth. No matter how he may be active in doing things for his church, how religious he or she may look for the outsiders, when their is no burning spirit in the soul of that person, no willingness to go deep in him or herself, there shall not come an opening to the real faith Jesus had in front of his eyes.

Jesus was also brought up in a world full of traditions. He was a boy living in a Jewish cult and learned from the Torah, which was his guide. He looked at the different religious groups and dared to question them. He looked at the way they interpreted the Holy Scriptures, how they lived their faith and how they were are were not prepared to go into the mystics of faith.

In most spiritual traditions, mysticism lies at the heart of spirituality. ‘‘Mysticism’’ refers to transcendent, contemplative experiences that enhance spiritual understanding. Mystical experiences can occur during intentional practices designed to create openings for transcendent experiences, such as Christian contemplative prayer, Zen meditation, movement or dance meditation or Sufi dance; or they can occur in the process of living a lifestyle that is conducive to transcendent experiences, as in contemplative gardening. In either case, contemplative or transcendent knowing is associated with spiritual experience.

‘‘Transcendence’’ refers to contemplative knowing that occurs outside the boundaries of verbal thought (Wilber). Although transcendence can refer to increasingly abstract thought, contemplative transcendence involves transcending thought itself. Mystical experiences of transcendence can be brought into thought, but they do not originate in thought or sensory perception.

The spiritual person can become a transcendental person, going into mystical contemplative experiences. He either may become religious with it or stay out of religion. But this kind of spirituality, set apart from religion would be weak and might be directionless, or worse, narcissistic. Jesus wanted us to have a vibrant faith that focuses on his Father and he wants us to use the teachings of the Bible to shape both our religion and our spiritual interactions with him and God. Our spirit has to become connected intimately with Jesus, God but also with our brethren and sisters in the community, plus feeling a love for the full creation of the Supreme Being, Jehovah God. This includes a good relationship with the animals, plants and all sorts of people, no matter which religion they may belong to. A good Christian should be a good follower of Christ, sharing the same love Jesus had for all people, no matter what they had done or how they felt about him. Jesus loved also his enemies, so we should do likewise.

Our religious and spiritual practices should focus on that relationship with creation. The spiritual practices should not merely be productive in a narrow sense but should be disciplined, creative and committed. The regularity of a spiritual discipline like meditation may give shape to what may otherwise be a fragmented life. as such it can enrich the religious life. Over time meditation may facilitate a growing freedom from destructive energies that inhibit healthy relationships. Such a growth in inner freedom makes us more available and effective as compassionate presences in the world.

As the great traditions emphasise, spirituality is actually concerned with cultivating a “spiritual life” rather than simply with undertaking practices isolated from commitment. It offers a “value-added” factor to personal and professional lives. So, for example, in a variety of social contexts spirituality is believed to add two vital things.

First, it saves us from being purely results-orientated. Thus, in health care it offers more than a medicalised, cure-focused model and in education it suggests that a holistic approach to intellectual, moral and social development is as vital as acquiring employable skills.
Second, spirituality expands ethical behaviour by moving it beyond right or wrong actions to a question of identity – we are to be ethical people rather than simply to “do” ethical things. Character formation and the cultivation of virtue then become central concerns.

Current evidence suggests a growing diversity of new forms of spirituality as well as creative reinventions of the great traditions. The language of spirituality continues to expand into ever more professional and social worlds – for example urban planning and architecture, the corporate world, sport and law. Most strikingly there are recent signs of its emergence in two contexts that have been especially open to public criticism – commerce and politics. Equally, the Internet is increasingly used to expand access to spiritual wisdom. So, on current evidence, spirituality appears to be less of a fad than an instinctive desire to find a deeper level of values to live by. As such, it seems likely not only to survive but to develop further into many new forms. {Is spirituality a passing trend?}

Church HDR (Photo credit: I_am_Allan)

The church community should not be afraid of those people who also want to be spiritual people. Every religious person in a way should be a spiritual person. Faith without works is dead. Each person believing in Jesus should know he should undertake efforts to understand those teachings, knowing the Torah and following the commandments of Christ and the commandments of God. Each follower of Christ should not only go out in the world on his own, no he should make efforts to meet regularly with other like minded people, considering them as his brothers and sisters in Christ. Gathering together they should ‘make church‘ and be united in the religion of the Body of Christ. In that Body or Church they should undertake actions, like reading the Bible, exhorting each other and Breaking bread with each other. This would mean they are have do do religious actions and to be religious in the tradition of the faith of Christ Jesus. But without their pure heart they would not be honest to the others in that community. So first of all each individual has to purify himself or herself, to which she or he can use meditation or spiritual exercise.

Religion and spirituality are complementary and should go together, uniting each of us in the name of Christ.

Christadelphian Bible school meeting.
United brethren and sisters in Christ.

Preceding articles:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Next: Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion

Find also to read:

+++

Additional reading:

+++

I am Spiritual but not Religious (passionistpartners.com)
“I am spiritual but not religious.” This is the mantra voiced by a number of people, Catholics included. It means that such people savor the inner qualities of their faith in Jesus Christ but not the outer framework in which those qualities are contained.

They respond warmly to the Christmas scene of Mary and Joseph kneeling close to Jesus as a newborn infant. They may resonate with the teaching of Jesus on the beatitudes, describing the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers. They may treasure His words on loving one another as he has loved us.

But when it comes to graphically depicting these sentiments in ritual, music, art, architecture, vestments, ceremonies, processions, incense—this is a different story. They find such a discrepancy between thoughts and feelings, and the attempt at giving tangible expression to them fails miserably in the opinion of some people. The sermons are boring, the collection is scandalous, the singing is outdated, the prayers formulaic and out of touch with people’s needs and desires.

The one religion that’s not part of my spiritual quest (roguepriest.net)
Jesus is central in one out of 16 or five out of 43 major religions practiced in the world today. (In the first list I’m excluding “no religion,” “new religions” and “other” for my count, and in the second list I’m pointing to Christianity, Christian Science, Jehova’s Witnesses, Mormonism, and Rastafari.) By that count less than 6 – 11% of religions consider Christ important. With nods from Baha’i, Islam and Unitarianism, the figure rises to a max of 25%.
Likewise, the majority of people in the world today do not follow any branch of Christianity.
Yet the teachings of Christ loom large.

Religions and Spirituality (allowinglove.wordpress.com)
diverse ethnicities and faiths from Passaic County gathered for one hour at Pa… SPARTA, NJ
Picking fights over religion and the separation of church and state (santamariatimes.com)
how this kind of free-floating rage differs from Bible-beating preachers who blame earthquakes and tornadoes on other people’s sexual sins escapes me. The main characteristic of the fundamentalist mind is an inability to refrain from expressing contempt for beliefs different from one’s own — whether one’s spiritual example is Pat Robertson or Christopher Hitchens.
Spiritual Well-Being (casapalmera.com)
piritual well-being is an integral part of mental, emotional and physical health. It is considered to be a primary coping resource on the journey of recovery and healing. This healing takes place in drug treatment centers, eating disorder residential programs and at trauma recovery. Spiritual well-being can be associated with a specific religion but does not have to be. This practice is merely one’s own journey to discover things of importance in life as well as one’s place among them. It can be practiced in numerous ways, with its main purpose being to find purpose and meaning in life. Spirituality and faith provide an opportunity to detach from circumstances and observe life with clarity and integrity. Spirituality can either be positive or negative. Spiritual well-being is a state is which the positive aspects of spirituality are shown. How the effects of spiritual well-being impact you is greatly determined by each individual.
My journey of faith (brynsthoughtsonfaith.wordpress.com)
What might have happened if I was baptized into the Church of England, for instance? Would my faith have been stronger as a teenager? Would I have still gone down the route to the Catholic Church, given the opportunity?My early upbringing was, as such, not massively religious one way or the other. We did not go to Church (Anglican or Catholic) on Sunday, so as not to sway me one way or the other.
From what I remember, my Primary School was Church of England in all but name, we had Assembly every morning, sang hymns and when Christmas and Easter came, we would sing in the local Anglican Church, St. Nicholas.

Obama Spiritual Advisor: President Very Religious (peacemoonbeam.typepad.com)
President Obama’s spiritual adviser says the leader of the free world is more religious than most people think.
Enriching Your Spirituality: Famous Christian Quotes (quotes.answers.com)
A poignant quote can have a profound effect. The simple truths contained in only a few lines have the power to inspire, calm, and encourage someone in need. This is especially true for Christian quotes. Whether you are struggling to find God’s purpose in your life or seeking comfort in a time a duress, these famous Christian quotes offer great help in times of need.
10 Religious Quotes to Make You Think (quotes.answers.com)
It seems that no matter what breakthroughs science makes in explaining the world, people will always have a need for spirituality and religion. Indeed, it seems that the only area with satisfying answers for many tough questions is religion. These religious quotes are collected from thinkers, writers, and lay people from a wide range of religious faiths and creeds. What they all have in common is that they are guaranteed to make you think.
Religious Rites: An Overview of Christian Funeral Services (christianity.answers.com)
Regardless of your religious persuasion, a funeral service is one of the more somber rites that you might attend. In the Christian faith, even though death is seen as a passage to eternal life, saying goodbye to a loved one is very sad. This article details the common elements of most Christian burial services.

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Posted on 2013/12/17 by Bijbelvorsers

Often when people in a discussion come upon talking about the higher elements of life and speak about believes in God or in divine beings people in the previous years were curious to know if that person belonged to a certain church. Today there might be not so much interest in talking about the spiritual. And when they encounter people more interested in spiritual matters we encounter a shift in questions.

Ryan Killough also noticed that and mentions in his blog:

Homo sapiens sapiens – Deliberate deformity of the woman skull, “Toulouse deformity “. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The question I receive more frequently now is, “oh, what are you?” I always want to answer that question by saying: “I am a species of Homo sapiens from the kingdom of Animalia, pleased to meet you earthling” but it is clear what they mean. So instead I answer, “I am …” Wait, should I answer? I wonder if it’s worth it, because the second it is heard what, “I am” will the attitude and thought behind anyone reading this entire post now change? Not that this ever happens in politics, but why take the risk? There is nothing specifically wrong with the question, “what are you?” My concern is not the question itself, but the change in social norm causing the shift to this question. The question is often asked, not always to learn about someones relationship with Jesus, but to figure out what his or her beliefs are. That is the problem I am addressing. {Church/Denominations}

for him it seems to be a problem when people wonder what he believes. But is that not the first thing to come into a relationship with the person in whom you want to believe?

He should know that people are curious when they encounter somebody who dares to mention he believes in something. When it is Jesus or God that person believes in, he becomes a test person. Than that believer becomes the target to question to see if his beliefs are really well structured and sound. Most people do know that there are many churches and people with so many different believes but that they also often got against each other, even killing each other for their believes. For many the believes or connected with religion which was a ’cause’ (according to them) of many wars. they find it strange that those different churches often claim to be talking about the same God.
Ryan Killough also agrees and questions:

Even though we attend different denominations, we are all following the same God. We should be of the same mind and thought. So if God new all these religious sects would occur where differences and discord would take place, did He make a mistake with the idea of church? Absolutely not. {Church/Denominations}

The Seven Sacraments by Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1448.

He finds Church is a necessity for teaching, admonishing, and worshipping but agrees that through weekly patterns in our forms of worship, we can deceive ourselves into believing in wrong philosophy.

Our church practices should not be our belief! We should not put tradition and spiritual rituals over what is right, good, and true. Traditions are for the purpose of acknowledging God and, again, are not to become our beliefs. Communion, baptism, confirmation, hand movements, church membership, fasting, or any other church sacraments will not give you salvation! They will not make you any more holy or deserving of Gods grace. These sacraments are simply to express our gratitude of God’s love for us, and allow us to become closer to Jesus in our personal relationship with Him. {Church/Denominations}

But it are just created sacraments and religious actions of those churches which are build on human traditions and not on biblical traditions of the Judean people of God. Many denominations created rules how to do things in the community which are not always totally Biblically funded. Through the years several theologians brought in different teachings and took followers or believers with them, often forming a new church-community or worse, a new denomination.

Some might think the church does need its theologians to stay in existence, because without good doctrines, good theology, or wonderful expositions it would not be able to survive and be lost in the land of fables and cute stories. Without institutions, temples or churches there would be not much for religion to have a feeding ground. In Religion that church also needs life. In Christian religion this may be the resurrection life of Christ.

No doctrine, idea, theology, or exposition can replace the life of Christ. Only the life of Christ and that which issues from it will prevail against the gates of Hades.

writes Eric Adams in his writing on the British missionary in China, Margaret E. Barber. {My Experience In The Word Of Faith Movement Pt. 6-Watchman Nee, Miss Margaret E. Barber, Roman Catholic Mystics}

according to him

Heaven and God are far away, so we must find ways to ascend to heaven. Like the old African American spiritual says:

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Soldiers of the cross.

But we may know that God is not far away. He is every moment of the day very close to the world, everywhere and knows every person his or her heart. In their life every person is somewhere else on the Jacob’s Ladder. He can either look down and be afraid or look up and be of full hope.

What some call “The Christian Flag” displayed next to the pulpit on the chancel of a church sanctuary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many religious people do want to grab themselves by the bootstraps, and try to work their way into God’s good graces, not by grasping or lathing themselves to the Bible, but preferring to cling to theologian writings. Some may seek for God internally through emotional or mystical experiences and become preoccupied with their own spirituality. To come into a spiritual life which also can become a religious life the person has to be able to hear God’s voice, and to be willing to come to understand God’s Will. When not willing to understand and than to follow the Will of God his faith would not be of much value. Children also often do know what they should do but do something different. That will bring them in problems. The same for adults who have an inborn ethical feeling, which they can ignore or follow. Maturity also informs most of us which influence our feelings may have on others and vice versa. When grown up the person knows how sustained feelings can ‘strangle’ a person and how he can become enslaved by preventing emotional growth to progress beyond the sense of pain having been precipitated, in some way, by whom or what is not liked or hated (i.e., another person, group or class of persons).

As such every person in the world, all created in the image of God can come to hear the call of righteousness and have the feeling of good and bad in them. The difference for the Christian religious person is that he or she should hear that Voice of God and offers himself or herself to follow that Voice more than any other voice. This makes Jesus so special. He could do what he wanted to do and could strike all honour for the things he seemed to be doing; But he never claimed that he could do those things on his own. He recognised he could not do anything without his Father, to whom he prayed to have things done. Jesus was in the world to have his Father to be known better. He also lifted up his eyes to heaven asking his Father to accept and glorify him the only begotten son, in order that he, Jesus the Son of God, may glorify the Only One God who had given Christ authority over all flesh. The religious person who wants to call himself Christian should be a follower of Christ, Jesus the Messiah from whom he or she can get eternal life. But to be able to get that eternal life those persons should come to the understanding Who is who and should come to know the Only True God, who is the Adonai Elohim Hashem Jehovah, and Jesus Christ, whom God had sent to the world.

Jesus never glorified himself, neither should we glorify ourselves. We should become like Christ, but by doing so we shall not become Christ himself like he did not become God himself. Jesus always had glorified his Father, the God of Abraham as the Only One True God. Jesus knew his lower position than the heavenly beings (angels), but also knew that God was the Most High and always should and shall be the Most High Elohim. The son of Joseph and Miriam (Mary/Maria) from the tribe of King David only wanted to be the will of his Father and wanted to complete on earth the work that his Father, Allah the God of gods had given him to do.

It was this Nazarene man who has revealed God His name to the men whom God gave him out of the world. Jesus never claimed those to be his. He knew that those men who were willing to follow him, were given by his Father. They were God’s, and He have given them to Jesus, and they have kept God His Word. Those disciples continued the work of Christ after he was killed and resurrected. By the sent Comforter, requested by Christ Jesus, they lost their fear and went out into the world, understanding that all the things that God had given to their master teacher Jesus came not from their rabbi, but came from his Father, which they now also could call their Father, the Only One God, whose name Jehovah they knew already from Torah, but was now better known by the words and works of His son Jesus.

It was from that Nazarene man the disciples got their words. They received them and knew truly that Jesus had come from God, and they have believed that God had sent him. They never believed that it was God Who had come down onto earth, because they also remembered the voice, at the baptism of their master, Who told the people present that it was “His beloved son” who stood there and did not tell them that it was God who had come down to earth. They also had heard enough from this man to know his relationship with his Father, whom Christ considered to be the Only One true God, to whom Jesus prayed and asked them also to pray to.

” It came to pass when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed the heaven was opened, (22) And the Holy Spirit descended on him, like a dove, and a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, with whom I am pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22 Lamsa NT)

Jesus had always asked the things to happen on behalf of the people around him, but they also remembered Jesus telling them that he did not ask God on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom God had given him, because they are God His, and all Jesus his things are His. They also remembered that Jesus was pleased that His Father had given His world into the hands of him, and that he could been glorified in them. Jesus became no longer in the world, and they were in the world, Jesus went up to his Father in heaven to sit at His right hand. Though Jesus left not his disciples, nor us, on their own. He asked God to keep them, and those who were willing to follow him, in God His name. Being under the Guidance of Christ and his Father all followers of Christ should become like Christ, becoming one the same way like Jesus and God were one. This would not make us to be Christ, like it also did not make Christ to be God. Otherwise we being one with Christ, Christ being one with God, in case Jesus was God we also would become God. But that is impossible. Like Jesus was a man of flesh and blood, a material being we also are of flesh and blood material beings. Even when we try to become so spiritual that we overcome the material site of ourselves, we shall never be able to become as immaterial or spiritual beings as angels or as the eternal Spirit God.

Jesus has given us his word that he kept us in God’s name and told us all those things in the world so that we may have his joy completed in ourselves. Jesus does not live any more in this world, but we who are living in this world, are still submitted to the Laws of God but subject to the laws of the country were we live in. The world may hate us because we have chosen to follow Christ Jesus and to believe in the One God Who is One. Not believing in the worldly gods we also do not want to be of the world just as Jesus was and is not of the world. Jesus did not ask his Father that He would take us out of the world, but that He would protect us from the evil of that world.

“But Jesus said to them, My Father works even until now, so I also work. (18) And for this the Jews wanted the more to kill him, not only because he was weakening the sabbath, but also because he said concerning God that he is his Father, and was making himself equal with God. (19) Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, that the Son can do nothing of his own accord, except what he sees the Father doing; for the things which the Father does, the same the Son does like him also. (20) For the Father loves his Son, and he shows him everything that he does; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may marvel. (21) For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to those whom he will.” (John 5:17-21 Lamsa NT)

“Jesus spoke these things, and then he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, O my Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you. (2) Since you have given him power over all flesh, so that to all whom you have given him, he may give life eternal. (3) And this is life eternal, that they might know you, that you are the only true God, even the one who sent Jesus Christ. (4) I have already glorified you on the earth; for the work which you had given to me to do, I have finished it. (5) So now, O my Father, glorify me with you, with the same glory which I had with you before the world was made. (6) I have made your name known to the men whom you gave me out of the world; they were yours and you gave them to me; and they have kept thy word. (7) Now they know that whatever you have given me is from you. (8) For the words which you gave me I gave them; and they accepted them, and have known truly that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. (9) What I request is for them; I make no request for the world, but for those whom you have given to me; because they are yours. (10) And everything which is mine, is yours; and what is yours is mine; and I am glorified by them. (11) Hereafter I am not in the world, but these are in the world; and I am coming to you. O holy Father, protect them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. (12) While I was with them in the world, I protected them in your name; those you gave me I protected, and not one of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. (13) Now I am coming to you; and these things I speak while I am in the world, that my joy may be complete in them. (14) I have given them your word; and the world hated them, because they were not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) What I request is not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should protect them from evil.” (John 17:1-15 Lamsa NT)

The religious and spiritual person in the Christian faith should come to the essence of Christ Jesus his teaching. Like Jesus was not of this world they also should try to cleanse themselves, have their spirit clear, proper for God and not being tempted by the material world, loving the traditions of the world. As such they should try to dispose themselves of those celebrations which are kept in the world, but have elements not in accordance with God His commandments. We should strip our world from all the heathen or pagan elements. The world were we do want to live in should be removed from all those things which are mentioned in the Bible, the Word of God, as things which are not right. By avoiding all the things God does not want the world might not like us, because they will notice that we do not want to be “of the world”, even as Jesus was and is not of the world.

In history when churches went astray from the teachings of God, religious people wanted to bring them back on the good track. Their teachings being in conflict with the general or traditional church, made that new denominations were formed. Many allowed legalism, the theological doctrine that salvation is gained through good works, to take a higher stand than God and wanted certain actions to be part of the service a religious person ought to do. Instead of giving more attention at our personal daily walk with Christ and with his Father, which is more important than the sacraments we can burden ourselves with, they brought limitation to what people could do or gave specific strict rules to what people could not do. Sacraments became used as a tool to enter heaven, instead of looking at those sacraments as a symbol of our gratitude toward Gods unfailing grace.

Those ‘renewing teachers’ their followers created new churches and considered that only those people could be saved and go to heaven who became a member of their congregation. They had forgotten that Christ Jesus saved everybody and is the cornerstone of the Church. It is not by belonging to a church a person will secure his position in a place called heaven or in the Kingdom of God. Instead of so many different churches which exclude the other churches, all followers of Christ should be united in that Body of Christ. Those teachers claiming people could only be saved by being a member of their church, also had forgotten that יהוה , YHWH and Love are Four-letter words which are inextricable bound up with the Body of Jesus Christ and his Father, Jehovah God. There were two or more people are gathered in the name of Christ, Jesus is present and there should be peace and Christian brotherhood. The church should offer a place for Christian community, in order strengthen the members their faith, for the purpose of coming closer to God and of spreading God’s Word (by preaching) to the world and worshipping God in everything they do.

Going into ourselves, the spirituality should bring the person in a pure state of mind, clear to receive the entrance to the Supreme Being and becoming one with Him. It should be the aim of the spiritual minded and of the religious person to clear his or her mind of all the unnatural things. The Christian person aiming to get such an open mind to Jesus his Father, like he had, being sanctified in God His Truth, knowing that only God His Word is Truth. Coming to the knowledge that it was God Who had sent Jesus into the world, and that it was not God Who came down Himself, the religious person should recognise that it was that man Jesus who also sent him or her into the world to become sanctified in Truth.

Jesus did pray to his Father concerning those who will believe in the Messiah Jesus through their word, that all may be one, as God is in Christ that they also may be one in Jesus and in Jehovah God so that the world may believe that God sent Jesus.

Jesus did give his disciples the glory which Jehovah God had given him, that they may be one, as God and Jesus are One. The real Christian his or her main aim should be that oneness with God, like Christ Jesus was one in his apostles we also should become one in Christ like Jesus had unity with his Father, that we may be perfected in one; and that the world may know that it was Jehovah God Who sent Jesus and loved them, even as God loved Jesus.

The spiritual minded Christian should aim to come in such transcendent state that he reaches that goal to become like Christ united with his Father. The transcendence should bring the person wherever Jesus would be. His desire to be one of those whom Jehovah God has given Jesus, that where he is, they may be with him also, that they may behold his glory which God gave Jesus, because God loved Jesus already before the foundation of the world. Because God knows everything, He already knows us as well already from the beginning of the universe. We do not know anything from that period when everything came into being (because we did not exist yet, like Christ did not exist yet), but our spirit should be willing to be part of that foundation of the world, that does not want to know about their Creator, but Jesus knew God and made him known to the world. We also should now become part of that New Foundation, where Jesus as the second Adam opened the gates to the Kingdom of God.

“I with them and you with me, that they may become perfected in one; so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them just as you loved me. (24) O Father, I wish that those whom you have given me, may also be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory which you have given me; for you have loved me before the foundation of the world. (25) O my righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I have known you; and these have known that you have sent me. (26) And I have made your name known to them, and I am still making it known; so that the love with which you loved me may be among them, and I be with them.” (John 17:23-26 Lamsa NT )

In the spiritual mood the person wants to become perfect like the Father of Jesus in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 )

“So he that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fulfil all things. (11) And he has assigned some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors, and some, teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (13) Until we all become one in faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become a perfect man according to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (14) That we henceforth be not as children easily stirred and carried away by every wind of false doctrines of men who through their craftiness are artful in deceiving the people; (15) But that we be sincere in our love, so that in everything we may progress through Christ, who is the head. (16) It is through him that the whole body is closely and firmly united at all joints, according to the measure of the gift which is given to every member, for the guidance and control of the body, in order to complete the edifying of the body in love.” (Ephesians 4:10-16 Lamsa NT)

The person getting into spirituality wants to become one with his full being and with nature. That nature is part of the universe God created. The spiritual person tries to go deeper than the material site of the world, coming into the mystic site. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers may help the person to find subject matter and to get him or her on the way to do good research. Those surrounding the person who wants to be religious and spiritual should provide the right spiritual food so that this person can come to unity with himself and with the Christian Church community, being a good working element and ‘being one’ in, and of, the Body of Christ.

Preceding articles:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Next: Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

Find also to read:

+++

Additional reading:

+++

2013 St. Patrick's Day Races: 5k Participants,...

Are you running the right race, having the right goals? – 2013 St. Patrick’s Day Races (Photo credit: ianhun2009)

Critically examine the relationship between gender, religious participation and religious organisations. (cheapbestessaywriting.wordpress.com)
While it is difficult to know precisely whether or not spiritual beliefs differ in relation to males and womanishs, it is evident that unearthly rule and participation does show relatively clear sexual urge differences. This is sure across all forms of religious organisation. Almost two-thirds of churchgoers are women. However, as with social factors worry class and age, it is clear that in that respect is no overall pattern of male / female religious attendance, since there are evident differences between denominations.
The Authority of the Catholic Church (zeal4thefaith.wordpress.com)
I have heard the argument from Protestants that the Bible is the only authority. They do not believe that the Catholic Church has authority on earth at all. Well, the Bible says absolutely nothing about being the only authority.
+
Anglicans, Baptists, Born-again Christians, Brethren-in-Christ Churches, Calvary Churches, Episcopalians, Bible Fundamentalists, Non-denominational churches, Methodists, Presbyterians, start up churches too numerous to count and the list goes on and on. They all teach different theologies and they all have different pastors who went to different seminaries which teach different interpretations of Scripture. Which ‘church’ is correct? Which interpretation is correct?
Picking fights over religion and the separation of church and state (santamariatimes.com)
“We have just enough religion to make us hate,” wrote Jonathan Swift, “but not enough to make us love one another.” A lifelong religious controversialist, the 18th-century Irish satirist definitely knew whereof he wrote. After all, it’s fewer than 20 years since Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland quit dynamiting each other’s gathering places.
+
Even here in the United States, it often seems that picking fights over religion increases during the Christmas season. If anything, claiming to be persecuted while expressing contempt for others’ beliefs appears on the rise.
+
Like Swift, Jefferson recognized the dangers of religious strife. That’s precisely why, he assured Connecticut Baptists in 1802, the First Amendment decreed “a wall of separation between church and State.”
Sunday Worship- Understanding and Teaching (eggflip.wordpress.com)
Sunday Worship is a core practice of the followers of Christianity, but it’s meanings and it’s enactments represent a wide variety of different traditions and rituals loosely associated with different denominations of Christian Churches and sects that are associated the world religion of Christianity. As is precisely within the Roman Catholic Church, the Liturgical calendar is a key part of Sunday worship for Catholics, with liturgical cycles determining which scriptural passages are read out in sermons on each Sunday of the week. Anglican Churches and the Church of England are examples of other churches that retain their own liturgical calendar. Sunday worship is an important part of many different churches own liturgical calendars, and in part defines and how the Christian year is organized.
+
part of understanding the practice of Sunday worship as a religious commitment and a religious experience, and the impact it has on the followers of Christianity, or Catholicism
+
C Peck (2007) describes the Church’s rationale for Sunday worship “There are approximately two billion professing Christians on earth. They attend over 2,000 different church denominations and organizations in the United States alone. This number continually increases, bringing no end of confusion over beliefs and disagreement between them.
Spirit of Medjugorje Update: Patience (zenobiuszjuz.wordpress.com)
a good Christian life cannot be pursued without a regular examination of conscience and a good grounding in the virtues…

…virtues stem from the grace deposited in the ground of the soul by God..the root of all virtue is humility which is characterized by a patient and loving submission to authority…
Religulous Bastards (venitism.blogspot.com)
In the Iran of the Mullahs, the Persian Gulf emirates and even in those countries where Orthodox Christian patriarchs still wield considerable influence, journalistsare branded as heretics as soon as they dare to describe the far-from-holy practices of the regime and its clergy. And if they dare to denounce the atrocities of an armed Islamist group in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nigeria, theyare gunned down as infidels even when they are Muslims.

Although used for political ends, religion often carries real weight in societies where no boundary between the spiritual and secular is recognized. When an Omani publication quoted gays as saying they were better off in Oman than in neighbouring divine-right petro-monarchies, it was accused of promoting “moral depravity” and therefore “sacrilege.” Subjects such as the role of women, sexuality and reproduction – all markers of secularization – are surrounded by taboos.
Significance of followers of Islam beliefs (lovevisiblesim.wordpress.com)
I met a man in my days with SAT-7 from Tunisia – an Anglican by denomination but a true follower of Jesus among the people of Islam – a friend to followers of Christ.He shared these thoughts –

For one, it is a myth that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims are unified in the embrace of classical Islam’s religious precepts. On the contrary, man Muslim peoples have a poor understanding of what their religion is really all about.
+

But the followers of Islam are religious people and under the right conditions, open about sharing their beliefs. The word of God, presented under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and watered by the intercessory prayers of God’s people, can do its work in their heart just as in the heart of any who seek truth.

The follower of Christ’s responsibility is to share the same love and concern for the followers of Islam that God has, the truth as it is in Jesus Christ — the One who can make him free indeed.
When Do Christians Have Church Services (christianity.answers.com)
Christianity is the most prominent religion in the United States, and most Christians regularly attend worship services. However, not all churches offer the same services on the same days. If you are interested in giving it a try, learn a little bit about when Christians hold their church services.
+
In most churches, holiday services revolve around the birth and death of Christ, or Christmas and Easter. On Christmas Eve, many churches hold traditional evening services that sometimes include candle light ceremonies and Christmas carols. Some churches also hold services on Christmas Day. The days leading up to Easter, including Palm Sunday and Good Friday, are usually celebrated with special services. Easter Sunday, of course, is celebrated by nearly every church with an upbeat service.
Spirituality and Your Health (evelynmmaxwell.com)
Our spirituality and philosophy are the roots to our tree of life. Whether or not our spiritual beliefs and philosophy of life provide us with psychological comfort and hope, rather than distress and discouragement, is very important. Whether or not they provide us the wisdom and courage to act affects us for life as we branch out in our “decision tree” (a term used in the medical field for the decisions we make in relations to our perceptions of the situations, for example, if “this” is true, we do something for “this”; but if “this” is not true we do something different). And, the strengths and weaknesses of our spiritual lives contribute to our society’s strengths and weaknesses.
Explaining Christmas to Children (joiedevivreheather.wordpress.com)

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Posted on 2013/12/13 by Bijbelvorsers

In the previous chapter “Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life“, we have seen that the relation of religion and spirituality is in the eye of the beholder and that religiosity and spirituality are not always connected with each other.

Religiosity, Church Attendance and Welfare Spending

Historically, the major world religious traditions have relied upon symbolic forms for breaking outside of the profane world and into an alternative reality known only through its ecstatic qualities and interpretive frames. Even within contemporary, more secular social settings, research suggests that those persons most involved in their religious traditions are more likely to report having strong religious experiences (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences referring to: Yamane and Polzer 1994, pp. 1–25).

We also said that we should see that there is a distinction between spiritual and religious or religiousness. This is becoming more commonplace in advanced modern societies like the United States, for example, where the number of people claiming to be “spiritual but not religious” is estimated variously (but with differing empirical measures) as 14 percent (Roof 1999) and 31 percent (Wuthnow 2005) of the adult population.

Religious symbols (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Being religious implies a relationship with a faith, which should not be necessary Christian faith, but the believes in something divine and clinging to participation in institutionally based practices, and having respect for the teachings of a certain tradition or community. In contrast to be spiritual concerns the inner relationship with the inner and puts emphasis upon the experience of connectedness, relationship, or oneness with the Inner-Self and/or a higher power/the sacred/nature. The aim of the spirituality is also to come to satisfaction with the Self and to find appreciation for personal growth and inner awareness in one’s life journey. Aiming for more spirituality the person hopes he can come in a better stadium with himself and for himself, sometimes looking for transcendental forms.

Several people aim to come in a higher stadium coming to have mystical experiences. For some this can be New Age beliefs where they draw on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions, infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics. Others may not like to be placed under New Age or post-New Age, for the reason it got negative connotations and because it does not always co-notate to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius, but more to the “transformational” of the being, though they still may aim to create “a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas” that is inclusive and pluralistic. {Drury 2004, p. 10}

Some may look for a form of a form of monism and unity throughout the universe, where the variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance. But there they also think that all those things being in existence may find their origin on one source which is distinct from a human being. Some call it the Universal Supreme Being or The God of gods. For Christians that Divine Super Power should be their Only One God, the centre piece of everything which was before everything, the Adonai and Most High Elohim. All other beings are lower than That One Who is One and is not restricted like we are but is One unity of substance and essence which is complete in its unity, its spirit and in time being eternal.

Various different religious traditions have been labelled “pagan” over the centuries; including the Classical religion of ancient Greece (left; The Parthenon) and the new religious movement of contemporary Paganism (right; Romuvan priestess). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The body-mind dichotomy in philosophy examines the relationship between mind and matter, and in particular the relationship between consciousness and the brain. The problem was addressed by René Descartes in the 17th century, resulting in Cartesian dualism, and by pre-Aristotelian philosophers. {Robert M. Young (1996). “The mind-body problem”. In RC Olby, GN Cantor, JR Christie, MJS Hodges, eds. Companion to the History of Modern Science (Paperback reprint of Routledge 1990 ed.). Taylor and Francis. pp. 702–11. ISBN 0415145783.} + {Robinson, Howard (Nov 3, 2011). “Dualism”. In Edward N. Zalta, ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition).} The Persian Pūr Sinɑʼ, who is regarded as the most famous and influential polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, made a big study the Quran and the Hadith, encountered greater obstacles in the philosophical writings and got greatly troubled by the Metaphysics of Aristotle. Due to Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā or Avicenna’s successful reconciliation between Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism along with Kalam, Avicennism eventually became the leading school of Islamic philosophy by the 12th century, with Avicenna becoming a central authority on philosophy.

He preferred a “short life with width to a narrow one with length” {Aisha Khan. Avicenna (Ibn Sina): Muslim Physician And Philosopher of the Eleventh Century. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 85.} Trying to find logic, ethics this teacher founded also a system for people to come to the essence of life and inner sanctity. It is by placing the ego separate of the world, which is considered in the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) as being “set-apart” often translated in English with the word “holy” or “holiness“.

Several Islamic teachers and Christian theologians got very interested in the ancient philosophers. In medieval Europe the clergy went looking for the mysterious soul in the human being. They wanted to solve the many philosophical problems posed by the years. they wanted to go further than the philosophers who studied the fields of aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, as well as social philosophy and political philosophy. For many clergyman the Catholic teachings had not brought “Logic“. Mainly by all the false teachings in Roman Catholicism they where distracted from the Biblical texts which was confusing them, because they were bombarded with many dogma‘s created over the years. for the bishops and higher placed ones in the ‘holy orders’ Avicennism brought more interesting doctrines on the nature of the soul and his existence–essence distinction. , along with the debates and censure that they raised in scholastic Europe. By 1210 so many people became interested in the Islamic teaching the church took measures to forbid it. A “decree of condemnation to death or banishment” was prescribed. This proscription or “decree of condemnation, outlawry” did not frighten William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris and Albertus Magnus. The psychology and theory of knowledge found in Avicennism and its metaphysics had an impact on the thought of Thomas Aquinas.

closer to our times several theologians also went looking in Confucius his philosophical writings.

The philosophers did not determine the value of an idea by the diversity of its applications. Philosophy in itself does not bring spirituality though it may help to form ideas and to give pulses to do thorough research. It may be interesting in its own right, and a substantial minority of philosophers investigate the many and varied interpretations of ideas studied in philosophy itself, testing others their thought experiments and their conclusions of philosophical arguments.

Preceding articles:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Next: Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Find also:

+++

Additional readings:

+++

Wealth usually distracts one from a spiritual path (transientreflections.com)
Are you a Materialistic Individual or do you pursue the path of an Academic or of a Spiritual and religious nature? These questions can only be answered by you and which you choose is solely up to you.
African Spirituality: What it is and what it ‘ain’t’ (moniquecharles.wordpress.com)
In this discussion, Asar Imhotep will reassess the common understandings of African spirituality and provide an updated analysis rooted in over a decade’s worth of research as a practitioner of African spiritual systems, and a student of history.
Mapping the Possible Relations between “Religious,” “Spiritual,” “Humanistic” and “Secular” Sensibilities (villasophiasalon.wordpress.com)
One way to map or model the spectrum of consciousness and culture today is to talk about the continuum that connects the religious, spiritual (but not necessarily religious), humanistic (but not necessarily religious or spiritual) and secular ( but not necessarily religious, spiritual or humanistic) sensibilities. Further, there are those who religion is not necessarily hostile or indifferent to the spiritual, humanistic and secular dimensions of life.
+
Are you aware that each of these words has a whole range of possible meanings and associations, and that the presumably objective denotative meanings are all but silenced by a cacophony of various subjective connotative meanings. Therefore, any meaningful and constructive dialogue between persons who have front-loaded their own experiential associations and interpretative evaluations of these words make real communication all but impossible.
Religion Vs. Spiritual (etsuwmst.wordpress.com)
Although, religion and spiritually have its differences. Religion should be accompanied with spiritually although sometimes it does not go that way. Most people think you either one or the other. It is possible to be religious and spiritual most people are but then again you could be spiritual without religion. The reason being is because religion is very much forced in many situations. A lot of people can’t live freely in the world because they feel if they do it would conflict with their religion. Just because of the demands religion has on a person’s life. Unlike spiritually, it is a chosen practice so it designed the way you want to.
What Wishes to Come to Being through You? (agentleinstigator.wordpress.com)
“What constitutes personal authority? Stated most simply it means, to find what is true for oneself and to live it in the world. If it is not lived, it is not yet real for us, and we abide in what Sartre called ”bad faith”, the theologian calls ”sin”, the therapist calls “neurosis”, and the existential philosopher calls ”inauthentic being”. Respectful of the rights and perspectives of others, personal authority is neither narcissistic nor imperialistic. It is a humble acknowledgement of what wishes to come to being through us.“
(#7) Family, Huh, Yeah, What Is It Good For… (bushmansblogi.wordpress.com)
In accordance with Notarianni’s claim, I would like to emphasize the essential nature families play in the spiritual development of children. It is in the home where either a spiritual void is discovered or a spiritual direction is initiated. This is seen in experiences that families go through together and how they adapt, as well as in family traditions, and finally, even the absence of spirituality in the home aids children in determining their own beliefs.
Deep Within, We Want it All By Brenda Hoffman (renardmoreau.wordpress.com)
You wish to recreate some of the glories of past lifetimes. All of you have experienced both depravity, because of religious teachings, and lives with extreme levels of fame and wealth.You are now more interested in your past glories than the religious penitence that marked at least one of your lifetimes. Yet, you will not allow yourself access to the glories and riches you hold dear in this time and place because you are not certain you can achieve your goal – or that you want to.
Are Esoteric Teachings Missing from Christianity? (jesusweddingthebook.wordpress.com)
In the television program Myths of Mankind – The Gnostic Origins of Christianity (Timestamp 43:12-43:54), Elaine Pagels PhD of Princeton University is quoted as saying,“Every great world religious tradition whether its Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism has both the teaching for everyone, exoteric teaching, which every adherent of that faith is supposed to follow and esoteric or mystical teaching. The only one that lacks that is western Christianity. I think it is unfortunate that that which many people find necessary for their own integrity and development has been regarded as either heretical or a path leading nowhere.”
Discovering the Truth (cosmicmacduff.wordpress.com)
Artists forge their own spiritual path at Promenade Gallery – Mississauga (allowinglove.wordpress.com)
Meditation – Do try it! (trishbarcatta.wordpress.com)
It involves focusing on a single thought, object or feeling and turning your attention inwards. Some people find it hard to drown everything else out so as to quiet the mind, but you don’t need to do that. You can just gently bring your focus back to what you need to and not be so hard on yourself.
How To Begin On The Spiritual Path (anandasingapore.wordpress.com)
The seeker cannot be confined to a particular religion, rather, he or she must embrace the Divine teachings of all religions, and bow humbly, and revere the saints of all religions, for all saints have attained to Godhood, and making any distinction within the Fundamental Unity of God is contrary to the Divine Path.
Am I A Religious Person? (elephantjournal.com)
In the West we tend to think of religion in really narrow terms that most of the ‘religions’ of the east don’t fit into very well.To me, the word ‘religion’ conjures connotations of dogma and authority. I don’t think either of those things are helpful on the spiritual path. I don’t believe in God. Belief or lack thereof in a deity is not considered an important thing in the path of Buddhism.
Daily Teaching for Wednesday, November 27th (bishopcraig.com)
Humility is an absolute prerequisite for progress on the spiritual path, and thankfulness is its evidence.
Simply Being With Nothing to Be: A Commentary (edoshonin.com)
If we have hope, then we automatically have fear. We are fearful that our hopes will not be realized. Many people think that in order to be happy they need hope. But this kind of happiness is very conditional and is reliant upon the presence of external factors.
+
We can observe the beings who are born and who pass away – one moment they are present but the next moment they are gone. One moment they are happy but the next moment sad. One moment they are in the company of friends and family but the next moment they are all alone. We see that beings come and go, planets come and go, and even the universes come and go. We observe the passing of time and the passing of space.
Gyo-shin-ki Evolution (gyoshinki.wordpress.com)
Our spiritual center will continue to be Gyo, Shin and Ki. Shinto at the heart, Buddhist at the heart and Taoist at the heart. I continue to receive teaching and guidance and evolve methodology and techniques that allow energetic and spiritual purification and accomplishment. GSK is essentially a spiritual path – truth testing is done via the taijutsu. The taijutsu is a physical analog of the meditaion and purifications.

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Posted on 2013/12/11 by Bijbelvorsers

Religion, religiosity and spirituality are not the same. Many people use the three words as synonyms and see no difference between them. Religiosity has to do with the quality of being ‘religiose‘ or being extremely, obtrusively, pious, sanctimoniously or even sentimentally religious, but in its broadest sense it also used to indicate the sort of activity a person is willing to take on for that what he believes. It is about the numerous aspects of religious activity a person is willing to undertake, his dedication for that belief or religious doctrine. Another term that would work equally well, though less often used, is religiousness for the person’s belief in a god, the God of gods or in gods and their observance of associated activities.

With the choice of a religion comes the preparedness to follow certain teachings of that religion and to follow a sociocultural program for developing spiritually and for bringing spiritual realizations into everyday life according to the teachings or doctrines of that religion. In that movement about certain teachings concerning the individual and his environment the person shall want to become part of that religion and as such would want to take certain attitudes and do certain exercises in that faith. doing those readings, meditations and exercises for the mind, the person shall use ‘‘spirituality’’ to refer to his or her inner experiences that arise from trying to put such programs into practice.

Folk religiosity and faith (Photo credit: AlmaGamil_Philippines)

Through the ages lots of people tried to find ways to come to a higher ecstasy or to get into raptures. Their actions in their faith should bring them “Spirituality” bringing them in exaltation a sense of transcendence, sacrality, and ultimacy, making them ready to bring praise, tribute, worship, acclaim, glory, blessing, homage, reverence, magnification, apotheosis, glorification, acclamation, panegyric, idolization, extolment, lionization, laudation, in elation, delight, joy, excitement, inspiration, ecstasy, stimulation, with exhilaration, jubilation, exultation, joyousness. Their religious actions want to trigger the ‘becoming more’ going beyond or exceeding the Self. To do this, encoded signs and symbols may be the means by which experiences not only are generated but are described, even recognized and labelled, as religious. The many religions, the world is rich, have always relied upon several symbolic forms for breaking outside of the profane world. In most religions the believers try to come into an other stadium of life and of feeling. They even try to come in an other or alternative reality known only through its ecstatic qualities and interpretive frames.

Even within contemporary, more secular social settings, research suggests that those persons most involved in their religious traditions are more likely to report having strong religious experiences (Yamane and Polzer 1994, pp. 1–25).

To come to full or real spirituality the person has to give himself or herself to the faith which she want to follow and take on its traditions, demanding not only the will to come to an interior life or religious discipline but also to undertake social action, making ethical choices, family commitments, friendship, to live and work according that faith and to make choices for the way to live and in politics.

Whilst ‘Religion’ is a human invention that centers on specific rituals and a set of stories that outline a basic moral code and belief system, ‘spirituality’ is a natural reaction on feeling and the way people do behave. Spirituality relates to the spirit or essential essence of humanity. People who say they are spiritual are working to grow and better this inner force. Religious people are generally spiritual people as well, but spiritual people do not necessarily have to be religious. They may work to attain a heightened spirituality through alternative methods. Religions often, but not necessarily, have a hierarchy of initiates, bringing those further into the inner circle, leading the rituals for the general populace. Their rituals may look or seem spiritual but often can be performed on automatic pilot leaving the spiritual out.

Graph of timelines for major religions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some people may be very religious but not exactly spiritual, not interested to dig deep in themselves. Some religious people are not so much interested in doing the things themselves, but just want to follow set regulations and handlings done in the religious community. They for example just want to sit down in church and be passive, looking and hearing what is going on, with sometimes even having the mind strolling of to somewhere else. Whilst the religion may be brought on by their parents or their environment where they grew up to get spiritual they have to undertake themselves the action to be willing to enter the spirituality which stems from their inner soul, and not from the hierarchy of their religion, their pastors or priests, but is dependent on their will to search in themselves, to look for the very essence of their own being. The spirited approach or spirituality like the religion may come form influences of different sources, where the parents, in first instance or the most important one, and from driving forces in the life of the person, like a God Almighty.

Some think spirituality can be achieved only through the use of every moral quality in its proper place and on its proper occasion. Moral shall influence the way of thinking and the background of material shall give possibilities to think about those theories, values and attitudes. Because being bounded to the natural state of our being in the universe, our ‘natural state of man’ has a very strong relationship with his moral and spiritual states, so much so that even a person’s manner of eating and drinking affects his moral and spiritual states. If the natural state of a person is subjected to the control of the directions of divine law it becomes his moral state and deeply affects his spirituality, as is said that whatever falls into a salt mine is converted into salt. That is why several Holy Scriptures like the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’an have laid stress on physical and psychical cleanliness and postures, and their regulation in relation to all worship and inner purity and spiritual humility.

According to the Bible the first essential quality of a spiritually perfect man is that his relationship should be correct and right both with his Creator God and man, his fellow-creatures. Both relationships should be right and correct which can only retrieved by having righteous conduct, seeking good influences, safeguarding oneself against conduct which is likely to harm the relationships.

The division of ‘morals’ is to be found also in religious faith and in religious life. It is important, therefore, to be clear about religious faith and religious life. There are people who equate religious life with moral life and think they are the same. To them to be religious is to be moral and to be moral is to be religious. This is incorrect and confusing.In religious life ‘morality’ and ‘spirituality’ may be the cornerstones. A man of good moral character may be just moral and be not necessarily religious. He may be a good man but not a perfect man. His moral part is all right, but not his spiritual part. We as human beings should come into ‘a being’ or ‘a creation’ where moral, spirituality and religion are in balance in a correct relationship with the other creatures and with the Creator.

Religious views generally have a great impact on a person’s lifestyle and differing views can cause conflict in relationships. In history we have seen enough examples where the religion was used to come in conflict with other members of the creation. An atheist may be incredibly uncomfortable if their significant other wanted to attend religious services and continue prayers every day. Likewise, a person who is used to being involved in religious practices may feel like something is wrong with them if their boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t want to come with them to their Holy books study or other religious gatherings.

Many religions cause difficulties in a family or in a community. – Icon-religion (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The religion may become a stumbling block in a family whilst the spirituality may have the family grow, because it can be independent from the religion. In a family religion can really become a hot mess of opinions, beliefs and arguments. Whereas, spirituality is life affirming. Even atheist can be a spiritual human being. Spirituality is a way of life. It is the only way to conquer ignorance. the spirituality is looking to get out of spiritual blindness which may cause enough foolishness, benightedness, unenlightenment. Spirituality may take the person beyond his first thought limits and bring him or her out of mental darkness. It is understanding that we all are part of a whole. The realm of spirituality is mystical and mysterious. When we look at the world with an attitude of wonder and awe, we become aware that the world is filled with spiritual life. Part of spirituality is being willing to admit that something is beyond our comprehension. With our materialistic attitude and ego-tripping of today, many having a high quality ore it is difficult for them to come to the science in understanding the world, trying to find answers they may never find. When we look at the universe and into our own hearts and see that which we don’t understand, we know that we have touched that which is unknowable and holy. To come to the acceptance of nullity is the most difficult part of spirituality. Only by willing to see the futility of our self, accepting that insignificance we shall be able to become really spiritual. though we may be religious it can well be that we are not at all spiritual.

Preceding article: Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Next: Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Read also:

+++

Additional reading:

+++

religiosity-cover-test-2 (Photo credit: jeffmikels)

The Rise of Religion Might Be All About Sex (alternet.org)
A study suggests religion might have arisen to protect certain reproductive strategies, like long-term partnership.
Is There Still a Place for Religion? (virtuoussociety.com)
Sociologists juxtapose the low religiosity of countries in Northern Europe with their low rates of crime and poverty. Unbelievers in America remark that religious people are over-represented in US prisons—and under-represented among its scientists and thinkers. In the opinion of many researchers, the statistical landscape of religion is bleak.
+
the US states with the lowest incarceration rates have the lowest levels of religiosity. But when controlling for race, income and other social factors by way of regression methods, Stark finds that religion is actually negatively correlated with violent crime.
+
To the extent that social scientists have neglected rigorous analysis in favor of more agreeable correlations, they must re-evaluate their assumptions, and paint their portrait of religious society in finer strokes, and from a wider palette. They will likely find that faith does not cast a shadow on modernity, but rather lights its way.
Texas A&M professor blends neuroscience, religion in new course (believervsnonbelievers.wordpress.com)
In the apparent conflict between science and religion, many are turning to the field of neuroscience to weigh in on debates like whether the Book of Revelation was based on an inspired dream, like Paul said it was, or a simple neurological process.
+
With more than 50 years of research and teaching experience across the entire spectrum of neuroscience, Klemm admits that his emphasis is on neuroscience, because, as he says it, “I’m not a preacher,” but he wants the students to take their own religious beliefs and try to make the connection with what he teaches them about neuroscience.
+
Religionists hold that humans have free will and are accountable for their beliefs and choices, while scientific experiments have led scientists to believe that free will is an illusion.
Supplementary Materials on Spirituality and Religion (chermercado.wordpress.com)
For those who want to expand their understanding of the topic and Spirituality and Religion, you may refer to the following links below. I’ve provided some points of reflection that should help you re-think things though you may not necessarily agree with them.
+
Some Thoughts about the Integration of Spirituality and Religion
The tendency of people who claim to be Spiritual but not religious is to treat faith as if it were a buffet: cherry-picking only the good parts and leaving the rest behind (as explained by the meme above). It’s convenient and satisfying but it doesn’t capture the essence of real faith.
+
Faith is a matter of reciprocity because it is a two-way street.
+
In summary, if your aim is to develop a personal but life-giving spirituality, it needs a check-in balance system to make sure it does just that. This check-in balance is easily provided by organized religion.
+
The Value of Community in Christian Spirituality
To relate with the Church, then, is to concretely relate with Jesus, who is God afterall. If you find yourself having a difficult time dealing with the Church’s imperfection, that’s insight in itself into how it might be like for God to be dealing with each and everyone of us. To relate with others (the Church), then, is to get to know more how God relates with us and how He has to deal with our petty problems and imperfections.
Religion Vs. Spiritual (etsuwmst.wordpress.com)
Many people religious background comes from what their parents instill in them but once they reach a certain age is where they find their true calling as to what they think and feel is right. Realistically most people just conform into whatever is most common to them.
+
Religion is organized; it’s more of a physical thing. Like something imaginable as far as seeing or feeling. Religion is instituted by man. In a religion there are many gods, although they are serving the same purpose. Just like there are many beliefs in religion. Where a spiritual person does not have an organized way about being spiritual, it is all within yourself. It’s more of being spiritual than something being physical.
Religiosity Raises Risk Among Sex Offenders, Clergy More Dangerous Than Other Groups (atheistrev.com)
Male clergy accused of sex crimes were found to be more dangerous in some important ways than matched non-clergy offenders (Langevin, Curnoe, & Bain, 2000). And religiosity was positively associated with the number of convictions for sex crimes and the number of victims among convicted male sex offenders (Eshuys & Smallbone, 2006). It was also inversely related to the age of the victims (i.e., more religious offenders tended to victimize younger children).Parents place clergy on pedestals due to their presumed connection to some sort of “god,” and they teach their children to do the same. They lower their guard because the pastor wouldn’t possibly do things like that. Clergy are often viewed as morally superior to the rest of us, and the same goes for highly religious non-clergy. They are given the benefit of the doubt again and again. We couldn’t possibly question behavior that would never be tolerated in other contexts. And this continues despite evidence that clergy and highly religious persons may actually be more dangerous to our children.
Who is religious? (suryanarayanarajumd.wordpress.com)
Common man understands religion by belonging to certain religion or belief system, he follows the pattern followed by crowd, mob by going to temple on certain dates, enjoys the entertainment involved in it.But religiosity is an inner science, “doing” is relevent to outer but “non-doing” is the key to inner exploration which does not mean laziness but it demands heightened awareness. With heightened awareness you touch a point from which you witness the seemingly opposite things are complimentary both in the outer and the inner.
+
First prepare the mind for self-inquiry
First when you are not doing bodily or mentally which include thinking, concentration, contemplation, when all activity caeses “you simply are”, “just be”.
+
develop the skill of watching self activity which is nothing but self-inquiry.As you go on watching self activity from your center of being, thought process slows down, there is radical change in self-activity and one fine day self stops functioning when it is not required. Mind is not enemy but because of lack of awareness in functining of daily activities at present it is dictating our way of life. Mind means past plus future. But life is in the present.
+
Why meditation is essential?

The whole education makes the human mind conditioned to trust only in objects which he can dissect their basic constituents.

The problem arises when when one tries to analyze the subject in the same way. An average mans thinks of Self in an objective way.

But the nature of subjectivity is that it cannot be observed. That which is observable is not your subject.

Meditation, watchfulness is the key to explore the inner. With watchfulness a distance is created between the watcher and the mind.

As watchfulness crystallizes the distance becomes longer and longer. Soon the mind is so far away you can hardly feel that it exists.
Spirituality is the world around us (realmof13.wordpress.com)
God and spirituality are pretty controversial subjects in this day and age. I myself have run the full circle of beliefs, not really wandering, but falling into the next one based of experiences and changes of perception. I have never been the biggest fan of organized religion, but I have recognized the good it does for those who participate with good intention in their hearts.
Religious vs. Spiritual (reginayflorence.wordpress.com)
Many people study different types of religions. It says “ the fact that many of the negative things which people attribute to religions are features of some forms of some religions(usually Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), but not of other religions (like Taoism or Buddhism).” We are stating that being spiritual is expressing our religion. By worshiping our spirit it shows that our religion is more than that. It is a way of getting deeper with him(God). It bring a deeper meaning to us when we believe.
Relying on Religion (creativesolblog.wordpress.com)
Many conversations concerning the topic of religion get quite personal, emotional and out of hand fairly fast. This is the case so often that common etiquette generally recommends that one avoids the subject all together (especially at the dinner table).

Focus on outward appearances

Posted on 2013/12/09 by Marcus Ampe

Paying so much attention and loving so much setting great store by outward appearances of the Christmas holiday season you may wonder how much those people screaming about the de-consecration did not themselves are part of the secularization.

One of the best things about the month of December is not the beginning of the winter season or furrylittlegnome’s birthday but the smell of Christmas trees! Originating in Germany in the sixteenth century, the tradition of a Christmas tree has evolved over time.

A Christmas tree farm in Iowa, United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

writes Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls in O Christmas Tree where she looks at the American common Christmas trees Balsam Firs and Fraser Firs – the latter found in the Eastern United States.

On December the 8th she wrote:

While reading the news online this morning, furrylittlegnome learned some interesting facts. While 88% of Americans will have a Christmas tree in their homes this season, 83% of these Christmas trees will be artificial or “fake”!

What proves it has nothing to do any more with having a sent in the closed homes, or to have some natural green in the season where there are not many blossoming flowers.

Some bloggers apologies already for being so, so late not having set up their Christmas decorations

I’m aware that I should have been in full Christmas mode in September when the first decorations hit the stores. Beach balls to Christmas balls, in the blink of an eye… {Holidaisical}

the sexy santa assistants were there to take a photo of you in front of the xmas tree or you could just ask them to take a photo with you and pretend that your girlfriend is a sexy santa assistant See where this picture was taken. [?] (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Langan, currently Business Services Director at the Penn Emblem Company, does find his joy in the music, which we do have to hear everywhere all the time on the streets, shopping malls, train stations and airports. think about those people who have to work in those places for many hours and have to hear those songs over and over again, many days after each other.

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the music.

writes John Langan

I love the old standards by Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, and the newer standards by The Killers and The Pogues (if you don’t know the raw passion of “Fairytale of New York”, you are missing out). So many new songs come out this time of year, a lot for free through iTunes and other places on the World Wide Web. A few are great (“Christmas, Baby” by G Love, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by Barenaked Ladies), and some are so stunningly awful they defy description. Each year I add to my already great playlist of holiday music… and just play it all day. Love, love, love! {Holidaisical}

He does not want any complaints:

Life is too short, my friends. There is no reason to be angry in a season dedicated to peace and love… or any other time. So Uncle Ornery… don’t worry about gifts this year. Be cheerful instead, and that can be everyone’s gift. And Jackwagon… Shop online! And Good Catholic… I feel your pain because I used to be you. I use to go to church every week, now I don’t for whatever reason. So excuse me this year if I sit in the wrong seat, or say the wrong thing. Just like everyone else, I’m just doing my best.

Southern Virginia farm of Christmas trees of various types. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The transplanted American, living in Australia for the last 30 year, Ardysez in Family and “the Christmas tree farm“, is aware that the traditions of Christmas are many and varied, depending on the cultural heritage and family practice. It are those family practices which may give the love for a sort of celebration which is placed in the memory form childhood. Her parents and grandparents started the Corsi Tree Farm in southern Ohio.

Thousands of people in the Cincinnati area will travel to the Corsi Tree Farm this year, not just to cut their own Christmas tree, but to have an old fashioned experience with country music, animals and hospitality. It is probably a tradition that will disappear one day, but for now it is alive and well in Hamersville, Ohio. {the Christmas tree farm}

Because some people do have multiple Christmas trees, their business perhaps could be blooming very well. Marie Haigh who lives in Pottstown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has 5 to be exact. Her first memory of picking out a Christmas tree was walking outside in our front yard and picking an evergreen tree. Her daughter’s memory will be similar.
Her reason for so many trees:

I just love Christmas trees. I love decorating them. I love looking at them. It is the best Christmas decoration. I would be happy if it were the only Christmas decoration we had. {Sunday Snapshots (of Christmas trees)}

Like several people the writer of Sunday Snapshots (of Christmas Decorations), who learned to knit from her mother-in-law a few years ago, hates decking for Christmas when it is frigid outside. Her blog features her knitting designs, current knitting WIPS (works in progress) whether or not they are designed by her and even failed projects. Occasionally, she takes a much needed break from knitting, such as after the birth of her daughter. During such times, her blog focuses on her family along with the hobby that has her current attention, bouncing between sewing, gardening, card-making and cooking. She lets her child make some ornaments out of Crayola model magic clay, which gives something creative to this whole set of putting up the tree where she as mother also shows her decorating talent. Her daughter Elly went to a “fairy garden class” and made some beautiful “Angel garden”. At the end of the season this daughter was upset that her parents put away the Christmas decorations. {Missing Santa}

A Christmas Tree at Home (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whilst she and her daughter may have no lack of inspiration others may get such a lack of inspiration it is driving them bonkers. A runner that loves to bake, her runs have been out of obligation, not bad but certainly not awesome. To cap off her great day, of an 1:30 minute run she went to pick out her very first Christmas tree. {Inspiration for 500 Alex…}

Heidi a caffeine-aholic, living in Western Colorado, also shows the roots of her loving the Christmas tree.

To say my Mom loved Christmas and kept it well was an understatement. She baked jillions of cookies, decorated multiple trees and hosted a holiday open house with tons of different appetizers, cookies, Scandinavian delicacies, and drinks. She loved to show off her decorated home and culinary skills, and particularly loved that people she invited brought others with them and that the parish priest would stay until the very end of the party and take home leftovers. She was in the middle of planning her holiday party when her recurring cancer landed her in the hospital. She died Christmas Eve. I like to think she went to party with the angels for Christmas, and they took her at that moment to make Christmas extra special for her.

Nice to hear that this sad moment in her life on such a special day did not ruin her “Christmas”. Understandably she may get a bit melancholy,

but mostly, I try to decorate, cook and entertain in the way Mom would have. I celebrate Christmas and celebrate Mom.

Mom had a shed on her New Mexico property she called the Christmas Shed–packed to the rafters with all manner of Christmas decor. I brought a few things home with me, a tub marked Norwegian Tree, and a few of her treasured trolls. Mom’s mom was Norwegian, and Mom identified with all thing Norwegian. The tub had ornaments, linens, and candlesticks painted as a Norwegian man and woman in their traditional finery.

Here again we see that figures come in the Christmas story which have nothing to do with the birth of Christ nor with the place of his birth. I wonder what “Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, Union, ManU, The Masters, “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments for boys and girls, dog stuff, from {Holidaisical}, beads and garland have to do with the birth of Christ in that “good tree” .

Trolls are beloved by Scandinavian people and according to Mom, these must be complimented on their beauty and charm. If you dare speak of them in terms of ugly, homely or scary, they will play pranks on you at night. {Celebrating Christmas, Celebrating Mom}

She has “A snowman tree”, “A kitchen tree” with tiny kitchen utensils and cookie cutters, “A silver and gold tree with spun glass ornaments” and the “big tree” with ornaments from her childhood and those her family has collected over the years.

It’s traditional to use an ornament as a decoration on a wrapped gift.

I also set out a pair of Christmas plates, also painted by Mom. The Santa one has Mom and Dad’s names as well as the names of their friends of the time, on Santa’s list.

Mulled wine steeping (Swedish glögg)

I would say on cold day a Glühwine or Mulled wine, vin chaud (“hot wine”), [In Italy: vin brulé (“burnt wine”)] the spicy warm wine with cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace, orange or mandarins, elderberries, blueberries, cherries, red and black currants and blackberries, may not be lacking. In the Netherlands, the drink is known as bisschopswijn (literally “bishop’s wine”). Bisschopswijn is drunk during the Sinterklaas holidays. It uses oranges instead of lemons as an ingredient.
When Madeira wine and Port wine are used we call it Douro, or like in the Minho Provinces “vinho quente“. In Canada they call it also Caribou, thought my family in law living there still call it “bisschopswijn”.

An other “warming up drink” may be the traditional Scandinavian spirit Aquavit, distilled from potatoes and spiced with caraway, dill, cardamom, and anise.

It pairs nicely with fish and is usually served in tiny glasses and meant to be sipped and savored.

For us this is the time, after a good big walk, to say “Skoal!”

Jeffrey Bing who values faith, family, fun, football, and following sports of all types, for the past 21 years, Christmas morning was, without fail, about early morning wake ups with the kids to see what Santa had brought for them.

From “Baby Hannah” walking behind her big truck at 7 months of age, to Alec and Rebecca each being equally (if not more) interested in what Santa brought to their twin than to them in their 11th month of age first Christmas, Christmas morning has been about joy, discovery, and sharing.

Once again we can see that this family had their traditional “Christmas Santa” event. But the “Santa” was not standing for “Sanct” or “Holy“. It was all about a Nordic figure and nothing with a Palestine or coloured man, whose name was Jeshua, born in the tribe of king David, who became better known in the West as Jesus Christ or Issou, “Ya Zeus” (“Yea-Zeus”), meaning “Hail Zeus”.

Though many may say, like bill:

Christmas is not about the toys, the trinkets, and the packages. Christmas is about love, family, friends, and sharing. And Christmas, for a certain 44 year old man in middle America, is about joyful memories. Today’s will add to that collection.

but always in those memories, on the different blogs, we nowhere find a reference of Christ Jesus, which they call the reason of the season. Is it than not strange they not mention this Jewish man more? How does it come that they may forget the “most important reason of the season” and would not talk more about this man had done for humanity? Jeffrey Bing his blog was one of the exceptions where I could find something written on Christian values and on Jesus, being the Christ or Messiah, having given his life for us.

So should we not wonder ho much the Christians absorbed from other religions or pagan practices and got carried away from their real ‘reason of the season’?

Bill recognises:

Maybe being absorbent opens us up to taking in new vital nutrients. Take all of this with a grain of salt, as its coming from a guy who hasn’t missed too many meals, even back in the day. I’ve got the old videos to prove it.. {Absorption rate}

Christmas is about tradition, and for the Bings, tradition has included full days of family time and not leaving the company of the nest on the magical day.

But the times, they are a changin’, and change brings new traditions, and new people, into our lives. And new can be good, even if it takes red tie giving sweeties away on Christmas day, to spend time with sweeties of their own.

Red ties, red eyes, red sweaters, red letters. Amen. Change can be a good thing. {Red Letter Day}

Would it all not be better to come to the core of the business and celebrate the holy day Jesus himself gave? Namely the 14th of Nisan, the day also god asks us to remember the exodus of His People and to remember the New Covenant. there we can see the red, not from a Father Christmas, the figure Coca-Cola created with the red coat, but the red from the blood of the man Jesus, who offered himself for the sins of many.

in today’s world much of the original meaning of Christmas has been lost in the hustle and bustle of this most wonderful time of the year.

writes a Texan (girl?) on “Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.” — Margaret Thatcher

it is frankly a little disheartening to me to think that one can celebrate Christmas without mentioning Christ at all.

she continues and looks at Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth as a little baby in order to live a perfect life,

and die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sin in order that our relationship with God might be restored and we can spend eternity with him.

But soon she also goes into talking about traditions, believing

it is very important to keep Christ in many of our Christmas traditions so that we can remember what He has done for us – but some things we do, we do for FUN – and that is perfectly okay too. Jesus did say, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.“

She found it fun to identify which ones were, a part of her growing up, and which ones she wants to continue in her new family. Then people come to see that the Christmas traditions may be totally different, from one family to an other. Then they either have to go for one or the other tradition or have to make a blend. that is what they think, but nobody has the courage to really do thorough research and come to the conclusions according the Holy Scriptures and commandments of God. Most Christians do want to keep the tradition. That is the difficult part the apostles Paul and John were talking about when they wrote about Jesus his words of being part of the world, being in or outside this world and choosing for the World of God.

Those in the world want to keep on to those fun Traditions, and that is what makes them not so different form the gentiles or non-Christians. they are mostly concerned about:

Christmas Trees

Gift Giving

Stockings

Caroling

Mistletoe

Santa Claus

Gingerbread Houses

Christmas Cards

Advent Calendars

Christmas Eve Candlelight Services

Traditions very dear to many people their heart.

Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio is the site of this Christmas display with over 3.5 million lights. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But should our heart not be with Christ Jesus, and should our thoughts not be filled with his teachings? Did Jesus not enough explain it has nothing to do with outside appearances, but has all to do with the inside of the hearth and the following of God His commandments and not following the world.

Who do you want to follow? Do you want to follow traditions, because you are ashamed that people would give some nasty remarks, because you do not join in in the festivities to show off with the ‘nicest tree’, the most ‘Christmas decorations’ in the street and do not join the Christmas parties with lots of “heavy music”?

Preceding article: The imaginational war against Christmas

Additional reading:

+++

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! (how2makelemonade.wordpress.com)
One of my favorite parts of Christmas is decorating for the season. Christmas decorations just make a house look so warm and cozy.
+
My style for Christmas is pretty traditional. I like the traditional Christmas colors, red, white, and green. Plus many of my ornaments look vintage, but most of them came from Target. The vintage ornaments give the tree a classic feel that doesn’t look like some fancy designer did it.
Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches (charlieandmummy.wordpress.com)
Normally by this time of year I am well and truly into the Christmas spirit organising the concerts at school and performing with band. It feels strange to not be out playing carols and concerts, but good to not be dashing around like a crazy lady. Instead we will be enjoying every little detail of Charlies first Christmas.
O Christmas Tree (lillian888.wordpress.com) reblogged from> O Christmas Tree on which I like the photo’s, and where you can find a decorated ladder, strings of lights and a very tall ceiling.
+
Here are some truly fantastic Christmas trees. Remember how I was thinking this might be the year I create a theme tree? These photos are full of inspiration!
On My Christmas Non Tree Tree (chasingtheblackwood.wordpress.com) you may find an other ladder tree, where scented candles shall have to bring in “happy Christmas scents”.
Hunting for a Christmas Tree (magnuspittmanblog.wordpress.com)
After we found our perfect tree one of the workers cut it down for us and then we got a ride back down to the farm entrance with our tree! We had a busy rest of the weekend so the tree is not decorated yet, but stay tuned for more photos when we are able to put it up!
Oh Christmas tree, MY Christmas tree (longwalksanddarkchocolate.com)
With all of the ornaments laid out on the kitchen table this year, I made a decision. I was going to split them and ship them!
+
What was in it for me? To be honest, as I packed all the cute, kiddie looking ornaments, I was dreaming of a tree similar to one I’d encountered on Pinterest, with a woodland animal theme. You might think I’m not sentimental enough and that I should be pining for the ornament that a 6yr old made in art class. Well, I did keep a couple that were made by their own little hands. However, not for my tree; just for the memory. I much prefer the memories of spending time with them and our conversations and laughter to things.
+
We can’t dwell on the past and the way things were. Things and people change and we can’t allow ourselves to get bogged down in the yesterdays and how things used to be. We grow, people pass on, family members move, more members are added.
Christmas Traditions: Ornaments (ourlittlefamilyadventure.wordpress.com)
Growing up, my brother and I always received a new Christmas tree ornament. It was either a beautiful handmade glass ornament or something to commemorate a special event that year. It was something to be cherished and saved to be hang up the following year. My mother saved all these ornaments. When I was married, she gave me a collection of Christmas tree ornaments for my new family tree. It was collection of cherished Christmas memories. There was a Baby’s First Christmas ornament from the day I was born, ornaments from places we’d been, and sports I’d played in school. It was all right there in the box. It’s a great tradition I’m happy to pass down to my children.
Christmas Tree (fallinginchocolat.wordpress.com)
In Belgium we have this holiday called ‘Sinterklaas’ on the 6th of december, and tradition is that in the weekend after this holiday we go buy our christmas tree and decorate it. So Today is the 7th and a saturday which means we went to buy our tree. I must say every year me and my mom have some debate over the tree ( bigger ! no smaller ! ) and how to decorate it.
ADVENTageous for Dec 8: Christmas Tree (moredrunkordrunker.wordpress.com)
Not many in Great Britain held the tradition of a decorated tree until a print featured Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (both of German heritage) standing near their Christmas tree.Ukrainians decorate their Christmas trees with an artificial spider, as a Ukrainian legend holds that tinsel originated when a spider wove cobwebs all over a Christmas tree at night and the rising sun turned it to silver. Finding a real spider web on Christmas morning is considered good luck, not a reason to immediately call an exterminator.
Worshipping created things. The outward acts of their idolatry. Idolatry is Forbidden. (proclaimingthegospelofchrist.wordpress.com)
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. (Acts 17:29)
+
It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

	On to a baptismal ce… on Get Your Wonderful Disease-pro…
	Reden om kennis in u… on Fundamenten van het Geloof 13…
	What is expected of… on Lovers of God, seekers and lov…
	What is expected of… on Being in tune with God
	Wat wordt er van een… on Wettisch tegenover wet
	Wat wordt er van een… on Fundamenten van het Geloof: 7.…
	Intense conflict in… on A multi-front war between Isra…
	Wat betekent het om… on Kerkzijn in een ik-gerichte…
	What does it mean to… on Being Religious and Spiritual…
	What does it mean to… on Members of the ecclesia unitin…
	What does it mean to… on How do I know if I’m cal…
	What does it mean to… on The Pastor Theologian
	No necessity for fas… on 8 Reasons Christian Holidays S…
	How to find out that… on Lovers of God, seekers and lov…
	How to find out that… on Patriarch Abraham, Muslims, Ch…

.

.

.

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

.

.

.

.

+

+

Find also to read:

Additional material of interest:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

The Name of the God and of the City written upon the pillar

God fearing people and their land

A new nation to be born

Falling away from true religion

Renewed earth and heavens foretold

A son to reign on the throne of David to rule over the house of Jacob and Gentiles

Domination of the earth by the Gentile powers

The Delight Zion Owned as a Wife

The desolate woman

Returners from exile

Walking together and partakers

People willing to bring forth fruits

Faithful remnant

A bride adorned for her husband, Lamb of God

Earthly and heavenly

Measures of Heavenly City

A Pure, Beneficial Rule.

Find in this series:

Additional reading:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Find also to read:

Additional reading:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Find also to read:

Additional reading:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Find also:

Additional readings:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Read also:

Additional reading:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this:

Additional reading:

Related articles

Rate this:

Share this: