Visual and aural impacts – contacts and concepts

Posted on 2020/08/11 by Guestspeaker

Jeff Carreira notes that the world reveals itself to us in a stream of sensation. Man has to face a lot of things in his life; Growing up we always go from one (unexpected) situation onto another, always bringing new and other facts and facets.

All the time we are confronted with lots of imprints, made by colours, shapes, lines, shades of light and dark, whilst at the same time we do have to endure lots of sounds.

We hear sounds shrill and bass, harmonious and discordant. Our skin touches cold and heat, hard and soft, rough and smooth. Scent passes constantly through our nostrils and in our mouths we taste bitter and sweet. {Contact, Concept and Art}

How are we willing to cope with everything that surrounds us?

Beyond out physical sensations we have the rich inner world of emotion and feeling. Joy, sorrow, fear, anger, and contentment – our inner reality is constantly fluctuating between different emotional reactions to the sensations that the world presents. {Contact, Concept and Art}

As human beings it are our sensations which bring us into life. Those visible and invisible vibrations and impulses give us feelings and joys. We get an impulse to go somewhere or do something and that then this leads us to something different, perhaps something bigger, but we never know beforehand how acting on them will transform us and our life.

When walking around on this globe we have to see and hear, or to have a willingness to undergo the vibrations of this earth. It’s really about becoming aware of them and act on them, because the universe is always speaking to us, but lots of people are not fully aware of it. Lots of people ignore signals which are giving all the time.
We should know that all those impulses around us give some direction to our emotions, even when we would not want to be influenced by them.

This cascade of sensation and emotion is not all of our reality, however, because alongside these our minds have developed the ability to generate a parallel stream of concepts that arrange and organize our sensations into ideas that can be held onto long after the sensations that gave birth to the have faded into our even out of memory. {Contact, Concept and Art}

How do we want to look at things? What do we want to allow to influence us? How do we want to form ideas and impressions?

Our concepts take a set of sensations and create an object out of them. {Contact, Concept and Art}

Do we want what we see to be real? Or do we think it is just imagination? And how far do we want to allow our imagination cope with that what passes our eyes and mind? Every one of us experiences similar experiences differently. We might be beings all come from the same one being (Adam), and in a way we all should be partners in sameness, oneness, unity, though being absolute and irrevocably unique. There is not a single person in the world who has the exact same thoughts-feelings-experiences, i.e. story, as you, me or another. None. This insight makes all of us relevant to the history of the life of humankind. It is this uniqueness which makes us all so interesting for others as well as for ourselves. Because we for ourself have to explore and to uncover our own self and the beings around us.

Exploring and developing this uniqueness, expanding and narrating our story, gives meaning, perhaps the only meaning we really need. {The meaning of life – Finding purpose}

All the time we want to find out the truth of what we see and hear. Whilst we go from one year in the next we try to live a life and grow up with reality or what we think is reality. Meanwhile, we have to cope with our strengths and weaknesses, explore our talents and analyze our personality traits. At the same time we often fear to have to explore our own self, being confronted with that what we do not want to see: our weaknesses. Most of us want to ignore them, pretend they don’t exist, and choose to focus only on our strengths, which means we don’t do anything about our shortcomings. So they grow and continue to hold us back. doing so we create a lie, sheeting ourselves.

Facing our weakness requires us to acknowledge and accept that we’re not perfect, and that is often something we do not want to know or not want to be. We would love to be perfect and somehow we also would love to see that others would also be perfect. But they just aren’t.

Why is it that human beings accept that people, in general, aren’t perfect, yet are embarrassed to admit their own imperfections?

One word: vulnerability. Imperfection and weakness mean that we’re vulnerable.

Preceding

Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality

Additional reading

Dividing walls of “race”

Posted on 2020/07/16 by Guestspeaker

All human beings are created in the image of God. This makes that we are or should be, all accepting the other as being allowed to be here by God and to be co-images of God and ourselves.

The Divine Creator, Jehovah, the God above all gods, did not create more than one race. Of the kind that now usually walks on two legs, God created only one kind: a man taken from the red earth, hence his name “A·dham“.

Dr. George Gallant says

Racism, implies that our Creator made more then one race of people. There is but one race the human race. Get use to it people and stop using the word Racism. One Blood, One People, One set of Parents, Adam and Eve.

He has good reason to call for stopping to divide people in races or a sort of brands. We all come from the same original human beings, who probably were not white at all. The first man and mannin Adam and Eve (Chavah or Isha) got children and their children got again children and in the end we come from those children their children.

William D Tillman says

the majority of people have bought into the false construct of color/ethnicity equals – species (sic race). This is really a question of supremacy – white supremacy in particular. The dividing walls of “race” were erected to not only keep “the races pure” but to subjugate all to so-called white people. My real concern is how silent the church is on this.

“let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think…”

is a principle that is espoused but today’s rhetoric indicates it’s one that rather needs to be lived. The statement,

“I don’t see race”

is another method to dismiss the systematic denigration and disenfranchisement of a whole sector of the population because it places the blame of perception of the suffering and relieves the “race-blind” of the guilt of apathy.

We always should remember we could be born in another region, another culture, or we could have been born with either lighter or darker skin, God chose what we are on the outside but the inside is the same. The inside is the most important factor of our being.

In the life and teaching of Jesus we nowhere can find that he had a particular predilection for a sort human being. The places he went to had Hebrew, Palestinian, Arab and other Eastern people walking around and also listening to him. Never gave he a sign to have a certain preference for or over one or the other person. In Jesus’ teaching is no such thing as racial preference. He teaches that all people are the same. Also for God everybody is equal and shall be equally judged.

As followers of Christ or Christians, we all should be like brothers and sisters and share that brotherly love with each other.

Find also to read:

The Importance of the Prophetic

Posted on 2015/07/20 by Bijbelvorsers

Humankind is given the words of God and is free to accept them or to reject them. But they shall have to bear the consequences of their choice.
Having sent His son to the world, who came to make everything clear, man should have no excuses any more. By the Grace of God Jeshua’s offering was accepted to liberated all from death, but those who would not accept the Most High would have no opportunity any more if they also reject the offering of God’s son.

We now have the words of many prophets and should take them at heart. Those, in modern times, who still do find reason to object those words and all the happenings from the past would better look into their own heart to feel their inner being and react better on that.

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Find also to read:

Summerholiday season time to read the Bible

Holiday making and dreaming

Home-stayers and their to do list

Genre – Playing by the Rules

The Need to Understand Genre

Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything

Great things, Voice of God and terrors

Hatred and hostility against God

Arguments about believe and About Christianity versus Atheism

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Steve Lyston: Taking God’s grace for granted

Grace Is…

Amazing Grace

The Road

“Head of a Prophet” by Mikhail Vrubel

This is an excerpt from a post published on the blog Grace and Truth:

The Importance of the Prophetic

The prophet represents God. He goes forth from the presence of God and speaks what God has given him to speak. The prophet speaks the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not just speaking the Word, it is speaking it forth in the power of an anointing borne out of intimacy with Jesus Himself. The prophet is the ambassador of Christ in this world, and so the prophet and his message are inextricably linked. A true prophet cannot be separated from the message he brings.

We see this with Ezekiel. God had a message for Israel and He had His prophet to act out what he was proclaiming to Israel. He had to lie down for a certain…

View original post 1,043 more words

People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations

Posted on 2014/01/23 by Christadelphians

Books of many interpretations

christadelphian church kedron brook (1) (Photo credit: bertknot)

People often wonder when they look at persons who read the Bible or discuss the Bible how it comes there are so many interpretations. In Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs a reader rightly remarks that in certain faith groups a child/young adult may believe that the God of the Bible is real & no further examination of this conclusion is necessary, which could bring in the danger that there will be no-critical thinking any more. The person reacting thinks this leads many Christadelphians to actively seek sources confirming their beliefs and actively avoiding sources that challenge these beliefs – pure confirmation bias. For that reason the Christadelphians ask their members always to search each saying and not to restrict themselves to our own literature, but to read the Bible everyday plus to read also other writings on the different Biblical subjects from all sorts of denominations. In our community we do not want denominational restrictions and prefer to have individual freedom. For others this may look strange and make it that they do not understand that there may be several different opinions over certain matters in the different Christadelphian groups. They also accuse us of not being in union, but than they do not see that we are in union with Christ and that there is also the union in the brotherhood because we accept each-other as brothers and sisters in Christ having the same faith in Christ and having the same hope for the Kingdom of God.

In case there are people in our community who dare not to take up writings from others, or are afraid to listen or look at the new visual and audible media (radio, television, computer) we think they could feel like that because they could be not strong enough in their faith. Somebody who is build firmly in his believes, does not have to fear, when he sincerely surges for the truth and always considers the Will of God in his or her actions.

Origin of different interpretations

Holy Trinity church (Photo credit: stevecadman)

The difficulty for humankind today is that we do have the consequences of the adversary by the first human beings. In the Garden of Eden God has given humankind the liberty to decide everything themselves and to find out everything themselves. So we also do have to find our own way. We shall not have to face a dictator of an “omniscient God” who did “ensure that the Scriptures were clear enough to leave no room for interpretation”. In case people would just take God his Words like they are written black on white in the Scriptures there would be no problem and everybody would think the same. But in the past there have been workers against God (the adversaries or satan) who started to twist the words of the Supreme Being and who tried to bring in false teachings and false gods. As such the Trinity also became part of Christendom and created much confusion. One false teaching brought in a passage where again a solution had to be found and some dogma had to be created.

As a Good Father the Elohim Jehovah, the God of gods gave the people living on this earth His advice. Like we as parents can give advice to our children they all may interpret our sayings differently or take liberties with our thoughts. In the same way the creatures of God take the same liberties and some may twist the words their heavenly Father said. This twisting makes them to react differently on one or the other saying. This makes that today we can find many denominations, many churches with even in those churches several interpretations of one passage in the Bible.

Freedom to find out yourself

As God has given freedom to man at the beginning of time, to allow them to rule the world and to find out things on their own, we now have to bear the consequences and live with the possibility of different interpretations. But when people would be prepared just to take the Words of God for what they say, black on white, and would listen to their inner voice, God will be prepared to guide them and to give them inner feelings and insight so that they really shall find the Truth. But it is that preparedness to listen to the heart, which shall make it in many cases difficult, because most people do want to keep onto traditions and want to belong with the majority. They shall have to understand that perhaps the lovers of God do not belong to the majority of the world and that it is that what Jesus is about talking of the small gate to enter the Kingdom of God.

Ability to find God and Truth

To be able to find the God of gods and to find the Truth, people shall have to be willing to open their mind and to give their full attention to the Word of God as it is notated in the Book of books, the Bible.

As the critic on our writings remarks we can see it happening all the time that even two Bible-believing people can have opposing views on a certain passage of Scripture. Both claim to have solid supporting evidence in terms of context, cross-references and consistency. Both make what they think are reasonable arguments for their interpretations. So how can we determine which view is right? And does it matter?

When we do hear or are confronted with different views we should now that it can be that both views are partly right and partly wrong. With the exception of clear-cut fundamental Bible teaching — sometimes called “first principles” — no one should expect to find the full, complete, all-aspects-covered answer. We are all human beings which do not have the possibility to be perfect in everything. We all have our own deficiencies and fallacies. We also do have to face the things which are know but also those which are unknown. Even Christ had to tell his disciples he could not give all answers, because it is only given to God to know everything. Christ even did not know when he would be returning to the earth. He will certainly be involved in that important event where he shall have to come to judge the living and the dead, but even there he could not say when the end-times would take place.

In case Jesus did not know such important things concerning himself, how would we know such things?

A Book of books for discovery

Scripture is so richly significant and interwoven that discovery of another aspect or realization of another line of inquiry is just a matter of time. Several times in the 20th century alone, discoveries of ancient texts — in fact, whole libraries of ancient texts — have thrown new light on Bible passages. Ongoing archaeological investigations continue to help us understand God’s inspired Record better.

Brother George Booker looks into the matter why we even can not be 100% certain of first principles. In Which View is Right? he looks at our first principles which are expressed in man’s imperfect wording and warns us that there is always the possibility of simple misunderstanding of what, precisely, those words mean.

As serious Bible students we should have always an open mind and look at all possibilities. We should be prepared to continually grow spiritually as disciples of Christ. Everyday our thought should be by the Most High and always we should continually be seeking to increase in knowledge and understanding. God’s Truth and Biblical Truth invites… indeed, it welcomes… investigation. So when encountering a different view, we should seize the opportunity at least to understand the evidence provided. We can always learn something, and if we’re wise, we may need to adjust our own views accordingly.

So what has all this to do with Bible study? Simple. There are many differing interpretations of Scripture. Which view is right? The measuring stick for soundness and rightness must be God’s Word. It’s that simple.

Of course, many other views (with which we may disagree) cite Bible verses as evidence. Thus it becomes a matter of determining:

The relevance of the cited passage: Does it contain the same or similar words and ideas?

Its validity: Does it really support the point being argued?

Its clarity: Is the reference self-explanatory, or does it, too, need interpretation?

Its consistency: Is the interpretation in harmony with undisputed fundamentals of Bible teaching?

For example, if an opinion is inconsistent with or contradicts well-known Bible facts and doctrine, then it must be modified accordingly, or abandoned. So just because a view is argued by citing dozens of verses does not, in itself, make it Biblically sound. What counts is clear, relevant evidence, logically arrived at. {Which View is Right?}

Being right or wrong not so evident

It is not up to decide this guy or that one is right in everything. Probably not one of them is right in everything, and both can have many things right but also some thing(s) utterly wrong. Would that be a reason to exclude them? As long as it are not the most important basic elements of faith, we would say “No”. And we also would say those differences of opinion do not have to exclude union in speech. Both can still have the same basic faith for belonging in the “Church of God”.

It does matter if a person’s misunderstanding of a Bible passage, or several passages, will take him or her out of the way that leads to salvation. It doesn’t matter if the view is simply differing details such as timing and location and protagonists.

What is more important is how we deal with our inevitable differences.

Suppose a person with a particular view is 100% right on an issue that could easily affect the salvation of a person with a different view. The matter doesn’t stop here. If the first person (the one who is perfectly right) is not patient, gentle and meek in trying to persuade the second person (2 Tim 2:24,25), but rather impatient, harsh and accusatory (manifested by strong words, condescension, indignation, arrogance, or threats), then his correctness counts for little:

“The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24,25).

Wrong behaviour more than cancels out right knowledge. If anyone has been blessed to have the right understanding of Scripture, then he or she has the responsibility to be forthright but caring toward those who do not yet share that understanding. Such patient, gentle teaching imitates the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus himself.

Getting knowledge at different moments in time

Not every one is at the same time gifted with the same knowledge. For some it make take ‘ages’ before they come to Biblical insight. Others may see things very easily. Some might remember appropriate Bible verses very easily,others easily forget them, though they know and remember what has been said and meant in the verses.

The one who may think he or she is right about the meaning of a certain part in the Bible, has to take on the Agape love of Christ and be patient, willing to give the other person the time to find out how it really is. In the meantime he can provide enough study material and show interest in the other person his or her way of thinking. Together they should unite to go into research of the different matters we should get knowledge of.

When we encounter differences in opinion, we also should ask ourselves if those differences are so important or can interfere with the real belief.

Does the difference really matter?
How should you deal with the difference?

Clear language

To find clarity we always should look in the Bible to find the Truth, by comparing verses in other books and by looking if one saying does not contradict an other saying of way of thinking. The Bible does not contradict itself. God is a God of order and clarity. He did not speak in “broebeltaal” (a strange language nobody can understand), He also does not speak in a “broddeltaal” (a ‘bungle language) scribbles or a clumsy language. He has given clear words, but people do have to be willing to take them as they are written down. As soon as they fabricate their own dogma’s they shall get in trouble. But that is not because of the Words written in the bible, but because of man’s own fault of thinking god’s Words can only be understood by learned people. God does not ask from man to have a special education to interpret His Words. In all people He has given the possibility to get to understand and to know what they should understand and know at the time.

Preceding articles:

Finding God amid all the religious externals

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers

To be continued:

People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms

People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life

People Seeking for God 6 Strategy

Please find also to read:

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If Jesus was God, why did he pray to himself? (Photo credit: Zombie Inc. Wholesale Zombies for Over 25 years)

When Jesus is God,
how does it come there are so many pictures and statues made of him by those who say he is God,
whilst God tells His followers not to make any picture of Him?
Why do they not keep to those commandments of the Most High God, who says they may have only One God
and not worship any other being?

There are many Trinities! (onthehillgilayjun.blogspot.com)
While the majority of the Christian world considers the concept of the Trinity vital to Christianity, many historians and Bible scholars agree that the Trinity of Christianity owes more to Greek philosophy and pagan polytheism than to the monotheism of the Jew and the Jewish Jesus.
Trinitarianism Is Not __________ (onetheology.com)
Modalism (also known as Sabellianism, named after it’s earliest proponent, Sabelius, in the 3rd century.) believes that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different names for the same God acting in different roles or manifestations at difference times in salvation history. God is not really three distinct persons. In some circles people often call Modalism “Oneness” or “Jesus Only”. This view has also been called “Monarchianism.” Today, the largest Modalist group is the United Pentecostal Church. Modalisms emphasis on there being one God makes it attractive too many.
In Another Post On A Really Bad Idea (supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com) can be seen how far one can go when start believing one person is the other. Like when is assumed that Jesus is God that would make the mother of Jesus also the mother of God and than it would be very strange if that mother could sin. Therefore ther are people who claim she could not have sinned. they than dare to say:
“To deny her perfection and her relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost would be heresy.”

“She only questioned the angel as she did not know how she would have Christ without a man. Gabriel explained. Mary, all her life was in harmony with God’s perfect Will. She trusted God. She was not anxious. These are all Protestant interpretations. She did not talk to Joseph as she trusted in God.”

Theophany, Epiphany and the Holy Trinity (orthodoxmom3.wordpress.com) may look at “Theophany”, to be celebrated on January 6th being the Feast Day celebrating the manifestation of God. They do not seem to listen to the words of God Who clearly says who is being baptised. At the time of Jesus his baptism by John in the Jordan God revealed not Himself to people as the Holy Trinity (not at all found in Matt. 3:16) but he revealed that the Nazarene Jew was God His beloved son.
Matthew 3:16-17 according the Bibles we do have clearely states: Yeshua, when he was immersed, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him. (17) Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (HNV)

One can wounder if Scriptures can not be lear enough when one person speak about the other. Do the Trinitarians not want to believe Jesus or iIs jesus also not clear enough with saying: “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah. ” (John 17:3 HNV)?

Nineteenth Century Protestant Doctrines of the Trinity (redeemingthetext.wordpress.com)
The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity is, in brief form, one of how Enlightenment philosopher-theologians developed innovative ways to discuss the Trinity and their effectiveness leading into the twentieth century. Samuel Powell, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Point Loma Nazarene University, makes the point that there is a typical narrative associated with nineteenth-century theology: Schleiermacher delivered the final blow and Barth revived it (267).
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Not being convinced scripturally of the nature or the necessity of the Trinity, nineteenth-century theologians turned to philosophy to answer their questions. Powell describes it as providing “philosophical answers with expressly Trinitarian features (269).” This move loosened the shackles of theological presuppositions and creedal traditions. Nineteenth-century theology was freed to philosophically construct a new horizon for the doctrine of God. Powell examines four prominent figures to structure his argument.
How to Identify a Christian Cult (924jeremiah.wordpress.com) overlooks the fact what really makes a cult and talks about a figure, which is according the Bible the adversary of God. Though on the site is also written: “The followers of such cults will say that they believe in Jesus. They will use the terms “God” and “Holy Spirit.” They will talk about baptism, salvation, Heaven and Hell. Some will even acknowledge the cross as a means of atoning for sins.”
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“Satan simply can’t afford to let his followers get too close to the truth about who Christ is, and what He accomplished on earth. So if you want to find out if you’re talking to a real Christian or not, start drilling them about Jesus.”
But then overlooks that this Satan has his followers who do not want to accept taht Jesus really was tempted, could sin but did not sin. And gives the impression that those who do not want to take the words of God and Jesus for what they say are the good ones, or the churches to follow, whilst the ones who accept Jesus his offering for our sins (like we) and accept hat he is the “son of God” like God Himself said would be belonging to a sect, though they really believe in what Jesus himself said, accepting that he nor God would ever lie:
” (3) “And this is everlasting life, that they should know You, the only true Elohim, and יהושע {Jehsua} Messiah whom You have sent.” (John 17:3 The Scriptures 1998+)
What always surprises us is that such websites accusing certain denominations, like the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons to be cult, never leave any place to react on what is said. (On January 23, 2014, there is no possibility to reply on the writings on that website, nor the above mentioned article.)
How to Avoid Being Led Astray by False Shepherds (924jeremiah.wordpress.com)
If you’re like most Christians, you don’t know your Bible very well. You never went to Bible college or seminary. You’ve had no theological training. Can you really engage with the professionals and not get hurt? Can you really become wiser than them even though you don’t have any diplomas in Hebrew or theology? Of course you can. Keep reading.
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As a member of God’s flock, you need to be constantly listening for His Voice in the things you hear and read.
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The Holy Spirit is your resident Counselor. He is with you at all times. He is your Guardian, Teacher, and Truth Tester. You must not let any earthly being become equal to Him in your mind. No matter how many brilliant posts, books, or sermons someone cranks out, their next one could be a pack of lies. Never put your trust in a label, a name, a face, or a reputation. Everything must be checked with the Holy Spirit.
Like most websites on the Trinity Reflection: The Trinity (sydneystaggs.wordpress.com) does not leave any place to comment. though she writes luckily: “Take a look at scripture. What does it say about God the Father? What does it say about God the Son? What does it say about the Holy Spirit? How are they different?”
We can only hope people would come to see what God says about Jesus and what Jesus says about his Father.
A Call for Division in the Visible Church (5ptsalt.com)
if Unitarianism by its denial of the Holy Trinity has patently forfeited every claim to the Christian name, it is difficult to see how a church which has wittingly and willfully accepted the control of modernism, with its denial of the essential deity of Christ and such supernatural events as His virgin birth and bodily resurrection, has any right to be called Christian. Such a church should be denominated a false church and declared to be outside the Christian fold. If that were done, one of the greatest obstacles to the unification of the visible church would be eliminated. For theological liberalism, in all its clamor for ecumenism and church union, is working more effectively toward the disruption of the church of Christ than is any other force. The first need of the church of this day is not union, but division; however, division unto union.
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the failure to keep the various teachings of Scripture in balance with each other and the consequent stressing of one or some of them out of all proportion to others, have frequently destroyed the visible unity of Christ’s church. Riding a theological hobby is by no means an innocent pastime. Of such sins it behooves churches everywhere to repent, and from them they must desist.- R. B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ, pp. 51-54
World Mission Society Church of God is saying the core of the Bible – God: Christ ahnsahnghong and God the mother (followersofahnsahnghong.wordpress.com)
2000 years ago, the disciples who met Christ could find the way to the kingdom of heaven through his teachings. But as the time passed by, the way taught by Jesus disappeared by Satan who tried to disturb the Work of God’s Redemption (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 5:1.) How can we, human beings who lost the way of salvation, find it again? The Bible prophesies that Christ is to appear once again for our salvation.

How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice

Posted on 2014/01/02 by Marcus Ampe

Praying people

Marc Minter thinks most churchgoers would fully acknowledge “Prayer is essential in the life of every Christian“. Most churchgoers would fully acknowledge this as a reality, but some may be embarrassed to answer any questions regarding the frequency, intentionality, or purpose of their own prayers. In public you would not find many Christians praying any more. The only ones you see on the streets, parking spaces, stations or airports, praying are Muslims. It looks like they are the only ones who are not afraid to pray in public.

Luke tells us that Jesus said people ought to “always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1), but we do not seem to see many people pray and openly confess their love for God.

Responsible churchgoers

I would not agree with Marc Linter about the fact that most churchgoers would accept some responsibility for evangelism generally. Perhaps they might think there should be some evangelism, but nobody dares to take the steps to go out, except the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons, though these can be seen less than in the 1960ies and 1970ies.

I wonder where those Christians would like to take their tasks up, Jesus has given them. I must admit that for me it is also very frustrating to notice that also I can not get more Christadelphians to come out to preach or to join this internet magazine about spiritual and religious lifestyle. I wonder where those evangelists stay? Where are those Christians to take up their voice in the name of the Most High? Where are those willing to preach about the coming Kingdom of God? Even to find people who would like to help others to find ways to look at life and to understand the human way of thinking are difficult to find. Up to now I did not find any writer who presented himself or herself to come to write for Stepping Toes about the history of humankind and of philosophy or to shed a light on the archaeology or write about Christian history or to write about different religions. This are important subjects to know more and to create more understanding? But who wants to share his or her knowledge?

Requirement to participate in personal evangelism

I do agree with Marc Minter that personal evangelism and the clear requirement of every Christian to participate, would cause a bit of discomfort to say the least. Today many are afraid to give sight of their opinion or do not like that others have other ideas than they. Creating an internet magazine where the authors do accept that other writers may have other insights and are willing others also to show the different views, is not an easy choice. But we do believe in an open mind and are willing to admit we can not know everything. Lots of things are also untold in the Scriptures or are left open. We do believe the things we can not know for sure should not be a burden of faith, and can be interpreted à volonté. Who is going to decide it is this or that way? We just will have to wait until the end-times, to hear Jesus explaining everything and making all clear. We better trust him and wait for his return.

Vasily Perov’s painting illustrates clandestine meetings of Christians in pagan Kiev. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the mean time we should try to help each other to get insight. It is a matter of brotherly love. Prayer and evangelism should mark the lives of every Christian, and no less than Jesus Himself has commanded his followers thus. In the previous articles you could already see that Jesus provided examples of prayer (Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28; Matthew 19:13; John 11:41-42) You could also read that prayer is an intimate connection with an imminent Counsellor and Omnipotent Provider. From Scriptures we also got to know that we must ask guidance and knowledge. But in the examples is also given that we must pray we may have and give love. Part of this love is the sharing of knowledge and helping each other to come to the truth.

Regarding evangelism, Marc Minter writes:

Jesus commissions all who would follow him to “make disciples” of all people groups everywhere (Matthew 28:19). While some may attempt to distinguish the group described by terms like believer and disciple, I find no reason at all in Scripture to do so. In fact, the two appear to be synonymous when referring to one’s relationship to Christ (Acts 9:26; John 8:31). Therefore, the commission given by Christ to all His followers at least includes evangelism. Discipleship may refer to much more than conversion, but no one would rationally argue that it refers to less. {Jesus, Prayer & Evangelism}

Action of discipleship

Christians should be so much more aware that discipleship in Christ should really mean following the teachings of Christ Jesus. Not only being aware of the Commandments of Christ, but living according them. Knowing that Jesus is our mediator between God and man we should trust this barrister and follow his counsel. Jesus planted the seeds and wants us also to plant seeds in the knowledge that we also shall have to give them water. We should water the world by spreading the Good News and by relating our live and the live of others to the World of God.

Christ followers may tell others of the good news, and rely upon God to give the growth; that is they rely upon the Spirit of God to transform the soul of sinners (John 3:3). This then is where evangelism and prayer intersect, and again Christ affords both instruction and example. {Jesus, Prayer & Evangelism}

Unity and estimation of the value or worth of a person or thing

It is not because we may have different opinions, prevailing or popular feeling or view, about certain matters that there would not be unity in faith or unity in believe. Jesus asked the Father to bring unity of belief in the truth of Christ’s person and work to all those that the Father gives the Son. When Jesus desired that the people God would draw and would give to him, he hoped God would listen to his wishes and bring all those in Christ to be with him where Jesus is, in order that they may behold his glory, which Jehovah God has given his son Jeshua, Jesus Christ the Messiah.

““father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24 CJB)

We should know that it is God Who allows people to come to Him. We may help to get people to know God, but we shall not be able to make them fully accept the Most High. It will be up to them to make the choice and to follow the call from God. Are task is just one of helping Jesus and be an instrument in the Hands of God.

Doing yourself

We may not leave everything in the hands of others. In case we are calling ourselves Christian, we should show the world that we are followers of Christ. We can not leave it to wait, because we should know the end-times are near, and out of brotherly love we should like to have everybody be saved. Therefore we should now that Now is the right time to witness to someone. Postponement about preaching is something which is not in accordance with the commandments of Christ.

What does a Christian need to know before witnessing or evangelizing? Must a Christian wait to witness to someone until he or she is burdened or compelled by some inward sensation?

asks Marc Minter, being aware that this question may be phrased in numerous ways and yet ask basically the same thing. He continues:

I think asking and answering three larger questions will help us answer these and others more definitively, as well as guide our understanding of evangelism or witnessing in general. {Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing?}

Being religious and spiritual demands action of evangelion

Many may say they are religious and several people claim to be spiritual. But of those who are religious and spirituality minded are willing to find the real True Creator God? And of those who found God are willing to share their experiences and are willing to share their love for God and for God His creation?

Evangelism comes from the word evangel, which is a transliteration of the Greek word euangelion, meaning good message. The message called good is that singularly wonderful message of how God promised and performed all that was necessary to save sinners in the person and work of Christ. Therefore, evangelism is the activity of proclaiming or telling of that great message. {Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing?}

But how many are seeing and knowing that great message? How many are prepared to awaken to that Good News and alert the world of the coming Kingdom of God? Only by bringing in practice the spreading of the Good News a person can show his or her full appreciation for that Marvellous Message of which the whole world should be conscious.

Willingness to attest

Evangelism is the willingness to attest euangelion, meaning good message. It is the willingness of telling of the Gospel (the good message of salvation through Christ). This telling should be our witnessing or testifying to the trustworthiness of that message which we do believe came a reality by the becoming flesh of the Word of God, about two millennia ago.

“The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.” (The New Testament in An Improved Version)

“The Word was to His essence absolute deity” (Kenneth S. Wuest’s “The New Testament) and we should let It resound all over the world.

“In the beginning the Word having been and the Word having been unto God and God having been the Word he having been, in the beginning, unto God all through his hand became: and without him not even one being whatever became.” (Yah Chanan, John 1:1-3, Aramaic New Covenant; ANCJ)

Jesus to look at as the fulfilment of God His Words and promises

Jesus coming into this world is the fulfilment of the words spoken by God, in the Garden of Eden, before Abraham existed. For ages God gave His Word to the world, but now His Word was presented by His own son to all people in the world.

Today everybody should receive the opportunity to hear words of Christ Jesus the Messiah who made the Words of God more understandable and known to all.

In which way are you willing to have that Word of God resound in the world?

We have heard Jesus his words and can listen to his parables, which should give us an understanding of the Work and Way of Thinking of The Supreme Being, the Only One God, our Father and the Father of Jesus Christ.

Deserters of the Faith of Jesus

Sculpture – head of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Often I am amazed how quickly the so called “Newborn Christians” are deserting Him who called them by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel. Lots of worldly ideas became intermingled and many go looking by other religions to find their thing. Our believe in God the Father as the One who raised Jesus from the dead should make that we also believe that we will be able to look forward to such a moment that we shall be raised from the dead. This should make us so happy and so full of expectations that we should not be able to stay quiet about that Good News which is given to us by Jesus Christ and his apostles.

The apostle Paul had good reason to remind the Galatians of this. The resurrection was proof of God’s complete satisfaction with the work of Christ for our salvation. Apparently, the Galatians were not wholly satisfied with the Saviour‘s work, because they were trying to improve on it by adding their own efforts at law-keeping. Paul was called by the risen Christ, in contrast to the twelve apostles, who were called by the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry. This calling of somebody who was not prepared to come to Jesus when he was alive, should also give us hope that we, who could not see Jesus, can be called and still follow Jesus. Like the apostle Paul became a worker for Jesus his message, we also can become workers and messengers of that Good News.

Like Paul was amazed that the Galatians should so suddenly surrender the truth of the gospel, and he solemnly labelled their action as deserting God for a false gospel, we also should let others know when they go astray. When people, after God called them, are putting themselves under the curse of the law we should try to help them to stay on the right track. It is our duty to help those around us. When we are prepared to help them and to give them advice, we bring our unconditional love for them in practice. We should try to bring people to accept the true gospel and than should take care that they would not abandon it for a different gospel which is not good news at all.

Coming forward independent of man

When we notice a perverted message, a mixture of grace and law, or teachings which are disturbing us because they want to distort the gospel of Christ, than we should come to witness, even when we do have to step on the toes of somebody. Therefore those who found the love of God, believe in the salvation by Christ, should come forward and let their voice bring the Good News all over the world.

We at the Belgian Ecclesia would love to give those who are willing to help spread the Good News, a place for their voice.
You too can became a co-author on this internet blog or internet lifestyle magazine. When you are willing to let others see the words that come not as such from you or any other man, but which you received through a revelation of יהושע Messiah, you could be the person to help with us spread the Good News.

In case you want to reveal God His Son in you, like we want to reveal Christ in us so that we together might bring him, the Good News, to the gentiles, to those who have not yet found the salvation of Christ. Like Paul demonstrated his independence of other men in connection with his gospel, we also do not have to have a worldly connection to one or the other denomination to be saved or to be a messenger in the name of Christ. He is it who should be our cornerstone, and not a specific organisation or church of the world. Our Church should be the Church of God under the guidance of our master teacher Jesus Christ.

And as such people may be surprised that we do dare to refer to different websites from totally different denominations. Some people let us already know that they are chocked that we mention writings from this or that denomination, or that we quote from people who are from opposing denominations. But we consider Jesus the head of the Church, and it is for him that we want to be instruments in the Hand of his Father, our only One God.

The Four Evangelists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After his conversion, Paul did not immediately confer with human leaders, nor did he go up to Jerusalem where the other apostles were. Instead, he went to Arabia, then returned again to Damascus. His determination to avoid Jerusalem was not out of disrespect for his fellow-apostles; it was rather because he had been commissioned by the risen lord himself and given a unique ministry to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:8). Hence his gospel and his service needed no human authorization. He was independent of man altogether.

We on this platform also want to be independent of a human organisation, though we do agree we need some human organisation and official statue. We do have to apply to the laws of Belgium, Europe and Internationally. As such we do take on a non-profit position and have a community on this earth. But God His Laws are the most high, and are the ones we want to follow in the first place, and we want also others to get to know them.
The authors on this site, who all write from their own vision and keep their own responsibility, are not paid for their work, nor are those working at the office in Belgium. Though any organisation has its legal obligations and has to find accommodation somewhere, that is ‘are connected’ to the world, because no matter what happens we still have to live in this world. We are thankful for the contribution of the Christadelphian Bible Mission to cover part of our many costs, like paperwork and printing material, postage, copyrights, internet costs, a.o..

Passing on the message

Like Paul has been the recipient of a message and he had also passed that message along to many others, we should be prepared to go out in the world like the early Christians did. We now do have the modern means and can make use of the internet to speak of that message concerning Christ and his work that was ‘according to the Scriptures.’ The apostle Peter refers to the “good news” that was preached and received or believed, thus resulting in “the salvation of souls”.

“and you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.” (1 Peter 1:9 CJB)

“it was revealed to them that their service when they spoke about these things was not for their own benefit, but for yours. and these same things have now been proclaimed to you by those who communicated the good news to you through the Ruach haKodesh sent from heaven. even angels long to look into these things!” (1 Peter 1:12 CJB)

“but the word of ADONAI lasts forever. moreover, this word is the good news which has been proclaimed to you.” (1 Peter 1:25 CJB)

Transmitter of the Gospel or good news

We are convinced that more than one person has to transmit the Gospel or good news. We are aware that our role of witnessing is to transmit or communicate the message which Jesus made so clear.

May we also say that:

Successful communication of the Gospel, then, is nothing more and certainly not less than accurate communication of the content of that pre-eminent message. In other words, whether one believes the message upon hearing it has nothing whatever to do with the role of the evangelist. {Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing?}

Goals to set forward

Looking at reactions we get in real life or by e-mails, there is no doubt that some perceive our ideas and goals as ridiculous, not feasible or too rigid. I do agree I may have set high goals, but as a believer in Christ Jesus, I am not ashamed to tackle this which might seem not practicable. Either just a handful may join efforts to bring the message of the Good News or some others would also see the importance of bringing the good News and would not mind joining hands with us, who might be idealistic and having the hope in something which is impossible for many.

Do you want to look with us at the chief goal of everything in life?

Privileged people

The Christian is privileged to participate in God’s work of glorifying Himself in the salvation of sinners.

Please, let me end with the words of Marc Minter in his article Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing?:

Thanks be to God that He has given Christians any part to play at all!

So, evangelism is telling people of the message of Jesus Christ’s redeeming work, and the witness’s role is simply to transmit that message accurately and regularly. The ultimate purpose of witnessing is to bring glory to God in an accurate proclamation of what He has done in revealing Himself through the Gospel.

Because these are true, it seems easy to answer the questions listed at the beginning.

Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing? No!

Preceding articles:

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

Looking for True Spirituality 3 Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 4 Getting to Know the Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 5 Fruitage of the Spirit

Looking for True Spirituality 6 Spirituality and Prayer

Looking for True Spirituality 7 Preaching of the Good News

Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up

Fruits of the spirit will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful

Additional reading:

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Renew (womenatthewellfbco.com)
It feels so refreshing to start anew! What better time to do that than the New Year? Why is it that we crave renewal and how on Earth do we attain it?
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I daily read the Bible and pray. Each week, I participate in some form of ministry or corporate worship, or Bible study. However, these activities can become routine, and lack vitality, lack enthusiasm, when I have been at them for awhile, or a long time.
2014: Set a standard, early (jeremycainbiblestudies.wordpress.com)
If you would just begin to set a standard early on this year spiritually in your prayer, bible study and reading, and service then you will find that when it comes November you’re not going to be wondering how did this year pass you by and you still feel no closer to God. Think of the discipline and strength you would built up by the end of this year if you just begin right now, right this day, praying just one hour a day, every day.
Why I Am a Christian. (crawfordgarrett.wordpress.com)
I have to admit that it’s not always the most simple and straightforward answer to give, because there are many reasons that have led to my faith in Christ. However, I guess the first place to start is with my parents. I am a Christian because of my parents. There may be nothing remarkable about that, and often times I, or many other Christians, would not like to admit that truth. I am a Christian because my parents are Christians, and that’s what they raised me to believe, just like Jesus was a Jew because His parents were Jews.
My Prayer for 2014 (planetsellas.wordpress.com)
I don’t deserve anything from God. I have repeatedly broken his laws; I am a rebel.
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Lord, I pray that you show me how I can spread your gospel and give honor and praise to your name. I want more people to know you and love you, Lord. God, I really want to lead someone to Christ this year. A friend, a family member, or a complete stranger. I want to do this not so that I may boast or get any glory–kill the pride in me. No, Lord I want to do so that you may be glorified.
Living Out the Gospel in 2014 (craighamlin.wordpress.com)
Whatever your resolutions are for 2014, I want to encourage you to make one overarching commitment for everyday in 2014: to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.The Gospel is the saving message that Jesus Christ died for your sin, He was buried and that He was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). However, the Gospel goes far beyond that to the transformation of every area of life. The Gospel penetrates our attitudes, actions, and dictates the affairs of life. The Gospel is not just a message, it is the transforming power of Christ to make us more like Him. God’s grace working through faith and empowered by the Holy Spirit makes it possible to live for Christ. Therefore, God saves us to live for Him and shine as lights in a dark world. Our commitment everyday must be to live out the gospel for the glory of God.
Christ didn’t come to help us, He came to Include us (melwild.wordpress.com)
a surprising few resonate so much to the more important fact that the Father’s plan was to substitute Christ for us and place us in Him. I think this is unfortunate.
Jesus Christ was an Anarchist (blacksupremacylovenunity.wordpress.com) > Jesus Christ was an Anarchist
Jesus came along to lead his followers out of this ungodly Roman system, preaching an alternative form of government. He spoke of a jurisdiction outside of the Roman state, based on the perfect law of freedom, outside the tyranny of men who would rule over their brothers and neighbors. He unified the early Christian church in a system of charity, hope and respect for the rights of each other, requiring that each person love thy neighbor as thy self in a system of mutual, not governmental support.
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Jesus was showing a way to untangle people from the captivity of the social contracts they had made with the state of Rome and Judea, and the tribute and obligations they had become snared by. He proclaimed to call no man “Father”, as they called their Roman benefactors, but stated that “thou Father art in heaven.” The perfect law of freedom indicated that man’s unalienable rights stemmed from God and nature, and not governments of men. This was a system of anarchy, by strict definition, without the complex system of tribute that led to the decadence and decline of society, and the corruptible force of the state to back it up.The early Christian church was not persecuted for their belief in a different God or a Kingdom in Heaven, but for their opting out of the mutual taxation system and seeking to live apart from the kings and overlords, the gods many, who demanded their tribute.
+Today, most of us find ourselves under slothful tribute to an emperor and a system that is not for our benefit. We have coveted our neighbor’s goods in a vain pursuit of “free” health care, education, welfare, unemployment benefits, social security and government protection. We have traded our inalienable God-given rights through social contracts both implied and explicit. Our churches are not ordained by God, but are 501(c)(3) corporations granted status by the state.As we head into what is certainly going to be a volatile 2014, we are going to need to dig down deep and find that anarchist in all of us, with a little more loving thy neighbor as thy self to boot. Happy New Year!
Change Your Village (elderyvesjohnson.wordpress.com)
This week you might meet someone new and probably see some old friends and acquaintances. Do they know Who you belong to? Do they know the wonderful life you now enjoy? If so, are you sharing this great gift with them?
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It’s true Christians need to be encouraged and challenged. Yet, unbelievers will not be knocking down the church door to learn about Christ. It can happen but I don’t think it will on a large-scale. Why would they want to learn about Christ if His followers won’t even talk to them?
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You should follow Jesus’ words, not those belonging to naysayers and unbelievers. You have been strategically positioned in your family, circle of friends, neighborhood, job, school, etc., to show, teach and talk about the goodness of Christ to those individual. They need to know about the opportunity for salvation. Who will tell them? If not you, then who?
Fanatic hindu who hated christians is an evidence of Jesus (pciniraj.wordpress.com)
I never liked Christian missionaries. I used to speak against Christianity and was organising people near the temples against the evangelism activites.“But Lord Jesus mightly fighting for His children, if anybody persecuting Christians, for which I am a clear evidence”, now I am witnessing this every corner to corner by holding the Holy Bible in one hand and showing my terrific stomach to the public. “I was an enemy of Christians, but Jesus Christ loved me, made me alive and saved me from sin and death. Now I am His servant”. This is my testimony.
Pouring Into Others (comeawake.org)
If you are a Christian, you are a disciple of Christ. You know Him, but what have you done to make Him known to others? And I’m not just talking about evangelism. I’m talking about how you can use your time, your energy and most importantly, your knowledge about who Christ is to help out a fellow brother or sister.The purpose of our lives is simply this: To know Christ, and to make Him known.

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Posted on 2013/12/14 by Bijbelvorsers

A Philosophy Bookshelf(bottom) (Photo credit: jddunn)

As a human being we are constantly confronted with many thoughts. Some tried to mould these thoughts in a shape which they could make understandable for others. Humans also tried to understand the ultimate foundations of spiritual intuitions, questioning if such spiritual intuitions could ultimately be grounded in the nature of fundamental reality, and not wholly be reflective of socio-cultural conventions or neuro-biological mechanisms. Investigation of this open issue is important because of the implications, whichever way the answer turns out, for social and political policy, and personal and social health and welfare. Many of the questions posed by man should come to be answered to succeed in the quest to understand and adhere to one’s spiritual intuitions. The main question al people carry in their heart is the reason of our existence. How many of us do not wonder if life has a positive purpose? Many also would like to see that the life, their are going through, would be fair and compassionate. This is distinct from religiousness, which designates one’s adherence to the tenets of an institution regarded as having authority concerning how one should live and what is ultimately true.

Beyond the personal struggle for survival and security we can not repudiate that there lies a universal human quest to find answers to such perennial spiritual questions: What is the meaning of life? Does existence have a purpose? How should we live? What has real value? Does anything matter?

Handbook of Religion and Health (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Therefore according to many “spirituality” is indeed typically defined in terms of a “personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate questions about life, about meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent” {Koenig HG, McCullough ME, Larson DB. Handbook of Religion and Health. New York N.Y.: Oxford University Press 2001}. In the previous chapters we saw already that spirituality in this sense is distinct from “religion”, which is typically defined as “an organized system of beliefs, practices, rituals, and symbols designed

(a) to facilitate closeness to the sacred or transcendent (God, higher power, or ultimate truth/reality) and

(b) to foster an understanding of one’s relationship and responsibility to others in living together in a community”. {Koenig HG, McCullough ME, Larson DB. Handbook of Religion and Health. New York N.Y.: Oxford University Press 2001}

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing Plato (left) and Aristotle (right) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Several philosophers tried to explain the way things are, looking for concrete measurable answers (sometimes). They want to give the people around them explanation how everything could have come into existence and to which order could stay into existence. Often the philosophers love to think they could bring an objective picture of reality without telling us explicitly (although often they do implicitly) how we should be in relationship to that picture. All through the years thousands of philosophers gave their opinion of the way everything could be placed in order. Lots of them thought they could give an answer or convince people of the answer of the good and the bad of humankind.

For the philosophers ‘Philosophy‘ is in the thinking, searching mind. By going deep in ourself we even could come to an illumining mind. this going into the self could bring us further into the sacral. Both the philosopher and the spiritual minded do perhaps have the same goals, wanting to find the origin and reason and the height of life. Though the lover of the higher existence, the “what is behind life’ wants to reach a point of connection with that ‘Higher Point’, which can be the Void or a or the Supreme Being, a or The Spirit or Nature Phenomenal. The religious person may ad the dimension of conscious or unconscious response to the beckoning ‘Light‘ and responding to beliefs in the lofty experiences of predecessors and organisations, temples or churches, wanting to see the depth of life. In contrast the man of spirituality wants to go much further and does not want to be restricted by any sort of dogmatic teaching imposed on him by other humans. In his quest and meditation he wants to come to see the reality of life and the reality in life.

For the philosopher there is no reason at all to come into a relationship with somebody else when it is about the being of himself. Some may consider that the philosopher is only using everyday language, which is locally normed and cultural defined, to explain the things which can be clearly seen or which we clearly understand to be present in the universe. The philosophy as such is by some seen merely as an ideology supporting accepted wisdom of the moment, like economy, mathematics, physiology, archaeology, natural science and the rest of the humanities. The anthropologist may study all others in relationship with each other and the environment, leaving himself excluded.

The Spiritual person on the other hand wants to come into relationship with something more than the ‘I’ or ‘Self‘. As a person the spiritual minded person also would love to see a relationship with everything what is around him or her. For the spiritual minded person the spirituality is a description of a position that he or she as a human being should take in relationship to the way things are.

Festival of Spirituality and Peace, Edinburgh 2009 (Photo credit: Student Christian Movement)

Philosophy of Spirituality is concerned with understanding the ultimate foundations of spiritual intuitions. Although the nature of this grounding is unresolved, there are some philosophical and empirical reasons for thinking that.

A lover of philosophy may talk about human’ existence, man’s and God’s Vision, even without mentioning The Creator God. But the Divine God Creator has created human being in His image with a purpose, to live in the universe, to give animals and plants names and to take care of the whole earth as good as he can. The God loving person may find in this Divine Creator the reason for him being here and could find it necessary to take part in actions which would give a sign of his recognising the Lord of lords to be the Most High to be worshipped. In such instance, recognising the Divine Power of the Creator, the lover of religion shall also talks about God’s Power. The person recognising God His Power to be the Most High, but also the extreme highest position a being can have, not out of selfishness or wanting to get in the place of the Supreme High Being, but wanting to come as close as possible near to that Supreme Highest Spirit, shall try is utmost best to come into the knowledge of That Being and to transform himself into a better being than he is at that moment. The one believing in God, loving to become close to Him shall know that it will be necessary for him to get to know the Rules of This God and to apply those rules, guidelines, instructions or commandments. He shall also know how important it is for accepting that he shall have to give an opening to allow the Glory of God appearing in our character. The Spiritual person shall do his utmost best to get over all his material indispositions and get his spiritual being more in the forefront. We should know that the spiritual side of the human being should be more important than the material side of it. A lover of spirituality shall come to know that God is a God of Compassion, willing to accept the deficiencies of our human state. For the spiritually minded it might not be so important as for the lover of philosophy to see God’s Face. The spiritual minded person may also get himself involved in philosophy and also may become religious, trying to get to know the Beginner or Maker of all things and to come to face Him or It and to come to see straight in That God’s Eye.

Russian ancient book, «Spiritual Rules», 1721 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The religious person may be more concerned in the involvement of his person in the honouring or worshipping whilst the lover of spirituality shall be more interested in the real relationship with that Supreme Being and be concentrating on his way to grow into God’s all compassionate Heart.

In this materialistic world a man of philosophy may be considered a dreamer, a man of religion of foolishness, being carried away by dreams while he wants to be an observer. Next to them there is the man of spirituality who is a divine lover, knowing that

A divine dreamer, a divine observer and a divine lover are good friends.

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

Next: Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Please do find to read:

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Additional reading:

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Where are the thinkers? (thehindu.com)
Much of the freedom movement was explicitly inspired by a sense of pride in the achievements of ancient Indian philosophies and traditions. Influential public thinkers like Coomaraswamy argued the case of the unity of Indian philosophy and aesthetics. And few countries can boast of having an eminent philosopher as President — India had S. Radhakrishnan.
However, at a concrete level, the status of philosophy as a serious academic discipline is nowhere near what might be suggested by its role in the freedom movement. In the years since Independence, it has disappeared from the public and cultural imagination and this has, in turn, led to it become something of a backwater even in academia. It no more captures the imagination of political figures, or new generations of students.

Illustration: Satwik Gade

The Forever All: A Philosophical and Spiritual Guide (thepeacefulpantheist.wordpress.com)
”In my view, the entire universe is the Supreme Being, an infinite, purposeful system of positive and negative forces which has always existed and always will, and each of us is that eternal being of light and darkness.
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How I Became a Pantheist by Guyus Seralius
Even now, when I search the term pantheism on the Internet, it seems to be a very untapped subject in comparison to atheism, deism, Buddhism, and so on.
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The church gave them a sense of community and provided them with a social network. This of course predates all the online social networks now so available on the Internet. Sociologist have claimed for years, based on studies, that social networking is one of the main reasons most people do attend church or why they join a religion—it allows them to feel a sense of belonging.
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Anyone of us can say “I am the universe or I am the All.” Philosophers and Spiritualists have been saying something along these lines for centuries. Hippies were definitely known for saying such things during the late 60s and early 70s, but most of us never gave it much attention or took it too seriously. It was usually just something a hippie often said to sound philosophically deep or spiritual. The truth is though, I don’t think most hippies even truly knew just how accurate they were.
Postmodernism, Wisdom & Rebuke (rethinkerblog.wordpress.com)
Postmodernity has found its way into our architecture, our entertainment, our technologies and certainly our philosophies and religious systems. In a philosophical nutshell, postmodernism is the belief that there is no one universal belief: that your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth. But more than that, it is skepticism toward Any system of belief. In his seminal work: The Postmodern Condition, French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard, Lyotard describes postmodernism as an “incredulity towards metanarratives.” Individually, postmodernism affords us our own adoptable moral criteria, unchallenged by others. But holistically, it keeps us all in a state of mistrust.
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How can you tell someone what he or she is doing is right or wrong if his or her personally adopted belief system may claim the exact opposite?
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Historically as a culture, when we distanced ourselves from God and his dogmatic mandates, we distanced ourselves from wisdom. And when we brushed off God’s holistic intent of prosperity and protection, we invited in its postfall antithesis: disease, decay and destruction.
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Becoming People of “True Faith”
The secular world might concede a slight bit more, accepting that perhaps these people of faith did at some point in their lives experience something “spiritual” or, according to science, “unexplainable.” That unexplainable spiritual (or more likely psychological) phenomenon is then called “God.” Just as another’s unexplainable phenomena might be personally claimed as an encounter with Buddha, or the Great Other, or Nature or some other metaphysical expression.
Unfortunately, much of the American Christian church has not only surrendered itself to this secularized label of “faith,” but it also has offered little objective evidence of anything to the contrary.

But for those having experienced true eternal life conversion, the secularized faith label is not merely annulled; it is completely transformed, and, as I soon will show, to the betterment of society as a whole.
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a true Christian’s faith no longer is relegated to merely the hope that God does in fact really exist and that the Christian’s belief system is a valid one. The evidence of that initial faith is crystallized with the first actual experience of His presence and His voice. Not a metaphysical force or an idea – but a real and tangible encounter with a true and very real God.

A true person of faith no longer clings to the shallow hope that his or her God might exist while still never having experienced a modicum of His presence or nature. Like Columbus’ crewmates, proven faith transcends hope. For a true Christian, faith is transformed. It is not based on the reality of a now proven God, but in the assurance that the words this very real God has spoken – are possible in our lives.

Mapping the Possible Relations between “Religious,” “Spiritual,” “Humanistic” and “Secular” Sensibilities (villasophiasalon.wordpress.com)
The Dialectically Related Mutual Approach takes the position that words like religious, spiritual, humanistic, and secular need not necessarily be construded as either absolutely exclusive, tolerantly inclusive, or impossibly ambiguous. Instead, they are words that suggest different psychological temperaments and casts of mind, as well as fluxuating moods within a single individual across a period of time. Our relationship to these words may be more aesthetic and metaphorical than scientistic and metaphysical. By way of analogy we may resonate with and enjoy many different kinds of music…in historical era, compositional genre, emotional mood, and artistic style.
Bertrand Russell on the science v religion debate | Clare Carlisle (theguardian.com)
Bertrand Russell did not consider himself an expert on ethics and religion, and it is true that his writing on these subjects lacks the originality and sophistication of his philosophical work on mathematics. His criticisms of religion are often similar – in essence if not in tone – to opinions voiced by contemporary atheists: he argued that religious beliefs cause wars and persecution, are moralistic and oppressive, and foster fear. However, it is precisely for this reason that it is worth looking again at Russell’s rejection of Christianity. Anyone concerned with defending religion against its typical modern detractors must recognise Russell as a worthy opponent, for he was an intelligent, principled and humane man of the world who undoubtedly led a meaningful life.
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Is religion based on fear?
The most powerful aspect of Bertrand Russell’s critique of religious belief is his claim that religion is based on fear, and that fear breeds cruelty. His philosophical arguments against the existence of God may not touch the lives of many ordinary people, but his more psychological point about fear has to be taken seriously by all of us. In his 1927 lecture “Why I am not a Christian” – delivered to the south London branch of the National Secular Society – Russell expressed his point with characteristic clarity: “Religion is based primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing – fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things.” No doubt he was preaching to the converted on this occasion.

There are actually two elements to Russell’s diagnosis of religion here. The first is that religious belief is a symptom of fear: aware that our lives are precarious and vulnerable, we seek the protection of a powerful deity, to comfort ourselves with an illusion of safety. The second is that fear is a symptom of religion: in particular, doctrines of punishment in both this life and the next cause ignorant believers to live in fear unnecessarily. There is little doubt that this analysis has some truth on both points; perhaps it explains quite accurately the causes and effects of religious belief in a significant number of cases. But do such cases represent religion itself, or are they a distortion of it?

Spirituality (dustindemille.wordpress.com)
I believe in Goodness, Peace, Love, Faith, Truth, Compassion, Honesty, Character, Integrity, Strength, Courage, and Wisdom. I enjoy reading and writing about spiritual, religious, and philosophical subjects.
Patterns of manipulation and how to Spot Them (aquarianagethings.wordpress.com)
The only answer is to get True Freedom. One of the most important is Spiritual Freedom and that includes freedom from religion.
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the answer lies inside of you and that these is no need for religion per say because you are inextricably part of that Source already. I call it Source for lack of a better term.
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Most want to keep you docile and looking for something outside that can never be reached or found. The Sages, Yogis and Wise men of the East have known this for a long time, but they have failed miserably at letting others know.
A Misconception of Spirituality (suskiwen.wordpress.com)
The misconception of spirituality is that once we turn to it, we should be positive and then we will be healed. We have taken the wrong approach because struggles cannot be sublimed, they can only be confronted and experienced in spirit. Spirituality is not a means to an end (healed).
When we surrender from the practical world and turn to seek the spirit for guidance, we are entering a commitment that requires our part to do the act of seeking. Each time we ask, we allow ourselves to be fully conscious and present in momentary experience so we are able to see what is true; and whether good or bad, the spirit will find itself there, and where it leads you is where you need to be. It is the “there” where spirit feels and spirit heals.

A Misconception of Spirituality (wilddose.wordpress.com)
Spirituality is a commitment. It is the commitment of the body, the mind and the spirit to co-exist into one entity to deal with the experience assigned to you. It is not a destination, it is not an accident that at random, decides to splash the hues of life into your dullest hour, it is the commitment to a life of continuous practice to act as a vessel to patience, joy and balance in any situation or circumstance.
Why Science Doesn’t Trump Spirituality (speakablepath.wordpress.com)
It is often thought that life can be understood either scientifically or spiritually. Strict adherents to science believe that, since the universe can be explained scientifically, there is no need for spirituality or mysticism. They think that scientifically proving and explaining the physical causes for phenomena eliminates the necessity for spirituality. What is the point of having faith in something non-physical when there is perfectly credible, physical proof? Surely in this advanced technological age humanity has outgrown the need for a higher power.

Science and Religion Harmonized (Once and For All…)

Posted on 2013/11/23 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

Things can be seen from different angles and told in different ways, though they should not have to contradict each other. Look for example at the witnesses of a car accident. They may bring a different story about the same account and both still telling what really happened.

Scriptures never did have the intention to give a scientific analyses of what happened in the world, but wanted to tell the story of the beginning and development of humankind in an easy to understand and to follow way. Details where there of no importance, and the Creator gave brains to the people which they can use to find out more, because it is all shown in the universe of the Creator, available to be seen by those who want to see.

The Creator did love His creation and did not want to annoy them with details of His creation. What would it contribute for them all? Those who are interested in more details He allowed to look for them and to find them. It is our own choice either to use our heads to think and reason with. for Him the heart is the most essential and He knows the heart of every living soul.

” And Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance, nor to the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For man does not see what He sees. For man looks for the eyes, but Jehovah looks for the heart.” (1Sa 16:7 LITV)

” So says Jehovah, Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and who makes flesh his arm, and who turns aside his heart from Jehovah. (6) For he shall be like a juniper in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited. (7) Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and Jehovah is his refuge. (8) For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters. It sends out its roots by the stream, and it will not fear when the heat comes; but its foliage will be green; and it is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit. (9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is incurable; who can know it? (10) I, Jehovah, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (11) As a partridge broods and does not hatch, so is he who makes riches, and not by right; it will leave him in the middle of his days, and in his end he will be a fool.” (Jer 17:5-11 LITV)

The Word of God should speak to the hearts of man. Wisdom and strength it can give. Nowhere in the Scriptures is written we should not use our heads to find out more about the universe, the why and how. But everything we can get to learn we should use in our life to advance and to make it better. Religion and science can be complementary and by integrating the two we as human beings shall be able to progress and to achieve a broader spectrum of understanding.

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Science & Religion: The Paramount Candour (umbrascriptor.wordpress.com)
Arising from the renaissance epoch, one of the most significant dichotomies that make us stop to ponder is religion and science. Relying on the definitions of science and religion, the difference seems to be evident because these two concepts originate from different dimensions of human activities. Science is usually referred to as the study of processes, forces, and development of nature, which is based on the analysis of evidence. Religion, on the other hand, is closely connected to faith. These are two extremes and we are left to moot whether they can peacefully coexist or not.

Science is not a religion. (twoculturescourse.wordpress.com)
The bible is far too often taken far too literally. It is a moral guide. Yes, some religions have extremists sects that are aggressive and believe in killing others. What about the religions that don’t? Kids may grow up in a household with their parents, taught what they should believe, then they grow up and think for themselves. It is not necessarily right for some kids to be forced what to believe, but in the end, they will make their own decision.
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Some people don’t believe in evolution, that’s fine. But with a minimal knowledge of what religion is truly about, people too often jump to the conclusion that every single person who is religious believes in the story of Adam and Eve. There is a direct correlation between ignorance in science and ignorance in religion, I think. The focus should be mending that rift, not spreading it further through ignorant words, actions, and even hatred. Dawkins, you really fueled the fire. Faith exists for a reason. Faith is believing in something beyond yourself, that you may not be able to physically prove.

Science and Religion…a Contradiction? (apocalypticbluesblog.wordpress.com)
Another common error in these comparisons is to cling too closely to one’s own religious dogma, ignoring not only science but also the vast tradition of wisdom handed down throughout history and existing among all religions. This sort of religious provincialism (my sacred scriptures are sacred and true, while your sacred scriptures are mistaken and false) waters down not only their own arguments, but those of all who cling to arguments of this type. Similarly, scientists might point to the obviously mistaken cosmology of early Christianity (for example) while ignoring the accurate cosmological (and astronomical) observations of Vedanta, five thousand years before.
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Insofar as religions focus on our actions in this world, they concentrate on what we should do in the world. Science focuses on how the world works, not on what we should do in it.
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In religion, knowledge can be obtained by inspiration, while in science true knowledge can only be obtained by testing, observation, and repeatability of results.
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Religion focuses on the questions ‘who’ and ‘what,’ while science focuses on the questions ‘how’ and ‘why.’

Why religion thrived where science failed. (secularnewsdaily.com)
Science has always been exclusive. If you can’t understand a scientific theory/fact you were deemed stupid and therefore not welcomed in the science community. Whereas, religion has always been inclusive. For the masters and the slaves, for the lords and the serfs, God has been ever present. Because religion doesn’t care how intelligent you are as long as you believe.

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It’s important for humanity to become informed of the existence of the spiritual realms and of our impending collective evolution into them, because despite the timetable our ascension is on, I must reiterate that we all need to understand and be focused on it to bring it into manifestation.

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Some atheists say that ‘God’ is just a word for ‘what science hasn’t discovered yet’. With the constant development of technology and the multiple findings given by scientists, this statement is becoming more and more accurate. However this scientific knowledge does not provide us as everyday people with the key to civilisation. Religion seems to be the glue that holds communities and societies together and so the fact that religion itself can have such a positive impact on a large scale makes me question… Why can’t theistic believers and humanist optimist see God as the brains behind the scientific explanation of the creation of the universe?

Dichotomy or duality? (twoculturescourse.wordpress.com)
One of the most interesting parts of the Science and Religion article was the illustration describing the relationship between the two. The comparison was made between the dual properties of light as both a particle and wave. Based on what knowledge I have about physics I was interested to see how far the comparison could be taken. Light has characteristics as a wave and a particle that overlap to some extent, but at the same time have contradicting attributes based on the position of observation.

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I have always been skeptical when people believe that a religion helped to heal someone and not the sciences. Even when I was a little girl and my mom made me go to church and Sunday school every week, I never had much faith. I wouldn’t say that I don’t believe in any religion, I’m more just not sure what kind of higher power I believe in. Anyways, I have always thought of everything in very scientific and technical terms.

David Barash explores science, religion and meaning of life in ‘Buddhist Biology’ (washington.edu)
David Barash, a University of Washington psychology professor, is an evolutionary biologist, unapologetic atheist, and self-described Jewbu. In his latest book, “Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science,” Barash examines the overlap between Buddhism and biology.
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In the book, I relate Buddhist concepts to science. Anatman (“not-self”), for example, means that no one has an internal self that is distinct and separate from the rest of the world. Similarly in ecology, organisms and environments are inextricably inter-connected. Also, Anitya (“impermanence”) refers to the fact that all things are temporary and eventually return to the non-living world. Anitya has parallels with evolution, in that not only is every individual organism’s time on earth temporary but also organisms ebb and flow across time.
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Both Buddhism and biology (and also existentialism) teach that there is no inherent meaning to life. We simply are, and that “we” or “I” or “you” or “he” or “she” is merely a temporary aggregation of matter and energy, destined (or doomed) to collapse back into the stuff of the world. Therefore, if we want to make our lives meaningful, we should not look to some outside deity, but rather to our own actions.

Just One Yogi

There appears to be a contradiction between the basic tenets of science and religion. Much arguing and division has resulted from the perception that the two are mutually opposed, or that one’s existence threatens the validity or purpose of the other. This conflict is most easily seen in views about the facts surrounding the Big Bang (or Creation, if you prefer) and evolution. I believe this apparent contradiction is easily resolved.

Consider this:

-What if science was right about the Big Bang, given their current understanding of it thus far?

-What if the religion was also right about Creation, and science merely described the process of how it was accomplished?

The same could be said about any function of God, of Life, and of nature and physics: science describes the operation of the world around us. Its realm is in that of the known, the seen, the empirical and objective…

View original post 113 more words

The wrong hero

Posted on 2011/09/29 by Christadelphians

In the Western World we can find people who love to honour a creator that is far beyond any human person. In the East people worship other gods, but also do have three or two headed divinities. The clergy and followers of the many sects or cults of Christendom worship also such more than one in one God, but they prefer not to give them a specific name. A lot of those worshippers give preference to have a nameless triune lord or do not know the name of their God. though the one who created the earth, heaven and everything around us, has a name that He picked out Himself – YaHuWhah = Jehovah.

It is ‘that god’, the God of all, Jehovah the Elohim, who is the Maker of everything, the Provider, the Father of us all.

Madonna of humility by Fra Angelico, c. 1430. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nearly two thousand years ago a son to Him was born, who was taken by many to be their god. For them that man of Nazareth became their Hero who they could worship like the vast majority of people prefer to worship some one. Worshipping some one or something is as old as the street. We can find Hindu gods but to us mostly the Germanic or Celtic gods are know. People also know folks who like to worship Allah, Buddha, Jesus; Mary, the mother of Jesus, but even money and sex do not escape the line of fame. Mostly a name is given to the subject to be worshipped, but in Christendom we can find also a nameless lord; almost anything but Jehovah. Then, these very people who ignore Jehovah wonder why He ignores them.

Though the Holy Scriptures, they say they take as their guide, tell us enough about the Lord of lords, His Name and His position as well what He wants. But it looks like most of the people do not read those Book of Books because they prefer to read the theological works of people from the past and present. The main character of the Biblical Books is YHWH or Jehovah, the Elohim Hashem, who explained how He wanted to be worshipped and we have His directions written down in the Bible so that future generations can follow this Spirit who has given us enough information so that we can find Him and understand Him.

“I have let Myself be inquired of, not by those who asked; I was found, not by those who sought Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation not calling on My Name.” (Isaiah 65:1 The Scriptures 1998+)

“Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 The Scriptures 1998+)

To those who really want to follow God and give honour to the right persons, it is not always made easy, because through history some translators and copyists have altered and changed the
wording of various scriptures in order to support false beliefs such as the Trinity Dogma. That happened as they did not seem to be afraid for the important warning that nothing should be to add to, nor taken away from the words of the Holy Scriptures.

“For I witness to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, Elohim shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Elohim shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and out of the set-apart city, which are written in this Book. ” (Revelation 22:18-19 The Scriptures 1998+)

The confusion wanted to be created could by the removing of Gods Name easily be hold between two heroes of the Bible, namely the Father of the Old Testament (Jehovah God) and the son of the New Testament (Jeshua/Jesus son of God). According to this transfer could one furrow each other easier to fall in the trap of the notion “God the son“. The principle of the Holy Trinity could then be kept more easily. The omitting of the Name of God or the changing of the word-order opened the doors to mis-interpretation or mistranslation, errors in textual transmission which could give grounds to the idea of the imposed Trinity doctrine. Added texts like the one not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century for 1 John 5:8 where late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify “in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth”. If you look carefully in the translation you can even sometimes find outright forgery. These can often be exposed by even a cursory glance at an English/Greek interlinear Bible or a Greek concordance.

Luckily, but also strangely enough, God’s Word has been amazingly well preserved, no matter what people tried to do with it to destroy it or to bring it in oblivion. In the world there are many translations and/or versions available and people can compare those translations and the wording used in it. Comparisons between the English versions and the oldest existing manuscripts (The Old Testament‘s “Dead Sea Scrolls” date to around 100 B.C., and the oldest New Testament fragments date to around A.D. 120!), prove that the vast majority of the original meaning is still intact and easily perceivable from most any Bible by the average Christian. So if you know which word is been used in a translation for a certain thing or person, you always can find the clue to understand it fully. The Truth comes always to the forefront, no matter which version you use. So, please do take up your favourite Bible translation and read it from begin to end. Then you shall be able, if you read carefully and listen to the Words of the Holy Scriptures, to find all solutions and sea clear no matter which fog churches want to spread over the world.

You shall be able to recognise the characters presented in the different Books of the Bible. Their positive as well as their negative points shall become visible. You also shall be able to see the relation between all the figures. You shall get to know all the heroes of the past and of the People of God, Israel.

One of the most mistaken heroes is Jesus or Jeshua/Jashua/Jehoshua. In the Bible’s second part, the New Testament, we can find the story of his life. there we can find that in Bethlehem Jesus of Nazareth was born. So he had a beginning and had to grow up. He lived on this earth and died to redeem mankind from the curse of sin brought on by the first man, Adam. But this son, Jesus Christ was not God himself, but fully 100% man, the perfect agent and representative of God, one who always did his father’s will, and could therefore rightfully say “He who has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9). Because in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, we can see several characteristics of his Father.

In about 68 places we are told that Jesus is the son of the Father, our Hashem Elohim God. Being a child of someone does not make it in being the same person as the father, even when there are so many things the same as that person. As we can look like our father and do like our father, it does not make us an incarnation of our father. Even when people say “He is just his father”, it does not mean that we are the father.

To “beget” something means to “give rise to” it, to “generate” some new thing out of nothing. If God begat Jesus, then God was the source of Jesus’ “beginning”, who could not have been around until he was “begotten“. Also along these same lines, contrary to the statement that Jesus was part of the Trinity as “God the Son” through all eternity, Luke said that the very reason he “shall be (future tense) called the son of God” would be his divine conception and his birth from Mary (Miriam) (Luke 1:35). So if this was to be the reason he would thereafter be called the Son of God, then he was not the Son of God before his birth. We might also consider the implications of the word “birth” in places such as Matthew 1:18. It is the Greek word “gennesis”, which means “beginning”.

While Jesus was on earth he truly worshipped God, and God listened to his prayers.

” who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His reverent fear, though being a Son, He learned obedience by what He suffered. ” (Hebrews 5:7-8 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Television serial saga Heroes about people all over the world discovering that they have superpowers and trying to deal with how this change affects their lives is as fictitious as giving Jesus superpowers of his own. A hero (heroine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs), in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. Some people take it that Jesus was half man half God. they do seem to forget that God is a spirit who can not die, while Jesus really died. Making Jesus not just as a god but as The God who is eternal would take the essence of his action away. Making him the God of gods, would not give him the full honour of his and his Fathers saying.

Jesus from the Deesis Mosaic (Photo credit: jakebouma)

Jesus was not exactly a hero in the sense of “ἥρως” (heros), “hero, warrior” but he did something enormous for humankind. His deed of giving his self for all sinners was great, because he did it voluntary and for his Father to whom he obeyed. In the literal sense literally “protector” or “defender” he came up for those who could not speak up, the poor ones, the sinful ones, the illiterate, the ones who are willing to go into the footsteps of the son of God. Jesus has become the defender of man and women and so can be our hero too. The Indo-European root of Hero is *ser meaning “to protect” and that is what Jesus did with his blood-offering. By his action, and following his lessons, we are protected and can count on it to be saved. The Greek word Hērōs “is akin to” the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard and that is what Jesus is wiling to do.

Osiris, Prometheus, Theseus, Dionysus, Moses, Buddha may be the heroes of very ancient times. Rabindranath Tagore, Mohandas, Karamchand Gandhi, Che Guevara, Nelson Mandela, Bob Dylan, a..o. could be heroes who played a key role in a whole generation some years ago. Today there are other new heroes and persons who are given the role of being the god of this or that. The real heroes are the modest ones who never claim to be Thé Hero. Jesus also never claimed to be the hero nor a god or the God. He knew that he knew less than his Father and that everything what he did was done by the Father, who had revealed His name also to His son.

We find about two thousand years ago Yahshua/Jehsua/Jeshua Jesus the Messiah, made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but by doing this heroic deed he earned to be crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the messengers, יהושע, because of the suffering of death crowned with esteem and respect, that by the favour of Elohim He should taste death for everyone. ” (Hebrews 2:9 The Scriptures 1998+)

“And I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Set-apart Father, guard them in Your Name which You have given Me, so that they might be one, as We are. (John 17:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

“When I was with them in the world, I was guarding them in Your Name which You have given Me, and I watched over them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be filled.” (John 17:12 The Scriptures 1998+)

“As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. (John 17:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

“I have much to say and to judge concerning you. But He who sent Me is true, and what I heard from Him, these Words I speak to the world.” They did not know that He spoke to them of the Father. So יהושע said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Ad?am, then you shall know that I am He, and that I do none at all of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, these words I speak. “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:26-29 The Scriptures 1998+)

“יהושע {Jeshua} said to her, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim and your Elohim.’ ” (John 20:17 The Scriptures 1998+)

“There were indeed many other signs that יהושע did in the presence of His taught ones, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you believe that יהושע is the Messiah, the Son of Elohim,1 and that, believing, you might possess life in His Name. Footnote: 1See Mt. 16:16. “(John 20:30-31 The Scriptures 1998+)

“You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you did love Me, you would have rejoiced that I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. “And now I have told you before it takes place, that when it does take place, you shall believe. (John 14:28-29 The Scriptures 1998+)

“For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah יהושע, who, being in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness of men. And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake. Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 The Scriptures 1998+)

“And I wish you to know that the head of every man is the Messiah, and the head of woman is the man, and the head of Messiah is Elohim. ” (1 Corinthians 11:3 The Scriptures 1998+)

This hero is even going to be so humble and honest to give the Kingdom of God back to his Father.

” And when all are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself shall also be subject to Him who put all under Him, in order that Elohim be all in all. ” (1 Corinthians 15:28 The Scriptures 1998+)

It is only after all the work he had done that Jesus was placed higher and received a position above all created things and persons.

“… יהושע Messiah, who, having gone into heaven, is at the right hand of Elohim, messengers and authorities and powers having been subjected to Him.” (1 Peter 3:22 The Scriptures 1998+)

You may take Jesus as your hero, but do not make him more important than he is and do not give him a higher position than he himself would want to take. Listen carefully to his words and those of his Father. In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. He also had given us his son, the Master teacher. Because in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, we better take note of what that son said.

“Elohim, having of old spoken in many portions and many ways to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by the Son, whom He has appointed heir of all, through whom also He made the ages, who being the brightness of the esteem and the exact representation of His substance, and sustaining all by the word of His power, having made a cleansing of our sins through Himself, sat down at the right hand of the Greatness on high, ” (Hebrews 1:1-3 The Scriptures 1998+)

For Jeshua/Jesus has given to us the words which his Father had given to him, we should have to known surely that this hero Jesus came out from God, and we should believe that He the Only One God, Elohim Hashem Jehovah did send him.

“I have esteemed You on the earth, having accomplished the work You have given Me that I should do. “And now, esteem Me with Yourself, Father, with the esteem which I had with You before the world was. “I have revealed Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have guarded Your Word.1 Footnote: 1See Ps. 138:2. “Now they have come to know that all You gave to Me, is from You. “Because the Words which You gave to Me, I have given to them. And they have received them, and have truly known that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I have been esteemed in them.” (John 17:4-10 The Scriptures 1998+)

The Hero Jesus is the Servant of the greatest Hero, Creator of all.

“See, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My being did delight. I shall put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall declare right-ruling to the nations.” (Matthew 12:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

Let us listen to this humble man, who did not mind becoming a servant for us all and who sits at the right hand of his Father and like Jesus obeyed always to this Father, we should listen and obey to Jesus, the son of God, and obey his Father, the Only One God Jehovah.

The Dutch version of this article can be found under: Nederlandse versie: De verkeerde held

Excerpt of the book of Exodus from the The Great Bible (entitled The Byble in Englyshe), publ. 1540. The English form Iehovah (Jehovah as the “J” stands for both I and the later J) is used for the Tetragrammaton at Exodus 6:3. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Additional literature:

Read more about and why most people in the world do not worship Jehovah and do find out who we have to give the worship to.

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Who is the True Worshipper according to Bible ? (answeringchristian.wordpress.com)
Jesus made it very clear that “True” Worshipers would be those that worshiped his Father in heaven.
What About Those Who Do Not Know The Name of God? (bereanreport.wordpress.com)
The most common question I hear among those that I share the truth of the name is “Doesn’t Yahweh know who I’m talking to? Why does it matter what I call Him, He answers me anyway?”
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I do not think there is anything wrong with calling Yahweh our Father, Master, Creator, etc. which are all fitting titles. What I think Yahweh would have a real problem with is changing His name from Yahweh to “Lord” It is extremely ironic, if not prophetic what Yahweh declared to Jeremiah when we understand that the word “Baal” means “Lord.”
God loves me – He sent me 2 Jehovah’s Witnesses (lisagodfrees.com)
Simply put, they believe that God the Father alone is God. Jesus is His Son (but not God), and the Holy Spirit is God’s force (but not God).
Rob responds to Mushtaq (jessicahof.wordpress.com)
You are probably aware various branches of Christians take different approaches in establishing the reliability of their beliefs. This also applies to the concept of the trinity. For some the fact their church tradition has established a concept as truth is adequate for them.
He Is Our Peace (devosfromthehill.org)
“I Am Who I Am” is the closest translation (or more exactly, transliteration) of a Hebrew word that cannot actually be pronounced. The closest Latin transliteration is actually YHWH. Notice, there are no vowels, only consonants. This name of God cannot be pronounced. Still in order to make this word accessible, scholars eventually added vowels and this word became Yahweh, or for some, Jehovah.

Throughout scripture, this unpronounceable name of God is used in conjunction with descriptive words to help us understand who God is.
For instance . . .

“Jehovah” Jireh – The LORD our Provider (Gen. 22:13-14)
“Jehovah” Rapha – The LORD our Healer (Exo. 15:26)
“Jehovah” Nissi -The LORD our Banner (Exo. 17:8-15)
“Jehovah” Tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6)
and of course . . . “Jehovah” Shalom – The LORD our Peace (Judges 6:24)
Creator and Blogger God 8 A Blog of a Book 2 Holy One making Scriptures Holy (bijbelvorser.wordpress.com)
The Holy One making Scriptures Holy “for I [am] Jehovah your god, and you shall sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I [am] holy. neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of swarming thing that swarms on the earth.” ( Leviticus 11:44 MKJV)
Take a walk through Amos 5 (quietbuck.wordpress.com)
So much so, it should shake a modern day Christian to the core!!!
But, alas, few will listen to YHWH. It appears that most would rather have fun and “good company” than follow our Heavenly Father above…
who needs nothing but your obedience and devotion to Him!!!

How many churches celebrate things from Halloween, Thanksgiving and from Christmas, Valentines Day through to having Easter egg hunts on Easter etc?
Is that your church? Then they are NOT teaching you properly! They are ignoring YHWH’s Word completely!

From Malachi to Jeremiah to 1Kings to Matthew and more, each book has witnesses, within their verses, showing us what our eyes must see to come out of her. Perhaps a good study into Amos will help one to witness to the lost flock.
Vision for Selah (quaystoneworship.wordpress.com)
We believe it is important to spend time worshiping and seeking the Lord together…after all, the Bible tells us that God says “where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst”. At Selah, we gather together with a heart of worship, to spend time together, in fellowship, seeking God, praising Him and praying.

The vision for Selah, is for it to become a space where people feel freely able to worship in an informal, and Christ-focused environment.
Five Minute Friday: Worship (writingcanvas.wordpress.com)
how I worship, or I how I look, is not a grading of my relationship with God.
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It can be scary when we follow others, that almost become like our idols in the way Christians should be rather than how our Father God wants us to be.

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The wrong hero

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