Religious Satire
View allAll Photos Tagged apologetics
To make men see and make them feel—that is my first aim: to make an impassioned profession of my faith in the richness and value of the world and so vindicate myself against those who smile and shake their heads when they hear talk of an ill-defined nostalgia for something hidden within us which transcends and fulfills us—to win the day against them by showing them beyond all possible doubt that their self-sufficient individual personality is but a wisp of straw in the grip of forces they seek to shut their eyes to, forces that, when we speak of building up a temple to them, they dismiss as laughable. If man is to come up to his full measure, he must become conscious of his infinite capacity for carrying himself still further; he must realize the duties it involves, and he must feel its intoxicating wonder . . . I am not directly concerned with science, nor philosophy, nor apologetics. Primarily, I am concerned to express an impassioned vision.
-“Comic Life” (1916), WW, 15–16. Emphasis in text. For references to “seeing,” also DM, 15, 35.
In downtown Paprihaven, the girls are headed to Duper's Super as preparations for Thanksgiving at the Simmons continue.
Buckley: Oh, let's stop at Reigny Daze!
Tracy: We don't have time, Buckley! Thanksgiving is toMORow! Hello? This is our third trip to Dupers!
Buckley: Hey, it wasn't my idea to add lemon meringue pie to the list.
Briar: Oh, look, Creepers Sneakers is having a big Thanksgiving sale!
Tracy: Lemon meringue is SO good!
Buckley: HAHAAHA!!
Tracy: What's so funny??
Buckley: On Paprichat, Erin said some action guy's been hitting on Trajetta... and she's been really dressing up now!
Tracy: Those girls always dress up.* And... I've never been sure about Fashions dating Actions.**
Briar: I think RC's dad is dating a Fashion.***
Tracy: Mr. Cooper was married to an Fashion. But she died in the war.
Briar: Oh, that's sad.
Buckley: RC looks very Action.
Briar: *giggles* RC is totally action! There's a looooot of Fashions waiting out his on/off with Shasta.
Tracy: RC definitely takes after his dad, but Cloe and Cici are definitely Fashions.
Buckley: Some big, hunky Action starts giving me attention, I'm all for that! I'm like, "WHUT UUUUP!"
Briar: HAHA!
Tracy: You don't think that's weird? I mean, crossing that boundary with Actions?
Buckley: I guess it's weird coz you don't have many nexus like Paprihaven or Coopers Town where they coexist. But there's nothing wrong with it, right?
Briar: Yeah, when we were watching Cooperstown on TV, wasn't that really good lookin action dating a fashion? What was his name? 'Hawk Fang'?
Buckley: Hawk Fang??
Tracy: Are you talking about Pierce Falcon and Vinona??****
Buckley: HAWK FANG!! GWAAHAHAA!
Briar: *giggles*
Buckley: Was Vinona a fashion??
Tracy: Totally. Slim, non-gripping hands. Big anime eyes.
Buckley: That's right...
Briar: Well, like Buck said, it's rare just because of circumstances, but there can't be anything wrong with it. The Bible says somewhere that in Jesus, there's no difference.
Tracy: True that. Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." It just warns not to be unequally yoked.
Buckley: I dunno how many actions you're gonna find that read the Bible.
Briar: Cam and RC do! Pastor Calvin is an action.
Tracy: Well, whether this question, or anything else, God always has the answer in His Word.
Briar: Yep! And we can always ask Him! James 1:5 , "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. "
Buckley: HAAAHAHA!!
Tracy: What now??
Buckley: Erin posted a pic of Trajetta with a meme, 'Ready for ACTION!'
Briar: HAHAHA!!
Tracy: Oh, dear.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
___________________________________________________
Subjectivity and the Will of God
If you rely on internal, subjective messages and promptings from the Lord, what prevents you from imagining the input you want from Him? Moreover, what reliable, objective mechanism exists to keep you from misinterpreting your own imagination as divine instruction?
Many good souls and even some heroes of our faith fall into that same error, mistaking imagination for revelation. Many—perhaps most—Christians believe God uses subjective promptings to guide believers in making major decisions. But, a thorough search of church history would undoubtedly confirm that most believers who lean heavily on immediate “revelations” or subjective impressions ostensibly from God end up embarrassed, confused, disappointed, and frustrated.
So how are we supposed to determine the divine will? Virtually every Christian grapples with the question of how to know God’s will in any individual instance. We particularly struggle when faced with the major decisions of adolescence—what occupation or profession we will pursue, whom we will marry, whether and where we will go to college, and so on. Most of us fear that wrong decisions at these points will result in a lifetime of disaster.
Unfortunately, many of the books and pamphlets on discerning God’s will are filled with mystical mumbo-jumbo about seeking a sense of peace, listening for a divine “call,” putting out a “fleece,” and other subjective signposts pointing the way to God’s will. That kind of “discernment” is not at all what Scripture calls for. If we examine everything the Bible has to say about knowing God’s will, what we discover is that everywhere Scripture expressly mentions the subject, it sets forth objective guidelines. If we put those guidelines together, we get a fairly comprehensive picture of the will of God for every Christian. We can summarize them like this:
It is God’s will that we be saved. “The Lord is . . . not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).
It is God’s will that we be Spirit-filled. “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. . . . Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:17–18).
It is God’s will that we be sanctified. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
It is God’s will that we be submissive. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:13–15).
It is God’s will that we suffer. “Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19). “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29). “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
If all those objective aspects of God’s will are realities in your life, you needn’t fret over the other decisions you must make. As long as the options you face do not involve issues directly forbidden or commanded in Scripture, you are free to do whatever you choose.
Whatever you choose? Yes, within the limits expressly set forth in God’s Word. If those five objective principles are consistently true in your life—if you are saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering for righteousness’ sake—you are completely free to choose whatever you desire.
In fact, God providentially governs your choice by molding your desires. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” That doesn’t mean merely that He grants the desires of your heart; it suggests that He puts the desires there. So even when we choose freely, His sovereign providence guides the free choices we make! What confidence that should give us as we live our lives before God!
Haddon Robinson wrote: “When we lift our inner impressions to the level of divine revelation, we are flirting with divination.” In other words, those who treat subjective impressions as revelatory prophecy are actually practicing a form of fortune-telling. Those willing to heed inner voices and mental impressions may be listening to the lies of a deceitful heart, the fantasies of an overactive imagination, or even the voice of a demon. Once objective criteria are cast aside, there is no way to know the difference between truth and falsehood. Those who follow subjective impressions are by definition undiscerning. Mysticism and discernment simply do not mix.
- John MacArthur, Adapted from Reckless Faith
___________________________________________________
* They certainly do! Trajetta enjoying the azaleas:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/33094283862/]
** An ongoing debate in Paprihaven, seen in various scenes such as Paprihaven 1620!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52683654653
*** Cam Cooper is indeed dating the lovely Bonnie Bailey, as seen two days ago!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54945142388
**** Yep, that was it! Def not 'Hawk Fang'.
www.flickr.com/photos/135742756@N07/39528612572/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44152794180/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49128237531/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50641046658/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51701007283/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52517742153/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53346631177/
2024:
At the Simmons home, Thanksgiving meal preparations are also underway. Koncedra Simmons has her daughter, Shasta, and her niece, Honor, helping with planning. Or, they're supposed to be...
Koncedra: Alright, here's what we have so far. Turkey two ways, baked and fried. Cornbread dressing. Collards. Butter beans. Mashed potatoes. Candied yams. Cranberry sauce. Caesar salad. What are we missing...
Honor: What about bread, Auntie?
Koncedra: MmHM! *taps fingernail on cabinet* What are we gonna do about bread?
Shasta: Any garlic bread in the fridge?
Honor: I don't see any.
Koncedra: Now, there is no way we're treating guests to store bought garlic bread. MmMM!
Shasta: Didn't you say we're having cornbread?
Koncedra: I said cornbread dressing. You think some biscuits might be good too?
Honor: Auntie, aren't the guests bringing food too? Have they told you what they're brining?
Koncedra: Yep, mmHM, but what they gonna show up with? We got Tracy Parks and her friends coming over and ain't no telling what crazy dish those girls gonna come up with.* So, you know we gotta plan like no one else is bringing anything.
Shasta: Hey, the more food the better.
Honor: Girl, you big!
Shasta: ... Excuse me, did you just call me big?
Honor: I literally just said, 'girl you big.'
Shasta: Oh, good, life lesson time. When scrawny girls learn why they shouldn't call healthy girls 'big.' It's a painful lesson. You ready?
Koncedra: I'm 'bout to come over there and give you both a life lesson if you don't help me focus. Lord God, I do thank you that we don't have a fightin' family. "How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!" That's Psalm 133:1. Right from the Book, MmHM!
Honor: *giggles*
Shasta winks at her cousin. They've grown up together and love each other. BUT, if one of their fabled wrestling matches occurs in the living room later, a good headlock until Honor screams 'Auntie' at least four or five times is always satisfying.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
___________________________________________________
The Key To Family Unity - Matthew 6:25-34
We live in a world full of dysfunction. Estrangement runs rampant among the citizens of this fallen society. And nowhere is it felt more acutely than within the family. All of us have seen or experienced intense conflict within marriages, between parents and children, and among extended family members.
But we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus warned us to expect that kind of division:
From now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. (Luke 12:52–53)
Jesus was testifying to the reality of life in a sin-filled world—especially the strife that can result in a household comprised of believers and unbelievers. But even families made up entirely of faithful Christians can expect their share of conflict. Man’s fallen nature—and even its lingering effects in believers—will always default to selfishness, pride, greed, envy, and every other sin that promotes strife.
The biblical key to cultivating a sanctuary of harmony in your home: Godly forgiveness.
It’s hard to destroy a relationship if you continually forgive every offense. In Colossians 3:13 Paul says, “Bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” It is godlike to forgive.
Beloved, a family is headed for major disaster if you continually accumulate hostility because of offenses, if you continue to allow bitterness to develop. But whenever there’s an offense and immediate forgiveness, it’s disappearing, it’s gone. That’s the key to any relationship. Children, the same toward your parents. Parents, the same toward your children. Brother and sister, brother and brother, sister and sister, it’s the same situation—forgiveness because that is like God. Practice the Godlike virtue.
No one would argue against the necessity of forgiveness. But how many of us faithfully practice this kind of aggressive forgiveness?
- John MacArthur, Adapted from The Key to Maintaining Family Unity
___________________________________________________
* As seen yesterday!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54940625914
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546538356/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/30990317087/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49121920807/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50630434036/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51694298439/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52510954773/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53340821823/
2024
“So true”
-rc
De Lubac identifies a distinctive contrast between a mature grasp of secular knowledge and a puerile grasp of religious faith. The latter has “remained that of a child, wholly elementary, rudimentary, a mixture of childish imagination, poorly assimilated abstract notions, scraps of vague and disconnected teachings gathered by chance from existence.”8 The failure to foster a mature and intelligent grasp of faith often results in its abandonment. Even scholars have foregone a deep engagement with biblical texts, relegating it to a domain for a few specialists. The Bible became a “source for rationalist objections to which the apologist had to respond.”9 It was no longer studied seriously as a religious text – a reservoir of the sacred – and instead became a source for thin apologetics.
-THE GIVENNESS OF DESIRE Concrete Subjectivity and the Natural Desire to See God, Randall S. Rosenberg
At Tracy Parks home, the intrepid trio have reached a quandary...
Tracy: Girls! This just isn't coming together. Our ideas aren't gelling.
Briar: You want to use gelatin?
Buckley: GuHAA!"
Tracy: No, not gelatin. Gelling.
Briar: ... ... Jelly??
Buckley: BWAAHAHA!
Tracy: Our plans aren't turning out well.
Buckley: I think it's great! Look at all the ingredients we found right here in the kitchen!
Tracy: We found all these ingredients because we're chocoholics.
Buckley: Well, I think we're more sweetaholics but, yeah, chocolate's right there front and center.
Briar: What should we do?
Tracy: *sigh* So, Mrs. Simmons* has invited us for Thanksgiving, and that's a BIG deal! We can't show up with something not good. Buckley tell us your recipe again.
Buckley: Okay, I call it choco-choco-creamy-choco-peanut-barbeque-choco-pie.
Tracy: Okay, I made the cookie pie crust but I'm not sure how the rest goes together.
Buckley: Just dump it all in!
Briar: Oh, that sounds GOOD!
Tracy: I don't think something we 'just dump in' makes a dish that we can take to the Simmons! This sounds like one of our dishes we make up for movie night.
Briar: But movie nights are fun, and we always enjoy our kitchen creations!
Buckley: Hey, if my dish isn't good enough for everyone, no problem!
Tracy: Hm. No, you're right, our kitchen concoctions do usually taste pretty good. I guess I'm too worried about what others may think when I should be thanking God for His gracious provision of all this stuff we already had.
Briar: Yes, that's true! We didn't have to go anywhere! God is so kind. Bible verse challenge! God's provision! Philippians 4:19, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Tracy: Great idea, Briar. Um, 2 Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
...
Briar: Buckleeey~??
Buckley: I provided the recipe! Let me think. Okay, most important about God's provision, at least to me, Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Tracy: Nice!
Briar: Amen!
Tracy: Okay, whose car are we taking.
Buckley: Where we going?
Tracy: Duper's Super Market.
Buckley: We just said we had everything we need!
Tracy: I'm thinking of adding a bit of fruit, unless, of course, you girls don't like strawberries, peaches, grapes...
Briar: Woo-HOO, let's GO!!
Buckley: Okay, provision over and beyond! HAHA! Your idea, you're driving!
Tracy: *giggles* Okay, let's head out!
Briar: Shouldn't we put some of this back in the fridge?
Tracy: Oh, yeah! And, Buckley, no offense, but I really think we need to remove the barbeque sauce from the recipe.
Buckley: That gives it tang!!
Briar: Oh, we should pick up some Tang at the store then.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
___________________________________________________
The Cure for Anxiety - Matthew 6:25-34
Most Christians will say they believe God is sovereign. We know that we can trust Him in all circumstances. But when the rubber meets the road, everyone is prone to worry about life’s essentials: food, income, health, and a host of other things.
But in Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Thus Jesus brackets our passage with this meaning: If you are worrying, quit; if you haven’t started, don’t.
The Greek word for “life” has to do with the fullness of earthly, physical, external life. Don’t be anxious about this temporal world—and the food, clothing, and shelter associated with it.
So many in our society are totally consumed with the body—they decorate it, fix it up, clothe it, put it in a nice car, send it off to a nice house, stuff it full of food, sit it in a comfortable chair, hang it with a bunch of jewelry, take it out on a boat, let it swim, teach it to ski, take it on a cruise, and so on. But life is not contained in those things; it transcends all externals. Life comes from God—and the fullness of life from Jesus Christ.
Look at the simplest flowers around you: There is a free and easy beauty about them. You can take the most glorious garment ever made for a great monarch like Solomon, put it under a microscope, and it will look like sackcloth. But if you likewise examine the petal of a flower, you could become lost in the wonder of what you would see. If you’ve ever taken a good look at a flower, you know there is a texture, form, design, substance, and color that man with all his ingenuity cannot come close to duplicating.
So what is the point? That “if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?” (Matthew 6:30) Wildflowers have a very short life span. So the God who would lavish such beauty on temporary fire fodder certainly will provide the necessary clothing for His eternal children.
With a Father like this, how can we worry? He is omnipotent, and He loves us. That should be enough to settle even the greatest anxieties.
- John MacArthur, Adapted from Anxiety Attacked
___________________________________________________
* The Simmons are a beloved, well respected, and central family in the lives of Paprihaven!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52060028283
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546538356/
2018
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45192078954/
2019
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49118690462/
2020
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50625872238/
2021
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51691706150/
2022
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52509128458/
2023
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53339017705/
2024
Thanksgiving Day at the Simmons home. Everyone has arrived. Some are in the back yard. Some are still bustling in the kitchen. And some have gathered here in the entertainment room. It has been a busy, but fulfilling week for all as they prepared, looking forward to this great time to gather together in the context of offering thanks to God.
General Oliver Simmons, highest ranking officer in the PDF, enjoys conversation with his longtime friend, Cam Cooper and a cigar.
Oliver: Just too many decision makers, Cam. How're we supposed to get things done?
Cam: Preaching to the choir, friend. Red tape. Bureaucracy is the death of many a fine plan.
Oliver: That's what I'm saying. Especially at a time like this.
The quartet from the PDF barracks* are each in a state of unease, being in the home of their leader, and none more so than Oliver's son, Derrick.
Derrick: *thinking* Man, I want to sit down. But, Dad's standing, so I'm gonna stand. Be interested in their conversation. I wonder what Kelly's doing.** Man, she's beautiful. I want to be with her. See her. Put my arms around her. Wait! Pay attention! What are they talking about...? Red tape? Yeah... Man, Kelly is gorgeous...
Vince: *thinking* This little ankle-biter jumped in my lap. General Simmons' family likes dogs. The key component in that is 'General Simmons'. Pet the dog. Let the General see me being nice to his dog. If this dog bites me... gonna be a court martial for sure. Wonder what Helen's doin. Prolly somethin better'n holdin a flea packer.
Grape: *thinking* Whazzat? Oh, another dog. Derrick said his Mom rescues dogs. Musta rescued the whole kennel. Somebody needs to rescue the Simmons. Mebbe I should get out my phone, get a shot of my sleeve with the dog in the background. Send it to Beulah.
Maisie: *thinking* How exciting to be invited to the General's house! Everyone seems so happy! None of the boys think of me in any way other than the supply clerk. They've each got girls in Coopers Town. I wonder if there's any guys here I can meet.
RC: Hey... Tracy, right?
Tracy: Yep! This is Buckley.
Buckley: WHUT UUUUUP!! I'm taking pics.
RC: Cool.
Tracy: And that's Briar talking to Bonnie over there. We're in the ladies study class that Miss Konnie and Miss Audrey lead at church. So, Miss Konnie was so kind to invite us over.
RC: Oh, yeah, cool.
Buckley: Ready to get some FOOD on!
RC: Hah! No doubt.
Tracy: Shasta, I'll tell her too, but please let your Mom know how much we appreciate the invite.
Shasta: I will, but she loves you three. She talks about you a lot.
Briar: Are you and Mr. Cooper officially... I dunno, official?
Bonnie: Shh! *giggles* I think so. But don't say I said that.
Briar: That must be SO exciting! Maybe one day for me too.
Bonnie: Oh, Briar, you're beautiful! You should be fighting them off. I think you three stay out of circulation too much.
Briar: *giggles* But we're having too much fun!
Conversations flow. There is much laughter of the easy, relaxed kind. Groups mingle from all areas of the Simmons home and interact. Old friends. New acquaintances. It will culminate in the long awaited meal. As usual, General Simmons will defer to Cam Cooper to pray for God's blessings. And all will offer thanks to Him for all the bountiful good things of life. "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17
Happy Thanksgiving from Paprihaven! God is good! All the time!
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
___________________________________________________
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100
___________________________________________________
* Seen two days ago!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54947099850
** Kelly Davis! The love of Derrick's life!
www.flickr.com/photos/135742756@N07/44820206805/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45073145065/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49133292408/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50644470608/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51702861201/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52518652952/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53349911190/
2024
This year we end the Seven Days of Thanksgiving series in Paprihaven on the day after. Why? While it is wonderful to have a day set aside specifically to acknowledge our impossible debt to God by expressing our gratitude, every day should truly be a day of thanksgiving. After the amazing celebration at the Simmons,* the girls are back at Tracy's house.
Tracy: Wow. So tired. What a great time. Thank you, God.
Buckley: I'm so stuffed! I'll sleep on this bench if I can't make it upstairs.
Tracy: Who said you're staying here??
Buckley: You gotta be responsible, Trace! You can't let me drive home in this condition.
Briar: HAHAHA!
Tracy: You're not drunk! You don't even drink!
Buckley: I'm loaded with tryptophan. I can't make it. I'm DONE FOR, offissaaAAaa!
Briar: HAHA! What's 'trippafan'?
Tracy: It's an amino acid in turkey that people say makes you sleepy. I think what happened is we all just ate too much.
Briar: I ate sooooo much! I looooved that corn casserole! Who made that?
Tracy: I think Honor did.
Buckley: Ooohhh, I'm gonna pop. Let's just all get in bed, under the covers, and tell stories til we fall asleep.
Briar: That's FUN!
Buckley: But y'all GOTTA CARRY ME UUUUUUP!
Briar: HAHAHA!
Tracy: Oh, good grief. I'm stuck with both of you tonight. Are you sure you even have homes? You're always here.
Buckley: Oh! Haha! On Paprichat, Sheila Harper posted a video of her poodle grabbing a piece of turkey from the table!
Briar: I want to see that!
Tracy: Can you not be on your phone for like two seconds? And, I want to see too. And, who's Sheila Harper?
Buckley: She's got that pretty green Jaguar? Always real shiny? **
Tracy: Oh, yes.
Briar: I wanna see the video!
Buckley: Then come over here.
Briar: Can't move. You come over here.
Buckley: Uh uh.
Briar: BuuUUUUCK!!!
Buckley: You're outta luck, kid.
*WOOF!*
Briar: Hey, Biff!
Buckley: The Biffster!
Tracy: Wow, what a great day. And now we're just chilling. Peace. Joy. Love. God is good.
Buckley: All the TIME!
Briar: All the time!
Tracy: And, all the time...
Buckley: God is GOOD!
Briar: God is good!
Tracy: Bible challenge, then we somehow struggle upstairs. God's loving kindness. Psalm 117:2, "For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!"
Briar: Psalm 63:3, "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You."
...
Tracy: Buckley...
Buckley: Um... What's the one? "Please answer me God because you are loving and kind... and compassionate?"
Tracy: Close enough! Psalm 69:16, "Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me." Okay, upstairs! Up!
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
___________________________________________________
God wants you to give thanks.
Well, Thanksgiving came and went. Did your gratitude last beyond your afternoon nap? For many, that’s the extent of their thanksgiving—a one-time, get-it-out-of-the-way holiday that reminds them to reflect on how blessed they are. Too often and too quickly, people resort back to being ingrates. But God wills us to be thankful all the time, in all things. That’s the point of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 where Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So if you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering, you have one thing left to do in order to follow God’s will—be saying thanks.
Paul’s simple, direct command—in everything give thanks—allows believers no excuse for harboring ingratitude. In everything carries an unlimited requirement. It refers to everything that occurs in life. With the obvious exception of personal sin, we are to express thanks for everything. No matter what struggles or trials, God commands us to find reasons for thanking Him always (Acts 5:41; James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-9). That’s His will.
If you’re not obeying that command, you’re not following God’s will. Think of it like this: If gratitude doesn’t come easy for you, neither will finding God’s will. Or to put it another way, if you struggle with being thankful, you’ll struggle with following God’s will. Need some motivation? Here are some reasons God wills you to be thankful:
God commands it:
Gratitude should come naturally to believers in response to all God has done on their behalf, but because of our hardness of heart, God enjoins us to thanksgiving with commands (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Therefore, all forms of ingratitude are sinful. Paul commanded the Colossians, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
When Paul describes the believer’s Spirit-filled life, he writes, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:20). God doesn’t merely command those expressions of gratitude and leave believers helpless to comply. He enables us to articulate them (Philippians 2:13), and is pleased when we do.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who was involved in an accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down, writes, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful, it's a matter of obedience.”
Thankfulness acknowledges God’s sovereignty:
The single, greatest act of worship you can render to God is to thank Him. It’s the epitome of worship because through gratitude, we affirm God as the ultimate source of both trial and blessing—and acknowledge our humble acceptance of both.
With a thankful heart, you can say in the midst of anything, “God be praised.” That kind of attitude looks beyond the circumstance to the plan of God. It sees beyond the pain to the sovereignty of God. It remembers, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). An attitude of thankfulness enables us to deal with those who wrong us, saying with Joseph, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Those who are thankful see the providential hand of God everywhere and say, “God, I thank You for the peaceful times as well as the hard times—a difficult marriage, a challenging job, a severe illness—because I know You will use those things for my good and Your glory.”
The grateful Christian remembers that suffering perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes him (1 Peter 5:10). God wills that kind of thankfulness.
God judges ingratitude:
William Shakespeare wrote, “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. Ingratitude thou marble hearted fiend.” If Shakespeare understood the hostile attitude behind thanklessness, imagine what God must think about it.
Ingratitude is the very essence of an unregenerate heart, ranking among the most intolerable sins in Scripture. The apostle Paul identified unbelievers as ungrateful: “For even though they knew God [through conscience and general revelation], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). Because man in his pride fails to honor and glorify God as Creator, he also refuses to thank Him for His gracious provision. Ingratitude betrays unbelief, and both sins bring about God’s judgment.
Although God is the source of every good thing that men possess—giving life, breath, rain, sunshine, and other natural blessings to the just and unjust alike (Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:15–17)—the natural man refuses to thank Him. In his fallen mind, to thank God is to acknowledge his own obligation to worship Him.
In summary, God wills our being thankful in all things because gratitude is the ultimate expression of a transformed heart. But thanklessness can infest and destroy a church, marriage, family and home. So cultivate a heart of gratitude. Be thankful for all things and in all circumstances. That’s God’s will. Are you following it?
- John MacArthur, adapted from God Wants You To Give Thanks
___________________________________________________
* As seen yesterday!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54950920265
** As seen in BP 2021 Day 107!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51121244013/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/22949342829/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/37886668344/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31063953947/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49137396007/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50649209702/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51704094592/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52521485290/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53349976036/
2024:
I picked up a great many things in my years in the Christian church. There are still wholly formed passages of Scripture floating around in the back corridors of my brain, unsung hymns with lovely melodies that bring tears to the eyes. There are also many logical arguments living in my brain on expired leases. The Teleological argument, the Cosmological argument, the Ontological argument. Their business cards are still here in my purse.
I was trained vigorously in these arguments in the apologetics courses I took in college. Twelve years later, every time I start flirting with a religious framework that does not center around the very particular conservative Christian system of sacrifice and atonement I was trained in, Teleo, Cosmo, and Onto pop up, look over my shoulder nervously. "Are you sure you want to do that?" "I'm thinking you might regret that eventually."
For a brief passage early in the decade, my then-husband and I attended elaborate Christian apologetics courses at night. We would drive to a big church on the other side of town and listen to heady lectures delivered by well-educated professors on the validity of the Christian message. We took notes in the notebooks they provided us. They talked a lot about "the inherent dignity of man," which is a beautiful belief, one I deeply miss now that I have stepped away from the Christian ecosystem it lives in. It's good to have a belief system that honors the anonymous moments of suffering and sadness that each person endures.
What I'm wondering now is who's still around when Teleo, Cosmo, and Onto finally fall asleep. Can I invite the "inherent dignity of man" over for tea? The logicians are so severe. They are made of bone. There is no muscle in them, no heart. I don't want a belief system that adores my brain and ignores my body. I want to believe something that makes my chest hurt. In a good way.
I've been scratching about this issue for quite a while in my journal. A few weeks ago, I wrote this question in the margins of my journal. And yeah, it's sort of an ontological argument, I suppose. But so far, I can't answer the question, and that's okay with me.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, it has no survival value, rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
Clive Staples Lewis.
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge University (Magdalene College, 1954–1963). He is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
Lewis and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends. They both served on the English faculty at Oxford University, and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings. According to Lewis's memoir Surprised by Joy, he was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but fell away from his faith during adolescence. Lewis returned to Anglicanism at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, and he became an "ordinary layman of the Church of England". His faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.
In 1956, he married American writer Joy Davidman; she died of cancer four years later at the age of 45. Lewis died on 22 November 1963 from renal failure, one week before his 65th birthday. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis was honoured with a memorial in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Lewis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularised on stage, TV, radio, and cinema. His works entered the public domain in 2014 in countries where copyright expires 50 years after the death of the creator, such as Canada. Source Wikipedia
Sir Kenelm Digby (July 11, 1603 – June 11, 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, Anthony à Wood called him the "magazine of all arts".
He was born at Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire, England. He was of gentry stock, but his family's adherence to Roman Catholicism coloured his career. His father, Sir Everard, was executed in 1606 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot. Kenelm was sufficiently in favour with James I to be proposed as a member of Edmund Bolton's projected Royal Academy (with George Chapman, Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, John Selden, and Sir Henry Wotton).[2]
He went to Gloucester Hall, Oxford in 1618, where he was taught by Thomas Allen; but left without taking a degree. In time Allen bequeathed to Digby his library, and the latter donated it to the Bodleian.[3][4]
He spent three years in Europe between 1620 and 1623, where Marie de Medici fell madly in love with him (as he later recounted). He was granted a Cambridge M.A. on the King's visit to the university in 1624.[5] Around 1625, he married Venetia Stanley, whose wooing he cryptically described in his memoirs. He had also become a member of the Privy Council of Charles I of England. His Roman Catholicism being a hindrance in the way of government office, he switched to Anglicanism.
In 1628, Digby became a privateer, with some success: on January 18 he arrived off Gibraltar and captured several Spanish and Flemish vessels. From February 5 to March 27 he remained at anchor off Algiers on account of the sickness of his men, and extracted a promise from the authorities of better treatment of the English ships. He seized a rich Dutch vessel near Majorca, and after other adventures gained a complete victory over the French and Venetian ships in the harbour of Iskanderun on the June 11. His successes, however, brought upon the English merchants the risk of reprisals, and he was urged to depart.
He returned to become a naval administrator and later Governor of Trinity House. His wife died suddenly in 1633, prompting a famous deathbed portrait by Van Dyck and a eulogy by Ben Jonson. (Digby was later Jonson's literary executor. Jonson's poem about Venetia is now mostly lost, because of the loss of the center sheet of a leaf of papers which held the only copy.) Digby, stricken with grief and the object of enough suspicion that the Crown had ordered an autopsy (rare at the time) on Venetia's body, secluded himself in Gresham College and attempted to forget his personal woes through scientific experimentation and a return to Catholicism. At that period, public servants were often rewarded with patents of monopoly; Digby received the regional monopoly of sealing wax in Wales and the Welsh Borders. This was a guaranteed income; more speculative were the monopolies of trade with the Gulf of Guinea and with Canada. These were doubtless more difficult to police.
Digby became a Catholic once more in 1635. He went into voluntary exile in Paris, where he spent most of his time until 1660. There he met both Marin Mersenne and Thomas Hobbes.[6]
Returning to support Charles I in his struggle to establish episcopacy in Scotland (the Bishops' Wars), he found himself increasingly unpopular with the growing Puritan party. He left England for France again in 1641. Following an incident in which he killed a French nobleman, Mont le Ros, in a duel,[7] he returned to England via Flanders in 1642, and was jailed by the House of Commons. He was eventually released at the intervention of Anne of Austria, and went back again to France. He remained there during the remainder of the period of the English Civil War. Parliament declared his property in England forfeit.
Queen Henrietta Maria had fled England in 1644, and he became her Chancellor. He was then engaged in unsuccessful attempts to solicit support for the English monarchy from Pope Innocent X. Following the establishment of The Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell, who believed in freedom of conscience, Digby was received by the government as a sort of unofficial representative of English Roman Catholics, and was sent in 1655 on a mission to the Papacy to try to reach an understanding. This again proved unsuccessful.
At the Restoration, Digby found himself in favor with the new regime due to his ties with Henrietta Maria, the Queen Mother. However, he was often in trouble with Charles II, and was once even banished from Court. Nonetheless, he was generally highly regarded until his death at the age of 62 from "the stone", likely caused by kidney stones.
He published a work of apologetics in 1638, A Conference with a Lady about choice of a Religion. In it he argued that the Catholic Church, possessing alone the qualifications of universality, unity of doctrine and uninterrupted apostolic succession, is the only true church, and that the intrusion of error into it is impossible.
Digby was regarded as an eccentric by contemporaries, partly because of his effusive personality, and partly because of his interests in scientific matters. Henry Stubbe called him "the very Pliny of our age for lying".[9] He lived in a time when scientific enquiry had not settled down in any disciplined way. He spent enormous time and effort in the pursuits of astrology, and alchemy which he studied in the 1630s with Van Dyck.[10][11][12]
Notable among his pursuits was the concept of the Powder of Sympathy. This was a kind of sympathetic magic; one manufactured a powder using appropriate astrological techniques, and daubed it, not on the injured part, but on whatever had caused the injury. His book on this salve went through 29 editions.[13] Synchronising the effects of the powder, which apparently caused a noticeable effect on the patient when applied, was actually suggested in 1687 as a means of solving the longitude problem.
In 1644 he published together two major philosophical treatises, The Nature of Bodies and On the Immortality of Reasonable Souls. The latter was translated into Latin in 1661 by John Leyburn. These Two Treatises were his major natural-philosophical works, and showed a combination of Aristotelianism and atomism.[14]
He was in touch with the leading intellectuals of the time, and was highly regarded by them; he was a founding member of the Royal Society[10] and a member of its governing council from 1662 to 1663. His correspondence with Fermat contains the only extant mathematical proof by Fermat, a demonstration, using his method of descent, that the area of a Pythagorean triangle cannot be a square. His Discourse Concerning the Vegetation of Plants (1661) proved controversial among the Royal Society's members.[15] He is credited with being the first person to note the importance of "vital air," or oxygen, to the sustenance of plants.[16]
Digby is known for the publication of a cookbook, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Knight Opened, but it was actually published by a close servant, from his notes, in 1669, several years after his death. It is currently considered an excellent source of period recipes, particularly for beverages such as mead.
Digby is also considered the father of the modern wine bottle. During the 1630s, Digby owned a glassworks and manufactured wine bottles which were globular in shape with a high, tapered neck, a collar, and a punt. His manufacturing technique involved a coal furnace, made hotter than usual by the inclusion of a wind tunnel, and a higher ratio of sand to potash and lime than was customary. Digby's technique produced wine bottles which were stronger and more stable than most of their day, and which, due to their dark color, protected the contents from light. During his exile and prison term, others claimed his technique as their own, but in 1662 Parliament recognized his claim to the invention as valid.
Sir Kenelm Digby (July 11, 1603 – June 11, 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, Anthony à Wood called him the "magazine of all arts".
He was born at Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire, England. He was of gentry stock, but his family's adherence to Roman Catholicism coloured his career. His father, Sir Everard, was executed in 1606 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot. Kenelm was sufficiently in favour with James I to be proposed as a member of Edmund Bolton's projected Royal Academy (with George Chapman, Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, John Selden, and Sir Henry Wotton).[2]
He went to Gloucester Hall, Oxford in 1618, where he was taught by Thomas Allen; but left without taking a degree. In time Allen bequeathed to Digby his library, and the latter donated it to the Bodleian.[3][4]
He spent three years in Europe between 1620 and 1623, where Marie de Medici fell madly in love with him (as he later recounted). He was granted a Cambridge M.A. on the King's visit to the university in 1624.[5] Around 1625, he married Venetia Stanley, whose wooing he cryptically described in his memoirs. He had also become a member of the Privy Council of Charles I of England. His Roman Catholicism being a hindrance in the way of government office, he switched to Anglicanism.
In 1628, Digby became a privateer, with some success: on January 18 he arrived off Gibraltar and captured several Spanish and Flemish vessels. From February 5 to March 27 he remained at anchor off Algiers on account of the sickness of his men, and extracted a promise from the authorities of better treatment of the English ships. He seized a rich Dutch vessel near Majorca, and after other adventures gained a complete victory over the French and Venetian ships in the harbour of Iskanderun on the June 11. His successes, however, brought upon the English merchants the risk of reprisals, and he was urged to depart.
He returned to become a naval administrator and later Governor of Trinity House. His wife died suddenly in 1633, prompting a famous deathbed portrait by Van Dyck and a eulogy by Ben Jonson. (Digby was later Jonson's literary executor. Jonson's poem about Venetia is now mostly lost, because of the loss of the center sheet of a leaf of papers which held the only copy.) Digby, stricken with grief and the object of enough suspicion that the Crown had ordered an autopsy (rare at the time) on Venetia's body, secluded himself in Gresham College and attempted to forget his personal woes through scientific experimentation and a return to Catholicism. At that period, public servants were often rewarded with patents of monopoly; Digby received the regional monopoly of sealing wax in Wales and the Welsh Borders. This was a guaranteed income; more speculative were the monopolies of trade with the Gulf of Guinea and with Canada. These were doubtless more difficult to police.
Digby became a Catholic once more in 1635. He went into voluntary exile in Paris, where he spent most of his time until 1660. There he met both Marin Mersenne and Thomas Hobbes.[6]
Returning to support Charles I in his struggle to establish episcopacy in Scotland (the Bishops' Wars), he found himself increasingly unpopular with the growing Puritan party. He left England for France again in 1641. Following an incident in which he killed a French nobleman, Mont le Ros, in a duel,[7] he returned to England via Flanders in 1642, and was jailed by the House of Commons. He was eventually released at the intervention of Anne of Austria, and went back again to France. He remained there during the remainder of the period of the English Civil War. Parliament declared his property in England forfeit.
Queen Henrietta Maria had fled England in 1644, and he became her Chancellor. He was then engaged in unsuccessful attempts to solicit support for the English monarchy from Pope Innocent X. Following the establishment of The Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell, who believed in freedom of conscience, Digby was received by the government as a sort of unofficial representative of English Roman Catholics, and was sent in 1655 on a mission to the Papacy to try to reach an understanding. This again proved unsuccessful.
At the Restoration, Digby found himself in favor with the new regime due to his ties with Henrietta Maria, the Queen Mother. However, he was often in trouble with Charles II, and was once even banished from Court. Nonetheless, he was generally highly regarded until his death at the age of 62 from "the stone", likely caused by kidney stones.
He published a work of apologetics in 1638, A Conference with a Lady about choice of a Religion. In it he argued that the Catholic Church, possessing alone the qualifications of universality, unity of doctrine and uninterrupted apostolic succession, is the only true church, and that the intrusion of error into it is impossible.
Digby was regarded as an eccentric by contemporaries, partly because of his effusive personality, and partly because of his interests in scientific matters. Henry Stubbe called him "the very Pliny of our age for lying".[9] He lived in a time when scientific enquiry had not settled down in any disciplined way. He spent enormous time and effort in the pursuits of astrology, and alchemy which he studied in the 1630s with Van Dyck.[10][11][12]
Notable among his pursuits was the concept of the Powder of Sympathy. This was a kind of sympathetic magic; one manufactured a powder using appropriate astrological techniques, and daubed it, not on the injured part, but on whatever had caused the injury. His book on this salve went through 29 editions.[13] Synchronising the effects of the powder, which apparently caused a noticeable effect on the patient when applied, was actually suggested in 1687 as a means of solving the longitude problem.
In 1644 he published together two major philosophical treatises, The Nature of Bodies and On the Immortality of Reasonable Souls. The latter was translated into Latin in 1661 by John Leyburn. These Two Treatises were his major natural-philosophical works, and showed a combination of Aristotelianism and atomism.[14]
He was in touch with the leading intellectuals of the time, and was highly regarded by them; he was a founding member of the Royal Society[10] and a member of its governing council from 1662 to 1663. His correspondence with Fermat contains the only extant mathematical proof by Fermat, a demonstration, using his method of descent, that the area of a Pythagorean triangle cannot be a square. His Discourse Concerning the Vegetation of Plants (1661) proved controversial among the Royal Society's members.[15] He is credited with being the first person to note the importance of "vital air," or oxygen, to the sustenance of plants.[16]
Digby is known for the publication of a cookbook, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Knight Opened, but it was actually published by a close servant, from his notes, in 1669, several years after his death. It is currently considered an excellent source of period recipes, particularly for beverages such as mead.
Digby is also considered the father of the modern wine bottle. During the 1630s, Digby owned a glassworks and manufactured wine bottles which were globular in shape with a high, tapered neck, a collar, and a punt. His manufacturing technique involved a coal furnace, made hotter than usual by the inclusion of a wind tunnel, and a higher ratio of sand to potash and lime than was customary. Digby's technique produced wine bottles which were stronger and more stable than most of their day, and which, due to their dark color, protected the contents from light. During his exile and prison term, others claimed his technique as their own, but in 1662 Parliament recognized his claim to the invention as valid.
Studies in Berlin: Science, Torah & Quantum Theory
1928-1932
By Eli Rubin
Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s studies at Berlin’s Friedrich Wilhelm (Humboldt) University coincided with Erwin Schrödinger’s tenure as Professor of Theoretical Physics.
Many years later, in conversation with the American mathematician Paul Rosenbloom, the Rebbe recalled that he enjoyed Schrödinger’s lectures very much.
During this period Schrödinger was embroiled in a debate with other leading physicists over how to interpret the counterintuitive and paradoxical findings of quantum mechanics. Light was found to behave like particles and like waves, depending on the kind of experiment set up to observe its behavior.
According to Werner Heisenberg, this showed that objective reality is actually an indeterminate spectrum of possibilities; only subjective observation forces any one of those possibilities to materialize. Schrödinger disagreed. The indeterminate findings of quantum mechanics, he asserted, simply mirrored the incompleteness of the current theory.
In conversation with the American mathematician Paul Rosenbloom, the Rebbe recalled that he enjoyed Schrödinger’s lectures very much.“There is a difference,” he wrote, “between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks.”
Albert Einstein, who was also on the faculty in Berlin at the time, but didn’t teach, shared Schrödinger’s concerns. It was his correspondence with Einstein that helped Schrödinger formulate the cat thought (gedanken) experiment to demonstrate the absurdity of Heisenberg’s position.
Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle” can be interpreted in various ways and has been supplemented with various theories, leaving the discussion open until today.
Together with Einstein’s theory of relativity, according to which phenomena can no longer be measured in absolute terms, the uncertainty principle thoroughly undermines the classical notion that the empirical observations of science can provide a precise account of objective truth.
The Rebbe’s position, formulated in various letters over the years, might be seen as a mediation between the two poles articulated by Heisenberg and Schrödinger. But more importantly, it constitutes a mediation between science and religion. The Rebbe accepted the uncertainty principle as a scientific self-description of the limits of scientific investigation, but not as a conclusive statement about the nature of reality. This position rested on his surprising assertion that the Torah view of science is actually “at variance” with science's newfound self-circumscription:
“Where in the past scientific conclusions were considered as natural ‘laws’ in the strict sense of the term, i.e. determined and certain, modern science no longer holds this view. Parenthetically, this view is at variance with the concept of nature and our own knowledge of it (science) as espoused by the Torah, since the idea of miracles implies a change in a fixed order and not the occurrence of a least probable event.”
The Torah perspective is predicated on divine revelation, which asserts a foundation of absolute certainty. In contrast, scientific scrutiny of its own foundations "The Halacha accepts scientific findings, in many instances, not as possible or probable, but certain and true..." arrived at the uncertainty principle, generally regarded as the best candidate for a universal description of the physical world. For the Rebbe, this did not undermine the legitimacy of science but rather crystallized the terms of its relationship to Torah. In his view, the assumption that science should dictate those terms was fundamentally flawed. On the contrary, it was only by virtue of Torah’s authority that science too could be endowed with a measure of certainty:
“As a matter of fact, the Torah bestows upon science - in certain areas at least - a validity much greater than contemporary science itself claims. The Halacha accepts scientific findings, in many instances, not as possible or probable, but certain and true... In the light of what has been said above... modern science cannot legitimately (and I mean ‘legitimately’ even from the viewpoint of science itself) challenge Torah from Sinai.”
Accordingly, the Rebbe insisted that a religious Jew, even a professional scientist, should not have any qualms about accepting a literal reading of the Torah’s description of creation, or any other Torah deviation from commonly accepted scientific theory.
The developments in quantum theory during the years that the Rebbe was in Berlin deeply impacted his perception of the relationship between Torah and science. In a 1962 interview with the Israeli journalist Shlomo Nakdimon the Rebbe remarked:
"The discoveries in the laws of atoms shake up the very foundations according to which science worked until now. Until now, they said science is stable, but Torah is no more than belief. Now we see that the premises of science and technology do not have lasting truth. These revelations were made specifically through the study of the atom….”
The scientific method is an excellent tool in the hands of humanity, but none of its hypotheses such as "The discoveries in the laws of atoms shake up the very foundations according to which science worked until now." warrant apologetic reinterpretation of the Divine word. Such apologetics were characterized by the Rebbe as “the outmoded legacy of the 19th century and before.”
It was precisely the advances made by modern science that rendered them obsolete. With the old confusions cleared up, he argued, Torah and science are today free to progress in collaborative harmony.
The function of Torah, and especially Chassidism, is to reveal the unity of G‑d in the world. Previously, scientists thought that the universe was composed of many different elements, but modern science reduces everything to the union of energy and matter. Science itself, the Rebbe said, is discovering the underlying unity of all existence.
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. One of Pastor Calvin's twin girls, Bitsy, is bustling back and forth to get things just right. She's delighted to hear Ezra's welcome offer of help.
"Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever." Psalm 30:10-12
"Here, Miss Bitsy, let me assist you. You're doing the work of a whole team!"
"Haha! Thank you, Mister Ezra! If you would grab that crate top center and take it to the cutting table, that would be a fine assist in itself!"
"Of course! Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor!"*
"Yes! If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up!" *
Bitsy smiles happily at Ezra's eager help and silently breathes a prayer, "Thank you, Lord, for blessing all our efforts so far today. Thank you for giving us such good friends and blessing us through them. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!" **
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
* Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
* Psalm 133:1
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:31-40
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45229591634/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49124596596/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50638483627/
2021:
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. Before the guests begin arriving, Pastor Calvin seizes a moment to be alone with God, in His Word.
"The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation, The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies; Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, And I will sing praises to Your name." Psalm 18:46-49
"Lord, I thank You for Your kind protection. Here we are, about to celebrate another Thanksgiving, another day set aside to acknowledge our express gratitude to You, and You alone.
Father, this old chest beside me. It has things in it that are special to us in this life and, though it is old now, it has faithfully kept the contents secure.
How much more, Father, have you protected us? Not only have you secured us for this life, but in Your salvation through Christ Jesus, for all eternity. And that is the far greater. You have protected us thus far and whatever dangers You allow to come our way in the future, and whatever may befall, I thank you that the greater has been done, and our souls are safe.
Lord, we cannot number the protections we know, and then the ways You have protected from things we do not know are greater still. Thank you, Father, for Your gracious protection on me and my family."
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Because of man’s sin and the subsequent curse that poisoned the perfection of God’s creation, the world is often a dangerous place. People suffer every day from natural disasters, crime, car accidents, poor health, and more. It’s natural to seek protection from the pain and sorrow of life. Does the Bible promise us the protection of God when we become part of His eternal family?
There are many verses in God’s Word that seem to promise God’s physical protection. For example, Psalm 121:3 says, “He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber.” In verse 7 the psalmist declares, “The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.” As Israel entered the Promised Land, God promised them that He would never leave or forsake them (Deuteronomy 31:6).
At first glance, it does seem that God promises to protect His children from harm. But if that were the case, why do so many Christians around the world struggle with persecution, illness, loss, accidents, and injuries? We all know Christians whose “foot” has “slipped.” Is God breaking His promise, or are we missing something?
First of all, we should interpret the Old Testament promises of physical safety in the context of the Mosaic Covenant. As the children of Israel were obedient to the covenant, God promised them various material and physical blessings—on their crops, livestock, children, etc. (Deuteronomy 28). The Old Covenant was very much concerned with earthly blessings, and physical protection was among them. This was the basis for Hezekiah’s prayer when he was smitten with a fatal illness (2 Kings 20:1–6). Throughout the Old Testament, we see God protecting His people in order to bring His plans to pass (e.g., Exodus 1:22—2:10; 1 Kings 17:1–6; Jonah 1).
It is important to understand that we are under the New Covenant, not the Old. God does not promise to keep believers in Christ from all physical harm. There are certainly times when He does mercifully shield us from situations where we would sustain injury or loss. Paul and Luke’s survival of the shipwreck in Acts 27 and Paul’s imperviousness to the snakebite in Acts 28 are cases in point. Today, however, God’s promises to believers usually refer to spiritual protection.
When we believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit immediately enters our lives. We are sealed for eternity and brought under God’s spiritual protection from that moment on. This means that, regardless of our future sins or the schemes of Satan, we will never lose the salvation God has granted (2 Timothy 1:12). There is nothing that can ever separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39). In addition, we are given freedom from the dominion of sin—we are no longer slaves to sinful thoughts, desires, and actions, but are born into a new life of holiness (Romans 6:22).
Throughout our lives, God will continue to “guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7), providing the strength, peace, and perseverance we need to make it through any test or trial. His Spirit grows in us fruit that will strengthen our Christian walk (Galatians 5:22–23), and He provides us with powerful tools with which we can fend off the enemy’s spiritual attacks (Ephesians 6:10–17).
There is nothing wrong with asking for physical protection from God, as long as we realize He does not always see fit to grant it. He knows we are strengthened by the trials that come our way, and in each physical trial, we are assured of His spiritual protection. So, rather than seeking complete physical protection from God, we can agree with James when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2–3).
- From the article:
"How Can I Receive The Protection of God?"
Got Questions dot Org
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546538356/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/30990317087/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49121920807/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50630434036/
2021:
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, the preparation is finished. The food has been prepared, they have enjoyed fellowship, worship, and songs of praise together. It is time to eat! Pastor Calvin asks for God's further blessings.
"Father we thank You for the fine time we've had together already, and we thank You for the bounty You've set before us. As You tell us in your Word, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."* What a sweet time this is, Father.
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!" ** Just as the oil was poured on Aaron’s head and flowed downward, from the top of the head, to the beard, to the collar, and beyond, so this is more than a mere secular gathering, Father. Your blessings flow down on us through this fellowship in such abundance that it runs in overflow! Thank you Father! In Jesus' name, for it is by His work that we can approach you, it is under His authority that we ask, and it is to His glory, amen."
"AMEN!"
"Everyone fill up your plates and find a seat!"
"For sure, Miss Betsy!"
"And I trust I needn't tell you to save the dessert for last!"
"T'will be difficult, Miss Betsy! That pumpkin pie is calling me fierce!"
"HAHAHA!"
"Turkey or ham... ah, it seems best to have a bit of both."
"Get some of that gravy! Miss Bitsy made it, and it's always the best!"
"It's not too cold yet, Edgar, tomorrow we may have a hunt, eh?"
"Lord willing, Toolen! That sounds good! Mister Schaefer, would you join us?"
"I just might, lad. Thank you!"
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
* Acts 2:42
** Psalm 133:1-2
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." Psalm 116:5-7
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/22949342829/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/37886668344/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31063953947/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49137396007/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50649209702/
2021:
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. Having sung hymns of praise to God, it is announced that the turkey ready to eat.
"Pa, I'm famished! What's a good Scripture to go with this?"
"Hm... well, not one to do with famine..."
"Oh, dear, probably not, Pa!"
"As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?" Psalm 33:1-5
"May we all hunger and thirst for God even more than our bodies crave the food we're smelling even now. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." *
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
* Matthew 5:6
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
The Lord promises rich blessing to those “who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
Every person, saved or unsaved, has a built-in hunger for God. Of course, the unbelieving world attempts to satisfy that hunger with everything but God. As Isaiah 55:2 says, “Why do you spend your money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” Peter goes even further, describing the empty pursuits of the unsaved world like “‘a dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire’” (2 Peter 2:22).
As John explains, those impotent attempts to find satisfaction have even gained influence in the church:
Amos says that the people in the world pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7). People are really after happiness, but the dusty earth is where they look for it. The number of amusements in our society always amazes me. Now, I’m not against Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and all the rest. But our life is so full of amusements and entertainment possibilities. And we’re like a man with a painful disease who just wants to be relieved of the pain and doesn’t want to bother with the cause.
This has become true even in the church. Many Christians are after some kind of an ecstasy. They want an experience, a spiritual feeling. People run to seminars and conferences and counselors trying to get some spiritual trip, but that is not what they are to seek. They try to find happiness, without facing the fact that happiness is a by-product of hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
The hunger and thirst Christ described isn’t for temporal pleasures and distractions. Instead, it’s fixed on the only source of true satisfaction:
The only real happiness in life is to be right with God.
This points to two things: salvation and sanctification. Let’s talk first about salvation. Somebody who hungers and thirsts after righteousness seeks salvation. He sees his sin, he sees his rebellion, he sees himself separated from a holy God. He is broken, mournful, meek, and he wants very much to restore himself to God. He wants forgiveness, and so he hungers and thirsts after the righteousness that comes in salvation. It is a desire to be free from self. It is a desire to be free from sin—its power, its presence, and its penalty. . . .
There’s a second element: sanctification. We hunger and thirst for sanctification, an increasing holiness. I do not know how to express this as strongly as I feel it, but I hope there is in my life this hunger that never stops—the desire to be more and more like Christ. This is a mark of a Christian. We keep hungering and thirsting to desire more virtue, a greater purity. We never get to the place in which we think, “I’ve arrived.”
The “hunger and thirst” Christ promised to bless isn’t some aimless, indeterminate craving. Nor was He describing an appetite that is easily satisfied. He’s talking about a continuous desire—one that leads us into His kingdom, and remains as a pattern long after we’ve been brought into His family. It’s what John MacArthur calls “divine discontent.”
Jesus satisfies, and yet there is a blessed dissatisfaction that wants even more and will be satisfied only when we see Jesus Christ. A kingdom person has a consuming ambition, not for power or pleasure, not for possessions or praise, but for righteousness.
The fleeting pleasures and pastimes of this world offer no lasting happiness or contentment. The only true satisfaction comes the work of God in our lives, as He saves us through His Son and sanctifies us through His Word and His Spirit. We’ve got to see our inability to meet His righteous standard on our own, and instead long for the righteousness He alone can supply.
- Excerpt from 'Blessed Are The Gentle And Hungry'
John MacArthur, 2017
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45073145065/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49133292408/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50644470608/
2021:
16 HE SAW THAT THERE WAS NO MAN,
AND WONDERED THAT THERE WAS NO ONE TO INTERCEDE;
THEN HIS OWN ARM BROUGHT HIM SALVATION,
AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS UPHELD HIM.
17 HE PUT ON RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A BREASTPLATE,
AND A HELMET OF SALVATION ON HIS HEAD;
HE PUT ON GARMENTS OF VENGEANCE FOR CLOTHING,
AND WRAPPED HIMSELF IN ZEAL AS A CLOAK.
18 ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS, SO WILL HE REPAY,
WRATH TO HIS ADVERSARIES, REPAYMENT TO HIS ENEMIES;
TO THE COASTLANDS HE WILL RENDER REPAYMENT.
19 SO THEY SHALL FEAR THE NAME OF THE LORD FROM THE WEST,
AND HIS GLORY FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN;
FOR HE WILL COME LIKE A RUSHING STREAM,
WHICH THE WIND OF THE LORD DRIVES.
20 “AND A REDEEMER WILL COME TO ZION,
TO THOSE IN JACOB WHO TURN FROM TRANSGRESSION,” DECLARES THE LORD.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 59:16–20.
59:16 In context (vv. 1–15), the description of sinfulness in the land shows how depraved the nation had become and how far it had strayed from God. Isaiah did not excuse himself from this picture (6:5); “no man,” not even the prophet, was standing up against injustice and ungodliness and interceding for the sinful community. The “man” God looked for, but did not find, could be (1) a righteous king like Hezekiah, (2) some other leader, besides Isaiah, who might respond to His messages through the prophet, or (3) no “man” at all, since the nation’s problems were beyond human solution and God must bring salvation Himself (vv. 16–21).
Ted Cabal et al., The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 1073–1074.
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. Pastor Calvin's son, Charles Jr. is just arriving with a much needed final sack of supplies. As Charles Jr. approaches the house, he sees the happy scene through the window, and his thoughts go to salvation.
""Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind. For Your faithful love is before my eyes, and I live by Your truth. I do not sit with the worthless or associate with hypocrites. I hate a crowd of evildoers, and I do not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around Your altar, Lord, raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about Your wonderful works." Psalm 26:2-7
"Before God saved me, how my life was like this. On the outside, looking in. I professed to be a Christian. My father is a beloved pastor. I talked the talk and I did a fairly good job of walking the walk. But I never felt the joy and peace they seemed to. I always felt like I was outside, in the cold, looking in on a warm gathering. Not really a part of it.
And then God opened my eyes through 2 Timothy 3:5, " having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." I had an appearance of Godliness. I acted like a Christian, and worked hard to convince myself I was one. But I had denied the power of God in true salvation which is that He changes us, radically, fundamentally, from the inside out. I had been trying to have Christianity my way, when in truth Jesus is the way.
Then God saved me and I no longer felt like an outsider. 2 Corinthians 5:17 proved true, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Now, when I walk through that door and join them, I'm one of them. Thank you Lord."
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Although heaven will be our first encounter with true, complete perfection, the Lord is already at work in the lives of His people preparing us for that perfection.
God begins the process of perfecting us from the moment we are converted from unbelief to faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit regenerates us. He gives us new hearts with new, holy desires (Ezekiel 36:26). He transforms our stubborn wills. He opens our hearts to embrace the truth rather than reject it, to believe rather than doubt. He gives us a hunger for righteousness and a desire for Him. Thus the new birth transforms the inner person. From that point, everything that occurs in our lives—good or bad—God uses to make us like Christ (Romans 8:28–30).
In terms of our moral and legal status, believers are judged perfect immediately—not on the basis of who we are or what we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. We are forgiven of all our sin. We are clothed with a perfect righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; Romans 4:5), which instantly gives us a standing before God without any fear of condemnation (Romans 5:1; 8:1). And when Paul writes that God has “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6), he is again speaking of this position of favor with God that we have been granted by grace alone.
We are not literally, physically seated with Christ in the heavenlies, of course. We are not mystically present there through some kind of spiritual telepathy. But legally, in the eternal court of God, we have been granted full rights to heaven. That is the high legal standing we enjoy even now, on this side of heaven.
But God does not stop there. Having judicially declared us righteous (Scripture calls that justification), God never stops conforming us to the image of His Son (that is sanctification). Although our legal standing is already perfect, God is also making us perfect. Heaven is a place of perfect holiness, and we would not be fit to live there unless we too could be made holy. In a sense, then, the blessing of justification is God’s guarantee that He will ultimately conform us to the image of His Son. “Those whom He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
The seeds of Christlikeness are planted at the moment of conversion. Peter says that believers have been granted “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). If you are a Christian, the life of God dwells in your soul, and with it all that you need for heaven. You have already passed from death to life (John 5:24). You are a new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). Whereas you were once enslaved to sin, you have now become a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Instead of receiving the wages of sin—death—you have received God’s gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). And eternal life means abundant life (John 10:10). That is what Paul means when he writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Now let’s be honest. Even the most committed Christian doesn’t always live as if “the new has come.” We don’t always feel like a “new creation.” Usually we are more keenly aware of the sin that oozes from within us than we are of the rivers of living water Christ spoke of. Although we “have the firstfruits of the Spirit, [we] groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). And we groan this way all our lives. Remember, it was a mature apostle, not a fragile new Christian, who cried out in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Here’s the problem: Like Lazarus, we came forth from the grave still bound in grave clothes. We are incarcerated in human flesh. Flesh in the biblical sense refers not just to the physical body, but to the sinful thoughts and habits that remain with us until our bodies are finally glorified. When Paul speaks of flesh and spirit he is not contrasting the material body with the immaterial spirit—setting up a kind of dualism, the way gnostic and New Age doctrines do. He uses the word flesh to speak of a tendency to sin—a sin principle that remains even in the redeemed person.
Paul clearly spells out the problem from his own experience in Romans 7.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. (Romans 7:15-–21)
As believers we are new creatures—reborn souls—vested with everything necessary for life and godliness, but we cannot fully appreciate the newness of our position in Christ because of the persistent presence of sin.
Like Paul, we “delight in the law of God, in [our] inner being” (Romans 7:22). Only the principle of eternal life in us can explain such love for the law of God. But at the same time, the flesh constricts and fetters us like tightly bound grave clothes. This flesh principle wars against the principle of new life in Christ. So we feel like captives to the law of sin in our own members (Romans 7:23).
How can this be? After all, Paul earlier wrote in this very epistle that our bondage to sin is broken. We are supposed to “have been set free from sin” (Romans 6:22). How is it that just one scant chapter later, he says we are “captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23)?
The answer is, being a captive is not quite the same thing as being enslaved. As unredeemed sinners, we were full-time slaves of sin—willing servants, in fact. But as Christians who are not yet glorified, we are captives, unwilling prisoners of an already defeated enemy. Although sin can buffet and abuse us, it does not own us, and it cannot ultimately destroy us. Sin’s authority and dominion are broken. It “lies close at hand” in the believer’s life (Romans 7:21), but it is no longer our master. Our real allegiance is now to the principle of righteousness (Romans 7:22). It is in this sense that “the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even though we still fall into old patterns of sinful thinking and behavior, those things no longer define who we are. Sin is now an anomaly and an intruder, not the sum and substance of our character.
God is changing us from the inside out. He has planted the incorruptible seed of eternal life deep in the believer’s soul. We have new desires to please God. We have new hearts and a whole new love for God. And all those are factors that contribute to our ultimate growth in grace.
Although sin has crippled our souls and marred our spirits—scarred our thoughts, will, and emotions—we who know Christ have already had a taste of redemption. As we set our hearts on heaven and mortify the remaining sin in our members, we can experience the transforming power of Christ’s glory on a daily basis. And we long for that day when we will be completely redeemed. We yearn to reach that place where the seed of perfection that has been planted within us will bloom into fullness and we will be completely redeemed, finally made perfect (Hebrews 12:23). That is exactly what heaven is all about.
- "Changed From The Inside Out"
John MacArthur
2013
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45946160821/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49117569293/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50634408816/
2021:
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. Before the meal, Pastor Calvin's daughter Bitsy takes her place at the piano and all gather around for praises of thanks to God.
"Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord." Psalm 33:1-5
🎹🎵 "Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still
🎹🎵 But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God's love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
🎹🎵 Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose
Oh Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose
And let my soul forever be my only boast is you
🎹🎵 Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life" 🎶
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
"All I Have Is Christ" - Jordan Kauflin, 2011
Music is an inherent part of every society. The unearthly sounds of throat-singing in Mongolia and Siberia are as important to their cultures as Bach is to European cultures or drum-driven song and dance are to Native American cultures. Since music is such an important part of life, it should not be surprising that the Bible says much about it; in fact, the longest book in the Bible is its song book—Psalms.
Psalms accounts for over 7 percent of the Old Testament. In addition to the Psalms are other song- and poetry-focused books such as Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and others. In the New Testament, we have song lyrics recorded in Revelation 5, 7, and 15; the mention of Jesus and the disciples singing in Matthew 26:30; and the example of the apostles’ singing in Acts 16:25. Many people also consider Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46–55 and the angels’ announcement in Luke 2:14 to be songs. The church is commanded to communicate with each other “with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
Recorded musicians and music in the Old Testament:
The first reference to a musician in the Bible is in Genesis 4:21. Jubal was the fourth generation from Adam through Cain and is recorded as “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.” Other early references to music include Exodus 15, which records Moses and the Israelites singing a song of victory after the overthrow of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. At that time, Moses’ sister, Miriam, led the Israelite women “with tambourines and dancing” as she sang. When Jephthah returned from battle, Jephthah’s daughter met him with timbrels and dance in Judges 11:34. David’s victories were also celebrated in song in 1 Samuel 18:6–7.
Two of the Old Testament’s most important figures wrote songs: Moses and David. Moses has three songs recorded in the Bible: the song sung after the destruction of Pharaoh’s army (Exodus 15:1–18); a song recounting the faithfulness of God and the rebelliousness of Israel, which he sang before all the people just before his death (Deuteronomy 32:1–43); and a prayer recorded in Psalm 90.
David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1), is credited with writing about half of the 150 songs recorded in Psalms, along with some in the historical books. He was the official musician in Saul’s court (1 Samuel 16:14–23). During David’s own reign, he organized the Levitical musicians, and 1 Chronicles 15:16 and 23:5 record that more than one in ten Levites in temple service were musicians.
Other musicians include Asaph (twelve psalms), the sons of Korah (ten psalms), Solomon (two psalms and 1,005 other songs [1 Kings 4:32] and the Song of Solomon), Heman (one psalm), and Ethan (one psalm).
Music was used in conjunction with all manner of activities (Genesis 31:27; Exodus 32:17–18; Numbers 27:17; Judges 11:34, 35; Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33). Music was used at coronations (1 Kings 1:39–40; 2 Kings 11:14; 2 Chronicles 13:14; 20:28), events in the royal court (2 Samuel 19:35; Ecclesiastes 2:8), and feasts (Isaiah 5:12; 24:8–9). It is interesting to note the connection between music and the supernatural: trumpets sounded when the walls of Jericho fell down (Joshua 6:1–20); and David played his harp to soothe Saul during demonic attacks (1 Samuel 16:14–23).
For more technical information about Hebrew music, we recommend books by Eric Werner and Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, both excellent scholars on the subject.
Recorded musicians and music in the New Testament:
Two of the Gospels mention the fact that Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn at the end of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26). Elsewhere in the Gospels, music is seen as part of mourning (Matthew 9:23) and celebration (Luke 15:25).
Paul gave instructions regarding the use of music during Christian gatherings in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. In Ephesians we see that addressing each other with hymns and songs is an indication of being Spirit-filled. In Colossians the same is an indication of being filled with the Word of Christ, and the songs come “from the Spirit.” In James 5:13 we have this command: “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
Music in the Bible - Conclusion:
Both the Old and New Testaments address music and strongly support its use in worship. The extensive anthology of actual songs found in the Old Testament indicates the importance and value God places on creative musical expression. Music’s use in worship in the church today is valuable and can honor God in a special way. Music is a communication tool. There are no New Testament instructions on the type of instruments to be used (or not used), and no particular “style” of music is recommended or forbidden. The simple command is to sing “to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16).
-What Does The Bible Say About Music?
Got Questions dot Org
2022
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44152794180/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49128237531/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50641046658/
2021:
Do we use circular reasoning without realizing it? Most say your argument fails when you use circular reasoning.
"However, not all circular reasoning is fallacious. Certain standards must be assumed. Dr. Jason Lisle gave this example of a non-arbitrary use of circular reasoning:
Without laws of logic, we could not make an argument.
We can make an argument.
Therefore, there must be laws of logic.
While this argument is circular, it is a non-fallacious use of circular reasoning. Since we couldn’t prove anything apart from the laws of logic, we must presuppose the laws of logic even to prove they exist. In fact, if someone were trying to disprove that laws of logic exist, he’d have to use the laws of logic in his attempt, thereby refuting himself. Your non-Christian friend must agree there are certain standards that can be proven with circular reasoning.
Your basic presupposition—God exists and has revealed Himself in His inerrant, authoritative Word—is the ultimate standard. Presupposing God exists to argue that God exists is a reasonable circular argument because without the God of the Bible, we have no basis for assuming the laws of logic and their properties, let alone absolute morality or the uniformity of nature." - answersingenesis.org/apologetics/circular-reasoning/
Psalm 119:87
They had almost consumed me upon earth, but I forsook not thy precepts. (KJV)
#Respect #Powerful #Lamb #Apologetics #Powerful #PraiseGod #DailyBibleVerse
~Former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism at age 32, about 60 years after John Henry Newman
~storyteller and writer of spiritual autobiography, historical novels, poetry, ghost stories, he is associated with the Catholic Literary Revival
~author of Confessions of a Convert
~author of the dystopian novel Lord Of The World
Location : Bantayan Island , Central Visayas , Philippines
~~~~~~~~~<<~~~~~~~~~<@
Signs of the Times
Site of TribulationNowRadio - Click Here
*Countdown to Christ Radio : Stan Deyo talks of prophecy
- Amazing message !!!!
*Truth Be Told - Evolutionary Hoaxes - Amazing exposé of flaws of Evolution by Christian Apologetics Kyle Butt
*Evolution and Darwin: Fact or Fiction - Convicted - Dr. Brad Harrub- Brilliant !!!!
Whatever you religion especially Christians ( those who are asleep and not asleep ) should now wake up, prepare and , get closer to God, know the word of God, read your Bibles before the great deception come into full swing and you'll be one of the deceived and damned . A change of great magnitude is coming !!!!
If your church is not teaching the pure word of God, you have to leave so you''ll not take part of the judgement.
*La Marzulli, Stan Deyo, Stewart Best & Larry Taylor Roundtable - Omega
*The Cosmic War with L A Marzulli at Coast to Coast AM - The great conspiracy of evil to be realized happening in our days.
*Why Today's Church Don't Preach The End Times?
*Know This When Millions Disappear
It's great to prepare even just for the benefit of your family who might be left behind to survive.
But don't forget God, never give up your faith !
Doomsday Preppers S02E04 - The Time of Reckoning - ( Secular )
*National Geographic - Doomsday Preppers Let her rip (Survival) (Secular )
*National Geographic - Doomsday Preppers Gonna Be a Big Bang (Bunker) - (Secular )
*Coast to Coast AM - March 19 2013 - NWO and Preppers _ ( Secular)
*Coast To Coast AM - March 20 2013 Omens And Prophetic Warnings
I know in my guts we are nearing the timeline of the Tribulation as spoken in the Bible. Here's an interpretation of one Christian. I am not still so convinced of her timeline as I do believe simple start will be signing of the Peace Treaty in the Middleast. But her timeline could also be just about right, a little leeway of extra time adjustments of each points. But I know in my spirit, we right there ,very close. That's why I am encouraging everyone, if you are left here alive to see all these things happening, don't give up Jesus, even if this cost your life. As you will be translated quickly to God soon after your last gasp of breathe -- do endure to the end in Christ . Never accept the mark !
The morning is giving way to midday and Betsy Calvin, while attending to her own work, heard CJ's frustrated voice* and went to help.
"Here we go, Agnes! That's right, Ember! We're on our way!
See, CJ! They respond to the 'voice they know'!"
Betsy could not suppress a grin as she teased her big brother.
"Yeah, yeah! I feed them enough, they ought to know me."
"Haha! Oh, and look, there's one of the Warner's sheep! Which one are you? Gordy?"
"I guess even other people's sheep listen to your voice. You're like the Good Shepherd of Tomper."
"CJ, do you think we're as disobedient as these sheep with Jesus?"
"Ugh. I was praying about that earlier. We're worse. At least I am."
"Me too. And the Lord Jesus did so much for us. We haven't done anything for these sheep like He did for us. He died for us."
"And rose again. He loved us to the uttermost. He could not give more for us than He did. And continues to. Daily He protects us and guides us. Far better than we take care of these sheep. Leading us. Green pastures, still waters, the path of righteousness. Christ Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd."
"Amen!"
"We might need to 'shepherd' Bitsy. She went over to the Warner's again this morning and I think she's completely oblivious to Toolen's intentions."**
"Well, friend Toolen needs to make his intentions known. Father frightens him to no end."
"Haha!"
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."
~ John 10:11-18
* CJ was having a difficult time as seen in Day 5!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54161210532
** Bitsy did indeed head over in Day 6!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54159982251/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45229591634/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49124596596/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50638483627/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51699334535/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52515537935/
2023:
As the morning progresses, Charles Calvin Jr, or CJ, is working with their pair of rather independently minded sheep.
"Agnes, Ember, let's go. I've opened the gate. The gate is wiiiide open."
"Baa~~aaa~~"
CJ thought about it and breathed a prayer.
"Lord, bless me to be a more obedient sheep."
His thoughts ran to John 10. How Jesus explained that if a person truly belongs to Him, they hear and obey His voice. He calls them by name and they follow because they are His own.
"Are you two really my sheep? You're not listening to my voice. Would you just go? Are you afraid of Tiberius? He's a puppy!"
"Baa~~aaa~~
Buuaa~~Baaa~~"
"By the way, great job, Tybee. You're supposed to be a shepherd dog."
Despite the momentary frustration, CJ gives thanks to God that, through salvation in Christ Jesus, He has made CJ His own. Through the grace of God, CJ has received life more abundantly. That is thankworthy indeed!
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
~ John 10:1-10
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45946160821/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49117569293/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50634408816/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51696887830/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52512886846/
2023:
That evening, the bountiful grace of God is demonstrated in their Thanksgiving meal.
CJ: Wow, this looks great.
Bitsy: It smells great!
Charles: It does indeed. Let's join hands and pray.
God, our Father, we thank you for this meal. We thank you that you not only bless, but in your lovingkindness you bless over and above all that we could expect. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy.
Thank you for our family, Father. Thank you for the peace, joy, and love that you share with us, and we share with each other.
Thank you for salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, as we hold hands, signifying the bond you have given us, bless us to remember and recognize the eternal bond we have with You.
Christ Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. No bond could be more intimate. Just as the life giving sap of the branch comes from the vine, so our very life has come from Christ. Our joy, our faith, our strength, every good thing, comes to us from our Savior.
Father, please bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and bless our bodies to Your service. Prune us as needed, Father, to be more fruitful vines in your service.
We ask these things in Jesus' name because it is through His work that we are able to pray to You, it is under His authority that we approach Your throne, and it is to His glory that we ask these things. Amen."
All: Amen and AMEN!
CJ: I'll cut the turkey!
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
~ John 15:1-11
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/22949342829/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/37886668344/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31063953947/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49137396007/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50649209702/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51704094592/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52521485290/
2023:
Evening is settling in and the Calvins are on their way back to the house.
Bitsy: "Gimme a ride, CJ!"
thomp!!
CJ: "HRRFF!! How heavy are you, Bitsy?? You've been eating too many of your own blueberry cobblers!"
Besty: HAHAHA!
Bitsy: OOHH!! YOU!!
CJ: "I think my back is broken!"
Bitsy: "PA!! Listen to him tease me! What's a Bible verse for this??"
Charles: "Put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite."*
Bitsy: "PA~!!!"
Betsy: "AAHAHA!!"
CJ: "I cannot carry this ox by myself; the burden is too heavy for me."**
Bitsy: "OH! Now you DO have to carry me all the way home!"
Betsy: "Okay, 'the way', that's good! John 14:6, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.' I think that's a better verse to have in mind as we head home."
Pastor Calvin smiles as they continue on their way. CJ puts forth much comic effort and grunting, eliciting the desired protests from Bitsy.
Charles is thankful for his children. They know the Lord as their Savior and they know the Scripture. Pastor Calvin keeps a close watch on their progress there. CJ seems to have the broadest knowledge while Betsy tends to be the deepest thinker, theologically.
Bitsy is a distant third by any measurement but she also knows much of the Scripture and, more importantly, adheres to it.
'The way', indeed. Pastor Calvin silently gives thanks to God. In spite of our sin, God has made one way to reconciliation. That of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone to repent, turn away from a life of sin, and believe, turn to Christ Jesus in faith, is to then be on the way to Heaven, to have the truth of Heaven, and the life of Heaven. All in Jesus.
And, Pastor Calvin breathes thanks again, his children all have it.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
~ John 14:1-6
* Proverbs 23:2
** A heavily paraphrased version of Numbers 11:14!
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45073145065/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49133292408/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50644470608/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51702861201/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52518652952/
2023:
It's still early and Bitsy Calvin is taking some of their eggs over to the Warners. Toolen Warner had asked for some, though they seemed to have healthy chickens of their own.*
Bitsy took the path through the woods between their properties as usual, and the sunlight was streaming through the trees. The light bathed the surroundings in a positively heavenly glow.
"Oh, Lord Jesus," Bitsy breathed. "Thank you for this beautiful light and thank you for the spiritual light you give. That we would no longer walk in the confusion, fear, and anger of darkness."
As Bitsy approached the Warners, she could hear the heavy approach of their Great Pyrenees before he arrived. And arrive he did, with some panting, much tail wagging, and even a bit of slobber.
"Chief! Well, good morning to you, big fellow! Oh, it is good to see you as well!"
Bitsy fended off the big, gentle dog who seemed to have a particular interest now in the basket of eggs.
"Not for you, silly. Though you look as though you do share a lot of the table food. You are losing your gentlemanly figure! Let's go, now! We'll give your family a big hello!"
Bitsy smiled as they continued on, Chief periodically licking her hand as they walked. The Light of the world. Not one light among many. Not even the preeminent light among other choices. The Light. The only Light. "Thank you, Lord Jesus," she breathed again.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”"
~ John 8:12
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546538356/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/30990317087/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49121920807/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50630434036/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51694298439/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52510954773/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53340821823/
* Toolen Warner makes any excuse to be around Bitsy! He means to start properly courting her... once he's not so afraid of her father.
Using C.S. Lewis' essay on "Transposition" as my springboard, here's my visual presentation on apologetics which I call "Geometry of Faith"...something that appeals to kids... using a story of romance between circles and a sphere.
The grave of C.S.Lewis in Holy Trinity Church graveyard, Headington Quarry, Oxford.
As pointed out my 'cheezelsmurf' below he died on the same day as JFK so now you can say you remember where you were on the day C.S.Lewis died.
From Wikipedia : "Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly called C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist. Born in Belfast, Ireland, he held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College), 1925–1954, and Cambridge University (Magdalene College), 1954–1963. He is best known both for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain."
Shot with my Pentax Z1p and then scanned from Jessops ISO200 C41 film.
George MacDonald was born on 10 December 1824 in Duke Street, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His father, a farmer, was one of the MacDonalds of Glen Coe and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the massacre of 1692.
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works on Christian apologetics. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors including Lewis Carroll, W. H. Auden, David Lindsay, J. M. Barrie, Lord Dunsany, Elizabeth Yates, Oswald Chambers, Mark Twain, Hope Mirrlees, Robert E. Howard, L. Frank Baum, T.H. White, Richard Adams, Lloyd Alexander, Hilaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit, Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman and Madeleine L'Engle. C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master" [Wikipedia - abridged]
Clive Staples Lewis was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He held academic positions at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He is best known for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
Lewis and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends. They both served on the English faculty at Oxford University, and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings. According to Lewis's memoir Surprised by Joy, he was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but fell away from his faith during adolescence. Lewis returned to the Anglican Communion at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, and he became an "ordinary layman of the Church of England".His faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.
a hundred and eighteen
Meaningless, meaningless...
Utterly meaningless...
Everything is meaningless.
Sometimes I wonder what the point of everything is...
Especially since it is all a chasing after the wind...
As Thanksgiving approaches, Pastor Charles Calvin sits with his family to eat. Once they are seated, he will offer thanks to God for the meal and ask God for His blessings.
They are a farming family and they've been up early. They enjoyed their family time in the Word of God first.
What was it the Lord said? It's a better priority to feed your soul, which never dies, before your body, which is already dying.
Thank God for the physical food He gives us, and thank Him far more for the spiritual food! He is the Bread of life.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.
Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ”
~ John 6:26-27, 34-35
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546538356/
2018
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45192078954/
2019
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49118690462/
2020
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50625872238/
2021
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51691706150/
2022
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52509128458/
2023
Drop in on featured artist Peggyhr at
www.flickr.com/photos/artsylens
_______________
“For we have sinned and transgressed by departing from you, and we have done every kind of evil. For your name’s sake, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant.” “Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.” Daniel 3:29, 42
_______________________
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most
of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that
oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the
beginning if it is to be stopped at all." H. L. Mencken
_______________________
Below I found at
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare....
William Shakespeare, English Dramatist Quotes
Born April 26, 1564; Died April 23, 1616
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.
When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.
Where every something, being blent together turns to a wild of nothing.
William Shakespeare
Who could refrain that had a heart to love and in that heart courage to make love known?
When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.
____________________________
Check out www.zenit.org/
about “Reason Needs Beauty”, says Pontiff
BRESSANONE, Italy, AUG. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Apologetics has two great pillars, says Benedict XVI: beauty and the saints.
The Pope affirmed this Aug. 6 when he met with priests, deacons and seminarians of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone and answered in German six questions they asked him. The Holy Father was on vacation in the Dolomites, where he stayed at the major seminary of Bressanone.
Responding to a question from a Franciscan priest, the Holy Father spoke about the complementary importance of beauty and reason.
He said that only when reason and beauty are united do they form a whole, "and precisely for faith, this union is important."
"Faith must continuously face the challenges of thought in this epoch, so that it does not seem a sort of irrational legend that we keep alive, but that which really is a response to the great questions, not merely a habit but the truth," the Pontiff clarified.
Recalling St. Peter's exhortation to "always be prepared to give reason for the hope that is in you," the Pope said the saint was convinced that faith is reasonable, not a "wonderful concoction, a fruit of our thought. And this is why it is universal and for this reason can be communicated to all."
Still, Benedict XVI continued, though the importance of reason cannot be undermined, "I did once say that to me, art and the saints are the greatest apologetic for our faith."
He explained: "The arguments contributed by reason are unquestionably important and indispensable, but then there is always dissent somewhere.
"On the other hand, if we look at the saints, this great luminous trail on which God passed through history, we see that there truly is a force of good that resists the millennia. […] Likewise, if we contemplate the beauties created by faith, they are simply, I would say, the living proof of faith."
Epiphanies
The Pope pointed to the example of the cathedral where he was meeting with the priests. "It is a living proclamation," he said. "It speaks to us itself, and on the basis of the cathedral's beauty, we succeed in visibly proclaiming God, Christ and all his mysteries: Here they have acquired a form and look at us."
The Holy Father said great works of art "are all a luminous sign of God and therefore truly a manifestation, an epiphany of God."
"I think the great music born in the Church makes the truth of our faith audible and perceivable," he continued. "In listening to all these works […] we suddenly understand: It is true! Wherever such things are born, the Truth is there. Without an intuition that discovers the true creative center of the world, such beauty cannot be born."
Benedict XVI affirmed that reason must be open to the beautiful.
"When, in our epoch, we discuss the reasonableness of faith, we discuss precisely the fact that reason does not end where experimental discoveries end -- it does not finish in positivism," the Pope explained. "The theory of evolution sees the truth but sees only half the truth: It does not see that behind it is the Spirit of the Creation. We are fighting to expand reason, and hence for a reason which, precisely, is also open to the beautiful and does not have to set it aside as something quite different and unreasonable."
"Christian art is a rational art," the Holy Father went on. "[I]t is the artistic expression of a greatly expanded reason, in which heart and reason encounter each other. This is the point. I believe that in a certain way this is proof of the truth of Christianity: Heart and reason encounter one another, beauty and truth converge, and the more that we ourselves succeed in living in the beauty of truth, the more that faith will be able to return to being creative in our time too, and to express itself in a convincing form of art."
EXPLORE 2008 # 190, # 244, # 448 on 08-20; # 483 on 08-21
God Is the First Mover
Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3
Whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion, then this also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and, consequently, no other mover; seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are put in motion by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is put in motion by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Elliot Ritzema and Rebecca Brant, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true.
~
quote by
Gilbert Keith Chesterton who was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown, and wrote on apologetics
~
AI/PIXLR/GIMP
modern beautiful grotesque art
I was trying to support a 'perfect' title for this photo and stumbled upon this article. It's a fascinating read:
It is early afternoon now and Bitsy, having enjoyed a fine lunch with her family, is replacing the flowers on the grave of her mother, Esther Calvin.
It had been an illness that came quickly, and took her suddenly. How they had grieved!
They had questioned their father, Pastor Calvin, on why God would take their mother?
They had known the answers but the pain was so great. Bitsy thinks back now on how the hurt must have pierced their father even worse. Yet he had remained so patient as he talked with them.
Death, spiritual and physical, came into the world because of sin.* Physical death is God's constant reminder of His judgment. Everyone must face it at God's appointed time.**
But thanks be to God that, through His grace, anyone who will repent and believe in the Lord Christ Jesus will never face the spiritual death.***
Bitsy misses her mom. But, Bitsy smiles. Her mom is not somewhere as ambiguously vague as "a better place".
Her mom is rejoicing and basking in the direct glorious presence of her Creator and Savior. Bitsy wouldn't want her mom to come back to this. So Bitsy will carry on until she goes to join her mom in that same beautiful eternal life.
As Jesus said, "Do you believe this?" It marks the difference.****
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
"So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”"
~ John 11:17-27
* "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned" Romans 5:12
** "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," Hebrews 9:27
*** "28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
**** "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44152794180/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49128237531/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50641046658/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51701007283/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52517742153/
2023:
Grover Furr is a hobby historian with zero credibility who worships Joseph Stalin and denies that his hero ever committed a single crime.
rationalwiki.org/wiki/Stalin_apologetics#Grover_Furr
It was interesting to discover that the excellent Holocaust Controversies blog (which devotes itself to deconstructing and debunking the false claims of holocaust deniers) has also taken apart Furr's false claims about the Katyń massacre.
You'd have to be staggeringly ignorant, gullible and foolish to believe that the mass murder of 22000 Polish nationals by the Soviet NKVD in 1940 was actually carried out by the Nazis - as Furr suggests - but being staggeringly ignorant, gullible and foolish is a pre-requisite for joining the tankie cult, so it's not surprising that some people do believe it.
However, in a very long blog post - titled "Debunking Grover Furr's Katyń Screed" - the HC folks demonstrate conclusively that Furr's claims about Katyń are completely bogus, as well as demonstrating that Furr is an incompetent researcher and a highly dishonest one.
holocaustcontroversies.blogspot.com/2023/02/debunking-gro...
As deniers of Hitler's crimes and deniers of Stalin's crimes both have the same kind of conspiratorial mindset, this should also not be a surprise to anyone. But it's great that the Holocaust Controversies blog went to the trouble of going through Furr's entire book about Katyń with their usual meticulous attention to detail, in order to demolish it point by point.
Quick summary....
- Furr pretends that the evidence implicating the NKVD which he mentions is all fake, and that all the other evidence (which he fails to mention) doesn't exist.
- He focuses on a few apparent anomalies in one of the hundreds of books and other studies about the Katyń massacre and pretends that this somehow disproves the whole thing.
- He also misrepresents the "discoveries" in the title, as well as making a lot of wrong assumptions based on his predetermined conclusion that the NKVD couldn't possibly be responsible.
The HC folks also posted their debunking in the r/DebateCommunism subreddit to see what kind of response they'd get. Not surprisingly, the post was quickly removed by the moderators (after one or two replies that were predictably lame and didn't include a single counter-argument)....
www.reddit.com/r/DebateCommunism/comments/11387dy/grover_...
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Last Supper (1495-97)
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Refectory), Milan
www.jaydax.co.uk/lastsupper/lastsupper.htm
www.philvaz.com/apologetics/LeonardoLastSupper.htm#Schematic
Initiatory Travel, a disconnection for a better reconnection with oneself. What is meant by disconnection is above all detachment from time, to which the mind is attached. A disconnection for a better reconnection with yourself, where it is necessary to live times of silence. It is also the opportunity to nourish oneself with intense energy by encountering the sacred. Mary Magdalene would have brought with her the holy cup which had collected the blood flowing from the side of Jesus crucified. She would have settled down with her numerous suite, in a "balme", a Baume (term which means cave)
Take a step towards wisdom by meeting the legend of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene is known throughout the world as the disciple who was the first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus. Her energies include frequencies of unity, of peace, and tenderness), by soaking up the positive vibes that emanate from these places recognized as sacred, will make your trip a special one. A kind of magic then happens, something that cannot be explained but can only be felt. The change will come about as much by introspection as by the radiance of what (ux) you will encounter. In the journey to the deep self, you will be invited to participate in self-knowledge improvement sessions. And accompanied by the legend of Marie-Madeleine throughout this trip, you will learn step by step, to deploy your energy and to feel that of the places.
This journey is an invitation to awaken the divine version that exists in everyone's heart. It is an initiation which unifies the sacred Feminine and Masculine, which removes the veils and shadows, and which makes it possible to shine. Living this trip also means taking a route that can be confusing at times but so powerful because the meeting of Christelle GAMBEE and our Shaman, combined with the practice of various teachings and ancestral rites, will enrich this exceptional trip
The Jesus bloodline refers to the proposition that a lineal sequence of descendants of the historical Jesus has persisted to the present time. The claims frequently depict Jesus as married, often to Mary Magdalene, and as having descendants living in Europe, especially France but also the UK. Differing and contradictory Jesus bloodline scenarios, as well as more limited claims that Jesus married and had children, have been proposed in numerous modern books. Some such claims have suggested that Jesus survived the crucifixion and went to another location such as France, India or Japan.
While the concept has gained a presence in the public imagination, as seen with Dan Brown's best-selling novel and movie The Da Vinci Code that used the premise for its plot, it is generally dismissed by the scholarly community. These claimed Jesus' bloodlines are distinct from the biblical genealogy of Jesus and from the documented 'brothers' and other kin of Jesus, known as the Desposyni.
Jesus as husband and father
Historical precursors
Ideas that Jesus Christ might have been married have a long history in Christian theology, though the historical record says nothing on the subject.[1] Bart D. Ehrman, who chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, commented that, although there are some historical scholars who claim that it is likely that Jesus was married, the vast majority of New Testament and early Christianity scholars find such a claim to be historically unreliable.[2]
Much of the bloodline literature has a more specific focus, on a claimed marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There are indications in Gnosticism of the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene shared an amorous, and not just a religious relationship. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip tells that Jesus "kissed her often" and refers to Mary as his "companion".[3] Several sources from the 13th-century claim that an aspect of Catharist theology was the belief that the earthly Jesus had a familial relationship with Mary Magdalene. An Exposure of the Albigensian and Waldensian Heresies, dated to before 1213 and usually attributed to Ermengaud of Béziers, a former Waldensian seeking reconciliation with the mainstream Catholic Church, would describe Cathar heretical beliefs including the claim that they taught "in the secret meetings that Mary Magdalen was the wife of Christ".[4] A second work, untitled and anonymous, repeats Ermengaud's claim.[4] The anti-heretic polemic Historia Albigensis written between 1212 and 1218 by Cistercian monk and chronicler Peter of Vaux de Cernay, gives the most lurid description, attributing to Cathars the belief that Mary Magdalene was the concubine of Jesus.[4][5] These sources must be viewed with caution: the two known authors were not themselves Cathars and were writing of a heresy being actively and violently suppressed. There is no evidence that these beliefs derived from the much earlier Gnostic traditions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but the Cathar traditions did find their way into many of the 20th-century popular writings claiming the existence of a Jesus bloodline.[4][6]
Modern works
The late 19th-century saw the first of several expansions on this theme of marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, providing the couple with a named child. The French socialist politician, Louis Martin (pseudonym of Léon Aubry, died 1900), in his 1886 book Les Evangiles sans Dieu (The Gospels without God), republished the next year in his Essai sur la vie de Jésus (Essay on the life of Jesus), described the historical Jesus as a socialist and atheist. He related that after his crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, along with the family of Lazarus of Bethany, brought the body of Jesus to Provence, and there Mary had a child, Maximin, the fruit of her love for Jesus. The scenario was dismissed as 'certainly strange' by a contemporary reviewer.[7]
The late 20th century saw the genre of popular books claiming that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a family. Donovan Joyce's 1973 best-seller, The Jesus Scroll, a time bomb for Christianity, presented an alternative timeline for Jesus that arose from a mysterious document. He claimed that, after being denied access to the Masada archaeological site, he was met at the Tel Aviv airport by an American University professor using the pseudonym "Max Grosset", who held a large scroll he claimed to have smuggled from the site. Relating its contents to Joyce, Grosset offered to pay him to smuggle it out of the country, but then became spooked when his flight was delayed and snuck away; he was never identified and the scroll was not seen again. According to Joyce, the 'Jesus Scroll' was a personal letter by 80-year-old Yeshua ben Ya’akob ben Gennesareth, heir of the Hasmonean dynasty and hence rightful King of Israel, written on the eve of the fall of the city to the Romans after a suicide pact ended Masada's resistance. It was said to have described the man as married, and that he had a son whose crucifixion the letter's author had witnessed. Joyce identified the writer with Jesus of Nazareth, who, he claimed, had survived his own crucifixion to marry and settle at Masada, and suggested a conspiracy to hide the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls in order to suppress this counter-narrative to Christian orthodoxy.[8][9]
Barbara Thiering, in her 1992 book Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking the Secrets of His Life Story, republished as Jesus the Man, and made into a documentary, The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls, by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, also developed a Jesus and Mary Magdalene familial scenario. Thiering based her historical conclusions on her application of the so-called Pesher technique to the New Testament.[10][11] In this work of pseudo-scholarship, Thiering would go so far as to precisely place the betrothal of Jesus and Mary Magdalene on 30 June, AD 30, at 10:00 p.m. She relocated the events in the life of Jesus from Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem to Qumran, and related that Jesus was revived after an incomplete crucifixion and married Mary Magdalene, who was already pregnant by him, that they had a daughter Tamar and a son Jesus Justus born in AD 41, and Jesus then divorced Mary to wed a Jewess named Lydia, going to Rome where he died.[12][13] The account was dismissed as fanciful by scholar Michael J. McClymond.[12]
In the television documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, and book The Jesus Family Tomb,[14] both from 2007, fringe investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici and Charles R. Pellegrino proposed that ossuaries in the Talpiot Tomb, discovered in Jerusalem in 1980, belonged to Jesus and his family. Jacobovici and Pellegrino argue that Aramaic inscriptions reading "Judah, son of Jesus", "Jesus, son of Joseph", and "Mariamne", a name they associate with Mary Magdalene, together preserve the record of a family group consisting of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene and son Judah.[15] Such theory has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of biblical scholars, archaeologists and theologians, including the archaeologist Amos Kloner, who led the archeological exavation of the tomb itself.[16]
The same year saw a book following the similar theme that Jesus and Mary Magdalene produced a family written by psychic medium and best-selling author Sylvia Browne, The Two Marys: The Hidden History of the Mother and Wife of Jesus.[17][non-primary source needed]
The Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars involved in the quest for the historical Jesus from a liberal Christian perspective, were unable to determine whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a matrimonial relationship due to the dearth of historical evidence. They concluded that the historical Mary Magdalene was not a repentant prostitute but a prominent disciple of Jesus and a leader in the early Christian movement.[18] The claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene fled to France parallel other legends about the flight of disciples to distant lands, such as the one depicting Joseph of Arimathea traveling to England after the death of Jesus, taking with him a piece of thorn from the Crown of Thorns, which he later planted in Glastonbury. Historians generally regard these legends as "pious fraud" produced during the Middle Ages.[19][20][21]
Joseph and Aseneth
Main article: Joseph and Aseneth
In 2014, Simcha Jacobovici and fringe religious studies historian Barrie Wilson suggested in The Lost Gospel that the eponymous characters in a 6th-century tale called "Joseph and Aseneth" were in actuality representations of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.[22] The story was reported in an anthology compiled by Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, along with covering letters describing the discovery of the original Greek manuscript and its translation into Syriac. In one of these, translator Moses of Ingila explained the story "as an allegory of Christ's marriage to the soul".[23] Jacobovici and Wilson instead interpret it as an allegorical reference to actual marriage of Jesus, produced by a community holding that he was married and had children.
Israeli Biblical scholar, Rivka Nir called their work "serious-minded, thought-provoking and interesting", but described the thesis as objectionable, [24] and the book has been dismissed by mainstream Biblical scholarship, for example by Anglican theologian, Richard Bauckham.[25] The Church of England compared The Lost Gospel to a Monty Python sketch, the director of communications for the Archbishop's Council citing the book as an example of religious illiteracy and that ever since the publication of The Da Vinci Code in 2003, "an industry had been constructed in which 'conspiracy theorists, satellite channel documentaries and opportunistic publishers had identified a lucrative income stream'."[26] The Lost Gospel was described as historical nonsense by Markus Bockmuehl.[27]
Early Mormon Theology
Early Mormon theology posited not only that Jesus married, but that he did so multiple times. Early leaders Jedediah M. Grant, Orson Hyde, Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt stated it was part of their religious belief that Jesus Christ was polygamous, quoting this in their respective sermons.[28][29] The Mormons also used an apocryphal passage attributed to the 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus: "The grand reason why the gentiles and philosophers of his school persecuted Jesus Christ was because he had so many wives. There were Elizabeth and Mary and a host of others that followed him".[30] This appears to have been a summary of a garbled or second-hand reference to a quote from Celsus the Platonist preserved in the apologetics work Contra Celsum ("Against Celsus") by the Church Father Origen: "such was the charm of Jesus' words, that not only were men willing to follow Him to the wilderness, but women also, forgetting the weakness of their sex and a regard for outward propriety in thus following their Teacher into desert places."[31]
Jesus as ancestor of a bloodline
Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln developed and popularized the idea of a bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (published as Holy Blood, Holy Grail in the United States),[32] in which they asserted: ". . . we do not think the Incarnation truly symbolises what it is intended to symbolise unless Jesus were married and sired children."[32] Specifically, they claimed that the sangraal of medieval lore did not represent the San Graal (Holy Grail), the cup drunk from at the Last Supper, but both the vessel of Mary Magdalene's womb and the Sang Real, the royal blood of Jesus represented in a lineage descended from them. In their reconstruction, Mary Magdalene goes to France after the crucifixion, carrying a child by Jesus who would give rise to a lineage that centuries later would unite with the Merovingian rulers of the early Frankish kingdom, from whom they trace the descent into medieval dynasties that were almost exterminated by the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars, leaving a small remnant protected by a secret society, the Priory of Sion.[33][34] The role of the Priory was inspired by earlier writings primarily by Pierre Plantard, who in the 1960s and 1970s had publicized documents from the secretive Priory that demonstrated its long history and his own descent from the lineage they had protected that traced to the Merovingian kings, and earlier, the biblical Tribe of Benjamin.[35] Plantard would dismiss Holy Blood as fiction in a 1982 radio interview,[36] as did his collaborator Philippe de Cherisey in a magazine article,[37] but a decade later Plantard admitted that, before he incorporated a group of that name in the 1950s, the very existence of the Priory had been an elaborate hoax, and that the documents on which Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln had relied for inspiration had been forgeries planted in French institutions to be later "rediscovered".[38][39][40] The actual lineage claimed for the portion of the Plantard and Holy Blood bloodline that passes through the medieval era received highly-negative reviews in the genealogical literature, being viewed as consisting of numerous inaccurate linkages that were unsupported, or even directly contradicted, by the authentic historical record.[41]
The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, a 1993 book by Margaret Starbird, built on Cathar beliefs and Provencal traditions of Saint Sarah, the black servant of Mary Magdalene, to develop the hypothesis that Sarah was the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.[4] In her reconstruction, a pregnant Mary Magdalene fled first to Egypt and then France after the crucifixion.[3] She sees this as the source of the legend associated with the cult at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. She also noted that the name "Sarah" means "Princess" in Hebrew, thus making her the forgotten child of the "sang réal", the blood royal of the King of the Jews.[42] Starbird also viewed Mary Magdalene as identical with Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus.[3] Though working with the same claimed relationship between Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Saint Sarah that would occupy a central role in many of the published bloodline scenarios, Starbird considered any question of descent from Sarah to be irrelevant to her thesis,[4] though she accepted that it existed.[43] Her view of Mary Magdalene/Mary of Bethany as wife of Jesus is also linked with the concept of the sacred feminine in feminist theology. Mary Ann Beavis would point out that unlike others in the genre, Starbird actively courted scholarly engagement over her ideas, and that "[a]lthough her methods, arguments and conclusions do not always stand up to scholarly scrutiny, some of her exegetical insights merit attention . . .," while suggesting she is more mythographer than historian.[3]
In his 1996 book Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed, Laurence Gardner presented pedigree charts of Jesus and Mary Magdalene as the ancestors of all the European royal families of the Common Era.[44] His 2000 sequel Genesis of the Grail Kings: The Explosive Story of Genetic Cloning and the Ancient Bloodline of Jesus is unique in claiming that not only can the Jesus bloodline truly be traced back to Adam and Eve but that the first man and woman were primate-alien hybrids created by the Anunnaki of his ancient astronaut theory.[45] Gardner followed this book with several additional works in the bloodline genre.
In Rex Deus: The True Mystery of Rennes-Le-Chateau and the Dynasty of Jesus, published in 2000, Marylin Hopkins, Graham Simmans and Tim Wallace-Murphy developed a similar scenario based on 1994 testimony by the pseudonymous "Michael Monkton",[46] that a Jesus and Mary Magdalene bloodline was part of a shadow dynasty descended from twenty-four high priests of the Temple in Jerusalem known as Rex Deus – the "Kings of God".[47] The evidence on which the informant based his claim to be a Rex Deus scion, descended from Hugues de Payens, was said to be lost and therefore cannot be independently verified, because 'Michael' claimed that it was kept in his late father's bureau, which was sold by his brother unaware of its contents.[47] Some critics point out the informant's account of his family history seems to be based on the controversial work of Barbara Thiering.[48]
The Da Vinci Code
Main article: The Da Vinci Code
The best-known work depicting a bloodline of Jesus is the 2003 best-selling novel and global phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code, joined by its major cinematic release of the same name. In these, Dan Brown incorporated many of the earlier bloodline themes as the background underlying his work of conspiracy fiction. The author attested both in the text and public interviews to the veracity of the bloodline details that served as the novel's historical context. The work so captured the public imagination that the Catholic Church felt compelled to warn its congregates against accepting its pseudo-historical background as fact, which did not stop it from becoming the highest-selling novel in American history, with tens of millions of copies sold worldwide. Brown mixes facts easily verified by the reader and additional seemingly-authentic details that are not actually factual, with a further layer of outright conjecture that together blurs the relationship between fiction and history. An indication of the degree to which the work captured the public imagination is seen in the cottage industry of works that it inspired, replicating his style and theses or attempting to refute it.[49]
In Brown's novel, the protagonist discovers that the grail actually referred to Mary Magdalene, and that knowledge of this, as well as of the bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary, has been kept hidden to the present time by a secret conspiracy.[49] This is very similar to the thesis put forward by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln in Holy Blood and the Holy Grail though not associating the hidden knowledge with the Cathars,[4] and Brown also incorporated material from Joyce, Thiering and Starbird, as well as the 1965 The Passover Plot, in which Hugh J. Schonfield claimed that Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea had faked the resurrection after Jesus was killed by mistake when stabbed by a Roman soldier.[50] Still, Brown relied so heavily on Holy Blood that two of its authors, Baigent and Leigh, sued the book's publisher, Random House, over what they considered to be plagiarism. Brown had made no secret that the bloodline material in his work drew largely on Holy Blood, directly citing the work in his book and naming the novel's historical expert after Baigent (in anagram form) and Leigh, but Random House argued that since Baigent and Leigh had presented their ideas as non-fiction, consisting of historical facts, however speculative, then Brown was free to reproduce these concepts just as other works of historical fiction treat underlying historical events. Baigent and Leigh argued that Brown had done more, "appropriat[ing] the architecture" of their work, and thus had "hijacked" and "exploited" it.[51] Though one judge questioned whether the supposedly-factual Holy Blood truly represented fact, or instead bordered on fiction due to its highly conjectural nature,[52] courts ruled in favor of Random House and Brown.[51]
Bloodline documentary
Main article: Bloodline (documentary)
The 2008 documentary Bloodline[53] by Bruce Burgess, a filmmaker with an interest in paranormal claims, expands on the Jesus bloodline hypothesis and other elements of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.[54] Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château since 1999; Burgess claimed Ben had found the treasure of Bérenger Saunière: a mummified corpse, which they believe is Mary Magdalene, in an underground tomb they claim is connected to both the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion. In the film, Burgess interviews several people with alleged connections to the Priory of Sion, including a Gino Sandri and Nicolas Haywood. A book by one of the documentary's researchers, Rob Howells, entitled Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the World's Most Secret Society - Guardians of the Bloodline of Jesus presented the version of the Priory of Sion as given in the 2008 documentary,[55] which contained several erroneous assertions, such as the claim that Plantard believed in the Jesus bloodline hypothesis.[56] In 2012, however, Ben Hammott, using his real name of Bill Wilkinson, gave a podcast interview in which he apologised and confessed that everything to do with the tomb and related artifacts was a hoax, revealing that the 'tomb' had been part of a now-destroyed full-sized movie set located in a warehouse in England.[57][58]
Jesus in Japan
Claims to a Jesus bloodline are not restricted to Europe. An analogous legend claims that the place of Jesus at the crucifixion was taken by a brother, while Jesus fled through what would become Russia and Siberia to Japan, where he became a rice farmer at Aomori, at the north of the island of Honshu. It is claimed he married there and had a large family before his death at the age of 114, with descendants to the present. A Grave of Jesus (Kristo no Hakka) there attracts tourists. This legend dates from the 1930s, when a document claimed to be written in the Hebrew language and describing the marriage and later life of Jesus was discovered. The document has since disappeared.[59]
www.wikiwand.com/en/Jesus_bloodline
The sanctuary of Sainte-Baume, also known as the grotte de Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, is a sanctuary erected within a cave in the Sainte-Baume massif, in the commune of Plan-d'Aups-Sainte- Baume, in the Var, which would have served as a hermitage for Saint Mary Magdalene after she evangelized Provence.
According to Tradition, Mary Magdalene was expelled from Palestine with several disciples during the first persecutions against Christians after Pentecost. Embarked on a boat without a sail or a rudder, they miraculously landed on the Provençal shores, at a place which was later named Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and became the first evangelizers of Provence. "Marie Madeleine preached in Marseilles in the company of Lazarus then she established herself in this steep mountain, in the cave which has since been named after her. Like the beloved of the Song of Songs, "dove hidden in the hollow of the rock, in steep retreats", she was able to devote herself to prayer and contemplation in solitude "1.
Timeline for
In pre-Christian times, Sainte-Baume was the sacred mountain of the Marseillais: a high place of worship of fertility, and in particular of the Artemis of Ephesus. Around 60, Lucain, a Latin poet, mentions a certain “sacred wood” near Marseille, although nothing allows him to be associated with it.
Around 415, Saint John Cassien, founded a first priory on his return from Egypt and from the fifth century, the presence of monks from the Saint-Victor abbey in Marseille is attested.
The cave of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine becomes a famous place of Christian pilgrimage. In 816, Pope Stephen IV, then, in 878, Pope John VIII went there. As on July 22, 1254, Saint Louis visited Sainte-Baume 2 on his return from the Crusade.
Reliquary of the tibia of Mary Magdalene.
Statue of Mary Magdalene.
In 1279, Charles II of Anjou, King of Sicily and Count of Provence, carried out the excavations which led to the discovery at Saint-Maximin of the relics of Mary Magdalene, in a crypt buried under the small Benedictine priory dedicated to the saint. A marble tomb is identified there as that of Mary Magdalene. In addition, a scroll of parchment explains that the relics were buried at the beginning of the 7th century in order to protect them from the Saracen invasions which raged in the Country3. After six years of detention in Barcelona, Charles II can implement in 1288 his project to build a basilica to house the relics. Finally, on June 21, 1295, he obtained from Pope Boniface VIII a papal bull, which entrusted the young order of the Dominicans with the charge of the holy places: the basilica of Saint-Maximin and the cave of Sainte-Baume.
In 1332, the same day Philippe VI of Valois, King of France, Alfonso IV of Aragon, Hugh of Cyprus, and John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, gathered in the cave.
Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, popes, kings and princes made pilgrimages to the cave, one of the most famous in Christendom.
In 1440, we deplore the fire in the cave and the destruction of buildings. In 1456 Louis XI, King of France richly endowed the cave and designed the plan of the dome he offered for the altar. And, on January 21, 1516, François Ier accompanied by his mother Louise of Savoy and his wife Claude of France comes to give thanks for his return from Marignan. He provided funds for the restoration of the cave, had the "Francis I portal" built (visible at the hostel), and built three royal chambers in the cave. Jean Ferrier, Archbishop of Arles, had the oratories of the Chemin des Rois erected.
Charles IX went there during his royal tour of France in 1564 in order to satisfy the Catholics4. But, in 1586 and 1592, we deplore looting of the cave (the second time despite the drawbridge erected following the looting that took place when the relics of Saint-Maximin had been transferred to the cave during the disturbances caused by the League).
Esprit Blanc had the so-called “Parisians” (or “of the dead”) chapel built in 1630 and, in 1649, Monsignor de Marinis offered the statue of the Blessed Virgin, the work of the Genoese sculptor Orsolino (still visible in the cave).
On February 5, 1660, Louis XIV, with Anne of Austria and Mazarin, went to the sanctuary.
The Revolution and the Empire endanger the site. In 1791, the Marquis of Albertas redeemed the property of the Dominicans which had been sold as national property. But, in 1793, Sainte-Baume was renamed "les Thermopyles", the interior of the cave and the large adjoining guesthouse (traces of which can still be seen in the cliff) were destroyed. Fortunately, Lucien Bonaparte, husband of Christine Boyer, daughter of the innkeeper of Saint-Maximin, saves the basilica and the forest of Sainte-Baume from revolutionaries. In 1814, Marshal Brune destroyed the cave and what had just been rebuilt there.
It was not until 1822 that Chevalier, prefect of the Var, restored the Catholic worship. In 1824, a community of Trappists was established on the plateau, opposite the current hotel, and in 1833 gave way to Capuchins who only stayed for two years.
The statue of Marie Madeleine on her rock comes from the tomb of Count Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle who was in the Charterhouse of Montrieux [ref. desired].
In 1848, Father Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, famous preacher and restorer of the Dominican order in France since 1840, came to the cave and, in 1859, he bought the convent of Saint-Maximin to reinstall the preaching brothers there; with the help of the work for the restoration of the holy places of Provence that he had founded, he reinstalls on July 22, the brothers in the cave; he built the hotel in the plain of Sainte-Baume.
In 1865, the Dominican brother Jean-Joseph Lataste founded the congregation of Dominicans known as “of Bethany” which accommodates women released from prison (converted Madeleines); he set up a community near the church of Plan d'Aups in 1884. In 1889, some relics of Mary Magdalene were placed in the reliquary made by Lyon goldsmith Armand Caillat and placed in the cave.
Following the laws separating the Church and the State, the cave became the property of the commune of Plan d'Aups in 1910.
In 1914, with the centenary celebrations of the reopening of worship at Sainte-Baume, Father Vayssière restored the stairs leading to the cave (150 steps in memory of 150 Ave du Rosaire) and inaugurated the Calvary. Then in 1928, the Nazareth retirement home was inaugurated in front of the hostel (now occupied by the ecomuseum). In 1932, Marthe Spitzer5, a Jewish convert close to the Benedictines of the rue Monsieur and the entourage of Jacques Maritain, produced the Pietà which is on the forecourt of the cave (donated by the Basilica of La Madeleine in Paris).
In 1948, the architect Le Corbusier planned the construction of an underground basilica at Sainte-Baume (a utopian project never realized) then, in 1966 - Oscar Niemeyer carried out a project for a modern convent at the Hôtellerie instead of the west wing. In 1970, Thomas Gleb created the Saint-Dominique oratory at the hotel, between 1976 and 1981, the companion Pierre Petit ("Tourangeau, the disciple of the Light") made the stained glass windows in the cave.
In 1995 was celebrated the seventh centenary of the foundation of the basilica of Saint-Maximin and the installation of the Dominican friars in Saint-Maximin and in the cave of Sainte-Baume.
A community of four Dominican friars was re-established in the summer of 2002 (the date of the reopening of the cave after the work of purging the cliff), which welcomes pilgrims to the cave of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. Since the summer of 2008, the number of Dominican friars has been increased to eight, and they ensure, in addition to the reception at the cave, the management of the Sainte-Baume hotel.
It's Seven Days of Thanksgiving again at Paprihaven! All glory, praise, and gratitude to God for His many blessings! This year, we walk through Psalm 19.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Tracy is thankful for the new perspective of salvation. The Word of God instructs her to keep seeking the things above, where Christ is. To set her mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. *
God often blesses us with many temporal things that we can enjoy, and Tracy enjoys them with gratitude. She strives to never enjoy the gifts without appreciation to the Giver.
The value of the knowledge of God through His Word outweighs all the things of this life. Our perspective needs to be shifted. This life is so short, an eyeblink, and it's over. Then we die and stand in judgment with our eternal state as the outcome.
A short time here in which we must make our decision for the never-ending existence to come. In that case, what would it profit a person to gain the whole world, but lose their soul? **
Jim Elliot famously said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." As Job observed, we can't keep any of this. We come in naked, we leave naked. ***
So we can enjoy the temporal things with an open hand, knowing they are not ours, but we are simply stewards. We do not cling to them with a clenched fist, as that will only result in frustration and sorrow.
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
~ Psalm 19
* Colossians 3:1-2
** Mark 8:36
*** Job 1:21
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317265455/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45073145065/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49133292408/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50644470608/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51702861201/
2022:
You think 2020 was weird, just wait, it is going to get worst for many and not all.
We are guided by emotions now and not by reason. We can no longer accept people who don't agree and for this what is coming to the land will be something none of those who are not prepared will understand. Choices have been made that will radically change the world.
For those of us who are Christians please note 2027 marks the 2000th year demonstration of our faith began. The Crucifixion would have taken place 2000 years ago in 2030. BTW, the birth was in the year 3AD(CE) not in the BCE/BC period.
I almost forgot, If your one who is in apologetics this doesn't mean the end is in 2030!
Also, Chuck is not God's name 😁
Kevin DeYoung is a reformed Christian pastor and theologian. Born in Illinois, he grew up and became a pastor in Michigan and is currently the lead pastor at Christ Covenant Church, as well as a prominent member of the Gospel Coalition Council (a reformed pastoring organization). He is well known for writing Crazy Busy, The Hole in Our Holiness, and The Gospel We Almost Forgot. Additionally, he’s known for strong and influential reformed theological views and the application of apologetics in his teachings and books. Kevin DeYoung inspires and motivates me, seeing he’s an excellent model of a strong and biblical Christian who explores the aspects of having strong faith an increasingly secular American culture.