Posted on 07/10/2009 5:04:53 AM PDT by Frumanchu
Tyranny in the name of love has been a major ploy of the enemy.
It happens in families, couples, work, all kinds of relationships . . . and certainly in government.
!!!!CONTROL!!!! has been called . . . essentially . . .
manipulation and = witchcraft.
HE LOVES ME by Wayne Jacobsen is right . . . and a good one for me to keep in mind . . . on p 170:
Disappointed expectations destroy relationships because we look to others in ways God wants us to look to Him. Such expectations set us up for enduring frustration. However, when we give up our expectations of people, we'll find God uses some of the most unlikely people to lend us a hand. . . . Instead of trying to fix people in crisis, love will call us to graciously lend them our support. We will be able to offer insights as fellow strugglers, not experts with pat answers. Then we will be safe places for people to be encouraged in their trials, to discover what it means to rely on God in the midst of it.
. . . Recently I met a woman from the Midwest who had been divorced when her ex-husband told her he was gay, and that he had AIDS, and that he wanted to live with his partner. A few years later as the disease progressed, she felt compassion for her former husband and felt God wanted her to help care for him as the disease worsened. She did just that. With her husband's permission she moved back in, not as wife but as nurse, and cared for him as the disease progressed. I can't imagine what it took for her to give of herself in this way. I don't think her obedience should become a standard for others, but she talked about it as one of the greatest experiences of her life. Before he died, her husband and his partner came to repentance and faith. What's more, after her former husband's death, she stayed on to take care of his former partner as he died. While she was doing that, other AIDS patients came to the door and asked for help. During the next decade she cared for more than sixty other patients and watched them all come to faith. Today she's converting an abandoned hospital to extend that care and travels the world helping people with AIDS and those who seek to care for them. Love will take you further than law ever will.
I believe there is some value in it as Holy Spirit has proven in my life over the decades His capacity to take our words shared in Love and sometimes even out of our junk and 'haunt' folks with them redemptively over long periods.
And, certainly St Paul on Mars hills and Peter's instruction to always have for every man an answer are fitting Biblical exhortations.
Yet, most redemptiveness occurs in RELATIONSHIPS close at hand--wherein Christ's Love is tangibly evident.
I think we do share a LOT of His Love hereon as well--both firm and warm fuzzy kinds . . . and that SAID LOVE DOES bear fruit for The Kingdom.
And as one of the strident ones . . . I think it's a mixed bag. The world has lots of loud voices. Sometimes one needs to be loud and startling to even get a hearing in all the noise of modern life.
On the other hand, soft and understated is such a rarity, that can also be loudER in terms of effectiveness than conventional loudness can be in some situations, on some issues.
Then there's the issue of who is one called to say something to in a given situation. Some are called more to Believers' exhortations and some more to the lost. Certainly we are all challenged of The Lord to reach out to the lost. Yet, some have more of an emphasis than others toward certain groups etc.
I don't know how big a percentage I get it right hereon or elsewhere. I know I try to provide for every man an answer as well as I can discern and care enough to do such.
I often suspect, however, that the 100's of hours and mostly FREEPMAILED counseling lines of text I've shared on here over the years will likely turn out to have done as much or more good for The Kingdom than my many more thousands of lines of pontificating strident assertions in various back and forth exchanges on a list of topics.
Then there's the whole issue of SOME 'debates' are merely useful ways to present things for lurkers without much expectation that the other contenders will ever gain anything from the exchanges.
However, I think that thousands of lines of such exchanges on FR are out of psychodynamic ATTACHMENT DISORDER ego needs of the contenders vs any genuine heart-felt desire out of Love to help enlighten anyone. And, I'm sure I've had too many such lines from my fingers appear hereon out of such needs far more than I'd have thought at the time. I like to think such have diminished greatly over time--in no small part due to your great example and exhortations.
So much heat and too little light is far too often the case.
Certainly the world is Anti-God and particularly Anti-Christ. And only what's done for Christ will last.
Yet, I'm increasingly convinced that if it's not done out of Love, it's probably not done truly FOR Christ. And probably only what's done FOR CHRIST out of HIS LOVE IN OUR HEARTS will truly last eternally.
The rest will be chaff or, worse, an indictment against us on judgment day.
Thanks tons for your continued minsitries hereon. LUB.
Well put, FRiend. Thanks.
BTW, the Jacobsen book you quote, “He Loves Me” is a life-changing book.
I recommend it.
Thx.
On the other hand, soft and understated is such a rarity, that can also be loudER in terms of effectiveness than conventional loudness can be in some situations, on some issues.
Then there's the issue of who is one called to say something to in a given situation. Some are called more to Believers' exhortations and some more to the lost. Certainly we are all challenged of The Lord to reach out to the lost. Yet, some have more of an emphasis than others toward certain groups etc.
For an example we could look to the Apostles who were quite different and individually chosen by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul was profoundly educated, intelligent, had a strong personality and was uniquely prepared by Christ to confront the intelligentsia of the day – the Jews first and then the Greeks and then the Romans. His life was full of contention and difficulty and much fruit.
John, on the other hand, was a living testimony – he was specially loving and gentle. He was chosen to care for Mary, receive prophecy and reveal deep Spiritual truths. His long life was not as difficult as Paul’s but his ministry was every bit as important. And, like Paul's, fruitful to this very day.
And the testimony of the two was identical in declaring Who God “is,” i.e. revealing that Jesus is God, The Creator (John 1, Col 1 etc.), the ministry of the indwelling Spirit (John 15, Romans 8, etc.), the unfailing love of our Father (John 17, Romans 8:38-39, etc.) and so forth.
Or to put it another way, without Him we can do nothing and with Him, nothing is impossible. If He calls a man to tangle with intellectuals or rabid atheists then that is what he must do. And if He calls a man to spiritually nurture a particular someone then that is what he must do. And if He calls a man to suffer the “stings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that is what he must do … without the whiney “oh, woe is me!” because, as with John, our life is also a testimony.
In sum, a Christian must realize that his life is not his own, that worldy “possessions” are just an illusion, it is always “about” Christ. And our first and most important priority is to love God surpassingly above all else. That is the one and only Great Commandment! (Matt 22:37-38)
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Romans 8:9
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. - Colossians 3:3
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20
The earth [is] the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. - Psalms 24:1
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? - I Corinthians 6:19
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? – Matt 16:24-26
Look at your own education both formal and in the school of life – and that of everyone on this ping list and elsewhere on this forum. Who is better gifted to engage atheist philosopher-scientists than betty boop?
Having excellent doctrines, being intolerant of evil, doing good works, contending for the faith and so on are not enough when a Christian has lost his first love. Christ may remove his candlestick, i.e. the Light of God may no longer shine through him into the darkness of this world.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. – Revelation 2:1-5
This is the first and great commandment. – Matthew 22:37-38
What excellent sermons you persistently pen.
Bless you tons for touching me deeply yet again.
Thanks.
Wonderful, as always, dear A-G. Your words always ring true.
No wonder the Episcopal Church is sliding towards hell. Too bad, too. She will rue the day she said this for God will not be mocked.
Jesus....
Amen, A.G! The heart of the Gospel.
I was reading an excellent article, CALVIN: WHY HE STILL MATTERS by W. Robert Godfrey who wrote likewise...
"...Book Three of the Institutes is above all about faith. B.B. Warfield once said that John Calvin was the great theologian of the Holy Spirit. Warfield was certainly right, but Calvin was an even greater theologian of faith. To read the third book of the Institutes seeing what Calvin has to say about faith in those chapters is to come as close as any uninspired author has ever come to making clear what true faith is: how it rests in Christ, how it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, how it was planned from all eternity in God's electing purpose, and how the Holy Spirit draws us to Christ and fills us with confidence that for Christ's sake we are saved now and forever. Probably Calvin's most distinctive teaching is this, that we can know not only that today we belong to Christ, that today we have true faith, but that we can know because of the promise of God that tomorrow we will belong to Christ, and forever we will belong to Christ. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." It was not John Calvin who said this, of course, but John Calvin quoted it and believed it. If Jesus Christ is our savior today, he will be our savior tomorrow. This conviction is a great source of Calvinist confidence. Calvin gave us a genuine biblical religion that knows that what God has begun in the hearts of his people he will bring to fruition..."
Thanks for the ping Dear Sister in Christ.
Can't say quite yet; I'm only on page 15 of 41, as this document prints on my trusty home HP.
But so far I have no reason to believe this encyclical has all that much to do with "global governance" at all, as that idea is entertained by our self-appointed elite experts who pretend to political authority, not only nationally, but increasingly globally. Its express subject matter is: "integral" human social and economic development; i.e., not just body, but soul and spirit as well; not just development of society, but of individual human beings — in an extraordinarily interconnected world that increasingly is subject to ideological manipulation and horrific violence....
Caritas in Veritate takes the high road on questions of human development: "Man is the source, the focus and the aim of all social and economic life." "As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but it does not make us brothers. Reason, by itself, is capable of grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity." "Paul VI had a keen sense of the importance of economic structures and institutions, but he had an equally clear sense of their nature as instruments of human freedom. Only when it is free can development be integrally human; only in a climate of responsible freedom can it grow in a satisfactory manner." "Integral human development presupposes the responsible freedom of the individual and of peoples: no [political] structure can guarantee this development over and above human responsibility. "The 'types of [utopian] messianism which give promises but create illusions' always build their case on a denial of the transcendent dimension of development, in the conviction that it lies entirely at their disposal. This false security becomes a weakness, because it involves reducing man to subservience, to a mere means for development...." [Cui bono? Bolds added.]
The above represents but a small sampler of the dynamite exploding progressivist/atheist illusions — which seemingly, so far, is the real point of the encyclical.
I left off reading at Chapter 2:29–30:
29. There is another aspect of modern life that is very closely connected to development: the denial of the right to religious freedom. I am not referring simply to the struggles and conflicts that continue to be fought in the world for religious motives, even if at times the religious motive is merely a cover for other reasons, such as the desire for domination and wealth. Today, in fact, people frequently kill in the holy name of God, as both my predecessor John Paul II and I myself have often publicly acknowledged and lamented. Violence puts the brakes on authentic development and impedes the evolution of peoples towards greater socio-economic and spiritual well-being. This applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism, which generates grief, destruction and death, obstructs dialogue between nations and diverts extensive resources from their peaceful and civil uses.In short, I do not see how even a[n evil] "genius" like David Axelrod could spin such profound insights into a putative "papal blessing" of the schemes and machinations of our own dear Mr. O....Yet it should be added that, as well as religious fanaticism that in some contexts impedes the exercise of the right to religious freedom, so too the deliberate promotion of religious indifference or practical atheism on the part of many countries obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources. God is the guarantor of man's true development, inasmuch as, having created him in his image, he also establishes the transcendent dignity of men and women and feeds their innate yearning to “be more”. Man is not a lost atom in a random universe: he is God's creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul and whom he has always loved. If man were merely the fruit of either chance or necessity, or if he had to lower his aspirations to the limited horizon of the world in which he lives, if all reality were merely history and culture, and man did not possess a nature destined to transcend itself in a supernatural life, then one could speak of growth, or evolution, but not development. When the State promotes, teaches, or actually imposes forms of practical atheism, it deprives its citizens of the moral and spiritual strength that is indispensable for attaining integral human development and it impedes them from moving forward with renewed dynamism as they strive to offer a more generous human response to divine love. In the context of cultural, commercial or political relations, it also sometimes happens that economically developed or emerging countries export this reductive vision of the person and his destiny to poor countries. This is the damage that “superdevelopment” causes to authentic development when it is accompanied by “moral underdevelopment."
30. In this context, the theme of integral human development takes on an even broader range of meanings: the correlation between its multiple elements requires a commitment to foster the interaction of the different levels of human knowledge in order to promote the authentic development of peoples. Often it is thought that development, or the socio-economic measures that go with it, merely require to be implemented through joint action. This joint action, however, needs to be given direction, because “all social action involves a doctrine." In view of the complexity of the issues, it is obvious that the various disciplines have to work together through an orderly interdisciplinary exchange. Charity does not exclude knowledge, but rather requires, promotes, and animates it from within. Knowledge is never purely the work of the intellect. It can certainly be reduced to calculation and experiment, but if it aspires to be wisdom capable of directing man in the light of his first beginnings and his final ends, it must be “seasoned” with the “salt” of charity. Deeds without knowledge are blind, and knowledge without love is sterile. Indeed, “the individual who is animated by true charity labours skilfully to discover the causes of misery, to find the means to combat it, to overcome it resolutely." Faced with the phenomena that lie before us, charity in truth requires first of all that we know and understand, acknowledging and respecting the specific competence of every level of knowledge. Charity is not an added extra, like an appendix to work already concluded in each of the various disciplines: it engages them in dialogue from the very beginning. The demands of love do not contradict those of reason. Human knowledge is insufficient and the conclusions of science cannot indicate by themselves the path towards integral human development. There is always a need to push further ahead: this is what is required by charity in truth. Going beyond, however, never means prescinding from the conclusions of reason, nor contradicting its results. Intelligence and love are not in separate compartments: love is rich in intelligence and intelligence is full of love.
It's a good place in the text to take a break — for further meditation. Especially if one is a little tuckered out from a family event today — the celebration of my Uncle Gene's 93rd birthday!
So for now, I wish you a good night, dear brother in Christ! I hope to speak with you again tomorrow.
That is an astounding suggestion. If an American advocated this it could be construed as treasonous.
The next step is to take the world off the petro-dollar and onto the euro-dollar. At that point this country officially becomes a member of the third world.
IMO this is no innocuous document about helping the poor. It is a shot across the bow aimed at America's sovereignty and her status as world leader. Rather than rationalizing this assault we need to denounce it in the strongest words possible.
It used to be they would boil the frog slowly. Apparently now the need for pretense is gone and they're brazenly stoking the flames right in our face.
Thanks tons for your kind thoughts and congrats on the 93rd birthday of the uncle.
I still find that the encyclical seems to talk out of both sides of someone’s fingers on globalism.
Whether it does so deliberately in a seductive Neuro Linguistic Programming fashion is something I’m still reserving judgment on.
AGREED!
Read a brief commentary on the subject at hand: http://patriotsandliberty.com/?p=5681
In short, ‘ideas have consequences,’ as Richard Weaver astutely pointed out. We cannot replace one unique set of ideas with another without consequences. The seedbed from which arose our founding documents, inalienable rights, individual liberties, traditional institutions, culture, economics, politics, and law are immutable presuppositions-—including the most revolutionary definition of man this miserable world has ever known-—found mainly within the beginnings of Genesis: “In the beginning God...”
In short, both Darwinian materialism (Secular Humanism) and its sidekick, pantheism (Cosmic Humanism) require the replacement of the Biblical definition of man the ‘spiritual person’ with depersonalized views which see man as ‘one’ with nature or cosmos.
Schori and her ilk are pantheists when all is said and done.
YUP.
Bit by bit inexorably making way for a political sea change..
All actors are being manipulated including the Pope..
And protestant leaders as well..
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