Friday 30 September 2016

Blame.


What Satanists in our popular culture are doing is sowing negativity and hatred by triggering the worst aspects of religion and then slamming the Churches with the blame.

This is done in rock music.
It is also done in movies, books, T.V., and the news; even sports are involved.

At the same time the stars whitewash their own images and pose as saviors and messiahs.

Much of this is subliminal and works in the collective unconscious.

So be careful before you blame the Churches for the ills of the world.

You might just be following Satanists.


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Thursday 29 September 2016

Pure Evil.


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

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

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

This is when the Hippie generation was deconstructed.

We were condemned and abused, intimidated and attacked.

Only to be reconstructed by our political enemies.

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

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

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


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Wednesday 28 September 2016

Exonerated.


It is my firm belief that those rock stars and celebrities who have turned against God and His Church and embraced modern Satanism will be exonerated.

The reason that I believe this is because they were sold a false image of God by their priests and ministers.  They were told that God was a harsh judge and a heartless dictator.

No wonder they turned against Him.

So when they meet God He will exonerate them and accept them into His Love at last.


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Tuesday 27 September 2016

Dorian Gray.


In his book The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde sets out how a man is corrupted by magic - the temptation of eternal youth.

Dorian Gray becomes more and more corrupt as the story proceeds.

In the end he dies but we know nothing of his fate after that.

Had I written the book I would have had him redeemed and restored to God and society.

It does not matter what you have done or who you have been God forgives and restores us to relationship.

Perhaps Oscar Wilde was wise not to tell us of Dorian's fate.
Many people die without experiencing redemption.

This may still happen after death.

It is not for us to say.

But all are redeemable.
Even the most evil.


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Monday 26 September 2016

Banquet.


In the Great Banquet Hall of the Imperial Hotel sat the leaders of the corporations and their partners.

They were dressed in pure silk suits and formal black evening dresses and the women wore real diamonds.

The Saudi Princes and European leaders dined together with the rich.

The banquet had been ordered to celebrate the opening of the World Cup.

But news had leaked out about the use of slave labor to build the new stadium and several unexplained deaths on the site.

There had been, outside the Hotel, among the flashing lights of the paparazzi, a small group of protesters as the black stretch limousines arrived with their guests.  But the police had swiftly ushered them away with batons drawn and they were not heard of again.

The guests were free to enjoy their meal undisturbed.

Among those invited were celebrities and stars from the worlds of music, entertainment, and sports.

One of the singers got up and, moving the microphone to her lips, began to sing a strange song about the devil.

The guests were greatly amused and some laughed openly.

As the night went on and the champagne flowed they talked and danced beneath the great chandeliers until at last they were spent.

Many of the guests were staying the night at the hotel and they retired to their rooms where some were met by call girls and muscle jocks arranged to cater to their tastes.

The rest descended into golden slumbers until morning.....


Outside the hotel, in the cold streets and alleyways, slept homeless men and women, even young children.  But there were none to be seen on the route to the Imperial Hotel, the police had been ordered to keep them out of sight.


The day of the Grand Opening arrived and all the guests traveled in their limousines to the newly built stadium.

There was much excitement as the Opening Ceremony began with its bright colors and nimble dancers.

But, towards the end, a huge black bird descended on their festivities. The light was blocked out and there was dancing in the dark.

But soon the light was restored and they saw a giant silk toy box with many puppets and clowns to amuse them.

Behind the glass, in the corporate boxes, they drank their champagne and ate their hors d'oeuvres high above the common crowd.

In that crowd there was a small boy who had spent the night on the streets.  He had stolen his way in and had somehow eluded the security and body guards.

He stood in the standing room only section because all of the seats in the stadium had been sold at high prices to those who could afford them.

His father had been a penniless immigrant who had worked and died constructing the new stadium.  

He wanted to see what it was that was important enough to die for.

But he was disappointed.

The entertainment was superficial and trivial.  Even the black bird seemed devised to amuse the crowd.

He looked up at the people in the exclusive corporate boxes and wondered what it was that made them happy, if indeed they were happy.

He decided that they were superficial and trivial like the entertainment and he envied them no more.       .    

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Gracious.


God is gracious.
He is merciful and forgiving.

But in The Parable of the Talents the last slave says, "'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed'"  Matthew 25:24b (NRSV)

For which he is harshly punished - which rather defeats the purpose of the parable - which is that God is gracious and merciful.

We should not fear God's punishment as we have been traditionally taught.

God is not fearsome.

Jesus taught us to love God.

You cannot love someone that you fear.

So, far from the image of God as a harsh and vindictive judge, we should adopt Jesus' image of God as a loving and gracious Father.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division  of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Sunday 25 September 2016

Forgiveness.


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

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

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


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Saturday 24 September 2016

Trust?


The reason that rock stars get away with what they do is because people trust them.

People find it hard to believe that their rock legends, celebrities, and sporting heroes are evil.

But they are.

They sell their souls to the devil and do evil in the world.

This diabolical game is cleverly disguised using images and words which draw you into their web of evil.

They then tell you to sin and transgress in the hope that you will be damned.

But God does not punish us for mistakes incurred in this way.

In fact I don't believe that God punishes us at all.

Who do you trust?

You can trust God.

God is Love.

Pray to God.

His Love will save you.


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Friday 23 September 2016

Amazing Grace.



We all make mistakes.

No one can live in this world for any length of time without making mistakes.

But far from condemnation if we pray to God we will experience forgiveness.

We all live in darkness.

It is inevitable that we will miss the mark.
This is how we learn.

So, if we pray to God (who is the light), we will see our mistakes, or the reasons behind our mistakes, and be restored.

This is Restorative Justice.

And it is marvelous in our eyes.


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Thursday 22 September 2016

Sin.


I am loath to use the word sin.

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

The word sin is associated with bad behavior.

It is a black mark and a debt.

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

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

Are they not merely mistakes through which we learn?

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

This is an abuse of theology.

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

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


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Wednesday 21 September 2016

Body/Spirit.


The false dichotomy between body and spirit is responsible for the sexual repression in the Churches which resulted in sexual abuse of children.

Despising your own body is not a path to spiritual enlightenment.

Only when you rid your mind of all negative attitudes can you be said to be truly enlightened.  And this includes negative attitudes to your body.

Sex is not bad or dead.

Sex is an intimate part of God's good creation.

Sex is an expression of love.

And as such it should not be despised.

Better to seek harmony between body, mind, and spirit mediated by a loving heart.


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Tuesday 20 September 2016

Authority.


Where then is our authority?

If the word - sola scriptura - is no longer our authority in spiritual matters where then is our authority?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is a glimmer of hope.

And it is here that it resides.


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Monday 19 September 2016

Atheists.


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

So they say that they are atheists.

This is because atheism seems the more sensible position.

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

They deny God and preach sex.

Little do they know that they believe this ends in hell.

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

This is our dilemma.

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

God will wipe away our tears.

And surround us with His Love.


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Sunday 18 September 2016

Differences.


There are differences between Progressive Christianity and Orthodox Christianity.

Most of these are to do with the supernatural aspects of Orthodox Christianity.

Original sin, Virgin Birth, Physical Resuscitation, Nature Miracles etc. are put aside by Progressive Christians as a concession to science.

Other differences relate to theology.
Progressive Christianity rejects the negative doctrines and concepts of Orthodox Christianity: Fall/Redemption, Substitutionary Atonement, Sin, Penitence, Judgement, Hell, End Times.

And replaces them with positive conceptions: Original Blessing, Universal Forgiveness, Inclusiveness, Unconditional Love, Life after Death for Everyone.

Progressive Christians do not seek to start a new religion or even transform the old religion.

We seek merely to be allowed to hold alternative views within the existing Churches.

Time will tell if this is possible.    


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Saturday 17 September 2016

The Tenants.


If we choose to join a Church we must realize that we will encounter the tenants.

The tenants are those who have been given the job of administering God's Churches.

But, as happens in the Biblical parable of the Wicked Tenants, they may be unwilling to give up their authority and power - they may be reluctant to change.

They may even become threatening and violent.

So, if we are to bring with us the New Paradigm, we must be prepared to confront the tenants of the Churches.

My contention is that the reason they resist change and progress is fear.
Fear of losing control, fear of losing their position, fear of anything new.....

This is particularly the case in relation to the acceptance of practicing homosexuals in the Churches.

They cling to their homophobic past like leeches.
They dig in and refuse to change.

So be prepared.

You may experience psychic or spiritual violence if you persevere.

But know that this is not a sign of guilt but a sign of change.

A change for the better which the Churches are resisting.    


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Tuesday 13 September 2016

Young and Gay.


Young gay people think that because I worship God I must be a fundamentalist.

This is because they associate all religion with evangelical fundamentalism.

The blame for this lies squarely with the media.
Whenever a dispute over gay rights arises the media present the opposing views of the fundamentalist Churches.

The conciliatory views of Churches like the Uniting Church in Australia are never presented.

So young gay people think that God hates them.

And when I say that gay people go to Heaven they say they wouldn't want to if God's like that.

But God is not like that.

God loves gay people in the same way as He loves others.
He does not judge or punish us.
He does not damn us.

It is our job to reassure young people that God is a God of Love and compassion not a harsh, judgmental God.

I can state categorically from personal experience that it is not God who condemns gay people but the hard-right factions of his Churches who monopolize the media and intimidate their opponents.

These factions do not represent Jesus' views but the views of the Pharisees who killed him.

So do not despair of God's Love.

It is my prayer that you will experience the Love that has delivered me.


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Monday 12 September 2016

The Will of Heaven.


At first we identify the vicissitudes of life with the will of Heaven.

And it is easy to ascribe these changes to rewards for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior.

But on closer inspection it is not at all certain that these relationships exist.

Often bad behavior is rewarded and good behavior will result in suffering.

The Book of Job in the Bible was written to demonstrate this reality.

It now seems to me that most of our suffering is the result of the ignorant actions of human beings with free will, usually inspired by fear.

The suffering caused by natural disasters demonstrates the autonomic state of nature itself not the will of God.

The will of Heaven is wholly good and benevolent.

It is light without shadow, life without death, good without evil.

Heaven is transcendent, sublime, beautiful.

It is gentle, non-violent, peaceful, and happy.

But most of all it is Love.


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Sunday 11 September 2016

Healthy Sex.


Those who react to the Churches' repressive attitude towards sex may think that Satanism has a healthy attitude towards sex.

But this is not the case.

Satanism teaches that sex is bad, so bad in fact that you have to be punished.  It teaches spanking and discipline.  It is sado-masochistic.
It teaches bondage and torture.  It is hell.

These things are not healthy.
They are perversions of our sexuality.

A healthy attitude is that sex is the consummation of love.
We give pleasure to our partner as an expression of love.

Sex is not dirty or bad as Satanism might portray it.

Sex is love.

Sex is part of God's good creation.

We can give thanks for that.  


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Saturday 10 September 2016

Restorative Justice.


Restorative Justice differs from Retributive Justice in that Retributive Justice seeks to make the perpetrator pay while Restorative Justice seeks to restore both victim and perpetrator to health and society.

Thus Restorative Justice will involve mediation and rehabilitation rather than judgement and punishment.

God practices Restorative Justice.

In fact this is where we get our model for Restorative Justice.

Our loving Father seeks to restore our wholeness not to make us pay.

So any ideas of Penal Atonement are false.

God forgives us.

And restores us to health and society.


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Friday 9 September 2016

Cooperation.


Yoga teaches us to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

But this only applies where those thoughts are true.

If someone is manifesting negative behavior it may help to think positive thoughts about them but not to the point of denying their negativity.

Christianity teaches that the truth will set you free.

So, rather than vying for supremacy, Eastern and Western religions should learn to cooperate.

Evil forces will try to magnify the differences between us and create conflict.

This can also take place on a personal level.

So any efforts to promote cooperation and peace are contributing to God's work in the world.


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Thursday 8 September 2016

The Spell.


How could rock bands and superstars sell their souls and practice Satanism for fifty years and not be found out?

It is as if we are all under a spell.

Of course this is exactly what they think they are doing.

They think they are practicing black magic.

But I would suggest that it works more like subconscious propaganda.

We have been betrayed.

So look more closely at what is being presented to you.

You might be surprised.


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Wednesday 7 September 2016

Set Up.


What is it for which we are condemned?

Many Hippies are condemned by Eastern religions and society for taking drugs while practicing yoga.

But who told them to take drugs while practicing yoga?

It was the rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.

There was no drug problem before 1960.

Where did it come from?

From rock musicians.

They encouraged us to take drugs while practicing yoga.

This turned out to be a serious transgression of Eastern religions resulting in untold suffering and guilt.

It was an offense for which you could be damned.

But God does not punish us.

God will forgive.

Especially when we were set up.

It was a set-up from the beginning:

"Once there was a way."  But not anymore.
With these words they consigned us to hell.

But there is no hell in reality.

God will forgive us.
And offer us healing.

It is humanity that condemns.

Not God.


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Tuesday 6 September 2016

Lament.


We lament the state of our world:

The disparity between rich and poor.
The domination of corporations.
The corruption of politicians.
The control of the media.
The violence.
The war.

We lament the suffering:

The drugs.
The divorce.
The materialism.
The alienation.
The loneliness.
The abuse.

But what we don't realize is that there is a reason why we suffer these things.

There are evil forces at work in our world which actually create suffering.

We are led astray and deceived by rock musicians and stars who have turned to evil in order to boost their careers.

The subliminal web of evil created by rock music and dark entertainment drags us down.

We are poisoned and cursed.

But this is cleverly disguised - like whited sepulchers.

We should not just take them at face value.

They pose as divas and messiahs.

Even sports are affected by this evil.

So when you suffer look to what you listen to and watch.

You may just find the cause.


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Monday 5 September 2016

Mending Broken Hearts.


Because our love is requited by God He actually mends our broken hearts.

Our experiences in the world lead to a broken heart, a heart buried by fear.

But God loves us in return.
And this repairs the damage done.

So that we can be agents of love in the world.

Love God and love your neighbor.

Then you will be safely home.


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Sunday 4 September 2016

Love Without Limits.


What stops us from loving others?

Only fear.

Fear of being hurt.  Fear of rejection.

But God will not reject us.

And it is when we realize this that we lose our fear.

And learn to love without limits.


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The Hearts of the Fathers.


The fathers of our world are the corporate plutocrats, the captains of industry, the boards of directors, the C.E.O.s, the businessmen.....

It is their attitudes which shape our society.

But what of a father's love?

Contrary to popular opinion I believe that these fathers are full of fear.

Fear of poverty, fear of failure, fear of justice.....

So how can we bring about a change of heart?

If the bosses of our world could see their workers as sons and daughters instead of units of productivity we might have some hope.

I pray for that.


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Saturday 3 September 2016

A Human Face.


The mercy of God has a human face.

This is because God resides in the heart.

The heart mediates between the body and the mind.

The heart mediates between the ego and the spirit.

God does not reside in the rigid principles of righteousness.

God does not reside in extreme physical pleasures.

God resides in the heart.

His judgments are guided by Love.

This is why Jesus challenged the law.

This is why Jesus forgave.

The mercy of God has a human face.

Because God resides in the heart.


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Friday 2 September 2016

Humanity.


Religion should enhance our humanity.

It should not make us violent or hateful.

This is where we differ from the righteous.

The righteous worship a God who enforces good.

But who defines what is good?

Rigid moral principles do not define good or God.

God does not punish us.

God resides in the heart.

And His mercy has a human face.

So we should look to enhance our humanity.

And open our fearful hearts.


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Thursday 1 September 2016

Islam.


It is encouraging to note that Rumi (b.1207) - the founder of Sufism - and Baha'u'llah (b.1817) - the founder of Baha'i - were born in Persia and followed Islam.

It would be difficult to find two more peace-loving, non-violent religious leaders in all of history.

Sufism emphasizes the Love of God and trust in God's benevolence.

Baha'i teaches that all humanity is One and all creatures are emanations of the Divine.

So any attempts to paint Islam as a violent religion are false.

Look at the beautiful flowers it has given birth to.


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