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This I Believe!
I have as much AUTHORITY as any religious leader but I lack a following! <--- smile ---> (Mat 23:8-12).
There are some things all religious leaders have in common since religion began, The Witch Doctor, The Shaman, The Priests of the religions of the past ! Carthage with their human sacrifices of thousands of children, The Aztec who cut out thousands of hearts, The priests of Egypt, the Mayan, The Scribes and Pharasees and yes also many of the Clergy of today. Well described in Mat 23:5-7-->
All their works they do to be seen of men, They make Broad their Phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the Synagogues.
The Ego of man! The Paranoia! The Vanity! The position of status! They became pompous and arrogant! They were somebody, they were important! When they walked people stepped aside! ---And they loved it!
Blinded by Vanity---Truth cannot be seen. Vain men hear, believe and interpret anything that will glorify themselves and raise them to a higher level---According to their personal preferences and prejudices. Anything else is evil of the Devil (if Religious) or negative thinking.
The Perverse are blinded by their perversion. They in turn seek anything that will justify their actions and gain acceptance and approval for their perversion ----indeed the blind lead the blind!
It is only by the Grace of God that one may hear and understand truth! Mat 11:25 = At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord in heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them to babes.
Most religious search for magic---The Magic Genie--and superstition-- What's in it for me? What will I get? Will I live happily ever after? Will I be rich? Will I win the lottery? Lose weight? Have better health? Be more desirable to the opposite sex? Pass my test? etc.etc.etc. I want! I Need! ...And if it doesn't work they no longer believe in religion. Some However turn to religion in their Psychotic pursuit of attention (Mat 6:1-8--Mat 23:5-- & 1Tim 1:6) as do the Guru and Messiah wannabees of today---- "Hey everybody look at me!--I'm somebody I'm important. While others who don't believe in religion at all see a chance to fleece the Gullible and tell them what they want to hear! Rom 16:18
Cervantes (Author of "Don Quixote") stated "All may be madness!" ..Believing something does not make it true--- nor --- does disbelieving a truth make it false! Bear in mind, we do things not that we are right, but only because we believe we are ....In all honesty,<- THINK -> Does anyone know beyond the slightest doubt that their religious views are right?---Indeed "Forgive Us Father We Know Not What We Do!" .....It is due to our ignorance that we are misled. Let me point out ==I am fully aware I can be 100% (one hundred percent) wrong.
If--There is No GOD. And that which I believe is MADNESS,,---Have I hurt anyone by believing it is religious to mow a cripple womans lawn in the summer or shovel her walk in the winter? If -- Insane the woman benefited from my insanity none-the-less.
I believe in a religion that works! And I have the calluses on my hands to prove it. It requires that a person tries his best in his short lifetime, seven days a week to have others benefit from his short existence and that he is not the cause of anyone suffering. and that he try his best to accomplish this goal. His works are the treasures (Mat 6:19-21) he stores in heaven--- a living religion where one accepts full responsibility for his actions, No One can help him or do it for him--His salvation is in his hands, free for the taking. Requiring no one but himself. He answers to no one but to the Christ within - (LUKE 17:21--REV. 3:20 _ Mat 23:8-12) He Places no value on Rituals, Icons. Nor the many arguments people have in order to impress others, but the answers whatever they may be cannot be proven nor would they accomplish any purpose if they were known --As="Did Adam have a Navel? --Who Did Cain Marry?--- Can God do anything? Can he make a stone so heavy that he couldn't lift it? He requires no Gurus= =Ministers = Priests = = or--Churches!
I subscribe to all of the principles in the above paragraph. I may be one hundred percent wrong, but that which I believe gives me purpose. There are no worldly laws against this doctrine, nor were there ever any. Who can prevent me from forgiving those who offends me, or from being merciful to those who are unkind to me. Who can criticize me for choosing not to steal though others may steal from me, for being charitable to those who may appreciate it, for loving truth, while others grown in fame and wealth by deception. Who can condemn my love of decency and my consideration of the body as sacred and holy, while others give theirs to be used as merchandise and used in debauchery, for not looking at a woman with lust in my heart, for regarding a young woman as my daughter and one my age as my sister and for treating an older one with the same respect as my mother. Whether the people with whom I deal deserve it or not, my religion demands that I do this even though others may not. (see Luke 5:27-35 and Matthew 5:44-45.) I cannot make excuses for not living my religion and no one can prevent me from living my religion to the best of my ability. If I am wrong, what does it matter?
I find this perspective far more to my liking and far superior to anything I have encountered in my lifetime-- So Far! I want to give!-- -- -- What can I do in my lifetime before I leave this Earth? I see the Hungry !---Children being sold into prostitution! The Abuse of those in power!---The Human Suffering and Misery! ----And for the most part, I lack the means - The Wisdom -- The Skill -- The Ability to do anything ===but watch! Needless to say the "Little Drummer Boy " is my favorite Carol.
Hence my Quote :
If a man can be condemned for looking at a woman with lust in his Heart.... Is a moment not to be rewarded for feeling love and compassion when seeing the suffering of mankind when he truly has nothing to give?
Men often believe or disbelieve their understanding of what is spoken or written, rather than what is meant by the speaker or writer. I find Nevermore who believes A body is the temple and A heart the tabernacle very honest ==No Gurus, No ministers, No Priests required. And indeed, I find Nevermore's post Honest, I also firmly believe it is a beautiful concept of Christianity. It does not question Who is right-- But rather what is the most beneficial for mankind --A Reciprocal Covenant that focuses on what YOU could do for others===NOT what others an do for you---On what you can give, NOT what you can get. The hope that someone else can benefit from your SHORT existence! --- IF-- There is no God people will benefit from it none-the-less....
This perspective of Christianity, I believe is without equal! ... You will receive from God what you have given to others on this earth. I think its a most beautiful concept!
I Believe
(A Path)
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR 2001
By "Nevermore" (Nekole Bielshe)
Into this Universe, and why not knowing, Nor whence, like water willy-nilly flowing:
And out of it, As wind along the waste,
I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing
==OMAR KHAYYAM< THE RUBAIYAT
A Dark World
At birth we enter this world in ignorance, As children we follow blindly in the footsteps of of our parents, and continue their path or turn to another as we reach adulthood. The same is also true for the many who walk paths separate from our own.
I write not to condemn, nor to say "This is Right! "I simply want to say "This is the path I have chosen to follow in my short lifetime-- be it wrong or right!" Can anyone say they are absolutely right? Believing something does not make it true. But in this world of madness-- this is the path I have chosen to follow in my short lifetime-- to the best of my ability! I do not believe God cares where we came from, but I do believe he is concerned with where our hearts are leading us and where we are going. If a child is ill, Do the parents hold his illness against him when he is cured?
I have given copies of this article to the many religious who come to my door. -- They never return. Let me point out---I have no authority from any of the religious sects in this world whose's Ph.D.s disagree with each other. Nor am I a member of any religious group. So be aware I am not asking you to join any group or follow any guru. I am not asking for any donations. And I make no claim that I am any better than you are.
I am simply saying this is the path I have chosen to follow in my lifetime and these are my reason for taking that path . I ask no one to follow me nor do I prevent anyone from doing so if they should choose to .---This is my path! This I believe!
Lonely thoughts, where many wish to be heard but few desire to listen. Hundred of voices calling out all at once and clamoring for our attention like barkers at a fair, like sirens or a whole barnyard of cockcrows as the first long shafts of dawn fan out across the sky. Some of the voices are shouting so all the world can hear and some are soft and halting and you hardly hear them at all. Many speak but few hear or understand. For many pursue their own dreams and loves. They cannot hear you nor do they care to---Their mind is elsewhere-- They hear only the sympathetic vibrations of their own desires and they are deaf to all others.... So I walk this lonely path alone---in silence!
I write these words with the hope that perhaps one of my children or one of my childrens' children may read them long after my passing to learn what thoughts flowed through my mind. But I am well aware he may never understand what I have written at all. Or perhaps a kindred spirit may stumble upon them,-- Before my words fade and vanish long after I'm gone. For I too will soon fade and vanish through the portals of time-- Perhaps never to return. For I am fully aware that soon I will pass through the door that no man can close.
If you find truth and solace in my words please pass them on--- for they quickly fade with my passing. Perhaps another wanderer may find them and take pleasure in sharing them with us, or plant them elsewhere for me ( There are no Copyrights) . They may never take root. Like acorns being scattered in a world of blind hatred, greed, corruption, perversion and mediocrity . These are but a few of the many paths and loves of mankind--- and there are many who hungrily pursue them.
Caution
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door as in I went.
Omar Khayyam <--- The Rubaiyat.
If the soul be left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness,
Victor Hugo,<--- Les Miserables
We should all be aware that the world is overflowing with guru wannabees and Messiah wannabees. Religious con-men and psychotic religious paranoids are in a constant pursuit of attention or for a search for status among their peers. There are more than 1,000 registered religious groups, and more than 5,000 cults in our country. All indications point to the fact they are growing at a rapid rate. People throughout the world kill each other over "WHO is right -AND- WHO is wrong!" Many are waiting for a Messiah who will prove how right they are and how wrong everyone else is.
Young men and women are being brainwashed into joining cults that turn them against their own families. Even the older generation is a target for evil, unscrupulous so-called religious people who are out for money who look only for their pocketbooks. And Indeed in the bible St. Paul warns us against false prophets and con-men.
*"I urge you brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teachings you have learned. Keep away from them, for such people are not serving our lord Christ, but their own appetites, by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." ~Romans 16:17-18~
*"For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach-- and that for the sake of dishonest gain." ~Titus 1: 10-11~
*"Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk." ~1 Timothy 1:6~
*"But mark this : ---> "There will be terrible times, People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, Boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak minded women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth ." ~2 Timothy 3:6-7~ --NOTE: This is an apt description of Charles Manson
Even Christ has warned about the coming of false prophets, false messiahs and false "Christ's". He says this clearly in ~Matthew 24:23-26~" At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, Here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs's and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible. See I have told you ahead of time. So if any one tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert, 'do not go out, or, 'Here he is, in the inner room,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible in the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the son of man."
For those who might not take the biblical words to heart, we need to be reminded of the Rasputins of the world, the Charles Mansons of the world, the Jim Jonees's, or any other self proclaimed Christs. Perhaps we need to be reminded of the thousand dead at the Peoples Temple or the thousand dead at =The Restoration of the Ten Commandments in Uganda. The 77 Branch Dividians who were led to their death in Waco by David Karesh, and the 39 members of the =The Solar Temple Heavens Gate who took poison in a posh mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Indeed in this insane world we dare not be Gullible! Indeed There are many false prophets in our world, in our very Society.
St. Paul urges us to,
"Do not put out the spirits fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt, test everything, hold on to the good, avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)The beloved apostle John tells us in his first letter to the early church, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out in the world. 1 John 4:1
---- God does not want us to be gullible. A mind that does not think is like an open sewer. It accepts any garbage that flows into it.
A Candle
"If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, It is not my flame that shall burn therein.
Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern. And the Guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also.
Kahill Gibran,<----- The Prophet
The religious leaders in the time of Christ killed him---because his teachings were eliminating the need of them. As his fame spread, the offerings became smaller for he was removing the middleman ( Matthew 23:8-10) Jesus had to be removed because he was a threat to the religious leaders, to their money and their power. MONEY was at stake! The religious leaders were losing POWER over the Masses! Positions of grandeur would be lost! Christ was cutting the shackles of the Pharisees with a razor sharp double edge sword. I honestly believe there are self-proclaimed religious people today who would kill him quicker today than they did then.
We must think clearly about the teachings of Christ. He was teaching and preaching what we should do for others, not what the religious leaders could do for us. His message was very clear: You needed no help from the religious leaders or anyone else!
*To receive GODS forgiveness, YOU must give your forgiveness to others. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins , Your Father will not forgive you your sins." Matthew 6:14-15~
Indeed you need no help from the Pharisees or any one else It's all up to you.
*To receive Gods Mercy, You must be merciful. "Blessed are the merciful for they (Those who are ) will be shown mercy ." Matthew 5:7. Indeed you need no help from the Pharisees or any one else. It's all up to you.
* Unlike the self righteous Pharisees, Christ told us to look at the lowest among us and see value in them. "The King will reply 'I Tell you the truth, Whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers of mine, you did for me.' "Matthew 25:40. Indeedyou need no help from the pharisees or anyone else. It's all up to you.
* Are you aware that you could be cursing yourself by saying the LORD'S Prayer? You are asking God to be as forgiving to you as you are to others. If you are not forgiving what are you asking God to be? Again you need no help from the Pharisees or any one else---It's all up to you.
I personally believe our sins could be used to our advantage. To admit we have sinned is a confession that should humble us.....Knowing we are in need of forgiveness we should be and make us more eager to forgive others, as Christ bids us to in Matthew 6:14-15. I believe it is wiser to consider your sin the vilest of sins! For you will not suffer for the sins others have committed but you will suffer for your own. In practicing the forgiveness of others, you will be more capable of forgiving yourself whenever the need should arise---- -SATAN'S TRAP--> Don't make the mistake of looking for fault in others to support the delusion that you are not so bad, Satan will say "Look at that, look what he did, You'er not so bad! Your sins are natural, understandable or someone else fault. The other persons are unforgivable."( If you don't agree you don't have any common sense, You just don't understand.
For three years Christ taught a RECIPROCAL COVENANT! He showed us a path to salvation where we and we alone are to bear the responsibility for our own salvation! No one can do it for us! Beloved Saint Paul says in Philippians 2:12 and 13, "Therefore, my dear friend, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence.
- Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Listen to Paul's words to us concerning how we are to live our lives: "and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, and so we will not be dependent on anybody." We need no guru or anyone else---Its all up to us!
This is a religion you cannot buy, sell, steal, or borrow, it is FREE it costs nothing. The free gift of faith is as old as the ancient people of God. Isaiah spoke to the chosen people of God when he spoke the word of God and offered this invitation: "Come all of you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost." (Isaiah 55:1-2 )
You receive what you have given. (If we want Gods we must give ours as we remember others at our table, He will remember us at his! There is no law in the world against it ( See Ephesians 4:17-& 5:21--- Saint Paul tell us "But the fruit of he Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law". Galatians 5:22-23 it is a religion of the poor not of the rich (Luke 6:20 and Matthew 19:23).
The prophet Jeremiah stood at a crossroads of the Old Testament people. The nation of Israel was going astray, not listening to the word of God, but to the voice of false prophets and teachers, Jeremiah tells his people. "This is what the lord almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you, they fill you with false hopes, they speak visions from their own minds not from the mouth of the lord." (Jeremiah 23:16) Christ speaks of the situation he found with the religious leaders, the Pharisees, He did not mince words with these self deluded leaders. Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah when he addressed the Pharisees, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they worship me in vain, their teachings are rules taught by men." (Matthew 15:8-9) Saint Paul also talks about this vanity found in false teachers both present and future when he writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they had divine power to demolish strongholds, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Believing in Christ has many meanings, It is often twisted with semantics from one denomination to the next. One denomination may completely disbelieve what another denomination is teaching. It is further possible that one man's understanding may differ from the man standing next to him in the same church or denomination. The Atheist may be shocked to find that I may also disbelieve the religions he objects to and to his concept of religion.
It is not enough to say you believe in Christ and by doing so we are saved. The bible reminds us that even the Devils and demons believe in Christ, Jesus was met by demon possessed people in which the demons recognized who he was - The Son of God! Jesus also speaks of a future time when those who are "religious" and claim they knew him will be shown to be liars ( See Matthew 7:21-25). One must be careful not to believe people just because they say they are "filled with the Holy Spirit"or those who say they are "Born Again". Jesus makes it clear that those who say they believed and those who thought they were saved or born again will be rejected by Christ himself if they do not have true biblical faith in him.
Believing in Christ means we believe in his teachings, and we are trying our best to live the teachings of Christ in our entire existence. Remember the last words of Jesus before he was taken up to heaven: "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20--- We do what we do because of what we believe! "Faith is love in action, Love made visible!" Living our faith in Christ on a daily basis is supposed to be the fruit of our faith. If we meet a person with honest needs and we have the means and are capable of filling them -- that person should be christ to us. Indeed, as Christ tells us,"If you care for the least of these my brothers, you do it for me." Saint Paul reminds us that we should, "do everything for the Glory of God," This is what Faith is, It is not a noun -- it is a verb!
Many will say "Not by your works!" they are like the Fig tree in Matthew 21:19 that bore no fruit and withered away . We must remember the words of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew,
"Not everyone who says to me," Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, But only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, Did we not prophesy in your name, And in your name drive out demons and preform many Miracles? Then I will tell them plainly "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers." Matthew 7:21-23, "For the son of man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and he will reward each person according to what he has done." Matthew 16:27 The king will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers of mine, you did for me." (See Mat, 25:31-46.) James who wrote the letter of James says, "in the same way, Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action is DEAD. But someone will say, "You have faith, I have deeds, Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is a God, Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder - As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead " James 2:17-26
If you believe in Christ you believe ALL his teachings are true. All his parables teach works! things we should do. If we make no attempt to do them, we are kidding ourselves, for we do not believe in Christ at all!
We are reminded from the bible that many of our works are AS FILTHY RAGS for they are used in mans Psychotic pursuit of attention. Misguided religious who yell "HEY LOOK AT ME!" We must realize that we must look to Christ the "Author and perfector of our faith," A crime committed if it is in the media long enough it will soon spawn others who will commit the same crime for the sake of attention. Styles and the cosmetic industry prey on the vanity of people and make billions on peoples desire for attention. Too often people turn to religion and use it for that purpose ( Matthew 6:1-13 & Matthew 23:5). As do many who are easily given to the imagination and respond to suggestion by entering into hysterical states as they did with Mesmer (Read :Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by McKay & Battle for the Mind by Sargent )
Having psychosomatic reactions and receiving attention does not constitute belief or religion at all. People vainly believe these delusions are a Supernatural and Mystical experience. It is important to remember that Christ warned against these outward manifestations of "religion" he refers to them as "Wonderful works and wonders" in Matthew 7:22 & Matthew 24:24 Indeed if Mesmer had called it "The power of the holy spirit" rather than animal magnetism, "holy water" rather than magnetized water, and said "In the name of Jesus" When making Passes, he would have been protected by the church and believed to be a holy man.
These are psychosomatic responses due to suggestion. These Psychological effects impress the simple who are not familiar with mans imagination and how easily people can be drawn into it. Religious leaders would be wise to understand it, For it is the means Witch Doctors, Shamans, Primitive Religions, Occult practices, Meditation groups, and Religious Hucksters of today impress their followers who are eager to believe these are supernatural mystical experiences. Many who vainly believe they have received Spiritual Gifts (Vain Janglers=1 Tim 1:6) and who love to make a spectacle of themselves standing in Church (MAT 6:5) do not realize they are reacting to the imagination as are those in primitive religions. It draws attention to them, Giving them a feeling of importance and security. They are finally somebody, They feel good, No longer afraid, Gives them a psychological high. In their vanity they believe they have experienced a supernatural mystical Experience, They will spend hours telling you about it. And as the man who once believed he was Napoleon and was cured by his psychiatrist said " When I thought I was Napoleon I was proud, I was somebody I could stand tall, I was happy===Now I know I'm not, I'm a no-body, a nothing --I'm miserable!" ---Try to tell them its psychological- -They'd rather DIE!
Bear in mind We are ALL sinners trying our best, and I make no claim that I am any better than you are! So you have no need of me! I am a non sectarian, free Christian trying to do my best. I ask for nothing. However I would be honored if you mailed this to a friend, or post it or print it elsewhere. But most of all (As Omar Khayyam in his Rubaiyat, ask that you turn down an empty glass) But for me. I would be most honored if you see someone with an honest need and help him if you can in memory of me!
And- Oh Yes,- Please visit the links Below. A Cossack's Soiloquy
Poetry----->
A Proud Heritage
Yours as a brother in Christ (Mat 23:5-12) Nevermore==Translation==Nekole Bielshe
| A Imagery Created Especially For Nevermore.
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