Month: October 2024

Did Premier Ford ever say “disgusting” about the plight of Canada’s first Nations?

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If he has, why do culture wars, all kinds of discrimination and murders still happen in Ontario?  I wonder why he is disgusted by the centuries old hostilities in the Levant and has nothing to say about Canada’s neighbour to the south dumping all over Canadian sovereignty.  It is no wonder that Ford has nothing to say about 75 years of oppression of the Palestinian people. 

Did Ford and any Conservative political activist ever say Canada’s entire history is disgusting?  Why do they hesitate to condemn revenge killing and do they have the courage to begin supporting people and not just the ones they feel obligated to?  Are Ford and Canadian sages committed to supporting apartheid Israel against the ruling of the International Criminal Court? I think they are.  Palestinians, Ford should know,  are Christian, Muslim and atheists just like Canadians.  What’s next?  Palestinians are terrorists?

Hundreds of soundbytes of meaningless slogans

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Call me skeptical but please remember to call a heap a heap.  It will surely elicit raised brows and kangaroo court shenanigans.  The only place that can be guaranteed to be safe from misinformation and indoctrination is the grade school classroom.  Once a week church school is a shallow pool where the millions drown and we act as if we do not notice.  The popular sages have a slogan for every thing, and whether the slogan is God and country or mein kampf or our country it is guaranteed to be something other than meaningful for everyone.

Religious people have a lot of empty slogans

Here are a few popular mantras.  They persist despite the complete uselessness of creation as an instigator of faith, despite the audacity of dividing the world into us and them, despite the unqualified goodness of God, and despite the unique identity and endowments of each individual.

  • Him who created. Before God was creator he was saviour. Moses interpreted the weekly sabbath as a memorial of release from bondage (Deu. 5:15)
  • Of all the earth. The only barrier that prevents God is the absence of faith.  God’s name is excellent in all the earth.
  • God is good ALL THE TIME. What else can he be? What does time have to do with God’s essential attributes
  • What he’s done for others he will do for you.  How dare any of us want to be treated like someone else? Is God not capable of having gifts tailored to our individual composition?

Reflections on creeds and manifestos

On sober reevaluation, not even the grade school classroom is safe.  The murder of children in their classrooms, the exclusion of girls from the grade school classroom, the segregation and the marginalization of girls in the classroom are grave threats to the effectiveness of the common maxims and a huge boost to the meaningless mantras of established and long-lived religions.   I think if Augustine could have see the age of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade he may well have scrapped his City of God.  The daring of 21st century believers and Muslims to try to sell religious government is twin up rank ignorance.  The noble record of the Torah and commentary on it have not even a hint that  any slogan has approximated a sustainable lifestyle, much less a legacy.

Two disappointing confessions

  • “I’m not perfect” denies the readily available status as mature and no longer juvenile, settling for the schizophrenic sinful/sinless seesaw s
  • “I can do all things” is as blasphemous as unproductive “Christians” can get.

One of the most extreme commands Yeshua uttered was “Y’all must be perfect , as the heavenly Father is”.  To a man, Christians explain away the call to maturity so they can soak in the puddles of their tradition.  If we checked that box alone we would find ourselves in the company of Christ, the only genuine representation of divinity.  Sadly, Christians are preparing to dump Yeshua so they can regress into Mosaic shadows and cyclical culture.

The capacity to do all things is exclusively a “God” thing.  What madness ensues when Christians allow themselves to follow a weak translation of Philippians 4:13.  “I am strong for all things” is not “I can do all things”.  πάντα ισχύω is a long way from δυναμαι ποιείν πάντα.

When did God ever ask a human being to do all things?  All the things we need are locked up in Yahweh’s vault and treasury. The day we are able to do all things is the day God throws in the towel. Slogans are sometimes innocent dreaming, but they can also be deadly landslides that block the way to humility, the kindness, and justice.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Mic 6:8

Attention, Stand at Ease, Stand Easy,

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The soldier on parade has three elementary stances: standing easy, stand at ease, and attention.  Parade is when military personnel are under scrutiny and a display of skills is on the table. Military attention requires (1) eyes front (2) no movement (3 ) readiness for instructions.  Christian attention has several unending demands.  Here are several things which demand our attention.

Showy righteousness 

Matthew 6:1 (NASB)

1. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

False Prophets

Matthew 7:15 (NASB)

15. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

People in authority 

Matthew 10:17 (NASB)

17. “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;

Acts 5:35 (NASB)

35. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.

The yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

Matthew 16:6 (NASB)

6. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Matthew 16:11 (NASB)

11. “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Matthew 16:12 (NASB)

12. Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Luke 12:1 (NASB)

1. Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Wrongs and forgiveness

Luke 17:3 (NASB)

3. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Showy Christians 

Luke 20:46 (NASB)

46. “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

Unnecessary and dangerous burdens 

Luke 21:34 (NASB)

34. “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

Sorcerers

Acts 8:6 (NASB)

6. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

Acts 8:10 (NASB)

10. and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

Acts 8:11 (NASB)

11. And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.

Paul’s Speeches

Acts 16:14 (NASB)

14. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Church members

Acts 20:28 (NASB)

28. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Myths and genealogies

1 Timothy 1:4 (NASB)

4. nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.

Titus 1:14 (NASB)

14. not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

Wine and profits

1 Timothy 3:8 (NASB)

8. Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain,

Seducing spirits and demonic doctrines

1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)

1. But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

Public Reading

1 Timothy 4:13 (NASB)

13. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

The things spoken to us

Hebrews 2:1 (NASB)

1. For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

Priestly duties

Hebrews 7:13 (NASB)

13. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.

More certain prophetic word

2 Peter 1:19 (NASB)

19. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

Grieve and be relieved because I have a heart

eejoseph,

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

Not grasping precisely what possessions are included in the ALL in the question, I know that I would grieve and be relieved.  Some losses would be exceedingly grievous, others would cause a sigh of relief because the connection to the possession is no more.   The energy I am accustomed to expending on my property for maintenance and repair can be spent elsewhere.  

Loss of all would bring a new day, and an opportunity to contemplate that having a mind – a heart –  to grasp the seismic movement that loss brings  pointing me in  a new and  hopeful directions would be necessary.