Author: eejoseph

Peter pickles the pirates

eejoseph, ,

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; (1 Peter 1:17)

Peter’s theology and Christology are respectively familiar and rare.  He accurately separated rewards from the gift of salvation.  For the children of God, judgment is a thing of the past.  A strong delusion snaps relentlessly at the feet of those who see the church and the kingdom of God as matters of necessary indictment, inescapable conviction, and ongoing uncertainty, righteous idleness and terror.

The Father, the redemption, certainty, Christ’s eternity, and Christian witness

  • The one addressed as FATHER is the  IMPARTIAL JUDGE when it comes to rewarding people for the work they perform … (1 Peter 1:17a)
  • Peter DISTANCES REDEMPTION FROM  PERISHABLE THINGS like silver or gold from the futile way of life [both Jews and Gentiles] inherited from their forefathers, (1 Peter 1:18)
  • THE CERTAINTY OF HIS SALVATION can never be pegged to anyone but Christ whose precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, was responsible. (1 Peter 1:19)
  • CHRIST’S ETERNITY is denied by Jews and Muslims but Peter here holds the line, the line echoed by Peter’s colleague John John 1:1-3, and Joh 1:14, that Christ is from eternity For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (1 Peter 1:20)
  • THE WITNESS OF ALL IN CHRIST – who through Him [Christ] are believers in God [the Father or the GODHEAD], who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:21)

The priority that comes from the exercise of faith in something other than creation is a breath of fresh air.  Islam and Judaism are grounded in a Creator God, but they have nothing personal on which to build a life directly flavoured with divine finality as the creation was.  Creation is over.  The king and Lord of creation is not so lackluster as to have no essential channels for relating to humanity. 

Peter’s theology is remarkably Johannine

Peter’s disciple rolls out his gospel as sourced in God. John immediately declared the new creation.  Matthew and Luke get to gospel after laying out the historical context.

John and Mark leave no opening for James and his Pharisee friends to align the grace of God with Moses and the prophets. We know the prophets could not personally relate to what they were being told, because what they were being told included the coming revelation of the messiah.  It is catastrophic that so many Christians gather up under the flag of Mosaic tradition (prophets, temple, and law).  We don’t know how many leaders like James existed in the churches in Palestine and Asia, but the absence of salvation by sacrifice from James’ letter puts him and all the people who think they have earned (or inherited) eternal life in a pickle. In some ways the dilemma of people who think that the cross can be relinquished at any point, is also like quicksand. Grace salts, unbelief pickles.

As many thousands of  cents there are in a euro

eejoseph,

How much would you pay to go to the moon?

A trip to the moon would have interested me when Armstrong stepped on the moon’s surface and announced that he was pioneering a human journey. However, going to an uninhabitable place is the stuff of fantasy and extreme adventurism. Even to a mind brimming with creative energy, the vast sums spent of a single mission to the moon has to be reprehensible as long as hunger and poverty are still ravaging any part of the earth.

There are many humans who can easily spend the money for many trips to the moon, and that fact highlights the priorities of humanity. May the moon and earth that have supported life as we know it never become terminals in a one-way traffic industry for anyone.

Full blown nationist

eejoseph

It was the Allied Nations, led by the United States that retired German Nazism. Italian Fascism, and Japanese imperial adventurism. The cowardice of many in the face threats from China, Russia and the Middle eastern tigers has landed us in the lane of shallow slogans and inhumanity. In times of war nationalism facilitates an optimum military machine.  Most nations have not built armies that can circle the globe, and many do not even have the forces to keep a nation safe from invasion and insurrection.  Now that the United States is leading the charge back to borders, brutality and grandiosity it cannot be long before  the Allied Nations cut the knot with mercurial governments.

While the United States and Canada remain joined in geography and North Atlantic security closet, Canadians and Americans are in a real tango for the foreseeable future.  Decency will be seen in tatters and the things most feared will become commonplace. Haiti has come to America. Israel makes no convert and gathers no ally better itself. This is where the bloated generals and mighty men, the trades and cargo transporters start building shelters, even calling on unthinking entities. Canadian courage does not mirror US bravado.

Just say “national interest” and anything goes

Discovery vistas; no guilt

eejoseph,

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

In my early teens, discovering ancestral heritage and the possibilities of romance, I felt I had arrived.  I have spent the decades since then clinging to the glow of what should have been a speedy transition. I realize I have missed some of the essentials of growing up, but do not expect me to carry any guilt when a large number of my peers have also been clinging to priorities of the transition into adulthood.

We’re not done yet – Israel’s PM

eejoseph

The greatest experiment undertaken by God was the salvation of humanity. Islam has no salvation, America is currently reaching back for some dark and cruel greatness, and, sadly western Christianity has allied itself with Hitlerism and the barbarity of Italian fascism.  Pastors are today saying Hitler did some good things. Instead of apologizing for the seven decades of trampling on the will of United humanity and the rights of their neighbours Israel’s PM milks the sympathy in the General Assembly of the United Nations with appeals for hostages to be returned, and sneers at the nations that are parting ways with the demoniac, genocidal megalomaniac government of Israel.

Viva Conscience, No to Collective Cowardice

eejoseph

Today we shudder as we recall the United Nations forced to endure deceptive and divisive mumbo-jumbo from international criminal elements in the form of a speech by the 47th president of the United States.  We can hold our commitment to truth and justice evermore tightly as the nations begin to distance themselves from the horrors of the US-Israel partnership.  Viva the conscious quest for global peace and progress!



80 years ago the United Nations Charter was a hit.  77 years ago the Palestinian Problem began with the declaration of an independent Israel.  60 years ago an African leader summarized the optimism and challenges faced by what he called “mankind’s best hope”.  Two years ago the government of South Africa brought action in the International Court of Justice against Israel.
Two days ago, with his ship severely listing, Captain Taco, polluted the UN podium and further added to the mountain of evidence that his dictatorial quest is on life support.  Two days ago, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, spoke at the UN virtually because Captain Taco refused visas to the Palestinian President (affecting 80 Palestinian representatives).

Here is the concluding portion of the speech of the venerable Haile Selassie I on June 27, 1965, when the UN Charter was 20 years old.

To Find Solutions


The activities of the United Nations Organization can raise the living standards of people throughout the world. However, how could it be possible for this great task to be accomplished satisfactorily when some states do not implement the decisions of the Organization? How could that last hope of mankind achieve its noble objective when some states are pursuing their own selfish ends of defying the authority of the international organization?  Does it not mean that, if the solutions to the problems facing the world are not founded by the organization, and if these, when found, are not accepted by all member states, the international body is growing weaker and weaker? We feel that the United Nations in its efforts to provide a body of international law and to secure its respect as fallen short of expectation.

What course of action should the small nations pursue vis a vis the prevailing constitutional framework of the United Nations Organization and the existing international situation?  Small nations ought to refrain from making themselves tools for igniting friction between the Great Powers. Receiving development aid and other forms of foreign assistance should not be conditioned by obligations to take sides. In order to achieve this goal, they must not only adhere to a policy of political non-alignment but they should also oppose and proscribe consistently all small conflicts brought about, and to be brought about, by the prevailing international cold war.  At the time when We are striving hard to hold the arms race, We are convinced that a nuclear war would devastate the whole world. However, we must work together for the ending of the little wars which are consuming the energies of the small nations and decimating our people.


The untenable doctrine of racial supremacy, being a threat to the maintenance of international decent security as well as a serious set-back for establishing a salubrious atmosphere of understanding and corporation in the world, we must work together against the philosophy of racism.


Has U. N. the Authority?


I still like the nation’s organization with 30 for achieving these ends? Is the organization showing the zealous Spirit to pursue these ends consistently? If it has no authority for doing these things, are we ready and willing to invest it with enough power for the organization to carry out its task satisfactorily? If we are to survive the Organization has also got to survive. If the touch to survive, it should be strengthened. And, to strengthen its structure, the Organization must get the requisite  authority. The weak must not be mauled or molested by the strong. All states are feeling conditions entitling them to membership should be admitted to the organization. Because peace cannot reign in an atmosphere reeking with poverty and hunger, We [sic] should explore and strengthen the means of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and enlightening the illiterate.
Today the Great Powers should also wake up to the realization of the fact that the key to their destiny and future happiness does not lie in their own hands alone. There is no peace without cooperation. Be it known that the principles enshrined in the Charter and the resolutions adopted by the Organization are not there only for the small nations to respect and implement. In efforts being made to ease the gravity of world problems, the small nations should have a say. Their voices should be heard. An atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence cannot be established when the rights of small nations are not accorded the same respect as those of the Big Powers. In order to accomplish these tasks, it is essential to rouse the conscience of mankind. Anyway, strength and mutual trust are two indispensable qualities for achieving the common goal.  Even if there is strength, the common ground of mutual confidence must be established. To establish this, we must work diligently. Once we are able to do what is humanly possible, the rest could be left to the Almighty God. So that man whom He has created in his own image may not be destroyed, let us repose our faith in God.
(June 27th 1965)

International Criminal Elements will not prevail.

But not without the heart

eejoseph,

What could you do more of?

I could be more of a conduit for the love that never falls down on the job.  This means that for all the people to whom I have said “I love you” more would be ways to make that love felt, that is perceptible, not necessarily felt like food, clothing, presence and money. Very often just knowing that someone cares is a grand booster to a good day. I just want to elevate my loving.

Signaling the End of Injustice

eejoseph, , ,

Israel has been propped up by America veto and bullying in the face of an ever-growing global recognition that both Israel and the United States are reckless, careless and cruel.  Israel starves children, renders people homeless repeatedly under gunfire and missile launches, commits war crimes, violates UN resolutions repeatedly,  and vows to erase its enemy from the face of the globe.  Israel’s sworn enemy, an equally reckless, careless and cruel Islamic brotherhood, dares to call itself a government, but sheep’s clothing no longer hides the tyrants of the 21st century. The Permanent Five of the United Nations Security Council are guilty of subjecting the Occupied Territories of Palestine to decades of inhumane treatment. The jig is up.  Democracy can no longer be used by Israel and its backers as cover to ensure the support of nations.  Here comes Canada, Australia, the U.K., New Zealand and Portugal saying “no more” to Hamas and to any Israeli government that rejects international law.

Feigned Israeli Outrage and Defiance

Hamas, the supposed government of Gaza, can zip its lips, as its method is clear as day.  Israel lost its civility from day one, by not recognizing the rights of other human beings.  The standard Israeli response is totally expected.  “We will block the pathway to self-determination”.  “There will be no Palestinian state in [Canaan]”. Both the religious messengers of Zionist Israel and the political standard bearers have egg on their faces as Israel tries to convince the world that wrong is right. Netanyahu thinks that his virulent lies are great soundbytes.  It is all an act.  Even his name –  Netanyahu – is an act. A whole lot more of Hamas’ and Netanyahu’s coalition’s passion is pure drama for a captive audience.

The United Nations Awakes with the Power of Youth

We cannot expect a credible solution to the Palestinian Problem from the criminal elders who have made deals with the former colonial powers and are lobbying for trade deals.  They are seriously compromised.  The lives of the Jewish and Palestinian people are valuable even when the Netanyahu government has another standard. The United States is like Egypt of old, a broken reed. There is no longer a moral ground for supporting the brutal Occupation by Israel.  Any  reliance on US military power is misplaced. Bye, bye Israeli credibility! Hamas and Zionism are toast. Long live free and Palestine!