Author: eejoseph

Banish the darkness where you can

eejoseph

President Biden’s first day in office shows immediately that lies and dogwhistles are not in the nation’s interest. Christian radio begins a new campaign to radicalize people over the question of abortion, a key issue in the election of the 45th president. Then came the resignation of the Canadian Governor-general Since 1955 the American church has spoken in whispers, if at all, about the security of people who reject white nationalism. There is not much wiggle room left for silence on the shameful rise of racism and ignorance about justice. Our times are divided into nights and days and when we do not know the difference we cannot be expected to operate optimally in either.

If your expertise is keeping garbage you should not expect anyone to invite you to handle their garbage or their groceries. When you are not walking on the sidewalk and a horn sounds behind you take a great risk by not looking behind you. If you want your days to be dark and nights to be bright, or are often upset at the difference you are in deep trouble.

What president? The question arises a lot, along with What lawyer? What genius?

Mountain climbing is not only an extreme kind of enterprise. It pictures the journey of human life. The dangerous trip of human seed to the wall of the ovary against tremendous odds is a lesson in human fortunes. The history of Sarah and Abraham’s love and family is a lesson of extreme depths and heights. If a sperm cell has an emotional experience it must include both fear/anxiety and profound confidence. Keeping garbage, hanging around darkened locations, and rejecting change are official ways of broadcasting one’s character. Banishing the darkness does not however mean we pretend that we are sources of light.

The McConnell Crumb

eejoseph

The hearing challenge is still with us.  Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden, but their desire to welcome him had changed.  They hid.  Right after hearing Christ say”Come to me and rest” most believers are programmed to run to someone else; Moses, the local or international leader, or a star figure sporting a fluffy gem, ultimately settling for a mere crumb of the fellowship needed. Hiding, burying one’s head, and whataboutism are all crumbs from the bread of reality.  McConnell’s declaration about 45’s as responsible for the January 6th seditious assault on Capitol Hill is a crumb and an affirmation of his failure to lead when the interests of the American people are at stake.

The bread in the oven again

More downhill skiing seems to have kicked into a frenzy again. January 21 saw Andrew Wommack on television and Boron on WDCX radio inciting the evangelical mob about the evils of abortion.  Not a word came out of these chickens when another Black man dies at the hands of public officials. Not a word has come from the White versions of Christianity.  It is as if their conferences concluded to (a) stop proclaiming the biblical gospel, (b) ignore what they were seeing, and (c) serve the political beast that gives them prestige. They have even put their endless lists of how to live the Christian life on hold.

The crumb

Many of our problems today stem from blurring the lines between domains, the most prominent being the private and public domains.  In politics the whole world knows that there is a private conversation that the politicisns have no intention of making public – a conversation which they also fail to convert into credible rhetoric. The public has ltttle to make use of from hearing that private chat.

In theology the knowledge that the messenger brings to the public comes from a private conversation with the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts in the light of the Crucified Son of God. That is where living bread comes from. God dies not dictate any concept that does not appear in Scripture. The conviction and conclusions that come in the private encounter with the text are not seen in public. Much of it is of no practical use to the typical audience, unless that audience has agreed to learn how to do what the pastor-teacher does. You can tell when the presentation is crumby when the features are “the Greek word is…”,  biographical and historical data, and not the meaning of the firsthand data. When the insights into the private conversation are not exegesis of the firsthand data they are mere crumby fillers.

Discrimination is obvious and cherished all around the world.  The United States does not need a lawsuit or a congressional commission to find a reason to rise above or tag India’s cast system, Islamic malice towards Jews and Christians, Christian pseudo-love towards the unsaved, Canadian genocidal racism or its own black and white world.  Discrimination is married to cowardice, fear and ignorance.

Defending the constitution must include caring tfor he people one represents. Roadblock to getting funds to the american people sinks boats.

The church has been distracted by fly- by-night and third hand leaders, who feed themselves and their flocks a version of the gospel that is watered down with fearful, hateful, half-cocked American elitist and imperialist aspirations, and Jewish myths about God’s nature and plan for humanity.  We cannot think that God taped the mouths of American preachers and political leaders when they tried to address the injustices in society.  They did not even try.

McConnell is two weeks late in raising his voice against the 45th president’s role in the insurrection on January 6th.

McConnell is the kind of leader who is caught between his constituents and the constitution.  He apparently did not know what impartial justice looks like when faced with the crimes of the 45th president in the first impeachment trial. We have no reason to say he does today as another impeachment trial approaches.  Was he illiterate or merely perverse and protective of his party’s majority?  His seemingly bold crumb – assigning blame for the January 6th failed insurerection to 45 – shows his leadership is an illusion. Crumby leader, crumby soundbyte!

Send in the troops and clowns

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(revised)

Is sending in troops and thugs an answer to the mass of humanity’s rising up to say no more to suffering under  thinly disguised fascism, to dying because of racial supremacy greatness, to burning our consciences with religious zeal,  and to honoring the dishonorable as patriots?

The success of any movement depends on the people taking a hard cold look at the leader’s accountability at the top. Incompetence tolerated leads to disorientation. Not even the high priest in Israel was immune to folly. The prophets were often just shallow pools with no fish, and the kings were the true experts at dithering. These faces of authority, ugly and sinister, are on the screen right now in the melee of our 21st century quest to be diligent and vigilant.

Patriotism is no basis for establishing identity. Ethnic, tribal, national, or linguistic values do not count towards the resources we bring to bear on our human fellowship. Who cares where you were born? You do of course. There is always our mother’s connection to the land as a pure emotional and spiritual home. The person who takes interest in your birthplace had better be kept under the scope, micro or tele.

Patriotism is also all of those things that define people who live together, whether for decades or centuriesm Those activities they pursue, the goals they set, and the vigilance each of those people exhibit in their time frames constitute an important patriotism; an unspoken but lived patriotism. The sons of Israel lived in Egypt for four centuries, all the while patriotic to Abraham and his dream. The state used birth control – infanticide – and deadly violence against them. Is it not a fabulous? Pharaoh used his military against civilians and failed. Even more fabulous is the narrative of the kingdom of Judah exiled in Persia (the last days of the Babylonian exile) where the state, manipulated by one Jew-hater, used violence against the exiles, and authorized Jews to assault and plunder.

There is no reason for us to tolerate one more day under the threat of violence to civilians by a head of state.

And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, [even] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey.

Esther 3:13

Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. Esth. 8:9,
And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed [it] with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and] riders on mules, camels, [and] young dromedaries: Esth. 8:10,
Wherein the king granted the Jews which [were] in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [both] little ones and women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey, Esth. 8:11,
Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is] the month Adar. Esth. 8:12,

Patriotism notwithstanding

How much we love our hometown!

And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. ,

Matthew 11:23

Governor-general resigns

eejoseph

Canada’s Vice-regal Head resigns facing a report that she tolerated a toxuc workplace.  His Honour David Only weighed in, addressing the resignation and the hoops he, a political science grad, jumped when he was appointed.  Madame Payette’s celebrity, based on her expertise as an astronaut and her “engaging” personality turned out to be a toxic mix, falling short of Canadian excellence.

Privileged persons and humanity

Canadian law applies to all Canadians and yet we see both provinces and individuals constantly trying to find exemptions from law for themselves. Our first prime minister stumbled on this very point. This is a lesson resisted by many in elevated positions, many of whom see themselves as untouchable and almighty, forgetting they are still human.

Let’s hope and pray her experience provides her an important lesson in humanity and humility.

Feasting on fiction

eejoseph,

I can hardly think about fiction without bringing along Aaron’s comical delusion (Exodus 32:24-25) or James question about justification (James 2:23) because the two instances show us that deadly threats do come from trusted people. How certain can one be that the things one handles are not destructive inventions that do seem like filling abd satisfying food? Absolutely with the Way, Truth, and Life. And even with that level of certainty a sensible mind will defer with a comparison to the Supreme Commander, having done all the things which are commanded us, we still say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’” knowing that fiction comes easily out of us.

How Israel got the golden calf

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control–for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies–

I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Exodus 32:25

We have to be far more responsible for what we tell ourselves and for what we pass on to those we care about.   Unless we wish to become echo chambers for bad ideas, found typically these days in chat groups, backroom schools or churches, in videos, and on television.

If the first and most honourable and respected high priest was mourned for thirty days, an equal number as Moses, I suppose the 45th president of the United States is bereft of any such character. Both Moses and Aaron acted treacherously in plain sight of the Israelites and no one assigns their names to the list of the lost or the list of enemies. There are many theories about truth but fiction needs none. Fiction is mostly entertainment and the best way to separate the wheat from the chaff is to love the Truth-Yeshua with a single and humble heart. The intellect that spends countless hours each day hoping to find food for a healthy mind is in the grip of corrupting influences.

When the evidence we seek for how to live is in black and white, written and certified by its solidarity with all the sacred texts where we have found wisdom leaders ought to read a lot more and set the example for all. Indeed, there is no justification for investing in the passing fashions of the current age. We are in the world but not of it.

Israeli Passover shenanigans revealed

eejoseph

Truth without justice is a specialty that has been around since we organized ourselves into clans and tribes with competing interests.   Even when the wise and powerful try to put in place the practice of remembering the means of escape from Egypt it eventually included recognition of the divine name and real estate. Two things were not included that would become essential for accepting the full counsel of Yahweh’s passover, the monarchy and the temple. When animal blood runs in Jerusalem as a national happening, requiring the approval of the modern state of Israel and the approval of a foreign power it is time to get the goods from the horse’s mouth.

We want to find ourselves a part of Moses’ grand contribution to fellowship with God, but order, sacrifice, and equity have become victims of rotten salesmanship.

Preparing to take a deeper dive

Accordingly, the Sanhedrin sent a request to President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu to be permitted to offer a sacrifice for the sake of the world and for the purpose of ending the pandemic.
“Mr. President, you and Mr. Netanyhu can immediately install the right values and laws for the entire human race and all of creation in this world by letting Israel obey the laws of the Torah of Israel which requires us to sacrifice the Passover lamb,” the request reads.

From https://pravoslavie.ru/129969.html

Since when does the Jewish people need permission from a foreign power to do anything. Setting aside the big lie of New Testament times that says “Jews were never in bondage” (sounds like “Britann rules the waves, Britons never shall be slaves”). In an attempt to wake what God has put to sleep some segments of Jewish society are planning to perform temple rituals on Passover, as if God was going to be impressed with ritual.

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6

Land not healed

eejoseph

If a confession in public was sufficient to move God’s hand to relieve a nation in distress it is next to impossible that any of our modern nations is going to successfully use the ancient therapy. Another approach to relief is to pray in secret and expect a public showing of relief (Matthew 6:6), but not even the nations with millions of people using the second method seem to have a healing on their record or transcript and neither method seems to be on any nation’s agenda. The condition for the second method continues for the land not healed.

It is time to stop abusing “If my people who are called by my name…”

You can believe that two persons believing in prayer changes things but that seems to have no effect on cancer or national policy. It does not even prevent a load of junk spilling into the infospace.

Stand and cry, hear and deliver

Healing a land is not miraculous. Taking a stand and screaming comes easily. Study the habits of a baby in need.

‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.’

2 Chronicles 20:9

A land that refuses to take a stand and scream remains sick.