Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Anointed One

The Anointed One refers to The Messiah, Christ the Lord, The Chosen One of God.

To anoint is to smear, spread a liquid, a process employed ritually by many religions and races. It also refers to vesels consecrated to God. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit or power.

Unction is another term for anointing. The oil may be called chrism.

The word is known in English since c. 1303, deriving from Old French enoint "smeared on," pp. of enoindre "smear on," itself from Latin inunguere, from in- "on" + unguere "to smear." Originally it only referred to grease or oil smeared on for medicinal purposes; its use in the Coverdale Bible in reference to Christ (cf. The Lord's Anointed) has spiritualized the sense of it.

Anointing in Ancient Egypt, image from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia.The indigenous Australians believed that the virtues of one killed could be transferred to survivors if the latter rubbed themselves with his caul-fat. So the Arabs of East Africa anoint themselves with lion's fat in order to gain courage and inspire the animals with awe of themselves. Such rites are often associated with the actual eating of the victim whose virtues are coveted.

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Hillsong United Nothing But The Blood

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Salvation

Salvation refers to deliverance from an undesirable state or condition. In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology and is a vitally important concept in several religions. Christianity regards salvation as deliverance from the bondage of sin and from condemnation, resulting in eternal life with God.

Salvation is arguably one of the most important Christian spiritual concepts, perhaps second only to the deity of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God.

Among many Christians, the primary goal of religion is to attain salvation. Others maintain that the primary goal of Christians is to do the will of God, or that the two are equivalent. In many traditions, attaining salvation is synonymous with going to heaven after death, while most also emphasize that salvation represents a changed life while on Earth as well. Many elements of Christian theology explain why salvation is needed and how to attain it.

Paradigms of salvation
Different theories of atonement have been proposed for how Christian salvation can be understood. Over the centuries, Christians have held different ideas about how Jesus saved people, and different views still exist within different Christian denominations. The main paradigms of salvation that have been proposed are:

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Friday, March 25, 2011

Beelzebub

Beelzebub (also known as Belzebud, Belzaboul, Beelzeboul, Baalsebul, Baalzebubg, Beelzebuth, Beelzebus; more accurately Ba‘al Zebûb or Ba‘al Zəbûb, Βεελζεβούλ, of Aramaic origin [by parody on בַּעַל Ba`al "Lord", and זְבוּב zĕbuwb "fly"], thus, the parody "Lord of the Flies." The name also later appears as the name of a demon or devil, often interchanged with Beelzebul.

Beelzebub as depicted in Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris, 1863). In ancient contexts, there appears to have been little, if any, meaningful distinction between Beelzebub and the Semitic god named Ba‘al. In Christian writings, either form may appear as an alternate name for Satan (or the Devil) or may else appear to refer to the name of a lesser devil. As with several religions, the names of any earlier foreign or "pagan" deities often became synonymous with the concept of an adversarial entity. The demonization of the ancient deity led to much of the modern religious personification of Satan, as the adversary of the God.

Ba‘al Zebûb might mean 'Lord of Zebûb', referring to an unknown place called Zebûb or 'Lord of flies' (zebûb being a Hebrew collective noun for 'fly'). This may mean that the Hebrews were denigrating their enemies' god by referring to him as dung. Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested that it might be a corruption of Ba'al Zebul, 'Lord of the High Place'. The Septuagint renders the name as Baalzeboub, SeptuagintB as Baal myîan 'Baal of flies', but Symmachus the Ebionite may have reflected a tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as Beelzeboul (Cath. Ency.).

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Melchizedek

Melchizedek (Hebrew: מלכי–צדק Malkiy-Tsedeq, sometimes written Malchizedek, Melchisedec, Melchisedech, Melchisedek or Melkisedek), is a figure mentioned by the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Genesis, where he interacts with Abraham:
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" (Gen. 14:18-20 ESV)
and in a Psalm, of David.

Exalted things are spoken of Christ in Psalm 110. He should not only be the unrivalled King above all the kings of the earth, but He has simultaneously always existed, in glory, as the eternal Son of God. He will rest, while sitting at God's right hand, after completing His work and suffering; He will dispense law, and judgment upon the enemies of the Most High God. Yet, He remains seated as the eternal King. All his enemies are known and collected, but the time has not yet arrived that they should be his footstool. His kingdom, being established, will be impregnable in the world, despite all its powers of darkness.

The Body of Christ are an intended, intentional and willing people. The active Spirit of Christ, bringing to attention the dark powers of this world, to Christ's believers, is the driving force for their willingness to be His Kingdom. They will be in His service in the radiant accouterments of Holiness; this is attractive and acceptable to His people, forevermore. Many will be steadfast and faithful to Him. The morning dew of our springtime, even when we are but children, should be a hallowed time, a time dedicated to our Lord and King, Jesus. But He will not only be our King, but also our Priest. He is God's missionary to us and for us, and He is our defender with the Father. He is the conciliator between God and man. He is "a Priest of the order of Melchizedek," before the time of Aaron and the Levites, and in many regards, even greater than this order. As Christ sits at the right hand of God, His enemies should tremble, yet His people should be joyful. His victory over the powers of darkness and death will be the utter destruction of His enemies. Christ has paid our debt, He has reinstated us to the position held by man before the fall of man. He saves his friends, and He comforts them. He will be humbled; he will drink of the brook as He completes His mission. It is the wrath of God, working within the deadly poison of the law, that we can understand as, "He will drink from the brook by the way." He did drink of the waters of anguish, pain and sorrow along the way to His eternal thrown. But He will be elevated above all. He has won, and He has shared the full bounty of His victory with those who love Him!

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Supernatural

The supernatural (Latin: super- "exceeding" + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are are not observed in nature, and therefore beyond verifiable measurement. If a phenomenon can be demonstrated, it can no longer be considered supernatural. Because phenomena must be subjected to verifiable measurement and peer review to be considered as a scientific theory, science cannot approach the supernatural; see also Ex nihilo.
"Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so." —Galileo Galilei
Concepts in the supernatural domain are closely related to concepts in religious spirituality and metaphysics. The term "supernatural" is often used interchangeably with paranormal or preternatural — the latter typically limited to an adjective for describing abilities which appear to exceed possible bounds.
Characteristic for phenomena claimed as supernatural are anomaly, uniqueness and uncontrollability, thus lacking reproducibility required for scientific examination. Supernatural themes are often associated with paranormal and occult ideas, suggesting for possibility of interaction with the supernatural by means of summoning or trance for instance.

Argument and controversy has surrounded the issue on both sides. One complicating factor is that there is no exact definition of what “natural” is, and what the limits of naturalism might be. Concepts in the supernatural domain are closely related to concepts in religious spirituality and metaphysics or spiritualism. The term "supernatural" is often used interchangeably with paranormal or preternatural — the latter typically limited to an adjective for describing abilities which appear to exceed possible bounds. See the nature of God in Western theology, anthropology of religion, and Biblical cosmology.

Supernatural claims assert phenomena beyond the realm of current scientific understanding, and may likewise be in direct conflict with scientific concepts of possibility, plausibility, or reality in general. The supernatural concept is generally identified with religion or other unscientific belief systems — though there is much debate as to whether a supernatural aspect is necessary for religion, or that religion is necessary for holding a concept of the supernatural (i.e. acts of God).

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Thursday, March 17, 2011

unconditional love

Unconditional love is a term that means to love someone regardless of his actions or beliefs. It is a concept comparable to true love, a term which is more frequently used to describe love between lovers. By contrast, unconditional love is frequently used to describe love between family members, comrades in arms and between others in highly committed relationships. It has also been used in a religious context to describe God's love for humankind through the forgiveness of Christ. However, this can be seen as contradictory in some cases where God's "unconditional" love is predicated upon the believer's fulfillment of one or more criteria. But this love is not solely based on those met expectations.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. –1 John 4:14-21
The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness rest upon many things yet. God has so shown himself to be love, that we cannot come short of eternal happiness, unless through unbelief and impenitence, although strict justice would condemn us to hopeless misery, because we break our Creator's laws. None of our words or thoughts can do justice to the free, astonishing love of a holy God towards sinners, who could not profit or harm him, whom he might justly crush in a moment, and whose deserving of his vengeance was shown in the method by which they were saved, though he could by his almighty Word have created other worlds, with more perfect beings, if he had seen fit. Search we the whole universe for love in its most glorious displays? It is to be found in the person and the cross of Christ. Does love exist between God and sinners? Here was the origin, not that we loved God, but that he freely loved us. His love could not be designed to be fruitless upon us, and when its proper end and issue are gained and produced, it may be said to be perfected. So faith is perfected by its works. Thus it will appear that God dwells in us by his new-creating Spirit. A loving Christian is a perfect Christian; set him to any good duty, and he is perfect to it, he is expert at it. Love oils the wheels of his affections, and sets him on that which is helpful to his brethren. A man that goes about a business with ill will, always does it badly. That God dwells in us and we in him, were words too high for mortals to use, had not God put them before us. But how may it be known whether the testimony to this does proceed from the Holy Ghost? Those who are truly persuaded that they are the sons of God, cannot but call him Abba, Father. From love to him, they hate sin, and whatever disagrees with his will, and they have a sound and hearty desire to do his will. Such testimony is the testimony of the Holy Ghost. –Matthew Henry

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Aurora Leigh

A POEM by Elizabeth Barrett Browning...

for a dear friend. God is the great healer.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Louis Farrakhan

Louis Farrakhan (LOO-is FÄR-ə-kän) (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933), is the National Representative of the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. He is an advocate for African American interests, and a critic of American society.

As of 2008, he resides in Kenwood, a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, and part time at a Nation of Islam farm in New Buffalo, Michigan. Farrakhan is widely recognized as a speaker with a powerful allure, and a sometimes controversial rhetorical style.

Farrakhan was born in The Bronx, New York and raised as Eugene Walcott within the West Indian community in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Sarah Mae Manning, had emigrated from Saint Kitts and Nevis in the 1920s; his father, Percival Clarke, was a Jamaican cab driver from New York, but was not involved in his upbringing.

As a child, he received training as a violinist. At the age of six, he was given his first violin and by the age of thirteen, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the Boston Civic Symphony. A year later, he went on to win national competitions, and was one of the first black performers to appear on Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, where he also won an award. A central focus of his youth was the Episcopal St. Cyprian's Church in Boston's Roxbury section, a part of Boston which also produced Leonard Bernstein.

As of  3/09/2011 11:26PM EST this video had not yet been pulled.
Farrakhan America's Day of Doom is at Hand
Tuesday, March 08, 2011


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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

The Report to the Church

18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." —Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Referring to the above verses of Matthew 28, the following narrative of the entire chapter provides the context with and to which it refers:

The Report of the Church
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

This mountain is reminiscent of the other sites of revelation in the Gospel (Sermon on the Mount 5:1; The Transfiguration 17:1). All our primary corroboration indicates the Christian missionary momentum, suggesting that it arose from Jesus, as heterogeneous Gospel accounts affirm. Mary Magdalene offered a legitimate explanation (The Resurrection 28:1-10) and the guards one fabricated for money (11-15). The final paragraph commands that we, like Mary, must give an honest report and resist the temptation of money and safety that the guards fell prey to.

The story teaches us about belief and skepticism. Verse 9 suggests that those who clasped his feet and worshiped him recognize him for who he is--"God with them" (1:23; Isaiah 7:14). But others are skeptical (v. 17) or even too amazed to believe (as in Luke 24:40). As is true with Mark (Mark 16:8) that disciples often are foolishly unbelieving:
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? —Matt 6:30

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Monday, March 07, 2011

The Four Loves

The Four Loves is a book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian perspective through thought-experiments and examples from literature. The content of the examination is prefaced by Lewis' admission that he initially mistook John the Apostle's words "God is Love" (1 John 4:7-9, 1 John 4:15-17) for a simple inroads to his topic. By distinguishing need-love (such as the love of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized by God's love for humanity), Lewis happens upon the contemplative that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they, at first, seem. As a result, he formulates the foundation of his topic ("the highest does not stand without the lowest") by exploring the nature of pleasure, and then divides love into four categories, based in part on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, eros, and charity. It must be noted, states Lewis, that just as Lucifer — a former archangel—perverted himself by pride and fell into depravity, so too can love— commonly held to be the arch-emotion—become corrupt by presuming itself to be what it is not ("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god").

As with other languages, it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words for love. Nonetheless, the senses in which these words were generally used are given below.

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Thursday, March 03, 2011

Lineage of Adam

Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul! –Genesis 2:5-7 (The Message)
His name, in Hebrew, is אדם 'adam, "man, mankind") which has a basic meaning of "mankind," a related noun is אדמה (which means earth, land, terra; ground, soil; Earth). Adam was father to Cain (Hebrew: קין Qayin, "possession") (Gen. 4:1), Abel (Hebrew: הבל Hebel, "breath") (Gen. 4:2), Seth (Gen. 4:25), and other children (Gen. 5:4). He lived to be 930 years old.

According to the biblical book of Genesis, God created Adam on the Sixth day:
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Genesis 2:5-7 ESV)

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 Chuck Missler: "Just how much do YOU love your wife?"

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Enigma Variations

Variations on an Original Theme for orchestra, Op. 36 ("Enigma"), commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations, is a set of a theme and its fourteen variations written for orchestra by Edward Elgar in 1898–1899. It is Elgar's best-known large-scale composition, for both the music itself and the enigmas behind it. Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends pictured within", each variation being an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances.

One account of the piece's genesis is that after a tiring day of teaching in 1898, Elgar was daydreaming at the piano. A melody he played caught the attention of his wife Alice, who liked it and asked him to repeat it for her. So, to entertain Alice, he began to improvise variations on this melody, each one either a musical portrait of one of their friends, or in the musical style they might have used. Elgar eventually expanded and orchestrated these improvisations into the Enigma Variations.

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Elgar – Enigma Variations. IX.– "Nimrod"
 

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