Dec 6, 2014

Who Were the Magi?

By Chuck Missler

Each year, as we approach the holiday season, our preparations for Christmas include revisiting the events surrounding the birth of Our Lord. Bethlehem, (1) the shepherds, and the angels are familiar to us all. But not much is generally known about the mysterious "Magi" who came to worship the infant Jesus. The following background may be helpful to stimulate conversations around the fireplace as our thoughts turn to this incredible event from which we measure our very calendar.

Traditions

Most of what we associate with the "Magi" is from early church traditions. Most have assumed there were three of them, since they brought three specific gifts (but the Biblical text doesn't number them). They are called "Magi" from the Latinized form of the Greek word magoi, transliterated from the Persian, for a select sect of priests. (Our word "magic" comes from the same root.)

As the years passed, the traditions became increasingly embellished. By the 3rd century they were viewed as kings. By the 6th century they had names: Bithisarea, Melichior, and Gathaspa. Some even associated them with Shem, Ham and Japheth--the three sons of Noah--and thus with Asia, Africa, and Europe. A 141h century Armenian tradition identifies them as Balthasar, King of Arabia; Melchior, King of Persia; and Gasper, King of India.

(Relics attributed to them emerged in the 4th century and were transferred from Constantinople to Milan in the 5th century, and then to Cologne in 1162 where they remain enshrined.)
These are interesting traditions, but what do we really know about them?

Rembrandt: The Adoration of the Magi

The Priesthood of the Medes

.The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes (known today as the Kurds) credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. After some Magi, who had been attached to the Median court, proved to be expert in the interpretation of dreams, Darius the Great established them over the state religion of Persia. (2) (Contrary to popular belief, the Magi were not originally followers of Zoroaster. (3) That all came later.)

It was in this dual capacity, whereby civil and political counsel was invested with religious authority, that the Magi became the supreme priestly caste of the Persian empire and continued to be prominent during the subsequent Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods. (4)

The Role of Daniel

One of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi. (5) His unusual career included being a principal administrator in two world empires--the Babylonian and the subsequent Persian Empire. When Darius appointed him, a Jew, over the previously hereditary Median priesthood, the resulting repercussions led to the plots involving the ordeal of the lion's den. (6)

Daniel apparently entrusted a Messianic vision (to be announced in due time by a "star") to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment. But first let's review some historical background.

Political Background

Since the days of Daniel, the fortunes of both the Persian and the Jewish nation had been closely intertwined. Both nations had, in their turn, fallen under Seleucid domination in the wake of Alexander's conquests. Subsequently, both had regained their independence: the Jews under Maccabean leadership, and the Persians as the dominating ruling group within the Parthian Empire.
It was at this time that the Magi, in their dual priestly and governmental office, composed the upper house of the Council of the Megistanes (from which we get the term "magistrates"), whose duties included the absolute choice and election of the king of the realm.

It was, therefore, a group of Persian--Parthian "king makers" who entered Jerusalem in the latter days of the reign of Herod. Herod's reaction was understandably one of fear when one considers the background of Roman-Parthian rivalry that prevailed during his lifetime.

Rome on the Rise

Pompey, the first Roman conqueror of Jerusalem in 63 B.C., had attacked the Armenian outpost of Parthia. In 55 B.C. Crassus led Roman legions in sacking Jerusalem and in a subsequent attack on Parthia proper. The Romans were decisively defeated at the battle of Carrhae with the loss of 30,000 troops, including their commander. The Parthians counterattacked with a token invasion of Armenia, Syria, and Palestine.

Nominal Roman rule was reestablished under Antipater, the father of Herod, who, in his turn, retreated before another Parthian invasion in 40 B.C.

Mark Antony reestablished Roman sovereignty in 37 B.C. and, like Crassus before him, Also embarked on a similarly ill-fated Parthian expedition. His disastrous retreat was followed by another wave of invading Parthians, which swept all Roman opposition completely out of Palestine (including Herod himself, who fled to Alexandria and then to Rome).

With Parthian collaboration, Jewish sovereignty was restored, and Jerusalem was fortified with a Jewish garrison.

Herod, by this time, had secured from Augustus Caesar the title of "King of the Jews." However, it was not for three years, including a five months' siege by Roman troops, that Herod was able to occupy his own capital city! Herod had thus gained the throne of a rebellious buffer state which was situated between two mighty contending empires. At any time his own subjects might conspire in bringing the Parthians to their aid. At the time of the birth of Christ, Herod may have been close to his final illness. Augustus was also aged, and Rome, since the retirement of Tiberius, was without an experienced military commander. Pro-Parthian Armenia was fomenting revolt against Rome (which was successfully accomplished within two years.)

The Tensions in Parthia

The time was ripe for another Parthian invasion of the buffer provinces, except for the fact that Parthia itself was racked by internal dissension. Phraates IV, the unpopular and aging king, had once been deposed and it was not improbable that the Persian Magi were already involved in the political maneuvering requisite to choosing his successor. It was conceivable that the Magi might be taking advantage of the king's lack of Popularity to further their own interests with the establishment of a new dynasty, which could have been implemented if a sufficiently strong contender could be found.
At this time it was entirely conceivable that the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, culminating in the writings of Daniel, one of their own Magians, was of profound motivating significance. The promise of a divinely imposed world dominion at the hands of a Jewish monarch might be more than acceptable to them. (Their own Persian and Medo-Persian history was studded with Jewish nobles, ministers, and counselors; and in the great Achaemenid days, some of the kings themselves were of Jewish blood.)

The Entourage to Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, the sudden appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with all imaginable oriental pomp and accompanied by an adequate cavalry escort to insure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem.

It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding the one who "has been born King of the Jews" (7) was a calculated insult to him, a non--Jew (8) who had contrived and bribed his way into that office.

Consulting his scribes, Herod discovered from the prophecies in the Tanach (the Old Testament) that the Promised One, the Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem. (9) Hiding his concern and expressing sincere interest, Herod requested them to keep him informed.

After finding the babe and presenting their prophetic gifts, the Magi "being warned in a dream" (a form of communication most acceptable to them) departed to their own country, ignoring Herod's request. (Within two years Phraataces, the parricide son of Phraates IV, was duly installed by the Magi as the new ruler of Parthia.)

Daniel's Messianic Role

Living six centuries before the birth of Christ, Daniel certainly received an incredible number of Messianic prophecies. In addition to several overviews of all of Gentile world history, (10) the Angel Gabriel told him the precise day that Jesus would present Himself as King to Jerusalem."

It is interesting that Daniel's founding of a secret sect of the Magi also had a role in having these prominent Gentiles present gifts at the birth of the Jewish Messiah.

The Christmas Gifts

The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also prophetic, speaking of our Lord's offices of king, priest, and savior. Gold speaks of His kingship; frankincense was a spice used in the priestly duties; and myrrh was an embalming ointment anticipating His death.

In the Millennium, He will also receive the gifts of gold and frankincense;" but no myrrh: His death was once and for all.

What gifts are YOU going to give Him this year? Discuss it with Him.

For a review of other back ground items, see The Christmas Story: What Really Happened, on page 22. Also, for a complete study of one of the most captivating and astonishing books of the Bible, see our Expositional Commentary on the Book of Daniel, on special this month (see page 41).

Notes:
1. For background on Bethlehem, study the Book of Ruth, our briefing package, The Romance of Redemption, or Chuck's Expositional Commentary on Ruth and Esther.
2. Oneiromancy, not astrology, is their key skill mentioned by Herodotus, 1.107,120;VII.19.
3, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7:691.
4. Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 4:31-34.
5. Daniel 4:9; 5: 11.
6. Daniel Chapter 6.
7. Matthew 2:2.
8. Herod was Idumean (an Edomite), a traditional enemy of Israel.
9. Micah 5:2. (Revealed by Holy Scripture, not astrology.)
10. Daniel 2 and 7. See also, An Empire Reborn? listed on page 23.
11. Daniel 9:24-26. See also, Daniel's 70 Weeks listed on page 23.
12. Isaiah 60:6.

Read more on this topic at - http://www.ldolphin.org/magi.html

Lady Gaga ‘Raped’ – Victim of Mind Control?



A traumatized victim? Highly possible.
A traumatized victim? Highly possible.

By: Jay

Readers will recall a recent piece I did on Katy Perry claiming she wanted to become an Illuminati Grand Mistress of the Dark Blooded Lord, and how this was not really a sensible analysis, given the dissimilar characteristics of Voltaire and Perry, despite both having mastery of the nuances of empiricist philosophy. So, at the moment, I’m eating candy on my couch and listening to Ke$ha to see if any spirits manifest from the aether.  None have as yet, but the night is young, so let’s make the most of it.  However, on a more serious note – what are we to make of this possibility of the degenerate elite establishment’s use of mind control techniques to traumatize and split the psyche of these pop stars with drugs and other means, thrusting them before international audiences to promote a prepackaged agenda?  When we look at the actual documented programs surrounding mind controlled alters and programmed sex slaves, we must answer in the affirmative.

For documentation, I’ve reblogged my old article on “Mind Controlled Alters,” citing the Church Committee hearings on MKULTRA and its attendant programs that relied on the work of famous programmers:

The names associated with the programs are Dr. Ewen Cameron, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, Dr. Jose Delgado, Dr. Jolyon West, Dr. George Estabrooks, and others.  While this itself is easily tracked down in terms of the existence of the programs, what is lesser known are articles like Dr. George Estabrooks’ article from the April 1971 Science Digest, Hypnosis Comes of AgeIncluded in the article are some striking admissions, especially since the OSS, CIA and FBI utilized Estabrooks and his skills.   The article mentions, first of all, Estabrooks’ claim of the use of secret couriers and keywords that function as the triggers in the operative: “The system is virtually foolproof.  As exemplified by this case, the information was “locked” in Smith’s unconscious for retrieval by the only two people who knew the combination.  The subject had no conscious memory of what happened, so could not spill the beans.  No one else could hypnotize him even if they might know the signal phrase.”
 
Thus, all the way back to World War II the program had been perfected to give handlers the ability to program alters within preselected, highly suggestible individuals.  The key trigger words, phrases, signs or codes unlock the alter, with the front persona having no knowledge of the information locked in the alter.  The potential for abuse here is quite obvious. In my old article, I also relate how the modern psychiatric “bible,” known as the DSM-V still cites Dr. Estabrooks’ old essay, showing the present establishment views all this as authentic, as well as a host of films that portray mind control themes.  In fact, it seems as if mind controlled assassins and alters is appearing in countless productions with increasing frequency.  Remember – it was Hollywood that was making films about MKULTRA before it was even known to the public as a real program, as we see in the 1962 The Manchurian Candidate.

With this direct Hollywood connection in mind, we can see the likely possibility of the abuse of pop stars, who become high-priced commodities for the same establishment.  I have written before about Candy Jones, and all the way up to the present, top stars are now alleging they were abused by their “handlers” and/or producers.  While some cases may be publicity stunts, it is hard to believe they all are.  News hounds will recall Amanda Bynes believing she was brainwashed and implanted with a microchip and Ke$ha recently suing for abuse by her “handler,” Dr. Luke, with Luke in turn counter-suing.  Prior to that, we have witnessed a barrage of news stories the last few years recounting a stream of victims alleging networks of sickos using and abusing those under them.  Let us not forget Penn State and Jerry Sandusky and Jimmy Savile of the UK, as well as a host of UK government officials.  Recent reports also arose from actors like Corey Feldman, who alleges similar crimes.

Consider the positive symbology of Florence’s “No Life, No Light”
 
 


Read the rest of this article at - http://jaysanalysis.com/2014/12/03/lady-gaga-raped-victim-of-mind-control/

Alien Seance - Peter Levenda

Fascinating conversation on a variety of bizarre occult topics and their influence on the USA today.  Freeman gives his personal experiences for the first 10 minutes, then he starts the interview with Levenda.  Much talk about the mark of the beast and how it's appearing in commercials and corporate icons, the famous celebrity séance of Puharich that involved some of Americas most powerful folks, and more...

 


Was John F. Kennedy’s assassination a result of extraterrestrial communication? Peter Levenda will discuss the magical current that is known as the Typhonian Tradition. Strap on your Transplutonian helmets my friends, this one is going interstellar! See more at: http://freemantv.com/peter-levenda-al...

Dec 5, 2014

The Body of St. Nicholas Lay in Myra

The Body of St. Nicholas Lay in Myra
Santa Claus for real? There was a St. Nicholas. Unfortunately, we have little sure knowledge about him. According to legend, in the fourth century, in the town of Patara, in the Asian province of Lycia, a childless couple prayed for a son. Their prayers were heard and they named him Nicholas. Even as a baby, he showed marks of holiness.

The legend says that young Nicholas sought God earnestly, learned scriptures, fasted often and prayed much. His parents died while he was still a young man, and he inherited their property. From the start he determined to use it for good. He gave assistance secretly, not wishing his good deeds to be seen. For example, when he learned that a local nobleman had fallen on hard times and was contemplating selling his daughters into prostitution, he secretly threw gold into the house to enable the girls to marry and escape degradation. Some versions say he threw the gold down the chimney where it lodged in stockings they had hung up to dry. By such tactics, he rescued many people from moneylenders and provided clothes for the naked.

Later he sailed to Palestine to tour the places where Christ had walked. On the way, says the story, Satan raised a great storm, hoping to destroy the ship. Desperate, the sailors cried to Nicholas to pray for them. He did, and the sea immediately became calm. Shortly afterward, one of the sailors slipped while climbing the mast and fell to the deck where he lay dead. In answer to Nicholas' prayers, God restored the seaman to life.

After visiting the shrines at Jerusalem, he boarded a ship for Lycia. The Lord had forbidden him to become a hermit as he wished. Plotting evil, the sailors steered in the wrong direction. Nicholas prayed. A storm arose and blew the boat to Lycia.

Myra was the chief city of Lycia. Nicholas headed to Myra. About the time of his arrival, the city's bishop died. The church seemed ready to split as its leaders argued who should be the next bishop. At that point, one of the bishops was instructed in a vision to choose the man who came to church earliest in the morning. It so happened that Nicholas was the first to church, for he rose at midnight each night to begin his day of prayer. When questioned, he responded so meekly that the assembled bishops agreed he was God's choice.

As bishop of Myra, Nicholas resisted tyrants and taught truth, especially rejecting the Arian heresy. His people loved him. Whereas before, he had done his acts of charity anonymously, he now realized that he must act openly, for he must be an example to his people. "The doors of his house were open to all. He was kind and affable to all, to orphans he was a father, to the poor a merciful giver, to the weeping a comforter, to the wronged a helper, and to all a great benefactor." He brought down a local temple of the goddess Diana, confronted unjust rulers, defended individuals who were falsely accused and prayed for relief during famine.

Nicholas attended the Council of Nicea, where he was almost stripped of his office because, frustrated with the claims of Arius against Christ, he slapped him. He was required to apologize.
After a short illness, Nicholas died on this day, December 6, somewhere between 341 and 352. His body was laid in state in his church. A sweet substance called myrrh is claimed to have flowed from him. In the eleventh century, Italians took his relics to Bari, Italy, supposedly to preserve them from Muslim invaders. That is where they remain. It is claimed that myrrh still oozes from the relics and has a special virtue to heal the sick. In Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, gifts are given on Nicholas's day and in the United States, on Christmas day. Russia holds him as a patron saint. In fact, on March 13, 2001 A delegation of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bari, Italy, brought a portion of the relics of St. Nicholas to the Russian Patriarch as a gesture of good will.

Bibliography:
  1. Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. Various editions.
  2. Fournier, Catherine. "Saint Nicholas." Domestic Church Communications, Ltd. http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/ 19981101/SAINTS/nicholas.htm
  3. Ott, Michael. "St. Nicholas of Myra." Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
  4. Scarola, Shonnie. "St. Nicholas Day." Domestic Church Communications, Ltd. http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/ 19981101/SAINTS/nicholas.htm.
  5. "The Life of The Holy Hierarch and Wonderworker Nicholas Archbishop Of Myra in Lycia." St. Columba Press. http://www.stmichael.org/Nicholas/ StNich.html
  6. "The Saint Nicholas Page." http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7175/ stnich-page.html.
  7. Veith, Gene Edward. "Slappy holiday; Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further?" World. (December 24, 2005): p. 22.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/the-body-of-st-nicholas-lay-in-myra-11629662.html

German-made 'miracle' machine turns water into gasoline

by RT.com

There is as yet no method to mimic Jesus Christ and turn water into wine, but German chemical engineers have proved they can perform miracles of alchemy. They are now finalizing the assembly of a rig that changes water into gasoline.

The German company says it has developed an engineering installation capable of synthesizing petroleum-based fuels from water and carbon dioxide. The ‘power-to-liquid’ rig converts gases extracted from water into liquid hydrocarbon fuels.

“I would call it a miracle because it completely changes the way we are producing fuels for cars, planes and also the chemical industry,” Nils Aldag, Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Sunfire GmbH told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

The Dresden-based company expects the technology to have a big impact on the future fuel market.
The electrically-powered installation uses a process known as Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, first developed by German chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in 1925.

The Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) reaction converts colorless, odorless, incombustible carbon dioxide gas (CO2) extracted from water, and hydrogen gas generated from water vapor, by electrolysis into liquid fuels such as diesel, jet kerosene and other chemical products.

 


The conversion process takes place in a series of reactors at temperatures between 150 and 300 degrees Celsius.
 
  However, the F-T fuel technology “will always be more expensive” than getting conventional liquid hydrocarbon fuels from oil or coal, Aldag warned.

“What is important is that the value creation happens at the place where you use the fuel,” he said. So there will be no crude oil transportation costs and expensive infrastructure. “You are producing the fuel right where you are actually going to use it,” Aldag stressed.

One might think that much cheaper conventional fuels will always be a sure bet, but this depends on the given conditions. The Pentagon has already been working in this direction.

The US military has spent up to $150 per gallon on alternative jet fuels made from algae, which is a good bit more than the approximately $3 per gallon that traditional jet fuels currently cost in the US.

Read the rest of this article at - http://rt.com/news/209619-sunfire-water-synthetic-fuel/

The Transhumanist Scrapbook: Robocop Has Arrived

by

If you’ve been wondering just when you’d be seeing Robocop patrolling your streets, keeping your neighborhood safe for the power elite, wonder no longer, for Robocop has indeed arrived in Silicon Valley.

5-foot-tall ‘Robocops’ start patrolling Silicon Valley

Now you’ll note that all this is being sold with the usual “keeping you safe” sales pitch:
“Imagine a friend that can see, hear, feel and smell that would tirelessly watch over your corporate campus or neighborhood, keep your loved ones safe and put a smile on everyone passing by,” the company says on its website.
”Imagine if we could utilize technology to make our communities stronger and safer…..together,” the firm added.
“The robots are autonomous and have been developed to function with any interference from the people, and to avoid confrontations.”
Uh huh.
Earlier we’re told about the sophisticated array of “sensors”:
“Autonomous “Robocop”-style robots, equipped with microphones, speakers, cameras, laser scanners and sensors, have started to guard Silicon Valley.
“The security robots, called Knightscope K5 Autonomous Data Machines, were designed by a robotics company, Knightscope, located in Mountain View, California.
“The robots are programmed to notice unusual behavior and alert controllers. It also has odor and heat detectors, and can monitor pollution in carpets as well. Last but not least: with cameras, the Robocops can remember up to 300 number plates a minute, monitoring traffic.”
Well, I certainly feel better (NOT!), don’t you?
But then we get this bit of nonsense that rips the mask off the whole ploy:
“It works like this: someone steps in front of a robot, which stops and moves around the person while sending video to a control center. If a burglar doesn’t leave, then “the robot is looking at the video, listening for glass breakage, any loud sound that breaking in would cause. We’ll get the license plate, picture of the vehicle, geotag location, and time,” says project co-founder Stacy Stephens.”
Now, the nonsense here is that assumption it makes about human ingenuity, and particularly about the human ingenuity of robbers and burglars, who, the last time I checked, usually try to avoid committing crimes in front of police officers. But wait! They’ll certainly wait to do so in front of your local friendly (and expensive) robocop, which is there “just to monitor.”
The next step – and we can all see where this is going – are robocops fitted out with tazers, lasers of a more damaging sort, EMP pulse weapons (to stop vehicles, cause traffic jams, and so on), and even perhaps eventually to serve as surrogate process servers, guards, courtroom bailiffs, and remotely controlled stand-ins for attorneys, witnesses, and so on. Need to control a group, a riot? Send in the pre-pregrammed robots, which are programmed to profile certain types of people. It is, potentially, the ultimate in population culling technology: just add the FBI’s new DNA sequencing-in-90-minutes-technology, and viola! Instant SS, without even the SS’s humanity.
So this isn’t about making you, your family, or neighborhood safe. It’s about controlling you, and making your local power elite safe, and even more remote. And of course, it’s about selling one more technology to local and state governments.

Read this article at - http://gizadeathstar.com/2014/12/transhumanist-scrapbook-robocop-arrived/

Hans Schlaffer Martyred for Standing for the Gospel

Hans Schlaffer Martyred for Standing for the Gospel
The December evening was cold. As Hans Schlaffer left the Anabaptist meeting in Schwaz, he was headed up the Inn River toward his home in the mountains of Austria. There he planned to sit out the winter months until Spring, when he would renew his ministry. But the plans of this former Roman Catholic priest received a rude shock.

On this day, December 5, 1527, Hans Schlaffer was arrested by local Roman Catholic authorities. In nearby Frundsberg Castle, they tortured him and priests examined him about infant-baptism. Hans said that according to scripture, a man had to "hear, understand, believe, and receive" God's word before being baptized. As he saw it, this alone counted as Christian baptism. Children need not be baptized and the Lord did not command it because they were already his. He might have added, as he had written--and was now demonstrating-- that "the Christian life is not child's play; but bitter earnestness, truth, courage and saintliness must be there."

When asked on what foundation the Anabaptists rested, he replied, "Our faith, actions, and baptism rest on nothing else than the commandment of Christ."

Hans was known as a master of prayer. On the day he was arrested, he had been teaching his hearers about prayer. Two months later, on the night before his execution (his head was cut off), he was still focused on prayer. He wrote a last letter to his flock; it was smuggled out of the castle and preserved for us. It read in part:

"Oh Father in heaven, whoever lives in Christ your Son and suffers and dies with him will rise with him in glory to be in his Kingdom forever. This is how we have understood the holy Gospel. This is how we understand Christ and his teachings, and this is how we now understand the word faith which we never understood like this before."

With the letter he included a prayer. It concluded with these words:

"Eternal Father! We pray that You will send workers into Your vineyard; for the harvest is great, while the laborers are few. We pray for all those who carry Your gospel throughout the whole world, that You will strengthen them with the power of Your holy spirit, that in them all the terror of man may be quenched and that they will not renounce Your Word through fear.

"Sustain us in Your Holy Name, and let us not wander away from You, fountain of living waters, that we may hold fast to the true faith firm unto the end."

Bibliography:
  1. Baptist History. Chapter V, The Reformation Period. http://www.pbministries.org/History/J.%20M.%20Cramp/ Baptist%20History/baptist_history.htm
  2. Eyre, Alan. "Brethren in Christ."
    http://www.antipas.org/books/brethren_in_christ/ binc_02.html
  3. "Secret of the Strength."
    http://www.anabaptistchurch.org/SecretOfTheStrength6.html
  4. Williams, George Huntston. The Radical Reformation. Philadelphia" Westminster Press, 1962; p. 173.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/hans-schlaffer-martyred-for-standing-for-the-gospel-11629942.html

A Perfect Murder - The Magic of Scientism - Harry and Ray at Work and Play





 

Pow-wow in Seville

True history is far stranger than what we have been taught or even imagined....read on for a good example...

Pow-wow in Seville
Do the words of this hymn seem improper to you?
O Trinity of blessed light,
O Unity of princely might,
The fiery sun now goes his way;
Shed Thou within our hearts a ray.
To Thee our morning song of praise,
To Thee our evening prayer we raise;
O grant us with Thy saints on high
To praise thee through eternity...
In 633, the people of Spain weren't so sure. The language wasn't straight from the Bible. No, it was the product of a mere man, St. Ambrose, the brilliant fourth century bishop of Milan. Their concern over such innovations in the church was one of the topics taken up by a council held in Seville, Spain, that year.

Presiding over the conference was Archbishop Isidore of Seville. Isidore, beloved for his virtuous life, was also admired for immense learning that made him the leading scholar of Europe. He read Greek, Latin and Hebrew. He had, in fact, taken time out of his pet project to attend the conference. He was busy organizing all of the knowledge of the ancients into an encyclopedia. Although a large percentage of its "facts" were wrong--a compiler can be no better than his sources--his arrangement was brilliant and would exert a powerful influence on scholars of the Middle Ages.

The council opened on this day, December 5, 633.Six metropolitans, fifty-six bishops and several bishops' deputies were in attendance. They received King Sisenand respectfully, despite the taint of illegitimacy to his throne: He had deposed the former king. But he fell on his knees before the bishops, tearfully imploring their prayers and pleading with them to remedy the abuses of the church. Even bishops cannot resist a king who flatters them so piously.

The council passed seventy-five canons or rules. One was aimed squarely at the Arian teachings of the Goths, who had conquered Spain. The Arians taught that a person had to be plunged three times to show the divisions in the Trinity. Isidore and his bishops said, no, since God is one, one dip is enough.

Wisely the council made it illegal to force a Jew to convert to Christianity. However, it held that Jews who had already been converted by force could not return to Judaism. Strict rules were passed on Jews, whether they had been baptized or not.

The council also decided that once a person became a monk, he was always a monk. Some boys who had been set aside for monkshood when they were quite little had pleaded to be allowed to opt out since they were not monks by their own choice. But the council told them they were stuck for life.
The council poked its nose into politics, too. It took the side of the new king against the old, and barred the deposed king and his family from ever holding the throne again. King Sisenand, in turn, freed the clergy from service to the state and from all state taxes.

And what about the man-made hymns? The council declared that the hymns of bishops Ambrose and Hilary could be used in church.

Bibliography:
  1. Bell, Mrs. Arthur. Saints in Christian Art. London: George Bell, 1901 - 1904. Source of the image.
  2. Collison, Robert Lewis. Encyclopaedias: their history throughout the ages; a bibliographical guide with extensive historical notes to the general encyclopaedias issued throughout the world from 350 B.C. to the present day. New York, Hafner Pub. Co., 1964.
  3. Copleston, Frederick. History of Philisophy. Various editions.
  4. Hunter Blair, Peter. The World of Bede. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990; chapter 13, "Spanish Influences."
  5. "Isidore of Seville." Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Editor Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York: Scribner, 1970 - 1980.
  6. "Isidore, St." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  7. Johnson, Paul. History of Christianity. New York: Atheneum, 1976. O'Connor, John B.
  8. "St. Isidore of Seville." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
  9. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/pow-wow-in-seville-11629724.html

Dec 3, 2014

Kindling 01 | Life - The Fuel Project

More from the Fuel Project on what it means to live out the Christian life contrasted against what our culture teaches us is a full life in this world.  Needless to say, to follow Jesus means you must be ready to fight, to fight for your own faith, to fight to follow the Lord, to fight for the Truth in this world.


Kindling is a series of short films designed to inform, inspire and ignite action within Christian small groups.

Join with a network of these small groups around the world as we embark on a journey to rediscover what it means to be a New Testament

Remembrance of Nicholas Ferrar

Remembrance of Nicholas Ferrar
Nicholas Ferrar lived only 45 years, but they were some of the most unselfish years any man has given the world. His wealthy parents were deeply committed to the Church of England and reared their children in faith. They required each to memorize large portions of Scripture. Every day, they read to them from Foxe's Book of Martyrs. From his birth in 1592 until his premature death, these influences remained strong in Nicholas. At six he had an overwhelming religious experience in which he yielded his heart to God.

Nicholas learned quickly and studied hard, wasting few opportunities. In his early teens, he went up to Cambridge, where he continued to pour himself into study. So brilliant was he that his tutor prayed he wouldn't turn heretic, because with his power as a thinker and writer, orthodox churchmen would be hard-pressed to answer him.

Ferrar didn't turn from the faith. Forced by ill-health to travel abroad, he continued his studies. Everywhere he went, he studied arts, methods of manufacture, and languages. Everyone thought he was planning some great career for himself. A princess with whom he traveled asked him to become her secretary. He turned down her offer.

Whether he would survive to show the world what was in him, was doubtful. Crossing German mountains, he was almost killed when a donkey ran down a slope carrying a large piece of timber which almost struck Nicholas. All that saved him was that the donkey slipped. The wood barely tapped Nicholas, who would otherwise have been flung over a precipice. In Padua and later in Marseilles, he fell ill of such severe fevers that doctors despaired of his life. Sailing to Spain, his ship was approached by Turkish pirates, who would probably have captured them, if a bigger prize hadn't swum into view. Crossing Spain, he barely escaped bandits and other threats to his life.

From Spain he was summoned home. The family had fallen on hard times and needed him. Nicholas played a prominent part in saving the Virginia company whose affairs had entangled the family fortune. Nicholas mastered the business. King Charles I's council, looking for an excuse to destroy the company, demanded a report on such short notice they thought no reply could be given. Nicholas parceled out the work between several people; and by all working several days on two hours sleep a day, the huge report was made.

By similar hard work, he restored his family finances and won a place in Parliament. But Nicholas was tired of the world. When he had set out on his travels, he promised God to devote his life to Him if he returned safely. Now he took steps to keep that promise. He formed a Protestant community and had Archbishop Laud ordain him as a deacon so that he could lead worship services. This move was seen as a great renunciation by all who knew his capabilities. About thirty friends and family joined him. They lived strictly, eating little, but praying and singing at set hours. They offered education and medicine to the locals. Nicholas wrote and translated; and the whole community bound books.

Nicholas died in 1637, declaring "I have been at a great feast, the Great King's feast." Ten years later, the Puritans drove his community away, burning the church organ and destroying Nicholas' writings. They labeled Little Giddings an Arminian Nunnery and said it threatened a return to Catholicism. He is remembered in the Anglican church on this day, December 1.
Bibliography:
  1. "Ferrar, Nicholas." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  2. "Nicholas Ferrar." http://justus.anglican.org/resources/ bio/295.html
  3. "Nicholas Ferrar." http://www.kershaw.org.uk/song/ nicholas_ferrar.html
  4. Skipton, H.P.K. The Life and Times of Nicholas Ferrar. London: A. R. Mowray & Co., Ltd., 1907.
  5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/remembrance-of-nicholas-ferrar-11630096.html

Is It Possible To Go Above Low Earth Orbit?

Very interesting questions posed here about the battlefield we will all witness in the near future....the wars in the skies...revolutionary info for our view of the upper atmosphere...does this prove that what we saw in the Apollo landings was not what was actually taking place?  Many questions from this revlelation...


This clip looks into a new plasma field in space as well as the Van Allen plasma belts. I ask – How is it possible for metal space craft, astronauts and satellites to pass through these plasma fields? How is it possible that we have sent endless vehicles into space including the Apollo missions and never known about this “GLASS PLASMA WALL” located 7,200 miles away? How is it possible to send radio signals through plasma belts back to earth? My conclusion is that it is not possible and we have been lied to about space and our human abilities to go into space or send remote vehicles.

Link to MIT plasma shield article:
http://www.ibtimes.com/invisible-plas...
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Titus Coan: Early Missionary to Hawaii

Titus Coan: Early Missionary to Hawaii
Never mind that father had forbidden it. Father was far away. Nine year old Titus was going sledding with a friend on a frozen pond. Out onto the ice he whizzed. It broke. Titus could not find the bottom and rose to the surface, screaming for help. His friend was too frightened to attempt a rescue. Every time Titus grabbed the edge of ice, another piece broke under his weight. It seemed he must die. But at last he found a sturdy patch and his partner crept close enough to give him a hand. Thousands, including Titus himself, would have perished eternally if he had drowned that day.

Eighteen years after his ice accident, Titus was converted in the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening. A few years later, he sailed to Hawaii as a missionary, carrying the revival spirit with him.

As soon as his tongue commanded the language, he declared his intention to visit every one of the 16,000 people on Hilo Island. Determined to conduct sound follow-up work and to pray intelligently, he made systematic notes on each person he met. In future tours, he would check up on each person and update his notes.

Any ward boss in a city could do the same. But no ward boss has the power of God to transform lives. Wherever Titus went, men and women fell under conviction. The classic signs of revival followed. People cried out for mercy. Panting to hear more of God, they ran from meeting to meeting. They studied the word late into the night and then rose early the next day to seek God anew. Prayer services ran for hours. Friends led the blind and carried the lame to church so they wouldn't miss the opportunity of salvation. Hardened rogues bent their hearts to Christ. Hundreds and thousands turned from wicked deeds.

In the two year period 1837-38, so many converts were added to Titus's church that it became the biggest single congregation in the world. By 1870 it had 13,000 members. No one was admitted to membership until he or she proved over a period of several months that their repentance was sincere. A check of the trusty notebooks told the story.

Coan always hoped to "to die in the field with armor on, with weapons bright." That wish was granted. He suffered a stroke in the midst of a revival. On this day, December 1, 1882, he died praising God. He had seen 70% of Hilo's population turn to Jesus.
Bibliography:
  1. "Coan, Titus." Virtual American Biographies. http://www.famousamericans.net/tituscoan/
  2. Johnston, Julia H. Fifty Missionary Heroes Every Boy and Girl Should Know. London: S. W. Partridge, 1899. Source of the image.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/titus-coan-early-missionary-to-hawaii-11630604.html

We Need to Talk about Sandy Hook - Full Video in Higher Quality

The totality of all the info is shocking....much like trying to make sense of all the contradictory reports that came of Sandy Hook the days following whatever occurred.   If you watch even half of this, you will likely experience the feeling of Alice falling down the rabbit hole...and shock at the difference between the projected truth of the media and the actual truth of what happened.


Independent Media Solidarity is a loose knit group of independent journalists that have come together to tackle the issue of Sandy Hook. We are normal people with normal lives, who have families, children, and jobs. Although many of us haven't physically met each other, we are united. All we seek are answers to the many inconsistencies. But most importantly, we just want the truth made available to all who might seek it.

Over the past 2 years, efforts to explain and expose the Sandy Hook event may seem to have slowed down. We never slowed down.

John Ruysbroeck Urged Know God Directly

John Ruysbroeck Urged Know God Directly
Theologians teach us that man was created to enjoy God. But can we know God directly in this life? Like other mystics of the fourteenth century, John of Ruysbroeck thought so. He even taught that we could become one with God. "To comprehend and to understand God above all similitudes, as he is in himself, is to be God with God, without intermediary. Whoever wishes to understand this must have died to himself, and must live in God, and must run his gaze to the eternal Light in the ground of his spirit, where the hidden truth reveals itself without means."

To Ruysbroek's contemporaries, this sounded dangerously like pantheism. Pantheism teaches that God is everything and everything is God. John was quick to assure his readers that what he meant is that we can become one with God in love,--not in our nature or essential being as Christ was.
John was just eleven when he left home without even saying good-bye to his pious mother. He wanted to be with an uncle who was eager to live the kind of simple life that he imagined the early Christians lived. John was infected with the same ideal. Like his uncle he desired a deeper spirituality. In due time John was given a church position and his mother moved to Brussels to be near him.

Until he was fifty, John lived in Brussels. Then he joined his uncle and a like-minded man in a hermitage at Groenendael. So many men followed them that they had to organize themselves into a regular church body.

John began to write in order to battle the teachings of false mystics. He wandered the woods with a note pad, thinking about God. When any understanding came to him, he wrote it down. Although he was a Fleming and wrote in his native language, rather than in Latin, his writings had a great impact because they were translated into the major languages of Western Europe.

Mysticism did not make John impractical. On the contrary, he was so good at helping others see how they ought to act in given situations that many crowded him for advice. His writings were eagerly copied and passed on to others. Gerard Groot, one of the great Christians of the age, became his close friend. Through Groot, John also influenced Thomas á Kempis, author of The Imitation of Christ. Tauler, who would become one of the most famous German mystics, visited the hermitage and was deeply influenced by John.

John died on this day, December 2, 1381at Groenendael. In 1908 the pope declared him blessed.
Bibliography:
  1. "Ruysbroeck or Ruusbroec, Bl Jan van." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  2. "Ruysbroeck (Ruusbroec, Ruysbroek), Jan Van." New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954.
  3. Scully, Vincent. "Blessed John Ruysbroec." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/john-ruysbroeck-urged-know-god-directly-11629866.html

Plato’s Phaedo – Esoteric Analysis

This may be deep water for some, but it's helpful to understand much Christian doctrine today, especially two of it's most influential ancestors, Origen and Augustine.  Well worth the read...


Triads of philosophy
Triads of philosophy
By: Jay

Phaedo is the dialogue of Plato that concerns Socrates’ final words.  The discussion revolves around a proposal by Socrates’ associates to defend his views of the afterlife and the immortality of the soul, followed by a counter argument by a Pythagorean, and a final rebuttal by Socrates before the recounting of his drinking the hemlock.  A great read, the work constitutes one of Plato’s most notable dialogues: The influence of Phaedo on subsequent Western thought is clearly tremendous. Until recently, I hadn’t thought about it since my undergrad days of philosophy 101, where we read a selection and hit the highlights of the doctrine of forms and immortality of the soul.  Returning to the unabridged work years later and with a much wider range of knowledge, the discussion struck me as profound as much as it is bizarre and mysterious.   In this article, we will investigate the epistemological, metaphysical and esoteric teachings sprinkled along the way, as well as problematic areas.

Early in the dialogue, Socrates mentions his desire to practice the “arts” based on a recurring dream he has had.  In response to queries about this, Socrates tells his friends “philosophy is the greatest of the arts,” based on his attempt to create an Aesop’s Fable of his own about the duality involved in pleasure and pain.  The dialogue is also littered with reference to “initiation into the Mysteries,’ the allegorical understanding given in religious initiations, and that the “initiates of the Mysteries” are prepared for journey of the dead undertaken in the afterlife.  Pleasure, he argues, is dialectically tied to pain, and both tend to ever bring their opposite.  In this life, our attachment to bodily pleasure and passion thus becomes a hindrance that wears down the lofty, immortal nature of the soul.  The allegorical meaning of the Rites of the Mysteries is therefore the philosophical understanding of how to live well so that in the next life one can pass on to blissful Valhalla.  However, Socrates does not entirely “spiritualize” or “allegorize” the rites of the gods – he follows them in both senses.

The references to the Mysteries and the rites of religion is curious, given the standard, secular version of this topic in academic settings, which generally focuses on a cursory overview and a discarding of any esoteric ideas in the dialogues.  Marxist, feminist and statist education in our day is universally programmed to read all great works as externally imposed class and gender warfare diatribes, subverting everything wholesome and wondrous in them.  And should you happen upon a male professor that isn’t a feminist/Marxist, you likely got an atheist materialist who scoffed at anything in the work beyond his feeble grasp.  Contrary to these sophistical losers, Phaedo is a religious treatise about initiatic knowledge through revelation.  While all of its theses and ideas are not what I would recommend, Phaedo is a perennialist document, and not a secular one.

Read the rest of this article at - http://jaysanalysis.com/2014/12/01/platos-phaedo-esoteric-analysis/