December 8th is Azna's Feast Day.. choose your holiday 4 Mary ?

by Mysticalorigins on Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:49 pm


Hello everyone,

Got the sbns bulletin on myspace about Azna's day and thought I would stop by and see how you all were doing.

In response to your question Psi, I looked up Azna's feast day in the Novus JOS book on God and this is what it says;

" December 8th is Azna's Feast Day. It is strange because... [the churches] borrowed that for Mary's Feast Day.

Feast Day means a day in which you honor the God.

In ancient times Her feast day was a day in which, whether

it was Isis or Theadora or Hara or by whatever name She went, whatever culture,

would bring flowers, would burn candles...

because it does something for you and She both...

Your petitioning Her changes many things in your life, many many things[Francine]

Coming together really brings about a power that protects you... Religions have always said you must come to church because God will be angry if you do not. That is ridiculous! The power that exudes from coming to a church or professing your Gnosticism, brings power unto you and protection... The only reason why there is any homage paid on a certain feast day is because it brings power to you!"

This will be my first year celebrating this day.

I'm just going to light a candle in her honor and send my love and thanks her way. By the way Psi, you may want to rephrase your petitions.

I didn't think mine were working until I did that.

I also found that although the exact thing I wanted wasn't happening the petitions were being answered, just in another way. I think the reason for this is that what I was asking for was something that couldn't be changed because it would negate my reasons for being here.

But I found that doors were suddenly being opened in other areas that were still prevalent to the initial petition.

So even though that part of my chart could not be changed other things could to make life a little easier and more enjoyable. What's been happening since I first started to notice all of this has been amazing.

Anyway love to all and enjoy Azna's very special day.

_________________

Pay attention to the little things. It may be a sign from someone you love.

Mysticalorigins



Posts: 62
Location: Utah
Joined date: 2008-02-21



thanks for bringing this celebration up again
.... though each prayer I say either begins or
ends with an appeal to Azna; she is definitely not forgotten
throughout the year.

she is the busy feline always on the move ....

I really like the Gnostic way of thinking about our symbolic
elders - Azna, Om, Archangels, etc....because gnosticism is
so positive and caring about the past, present, and future lifetime.
It pays to be honestly good.

Truely, have a calm and knowledgable weekend as well as an
endearing December 8th -Azna's Day.
d-knots


Posts: 168
Joined date: 2008-02-21
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The Roman Catholic Pedophile/ easy to find

The Roman Catholic Pedophile


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Greetings everyone in these last days of earths history. As a few of you are already aware, on May 11, 2002 the Lord graphically answered my prayer regarding going full time into the ministry. So I would first of all like to solicit your prayers for me and my wife and children as I engage in this calling from on High. As many of you know I do not preach for money. I choose rather to preach for souls. Fact is, they are worth a LOT more than the money that will soon become absolutely useless. I feel it is better to concentrate on things of Heaven that never rust or corrode than on things of this earth that are passing in every sense of the word. So please pray for me in this calling.

Secondly I would like you all to know that I now have ample time to update the Presents of God website, as well as a few other projects I have been working on. I hope to double the site size within a year if possible. (The site is a little over 2000 pages now) So, thank you for praying. We truly do appreciate it!

Moving right along... In this Newsletter I hope to illustrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Vatican has known all along about this child molestation problem in their church.

I am sure many are aware of the massive problem the Vatican seems to have found itself in lately. I am also rather sure that many of you reading this Newsletter have also been well aware of the Pedophiliacs working in the Vatican since day one. In fact, my October 24, 2001 Newsletter reported long before it "exploded in the media" on the fact that the Vatican truly IS and WAS aware of the massive amount of pedophiliacs posing as priests. Yet, they DO allow it, and they DO protect them. Much evidence has been found supporting that fact. If nothing else, this proves the Vatican itself is indeed a NON-Christian organization solely designed for the gathering of homosexuals, pedophiles, murderers, liars, thieves, false teachers, and antichrists, all working together in a common goal. To destroy Christianity from within. There is so much evidence of this fact that even the most staunch Vatican defending Catholic cannot deny it. In fact, when they try to do so, even the most wicked and uninformed non-believer can see them as 'IN DENIAL' of the numerous basic facts most anyone with a working brain can realize. The researchable historic as well as modern day facts confirm it with uncanny accuracy. The Vatican is indeed a Vat of sin.

"There are none so blind as those who refuse to see."

We have all heard the horror stories of how priests molested friends, relatives, church members, and even complete strangers. Not too long ago it was taboo to speak of such a thing in mixed company. Even now, I find it difficult to talk about something like this. In other countries it is NEVER spoken in public about sins such as this. The only reason it is spoken about so freely in the USA is because of the American people and their open acceptance and obvious obsession with sex.

I am a Christian preacher and I don't much like to speak of such evil acts as this. But as usual, the Vatican always seems to parade their dirty laundry into the faces of anyone they please. The media is literally flooded with it. There are so many priests doing this wretched evil act, that every media source in the USA is reporting on it. And that means even your CHILDREN have to sit through "special Reports" and News Media advertisements from time to time. But then that's the price we pay for being on the same planet as Antichrist.

It's so sad that a "church" that calls itself a "Christian" church has to cause such XXX-rated garbage to be pumped into the minds of our children. Not only are they molesting countless numbers of little boys and destroying their lives physically, mentally, and spiritually, they are DAILY pumping their homosexual sewage in front of literally MILLIONS of unsuspecting children via the TV's their parents let them watch. This fallen angel is so crafty! It's actually killing two birds with one stone! If it can't destroy your faith by molesting you physically, it will instead try to molest you spiritually using your children's eyes and ears to do so!

When I was called to this ministry I was so excited. I thought, wow, the Lord trusts me to join the many faithful that are proclaiming His Prophetic Word in these last days. I never thought for a moment I would be talking about child molestation done by Roman Catholic priests. I never thought for a moment I would have to report on how the Pope himself has a naked man and woman on his music video CD. (click here for additional info) Who would have thought that the children of God would have to tell people about roman Catholic priests posing nude in magazines using a BIBLE to hide their genitals. (click here to see article) Or Catholic schools calling police on there very own parishinors that were praying on Church grounds to try and stop the pedophile priests and nuns from teaching their children not only how to masturbate, but giving them homework assignments to do so. (click here to see article) I never thought for a moment I would have to speak about Roman Catholic priests being arrested for masturbating in public in front of young boys. (click here to see article) Or that the Vatican would be promoting and encouraging sexual deviancy of over a ONE MILLION teens on the Vatican grounds itself! (click here to see article) And I certainly never thought I would be reporting on Roman Catholic priests manufacturing and dealing the date-rape drug "GHB." (click here to see article) (((( I cover all this and a LOT more on the "RCC&SEX page ))))

Fact is folks. This IS part of the calling I have been created to do. The Vatican is without a doubt the most evil organization ever known to man, and rightly so, for it is the dwelling of Satan himself. He must have an earthly base of operations and as many have already made aware, the Vatican is it. Only those that hate Bible prophecy cannot see such a blunt fact as this. And it's not only the place where absolutely EVERY prophecy both great and small concerning Antichrist has been fulfilled. It is also the only place on Earth that one can find every sin known to man being embraced, encouraged, promoted, and sanctioned. So without any further ado...

Here we go again... :(

Just recently I was updating my "RCC&SEX" page on the site. (It took 3 days! I literally had hundreds of articles to research!) This page has numerous articles regarding the sexual problems of the Roman Catholic church. On the page I have articles and quotes regarding the Vatican's problem with...

Homosexuality
Child molestation
Sexual abuse
Sex in the confessional
RCC cover ups
Misc
as well as Links regarding same
While updating the massive amounts of data ESPECIALLY regarding the Child molestation area, I came across a few facts that appear to have been given a back seat in the media for obvious reasons. I would like to share these facts with you now.

Prophecy as well as history proclaims this church has killed millions... tortured millions... aborted millions... wiped out complete nations... infiltrated every church on earth with her doctrinal lies and traditions of man, re-written Bibles, as well as removed Bibles from souls seeking Truth, etc. This church is presently under investigation for everything from money laundering... organized crime... holocaust war crimes.. direct ties with Hitler... insurance fraud... political assassinations... tax fraud... political corruption... genocide... etc. This church has been caught red-handed lying in books, tracts, newspapers, TV, radio, videos, tapes, and pulpits. This church has been openly helping the gay movement as well as sanctioning such lies as evolution and the like since its inception. Prophecy concerning Antichrist has been openly proven to be 100% accurate to the smallest detail when pointing towards this Synagogue of Satan. This has to be the most disgusting organization of rancid evil that has ever been gathered into one place. However, there is one evil in this church that I believe makes all the rest pale in comparison. And that is the evil of child molestation! For it not only destroys the child mentally, it sets him up for spiritual destruction later on in life.


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Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Matthew 18:6 says, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
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It is no wonder Antichrist seeks to attack the children of this world. It knows what to use as well as when to use it. The Vatican is now promoting the evil music in "Rock & Roll' openly to the youth of the world with the help of such wicked people as the whore-mongering rock band Aerosmith, to the extremely popular sexual deviant known as Britney Spears. (click here to see article) They want to appeal to the youth of this world using the exact same methods Satan has used since Eden.

STILL, this does not compare with that which we see coming from Rome today. Antichrist has devised an ingenious set of circumstances that have allowed for countless numbers of children, specifically young boys, to be trained up in a way they should NOT go! These young boys do eventually become MEN. Men who have now a complete distrust of God Almighty, because of what the pedophile priest not only did to them, but TRAINED them to do at an early age. Research has revealed that the majority of boys that are molested by these horrific child molesters become gay when they grow older. Not to mention that an even greater majority of them have decided there is no God in heaven because of what they think "He" allowed the priests in Rome to do. They therefore become advocates as well as preachers for all sorts of Antichristian theology. I know of this end result because I know of some personally that HAVE been molested by priests and NOW speak out against the Almighty. And 100% of them say the same thing, "If there was a God why did He let this happen to me?!" ALL thanks to the Roman Catholic church!

While updating my RCC&SEX page I came across many articles that I literally forgot about simply because the media "for some strange and obvious reason" failed to follow up on them. At this time I would like to share a few of these articles with you. I do so in the hopes that some Catholics will get a copy of this Newsletter and decide that enough is enough! I do believe with my heart that there ARE true believers within the burnt flesh and spilled blood walls of Rome. For Revelation 18 would not have been penned otherwise. It IS plainly written that the Lord is calling HIS people out of there. If they weren't IN there He would have no cause to call them out.


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Revelation 18:4, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."


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Before going anywhere NEAR these articles, lets first understand the true character of Rome. They have known ALL ALONG about the child molestation going on in their church. You must understand this! The Roman Catholic church has ALWAYS been a child molesting organization. The invention of altar boys was nothing more than a crafty way to get the parents to ok the collection of young boys as a collection of "toys" for the priests. And as usual they used the so called "holiness" of the priests as a way to dupe the parents into unquestionable trust! And then the "horrific site" of an angry Roman Catholic priest hovering naked over a young boy proclaiming that if he didn't allow him this pleasure, he and his parents would burn in hell, would cause many young children to allow the rape to continue. They love mommy and daddy that much!

I implore you. Pray for these children of yesterday as well as tomorrow! Pray for them today as well! Rest assured, it's STILL happening right now!


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CATHOLIC CHURCH KNEW OF CHILD MOLESTATION BACK IN 1985!

Excerpts from 1985 document:
The following excerpts have been compiled by Gary MacEoin from the
June 1985 report by Fr. Michael Peterson, Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle,
and F. Ray Mouton titled "The Problem of Sexual Molestation by Roman
Catholic Clergy: Meeting the Problem in a Comprehensive and
Responsible Manner." Block letters appear as they appeared in the
report:

...Some extremely serious issues have arisen which presently place the
church in the posture of facing extremely serious financial
consequence as well as significant injury to its image. ... The
criminal considerations, civil considerations, canonical
considerations and clinical considerations are of such magnitude, not
to mention the other substantial considerations such as insurance and
public relations, that it was decided that the presentation of these
extraordinary issues necessitated an extraordinary response. . Time is
of the essence.

...The necessity for protecting the confidentiality of this document
cannot be overemphasized. . The national press has an active interest
in items discussed herein, and therefore, an abundance of caution is
required.
...Over ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS ($100,000,000) in claims have been
made against one diocese as a result of sexual contact between one
priest and a number of minor children. ... A TEN BILLION DOLLAR
($10,000,000,000,000) class-action lawsuit has been threatened, which
threat is documented.

...A minimum of national print publications (NEW YORK TIMES, THE
WASHINGTON POST, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER, VANITY FAIR, MOTHER JONES and ROLLING STONE) have reporters in place trying to tie the isolated
episodes into a national story, presumably one of scandalous
proportions. Several of these publications have already published
lengthy articles (NCR, June 7, 1985).


(Click Here for Entire collection of excerpts)
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As I stated earlier. This church KNEW all along the problems that would arise if and WHEN the truth was out about its clergymen. This not only proves they lied to all of us in recent months about NOT knowing what was up, it also proves they did not care and had every intention of covering it up. Pretty awesome how not only hindsight, but documented facts have a tendency to make the truth come forth eh?

Many people think that Roman Catholic priests BECOME pedophiles. However, this is not the case. Fact is, pedophiles become Catholic priests because they know they will be protected. Think about that simple truth for a moment. Look around! If Joe Shmoe is caught in "AnyTown USA" for child molestation, what happens? He is arrested, brought to trial, convicted, and jailed.. right? What happens when a Catholic priest is caught? NOTHING! Sure you see an "occasional" Bishop or Cardinal in a bit of hot water for what he allowed his priests to do. But do you ever hear of a priest ending up in jail?? RARELY if at all... and why is that so? It has to do with the fact that ALL the world wonders after this beast. It also has to do with the fact that the majority of both the Senate and the Congress of the USA is CATHOLIC and the US Supreme Court is 100% Catholic. Rest assured, the bulk of the police, lawyers, prosecutors, etc are Catholic as well.

In other words... Not only is the Vat of sin in Rome making sure their priests evade trouble. The strangely loyal Catholic people are being directed via EACH priest in EACH parish to be "lenient" towards their brother and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church. I am not yelling conspiracy here either. This is an everyday reality. Just recently in a small town near me a Roman Catholic priest was accused of child molestation. The following Sunday a friend of mine attended a Roman Catholic mass. She informed me that the priest told the people not to believe what was being said concerning the pedophile priest. In that gathering of "faithful" you would find a bevy of "community conscious" Catholics. Would the prosecuting attorney tend to look the other way after attending such a mass? Would the chief of police be extra lenient towards his brother in Catholicism now? Would the judge attending mass lower the bail, or allow the priest to walk without bail all together?

Keep in mind. There is at least one Catholic church in EVERY major city in the USA. And most small towns and even rural districts have them as well. You do realize that's no mistake right? Need I also mention the power of the VOTER?

Now do you understand why the HUGE majority of Catholic priests caught molesting children do NOT receive prison terms? Could it be the prosecutor is Catholic? The judge? The jurors? The Governor? Senator? Congressman? Or the man or woman seeking VOTES sees a possible problem with re-election if the priest is jailed.

By the way, not only did the Vatican KNOW of this pedophilia problem. Just two years ago, THEY HELD CONCERTS where a man (Gerald Hannon) who is an advocate for child porn as well as "man-boy love" took part in. PLUS, this advocate for the vilest of Satanic decadence was applauded not only by the Roman Catholic audience, the choir applauded him as well. Was this not spoken of in Scripture?

Romans 1:32, "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

Seriously! Even a loyal Roman Catholic must know that child molestation is wrong. Yet... they applaud this man?


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LIFESITE SPECIAL REPORT - November 2, 2000
PEDOPHILIA ADVOCATE FEATURED IN CATHOLIC CHURCH CONCERT

TORONTO, Nov. 2 (LSN.ca) - LifeSite has learned that an Oct. 27 concert at St. Basil's Catholic

Got the Holy ?Ghost ?

II. Christ's Sheep Flee.

Those who have received the love of the truth would not hang around such broad way "Christianity," because they would know the truth does matter, and in loving the truth they would "hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104, 128, 163), as Proverbs 8:13 says, "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil." False doctrine, on any Biblical matter, is evil (Proverbs 30:5-6).

Note how Jesus describes His sheep. He says they follow Him. They follow the truth (John 14:6).

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27)

Earlier Jesus describes Himself and His sheep by saying,

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:4-5)

Jesus' sheep are those who are saved (John 10:27-28), and they are described as those who "will by no means follow a stranger." This "by no means" dictates that under no circumstances will Christ's sheep follow a stranger.

Who is a stranger? A stranger is anyone other than Christ whom the sheep do not know. The context of John 10:5 is false spiritual leaders (John 9:40-41), and a stranger is seen as equivalent to "thieves and robbers" (John 10:8). Christ's sheep hear neither strangers (John 10:5) nor thieves and robbers (John 10:8). Anyone who would speak so as to divert a person away from Christ would fit "a stranger," and this is what false teachers do. "They speak great swelling words of emptiness" (2 Peter 2:18), and bring people into the same bondage and corruption by which they themselves are held (Luke 6:39-40; 2 Peter 2:19).

Therefore, anyone following any of the men listed at the beginning of this article, or any like them, are not Christ's sheep. Because the Lord says, not only will they not follow them, but they "flee from him."

Christ's sheep do not hang out with false teachers and false churches. They flee from those who do not speak the truth ("strangers"). Whether it is a Catholic church, Mormon church, Jehovah's Witness Hall, Muslim mosque, or any of the myriad of churches on the broad way (like a "church of Christ," or Grace Community in Panorama City, CA; or Lancaster Baptist in Lancaster, CA, etc.), Christ's sheep are not found counted in their ranks. The only ones who are found heeding such religion are the wicked, as Proverbs 17:4 declares,

An evildoer gives heed to false lips.

Evildoers are to be found in these churches, not those who follow Christ (John 10:5). Therefore, if you are involved in a false church, you prove yourself to be still lost in your sin. God calls you an evildoer (Proverbs 17:4), and by His Word identifies you as not one of His own by the sheer fact that you do not flee such wickedness (John 10:5; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 2:20-21; 3:5; Hebrews 12:14; 13:13).

Someone might argue, "But, the Lord used Billy Graham [or some other false teacher] to bring me to Christ." This too is a lie, because false teachers, like those mentioned at the beginning of this article, are,

III. Wells Without Water.

Speaking of false teachers, Peter wrote,

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. (2 Peter 2:17)

Peter calls false teachers "wells without water." Jude says they are "clouds without water" (Jude 12). What does this mean?

In the Scriptures, water is used to speak of the Spirit of truth (i.e. the Holy Spirit, John 7:37-39; 14:15-18; 15:26; 16:13), God (Jeremiah 2:13/17:13), and salvation (Isaiah 55:1; Psalm 36:9; John 4:10-14; Revelation 7:17; 21:6; 22:1,17). Therefore, if false teachers are without this water, they do not have the Holy Spirit (like in Jude 19). They are without God (2 John 9), and do not have salvation (2 Peter 2:3, 12-14, 17; Jude 4, 11, 13). As 1 Timothy 6:5 says, they are "destitute of the truth" and know "nothing".

The Lord calls them "wells" and "clouds." A well is a hole in the ground that is supposed to have water, or gives the appearance that it would have water. A cloud likewise gives the appearance that it carries moisture. Yet, a well or a cloud without water gives a false impression, and false teachers do this well. They fool the masses into thinking God is using them to bring people to Christ, but it is all a Satanic facade (as in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). They have no water. They have no truth (truth mixed with lies = deceit and no truth), no salvation, and no Holy Spirit. Thus, they do nothing but deceive people. They are as Jesus said, "blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14). Jesus also said,

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10a)

This statement is made in the context of "thieves and robbers" (John 10:1, 8). It is not speaking solely of Satan, but rather his ministers as well (2 Corinthians 11:15; John 10:1). It lets us know the sole purpose of these charlatans, and that is to deceive (to steal, kill, and destroy). They steal using "great swelling words of emptiness" (2 Peter 2:18). They kill by being used by the devil (1 Peter 5:8) to divert people away from the words of life (Proverbs 4:20-22; 14:12; 18:21; Philippians 2:16). And they destroy with their "destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). They may not be aware of the depth of their own evil (e.g. John 16:2-3; 2 Timothy 3:13), but they are nonetheless "like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed" (2 Peter 2:12); and they do destroy others.

If the Lord were to use a false teacher for some good, it would be in spite of him, not because of him. As the Lord used Balaam the false prophet to bless Israel (Numbers 22-24), it was not because Balaam was a godly man or one who lead people to God (Numbers 25:1-9; 31:16; 2 Peter 2:15-16). It was simply because God turned the curse into a blessing (Deuteronomy 23:5; Nehemiah 13:2). Scripture does not teach that the Lord uses false teachers to lead people to Christ. On the contrary, the Word teaches that God uses false teachers to lead people away from Christ (Psalm 118:22-24; Romans 11:36; 1 Peter 2:7).

False teachers falsely boast of giving the gospel to people. But they are like the one mentioned in Proverbs 25:14.

Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain.

They are clouds and wells without water, a dry disappointment.

If you are going to "draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3), you need to go where the water is to be found (John 4:10, 13-14). It is not found with the likes of the men mentioned above. It is not found in the myriad of false churches and ministries. It is found in the pages of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:22-23; Hebrews 4:12-13; Revelation 19:13). Fear God (Luke 12:4-5), cry out (Proverbs 2:3), weep (James 4:9), and seek for understanding (Proverbs 2:4) like there is no tomorrow, because for most, there is no tomorrow (Psalm 9:17; 92:7; Proverbs 1:24-32; Matthew 7:13-14).

false teacher's.. holy cross brothers

Showing newest posts with label heresy. Show older posts Showing newest posts with label heresy. Show older posts09 March 2010

Colossians studies 6: Paul responds to the false teacher (1)

by Dan Phillips

[First and appropos of little, peer-pressure has done its work on me, and I have now yielded to the siren call of Twitter. Why? Because the cool kidz are doing it. And now you know that.]

Last time we outlined the false teaching that loomed as a threat to the young church in Colosse. Now we begin to study how the apostle responded.


First, I notice that Paul does not detail the false teaching. This is why there has been such debate and variations among students of the letter, through the centuries, as to the exact configuration of “the Colossian heresy.” We are left with allusions, mostly in chapter two; and with hints we glean from Paul’s emphases.

Rather than laying out the opposing view in detail, and then refuting it point by point, Paul mostly issues a positive corrective. He does not say, “Teacher X says 123, but that’s not true, because of 456. The real truth is 789.” Instead, Paul says in effect, “The truth is 789. You know this. Why ever would anyone settle for 123?”

It would be false to conclude from this that there is never any place for doing what Paul does not do here. For instance, in Galatians and 1 Corinthians 15, Paul does dedicate more space to presenting and refuting specific error. That is not the case, however, in Colossians.

Second, I notice that Paul doesn’t name this single false teacher who is threatening the flock. Sometimes, he does name the false teachers (1 Timothy 1:20), and sometimes he doesn’t (1 Corinthians 15:12; 2 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 6:12). I don't know a simple formula that will explains the apostle’s choices in each case.

I can, however, observe that what the apostle actually does has the effect of focusing attention on the cure, rather than the disease (or its carrier). It is as if Paul is saying, “This man is nothing. What he is saying is of no consequence. That’s precisely what puzzles me: given that Christ is who He is, and that He has done what He has done – why would you pay any attention to such things, rather than stay as far away from them as you can?”

So what does Paul do, to counter the false teacher? I’ll lift out two related facets today, and then (DV) develop more next time.

FIRST: Paul supports the teaching of Epaphras (cf. 1:4-7, 23; 2:7 [DPUV]).

...having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have for all the holy ones, 5on account of the hope which is laid away for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth, the good news, 6which has come to you, just as also in all the world it is bearing fruit of itself and growing just as also among you, from the day in which you heard it and came to know fully the grace of God in truth; 7just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ for your sake,
1:23 assuming that you remain on in the faith, abidingly founded and settled and not being shifted away from the hope of the good news which you heard, which was announced in all creation which is under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant
2:7 abidingly rooted and being built up in Him, and being confirmed by the faith just as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
Paul speaks of their faith (1:4a), love (1:4b), and hope (1:5) — and then says that they had learned these truths from Epaphras. That is Paul's seal of approval on Epaphras' teaching. In this way, the great apostle tells the Colossians, "What you already heard from Ephaphras is the real deal. It is the one saving, sanctifying, and preserving and true Gospel. There will not be another. You have no need for another. There will be no second editions, no upgrades, no supplements. What there is to know, you have already heard. Epaphras is the man."

Then 1:23 reaffirms that they are not to leave nor shift from this faith that Epaphras had taught them. What is more, it is the "catholic" faith — which is to say that it is the one Gospel that is preached everywhere, without alteration: full salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This teacher has nothing they need.

Then 2:7 again reaffirms that all the confirmation they need in Christ, they will get from the faith Epaphras had taught them. No new revelations are necessary.

So, they had already heard the right truth.

SECOND: Paul supported the character of Epaphras (cf. 1:7; 4:12, 13)

1:27 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ for your sake,
4:12 Epaphras greets you, who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, in order that you might stand mature and fully assured in every aspect of the will of God. 13For I bear him witness that he has much anguish for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
To say that Epaphras is "faithful" is to say that he is reliable, dependable, can be counted on — as opposed to this self-impressed upstart. Epaphras is committed (1) to Christ's service, and (2) to their spiritual wellbeing. Neither of these things is true of the false teacher.

Not only did they already have the right truth, but had already heard if from the right man.

This, then, is Paul's opening salvo. It speaks to us today. Epaphras was not an apostle, but he had grounded that church absolutely sufficiently, by laying the church's one foundation: the preaching of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). It was not necessary that he have special standing or special, supernatural, revelatory gifting. What was necessary was that he preach Christ — and he had done that.

This tells us who are pastors to preach Christ, and we can be assured that we stand within the apostolic tradition. This is the true apostolic succession: the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. If you are dedicated to Christ's service, and if you preach the Gospel, you could cherish the hope that Paul would also write a letter commending your ministry because and only if he could also commend your message.

SIDEBAR: don't miss the sad irony here. The sect which today most famously makes the biggest noise about "apostolic succession" — doesn't have it.
It tells all us sheep, as well, to stick with the Gospel. Hear it straight, then stick with it. Expect our adversary to send persuasive salesmen with "new and improved" versions to appeal to our restless discontent. Expect, and prepare to ignore.

As we shall continue to see, Colossians brings us a very contemporary, much-needed message: Christ is supreme and sufficient. Accept neither supplement nor substitute.


Labels: apostasy, Colossians studies, Dan Phillips, Gospel, heresy
12 comments
Posted by DJP on Tuesday, March 09, 2010
02 March 2010

Colossians studies 4: the false teacher's teaching (1)

by Dan Phillips

In the last post, I introduced and defended my idea that the Colossians were being troubled by one particular charismatic false teacher. By the way, I did not mean to say that no one else has ever had that idea, which is unlikely. I may even have read it, in 35+ years of loving and reading on Colossians. But I honestly don't recall anyone advancing the position, and I do continue to see and hear the plural + Gnosticism as the standard, default position.


Now let's approach a closer look at the shape of the false teaching. After that, I plan to shift to focusing on how Paul responded to it.

As TruthStands observed in the last post's meta, Colosse was ideally situated for syncretism. In case that's not a regular word for you, syncretism is basically playing religious mix-n-match. You take a bit from various religions and mix it together, so that what you have is a little of several religions, but not any particular religion — until it itself becomes a religion. I'd say that Christian Science, Religious Science, and Roman Catholicism are three syncretistic religions, for example. You could name others.

Why was it ideal for syncretism? Here is where introductory matters matter, in interpretation. As I observed in the first post, Colosse hosted travellers going to and from Rome and the Euphrates Valley, and was home to native Phrygians, Greek settlers, and Jews — specifically Jews who had been imported not from Israel but from Babylonia and Mesopotamia.

What that means is that the populace featured folks presumably influenced by paganism, Greek thought, and Judaism that had been uprooted from the holy land and put through a wringer for a few centuries. It was not singly rooted anywhere, nor in anything. It was eclectic, and not in the best sense of the word. The framework would have been not to have a framework.

Kind of like us.

One can over-generalize and say that false teachers can come at Christianity in one of two ways.

1.Confrontation. They can initiate a frontal, head-on collision, trying their mightiest simply to undo Christian truth-claims. "Not that, but this" would describe this stance. Atheists, Orthodox Jews, Islam today are often of this stripe.
2.Assimilation. This approach tries more at collusion than collision. Assimilators labor to give the impression of shared common-ground, so as to make room for their bringing in what really matters to them. Mormons are attempting this today, as are many Roman Catholics. This apparently was the approach of the Judaizers in Galatia. They were not kin to apostate Jews today who would try to discredit Jesus' Messianic claims. They would affirm faith in Jesus as a terrific starting-point... and then say "here is what you really need to be fully saved."
If you think it through, you see that the Serpent utilized both approaches, in Genesis 3, starting more with the second, and ending up with the first.

The Colossian teacher was of the second variety. Piecing together what clues we have in Colossians, it does not appear that he flatly denied Jesus. I gather that from the fact that Paul did not deal with him by asserting the truthfulness, or the reality, or the qualifications of Christ.


Rather, I think his approach was to "Yes, yes of course" the whole Jesus-thing... but then, by emphasis and omission, to substitute the distinctives he brought as the real heart of the matter (according to him). Like the Colossians, he was ready to admit Jesus as important, and to affirm him as a tremendous starting-place.

Christ just wasn't enough. Having Jesus alone didn't get you all the way there. Christ wasn't everything one needs.

To get all that, you needed what the false teacher was bringing, which he would be delighted to share.

This is why Paul's pro-active response is not to stress the truthfulness of Christ, but the absolute sufficiency of the person and work of Jesus Christ.


Next time, Lord willing, we'll get into the specifics of the false teacher's doctrines. After that, we'll begin looking at Paul's response, in overview.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Labels: Colossians studies, Dan Phillips, heresy
25 comments
Posted by DJP on Tuesday, March 02, 2010
30 January 2010

The Blind Leading the Blind Till They Both Fall in a Ditch

Your weekly dose of Spurgeon
posted by Phil Johnson

The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. The following excerpt is from a sermon titled "The Choice of a Leader," preached Sunday morning, 1 August 1875 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London. It sounds like Spurgeon is commenting on the meltdown of Emergent Village and the fumbling confusion that has seized some of the less radical participants in the Conversation who now want to shed their emergenting identity without shedding the postmodern bent that attracted them to the movement in the first place.

Perhaps Spurgeon was exercising the gift of prophecy. In any case, he gives good advice here: don't follow leaders who are constantly tinkering with gospel truth in an effort to keep in step with the times.

hen a man chooses a bad leader for his soul, at the end of all bad leadership there is a ditch.

A man teaches error which he declares he has drawn from Scripture, and he backs it up with texts perverted and abused. If you follow that error, and take its teacher for a leader, you may for a time be very pleased with yourself for knowing more than the poor plain people who keep to the good old way, but, mark my word, there is a ditch at the end of the error. You do not see it yet, but there it is, and into it you will fall if you continue to follow your leader.

At the end of error there is often a moral ditch, and men go down, down down, they scarce know why, till presently, having imbibed doctrinal error, their moral principles are poisoned, and like drunken men they find themselves rolling in the mire of sin.

At other times the ditch beyond a lesser error may be an altogether damnable doctrine. The first mistake was comparatively trifling, but, as it placed the mind on an inclined plane, the man descended almost as a matter of course, and almost before he knew it, found himself given over to a strong delusion to believe a lie. The blind man and his guide, whatever else they miss, will be sure to find the ditch, they need no sight to obtain an abundant entrance into that.

Alas! to fall into the ditch is easy, but how shall they be recovered? I would earnestly entreat especially professing Christians, when novelties of doctrine come up, to be very cautious how they give heed to them. I bid you remember the ditch. A small turn of the switch on the railway is the means of taking the train to the far east or to the far west: the first turn is very little indeed, but the points arrived at are remote.

There are new errors which have lately come up which your fathers knew not, with which some are mightily busy, and I have noticed when men have fallen into them their usefulness ceased. I have seen ministers go only a little way in speculative theories, and gradually glide from latitudinarianism into Socinianism or Atheism. Into these ditches thousands fall. Others are precipitated into an equally horrible pit, namely, the holding nominally of all the doctrines in theory and none of them in fact.

Men hold truths nowadays with the bowels taken out of then, and the very life and meaning torn away. There are members and ministers of evangelical denominations who do not believe evangelical doctrine, or if they do believe it they attach but little importance to it; their sermons are essays on philosophy, tinged with the gospel. They put a quarter of a grain of gospel into an Atlantic of talk, and poor souls are drenched with words to no profit. God save us from ever leaving the old gospel, or losing its spirit, and the solid comfort which it brings; yet into the ditch of lifeless profession and philosophic dreaming we may soon fall if we commit ourselves to wrong leadership.

All this should prevent us, as I think, from taking any man whatever as our leader, for if we trust to any mere man, though he may be right in ninety-nine of the hundred, he is wrong somewhere, and our tendency will be to be more influenced by his one wrong point than by any one of his right ones. Depend upon it in matters of religion that ancient malediction is abundantly verified, "Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm."

figure it out.. not at boysville.. or the brother of Holy cross

definitive Proofe of God.. and mary

it's the Mass part that is hard 2 do

Boysville of Michigan can offer you "OPTIONS"


attend school at Thomas More High.. and we Guarantee a Good lunch !!!



guar·an·tee   /ˌgærənˈti/ Show Spelled [gar-uhn-tee] Show IPA noun, verb,-teed, -tee·ing.
–noun

1.a promise or assurance, esp. one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit, etc., or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time: a money-back guarantee.

2.guaranty (defs. 1, 2).

3.something that assures a particular outcome or condition: Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.

4.a person who gives a guarantee or guaranty; guarantor.

5.a person to whom a guarantee is made.
–verb (used with object)

6.to secure, as by giving or taking security.

7.to make oneself answerable for (something) on behalf of someone else who is primarily responsible: to guarantee the fulfillment of a contract.

8.to undertake to ensure for another, as rights or possessions.

9.to serve as a warrant or guaranty for.

10.to engage to protect or indemnify: to guarantee a person against loss.

11.to engage (to do something).


12.to promise (usually fol. by a clause as object): I guarantee that I'll be there.
Use guarantee in a Sentence
See images of guarantee
Search guarantee on the Web

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1670–80; alter. of guaranty

—Related forms

non·guar·an·tee, noun

pre·guar·an·tee, noun, verb (used with object),-teed, -tee·ing.

qua·si-guar·an·teed, adjective

re·guar·an·tee, noun, verb (used with object),-teed, -tee·ing.

su·per·guar·an·tee, noun, verb,-teed, -tee·ing.

un·guar·an·teed, adjective


—Can be confused: guarantee, guaranty, warrantee, warranty

ya won't get any smarter .. but that's OK

this is the TRAINING .. From the Brother's of Holy Cross..

(we ain't all that smart.. )




guar·an·tee   /ˌgærənˈti/ Show Spelled [gar-uhn-tee] Show IPA noun, verb,-teed, -tee·ing.
–noun

1.a promise or assurance, esp. one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit, etc., or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time: a money-back guarantee.

2.guaranty (defs. 1, 2).

3.something that assures a particular outcome or condition: Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.

4.a person who gives a guarantee or guaranty; guarantor.

5.a person to whom a guarantee is made.
–verb (used with object)

6.to secure, as by giving or taking security.

7.to make oneself answerable for (something) on behalf of someone else who is primarily responsible: to guarantee the fulfillment of a contract.

8.to undertake to ensure for another, as rights or possessions.

9.to serve as a warrant or guaranty for.

10.to engage to protect or indemnify: to guarantee a person against loss.

11.to engage (to do something).

12.to promise (usually fol. by a clause as object): I guarantee that I'll be there.
Use guarantee in a Sentence
See images of guarantee
Search guarantee on the Web

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1670–80; alter. of guaranty

—Related forms
non·guar·an·tee, noun
pre·guar·an·tee, noun, verb (used with object),-teed, -tee·ing.
qua·si-guar·an·teed, adjective
re·guar·an·tee, noun, verb (used with object),-teed, -tee·ing.
su·per·guar·an·tee, noun, verb,-teed, -tee·ing.
un·guar·an·teed, adjective


—Can be confused: guarantee, guaranty, warrantee, warranty

golly i go to "Daily Mass".... That sounds like mental masturbation to me."

1. Mental Masturbation

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Intellectual activity that serves no practical purpose.

We debated and created a perfect system of government, but it was all just mental masturbation, really.

2. Mental Masturbation

The act of engaging in useless yet intellectually stimulating conversation, usually as an excuse to avoid taking constructive action in your life.


Guy 1: "If only I had taken Cindy to my high school prom, I could have fucked her instead of that loser Jeff and then now she would be my girlfriend."

Guy 2: "Dude, stop that mental masturbation right now and go out and meet a new girl!"

3. Mental masturbation



the act of engaging in intelligent and interesting conversation purely for the enjoyment of your own greatness and individuality.

Subjects range from obscure lp's to cultural movements in preindustrial societies.

Either delivered through grand monlogues or subtle conversation orientation, it links large words and random references resulting in nothing acually being communicated.

Though the influence of Ric Okasisk was quite evident within Weezer's blue album, rivers coumo domination of the lyrical form seem quite evident in Pinkerton


4. Mental Masturbation

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Intellectual activity that serves no practical purpose.

Excessively theoretical, and therefore a distraction from more practicable matters.

Dr. Richard Dawkins, noted biological theorist, in response to a student's philosophical question about skeptical attitudes towards science and reality, cited the following anecdote:


James Boswell asked, "... nothing really exists unless there's somebody there to see it.

How do you refute that?"

Samuel Johnson replied, "I refute it thus!", and kicked a stone out of his way.
<\paraphrasing>

Dr. Dawkins, commenting on Boswell's question, and critiquing the attitude:

"If you want to mess about with that sort of mental masturbation, thats fine, but, ... but the science of reality is what gets you through the day, ... and makes things work!"


bullshit mindwank balloon juice hokum nonsense
by The Practical Atheist Dec 12, 2009 share this


5. mental masturbation

In academics it is the practice of using faulty premises to draw a conclusion.

2. The pretense of superior knowledge or intelligence by claiming conjecture, theory, feeling or opinion as fact.

The facts used to describe the cause of Global warming is an exercise in mental masturbation.

mental masturbation false argument mislead misdirection

6. mental masturbation buy mental masturbation mugs, tshirts and magnets

Overly intensive self gratifying procrastination, thought and contemplation for a subject not necessarily warranting such effort.


"Let's quit the mental masturbation here, its a waste of time..."
thought contemplation self gratification intellectual waste time
by Diamond Tee Apr 9, 2009 share this

7. mental masturbation 11 up, 19 down

To perform some activity, typically IT related, where performing the activity gives the performer almost sexual pleasure while doing it, yet nothing of any value or lasting value is produced. Mental masturbation is reasonably acceptable in the privacy of the performer's home, but not on their employer's time.

Mental masturbation may be the reason for overly complicated and hard to understand solutions being implemented in one company, despite simpler and more commonly understood solutions being used at a number of other companies in the same industry.


To work mate, on Monday morning, "Guess what I did over the weekend! I rewrote Linux in FORTAN! Cool huh!"


Workmate, unimpressed, "That sounds like mental masturbation to me."

what have Uuu not been taught as a Roman Catholic