The Unity of the Russian People (Mikhail Khmelko, 1948). It is time for all honest Russians, from all the Russias, to stand in defence of our Lord Christ. Yushchenko spat at him tonight. You know what blasphemers deserve!

Kiev, 26 July 2008 (Interfax):

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is confident that there shall be a united “Local Church” in the Ukraine, as he said Saturday evening in the course of a formal observance in St Sofia in Kiev dedicated to the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. “I believe, that as the truth exists, next to a revived (sic) Ukrainian state there shall be a revived (sic) Ukrainian church, to be the support of its people and of the greater unity of the Orthodox world”, Yushchenko said. He emphasised that the presence in the celebrations of Patriarch Bartholomew and the leaders of the Local Churches “are God’s signs and God’s blessings”. Yushchenko thanked the guests for their valuable spiritual support. “We note the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Russia as a celebration of the spirit, a great day in the life of Christianity and in the life of the European world”, he said.

In turn, Patriarch Bartholomew stated, “the church is a sign of unity. Let us then greet one another with the joy of this holy event” (the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia: Interfax), the patriarch said. According to our Interfax correspondent, the grounds of St Sofia in Kiev were decorated with flowers, and candles in glass candlesticks were placed on the green lawns. More than 900 guests were invited to the formal affair. Amongst the attendees were Arseny Yatsenyuk, the chairman of the parliament, Raisa Bogatyrev, secretary of the National Security Council and Defence, and the first president of the post-Soviet Ukrainian state, Leonid Kravchuk, along with other public figures.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25723 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

TWO figures were missing from this little soirée. Of course, His Holiness Aleksei and His Beatitude Vladimir were not invited. They’re only the canonical bishops with jurisdiction, after all. Black Bart should have refused to attend if the canonical bishop was barred. He came anyway, and that speaks volumes for his treachery. Yushchenko is not only a khokhol, he is a STUPID khokhol, for he did not invite Yuliya Timoshenko! He’s going to rue that one! She’s gonna get even, and she’s gonna get her pound of flesh… Former President Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the patriotic opposition, were also kept out. Gee… shades of the old Soviet Union!

Yushchenko showed himself in contempt of the church tonight. He hates the church’s proper bishops and does not invite them. He invited a foreign hierarch who cannot, under the holy canons, even come to the Ukraine without the permission of the ruling bishop, which I remind all objective people, he refused to secure. Viktor Yushchenko put a dagger to the throat of Christ tonight. I shall not be silent, nor shall I be bullied by autocephalist schismatics such as “Fr Nicholas”. Sir, I shall not allow you and your ilk to rape the Church of Christ. You shall do so over my dead body.

We must clean the icon of Christ of the filth spewed at it by Yushchenko and Bart. I am ready to defend the Church against its sworn enemies, are you? 

"Christian, no matter how difficult it is for you to bear it, yet the corruptions of your heart (that are not yet crucified) the pride, the selfishness, the impatience, the unfaithfulness, the love of the world....(all of which remain to some degree in the best of Christians) require all trials, afflictions, sicknesses and problems that God (in His kindness) can throw at us.

Such weeds as those that grow in the heart require a 'hard frost to rot them'!!  The 'straying bull needs a heavy clog'!!  In the same way, the Christian whom God will keep within His commands and within His place of blessing and service needs afflictions."   -John Flavel

"God's chief design in killing our comforts is to kill our corruptions!  Sanctified afflictions are afflictions lovingly allowed into the lives of believers by our heavenly Father.  These are prescribed by the Great Physician of our souls for purifying our sinful nature.  God cares far more about our eternal heavenly well-being than He does our temporary earthly one.  For God knows:

o Poverty kills pride!

o Public reproach kills public ambitions!

o Needs kill greeds!

So, yield to the work God is trying to do in your current affliction.  God kills our comforts from no other design than to bless us.  Fall in, therefore, with the gracious design of God.  DOn't fight it!  Instead, during every affliction, pray and ask God to follow it with His blessing. 

Happy is the man who understand, approves, and heartily concurs with the design of God in afflicting circumstances."                                                -John Flavel

The Annunciation (Irina Kolbneva, 2000s)

Here is a secular artist's interpretation of a standard iconographic scene.

Assumption Cathedral of the Kievo-Pecherskogo Lavra, Kiev, one of the oldest Russian monasteries

Kiev, 26 July 2008 (Interfax):

Orthodox believers gave an enthusiastic welcome to Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia upon his arrival in Kiev on Saturday after a flight from Moscow, according to our Interfax-Religion correspondent. The streets adjacent to the Kievo-Pecherskogo Lavra were choked with people waiting for His Holiness to arrive. When the Patriarch's motorcade came into view, the crowd began to chant loudly, "Aleksei II… our patriarch!"

The crowd held religious banners, white-blue-red Russian tricolours, and the black-gold-silver flag of the Romanov imperial house, and the majority of those present held large portraits of the patriarch. Some held holding reading, "Autocephaly, go to hell!", "One Triune Russia, One Indivisible Church!" ("Triune Russia": the union of Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus), and "Aleksei II, Our Patriarch”.

When Patriarch Aleksei left the car and walked to the gates of the monastery, people threw flowers at his feet. As the bells of the monastery rang continuously, the patriarch walked through the grounds of the Lavra followed by the members of the Holy Synod of the MP, and bishops and clergy of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church (MP). Applause spontaneously erupted, people stood on tip-toe trying to catch a glimpse of His Holiness, many took photographs of the delegation, and a woman gave Patriarch Aleksei an enormous bouquet of white flowers.

A sustained ovation broke out when the patriarch ascended the steps of a platform set up in the square in front of the monastery's main cathedral. The Patriarch and Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and all the Ukraine (the First Hierarch of the UAOC (MP)) served a molieben asking the intercessions of all the saints glorified in the Kievo-Pecherskogo Lavra.

On Saturday, Patriarch Aleksei came to Kiev to take part in the celebrations honouring the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. At his arrival, he called all Russians and Ukrainians to preserve the unity of the Orthodox faith. “We are here so that amity and unity would be amongst us”, His Holiness said as he deplaned from his airliner at Kiev Borispol Airport. He called all Orthodox believers to “cherish this great gift of unity, to treasure our unity as fraternal Slavic peoples”

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25718 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Interfax! Fire this unpatriotic dweeb! They not only weakened the intensity of this piece, they used language appropriate to a Galician Uniate, not a true-blue red-blooded Russian Orthodox Christian. “Moscow-controlled Ukrainian Orthodox Church”, indeed! It is the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church of the MP, get it right! It is spelled “Kiev”, not “Kyiv”, and no amount of Galician Uniate temper tantrums is going to change that fact. To top it all, it was not only botched, but, incomplete, yet again. 

Here is the URL for the original botched English translation:

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5000 (in English)

When I was reading the original Interfax translation, I noticed that the tone wasn’t right. It had the feel of papist propaganda, such as Asia News. Talking about that tainted source, it claims that Bart has won the whole banana; it is only a matter of time before there is an “autocephalous” “Ukrainian” church, and how Bart & Co hate nationalism. I see… that is why they appoint a Greek who doesn’t speak the local lingo to be “bishop” in Estonia! It had all the earmarks of one of Ioannis Zizoulas’ nasty little missives. I tell my RC friends truly, don’t be taken in by such rubbish. All it shall do is tick us Russians off immensely, and Benedict’s little scheme of meeting Aleksei will go down the chute, permanently.  

His Holiness Aleksei Mikhailovich Rediger (1929- ), Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, First Hierarch of the MP, a modern apostle of Church Unity. May God preserve him!

Kiev, 26 July 2008 (RIA-Novosti):

Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia made a plea for all the peoples of Russia, the Ukraine, and Byelorussia to treasure their spiritual unity as he arrived in Kiev for the celebration of 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. “It is necessary for us to cherish this great gift of unity, to treasure our unity as fraternal Slavic peoples”, Patriarch Aleksei said at a press conference after his deplaning at Borispol Airport in Kiev. “We are here so that amity and unity would be amongst us”, he noted. Then, Patriarch Aleksei greeted all Orthodox Christians in the Ukraine and all the people of Kiev with the joy of the anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. “Without prompting, our thoughts pass to that event that happened 1,020 years ago, the baptism of the Kievans in the Dnepr”, he said.

His Holiness recalled that 20 years ago the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia was celebrated, and, after reflecting on the last 20 years, it is obvious to everyone that church life has radically changed, and multitudes have come to the faith. He thinks that it necessary for all of us to thank the Lord for the fact that the Slavic peoples who were baptized in the common Kiev font preserved their spiritual unity. The patriarch emphasised that most Orthodox believers in the Ukraine, in Russia, and in Byelorussia realise the significance of this anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. “I am glad that on the feastday of Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir that I am going to help serve the Divine Liturgy at the Kievo-Pecherskogo Lavra, and I shall thank the Lord for all His Graces and I shall pray that God’s Blessings would stay with all of us so that we could preserve the most precious gift of all, our Holy Orthodox Faith”, Patriarch Aleksei concluded.

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/religion/20080726/114987593.html (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

It is important to note who was NOT at the airport to greet His Holiness. Yushchenko was not there. That khokhol was squiring Bartholomew about town, showing him a portrait of the convicted OUN murderer (and SS-Sturmbannführer) Roman Shukhevich, saying (God, help us!) that such people were the “salt of the earth”.

Two world-views are colliding in Kiev. One is that of Prince of this World, as typified by Yushchenko and Bartholomew. Yushchenko glorifies those who voluntarily joined the Nazi cause, whilst Bartholomew bows in adoration before the Pope of Rome. Which is worse? Do you wish to be hung or shot? One is still dead... Both wish to create an artificial “church” that is to be founded on the basis of violence and subservience to the state and to Rome.

The other is that of the Church of Christ, of the Church of the Assembly of All the Saints that Shone Forth in the Russian Land and the Assembly of the New Martyrs of the Bolshevik Yoke. Grand Prince St Vladimir of Kiev was the first amongst all the Russian Saints, and Metropolitan St Vladimir of Kiev was the Protomartyr of the Bolshevik Persecution. Therefore, it is going win through in the end, I think, although it may have to pass the fire in order to do so.

There are those who call His Holiness “Drozdov”… I remind them that their “leader” is a deposed cleric who was anathematised for sufficient reason, and the only reason he proclaimed himself “Patriarch of Kiev” is that the MP had the good-sense to reject him.  

Things are not proceeding well, but, there is a while yet left to go in this enterprise. The Cossack bodyguards of Metropolitan Vladimir should watch over His Holiness with care, for there are many unstable sorts amongst the Orangies and Uniates.

God watch over and protect our Holy Patriarch. He has stepped knowingly into his enemies’ citadel. That takes GUTS.

(Image from peoplesgeorgraphy)

The words of poet, philospher and artist Khalil Gibran confronts me today with a lot of wisdom. Since it is a Sunday,let me share them with you. Hope these words inspire you, like they have inspired me, to face the coming challenges ahead:

Say NO to feudalism
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.

Is this the future for Malaysians?
Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes.

Religious tolerance
I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.

To the murderer of innocent lives
If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved.

For those who love freedom
Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

If you believe another government, other than BN/UMNO is possible
March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path.

The perfect leader
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Human rights
Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.

Justice and mercy
The just is close to the people's heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God.

(For those wondering if you could trust) Anwar Ibrahim?
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

Countries who love to go to war
Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!

"There is as much joy in the heart of God when He forgives, as there is in the heart of the sinner when he is forgiven. God is as blessed in giving as we are in receiving." -Charles Spurgeon

"The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion." -Numbers 14:18 NIV

-Scott Bailey 2008

"Father, forgive me in the areas that I have been bored with You and desired entertaining to get me to listen. May I be so satiisfied when the entertainment is not there and it is only You. Help me, O Lord, to demonstrate in my life daily a God so real that no one could ever be bored with You." AMEN

A woman accepted Christ as her savior and Lord from reading a single sermon page of Charles Spurgeon's that was wrapped around her butter. Another person working high in the rafters of the church accepted Christ as Spurgeon was testing the acoustics with a single gospel sentence.

God is sovereign in the affairs of His people and draws those chosen to Him.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (1954- ) with Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul (1940- ) of the EP. Is this an incipient schism in the offing. God help us all, these two are Uniates in all but name. 

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko asked the Ecumenical Patriarch on Saturday to give his blessing his plans for a national church independent of the MP. The president's request to Bartholomew, who is in Kiev for celebrations marking the 1,020th anniversary of the adoption of Orthodox Christianity in Kievan Russia, is likely to further anger Russia, which has resisted the plans of some in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to break away from the MP.

"I believe that a national self-governing church will emerge in the Ukraine, and I ask your holiness for your blessing for our dreams, for truth, for hope, for our country”, Yushchenko told the Orthodox spiritual leader (sic) at a service in the capital. The patriarch did not directly comment on the issue, but spoke of "maintaining church unity". A rival Ukrainian church was formed after the break-up of the Soviet Union. However, only the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church (MP), which is part of the MP, is recognised in world Orthodoxy.

Russia has been angered by attempts to sideline the MP in the present celebrations in the Ukraine, and the removal of posters depicting Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia, who will be arriving in Kiev later on Saturday. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest against the "lack of respect" being shown in the Ukraine to the MP and its millions of believers. Kiev Patriarchy (a rebel schismatic body led by a deposed and anathematised MP cleric: editor’s note) officials have recently stepped up contacts with the EP, seeking "to return the Ukraine to the Mother Church”. The drive has been actively backed by President Yushchenko and other top officials against a backdrop of tensions in relations with Russia.

The Christianisation of Kiev dates from late 988, when Prince St Vladimir the Great was baptised at Chersonesos, in the Crimea. He then baptised his family and people in Kiev and destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods.

26 July 2008

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080726/114982557.html (in English)

Editor’s Note:

It is still too early in the game for any optimism. As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”. It is not over yet. This is a good first move, but, Bart is on Yushchenko’s home court. As another saying has it, “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings”. I am waiting for the final aria…

Kazuya Akimoto Art Museum

named and added to gallery #10,2008  at Kazuya Akimoto Art Museum

"White Fish Angel, rushing in where fools fear to tread"

acrylics 21"x18"

lisited in New Paintings  2008

Today's Keyword

within Museum paintings

"white, abstract white, white color symbolism"

latest contents: "white"

related keywords : black, red, blue green yellow color symbolsim

]]> http://timelytidbits.wordpress.com/?p=186 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:18:32 +0000 Theresa Lisiecki http://timelytidbits.wordpress.com/?p=186 Last night a colleague and I enjoyed a wonderful evening at the theater.  The production was Beauty and the Beast and it was very well done.  I watched the movie with my daughter when she was much younger.  It was actually a very significant and poignant fable for me years ago because I saw beyond the cute cartoon and great songs to a deeper meaning.  I wish I could say that I identified with Belle (the beautiful but misunderstood, kind hearted damsel in distress), but I didn't.  It was the beast that captured my imagination.  You see I adopted that fairy tale as my hope and guide.  The challenge for the beast was to learn how to love AND to be loved in return and he would be released from the spell and reclaim his beauty.  Do I have to say more?  It supported the already ingrained idea that my release, the solution to my problems were held in the palm of someone elses hand.  Now you know why my life has gotten so messed up.

Recently I saw another fable story made into a movie that I believe is more true to the heart.  Penelope.  Its the story of a girl who receives a family curse and is born with a pig face.  To break the course she must find love.  Now everyone, including me, interpreted this to mean get married.  It was when she learned to stand up for, love and accept herself that the curse was broken.  Now that is my new guide... sorta.

How do you think God approaches these situations?  Inner verses outer beauty?  Not that I have done an extensive search I do strongly suspect that God values the inner virtues far more then any out appearance.  Think about it.  What will the final judgement be?  A beauty contest?  I don't think so!  And those challenges and questions we receive before the throne -- "Did you spend thousands of dollars on cosmetics and surgery to get the best you?"  I don't thing so.  Both the virtues held up as our challenge and goals and the deadly sins we are to avoid have to do with our interior life.  This outside is simply a shell.  All unique and hold their own sort of beauty.

There is another thought or direction to go with in looking at both of these stories.  We all are born with "warts" and "blemishes" in our lives; interior ones.  Impatience, controling, undisciplined....  Both the beast and Penolope showed an outer manifestation of an inner troubled soul which made them "ugly".  Their challenge was to learn to love themselves, "warts" and all, -- to learn to accept themselves so that others can see past their problem to the heart of who they are.  Have you ever met someone who doesn't like themselves?  The way they walk, talk and carry themselves screams "I A LOOSER!"  It takes a lot of work to get past that.  I am learning that working to love and accept ourselves is parimont.  Some are lucky to learn this in childhood while the rest of us have to struggle against a history of scars.  Thats why there is another challenge for the rest of the world.

We need to stop celebrating physical beauty and holding up as the icon we seek to acceive in life.  My daughter looks through a teen magazine and is bombarded with a thousand images of what she should look like.  God forbid she should be 5 pounds overweight or have a zit on her face!  Does God want us healthy and happy?  Obsolutely!  Is my being overweight a problem for God?  Yes, I believe so in that it is an outer manifestation of an inner lack of discipline.  I believe God calls us to live the fullest life we can and that means working on our inner virtues and vices which includes our outer challenges.  But God does not love me any less because I don't fit into a size 3 dress. 

Let us love one another as God loves -- simply because.  I remain, your servant in Christ,

Theresa

Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, the second-ranking Greek patriarch. His absence rains on Bart's parade. Good-oh!

Moscow, 25 July 2008 (Radio Radonezh):

Patriarch and Catholicos Ilya II of Georgia does not plan to go the celebrations marking the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia in the Ukraine, Interfax-Religion reported, citing an article in the newspaper Komersant. Instead, a delegation led by Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdid and Tsaish shall go, the newspaper reported. Vladyki Gerasim stated, “On the days when the Kiev festivities are taking place, the Patriarch of Alexandria is visiting Georgia. This is a historical visit, of course, and has been long in the works. Thus, Patriarch Ilya’s schedule has been set for some time, and there is no way we can change it”.

Radio Radonezh

http://www.radonezh.ru/new/?ID=7781 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Hmm… come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly. Originally, in Kiev, the only ruling hierarchs expected were Patriarch Aleksei and Metropolitan Vladimir. Then, Bart “summoned” all the ruling hierarchs of the Local Churches to Kiev. It looks like Bart’s little love feast is being rained upon. The heads of three of the Local Churches, Cyprus, Georgia, and Alexandria have refused his “summons”. God willing, it shall cause Black Bart to pull away from the brink. Truly, the Church does not need such a dispute, not for the sake of the parvenu Yushchenko. Gotta give the Georgians credit, they did it in such a way that Bart has to SMILE. God bless the Georgians, they did right.

Ministry conference went very well. The keynote speaker was Dave Olson who is involved in the ministry of the Swedish Covenant Church in the United States. In his lectures, he focused on Church planting, and the need for the church to have a better understanding of the 'gospel of Jesus Christ', and apply the gospel the needs of the community. Short version is that the gospel is all about healing. Olson spoke about how our society does not know how to speak the language of love, For him, the gospel is about not only 'forgiveness of sins, but also the healing of relationships, of communities, and personal growth and healing. The gospel is that God is healing the world, including individuals, through the work and ministry of Jesus Christ -- and Christians have been given the opportunity to not only enjoy the healing, but share in the ministry. (Olsen gave five areas where the gospel affects the ministry of the Church, which allowed for a ministry that both meets the needs of the community while remaining Christian, and criticized recent American Christianity for limiting the gospel, and making Jesus an after thought. I look forward to getting a copy of the transcripts, because I have been looking for ways of better understanding a Christ-centered ministry.) Olson of course also sold his book, which gives an overview of his experience working with church planting. It was wonderful to learn from him and hear his ideas, even the ones that do not seem applicable.

One thing he did in a small group that was very enlightening is he named three things that Church people take with them in their approach to their involvement. He named spirituality, social aspects, and the planners. He separated us into the three groups, based on these ways of interacting with the church, and spoke with the groups and the whole about working together and the dangers of tunnel vision. This provided the scary idea that I might have to work with those crazy people who are always needing a new project, though I cannot see why, or even worse those intimidating people who are always making a party. Personally, I think every attempt to pidgin-hole people is an oversimplification, however, the basic thought that I need people who are strong in places where I am not is most helpful. It is helpful to know that #1: I cannot do it all, and #2: not every one needs to have my strength [spirituality] as a qualification for sharing his strengths as well.

I greatly appreciated that Olson considered both the theological and the practical side of Church Growth and planting. He pointed out that a person can build a community that has fellowship, and does a lot of good work, but is not Christian. It is an open secret that I listen to passionate people, and I consider possibilities. As of today, it is an open secret that I've wanted to be involved in a church plant that focuses on the needs of people who might otherwise join Mycroft's Diogenes club. Part of me has the unrealistic hope of getting them more connected with the wider community, but the big hope is to provide a safe place with trust, openness, perhaps a majority of the time would be precious silence but a true fellowship that includes sharing and building relationships. Churches tend to treat individuals as if they must be just like everyone else, but the fringe members of society need Jesus too -- my heart wants to look for a way to both provide a place for them within the realm of the Christian community, and help bring healing and dialog and God willing, acceptance.

Brad Carpenter, brother to Jeff Carpenter who is on staff at my home meeting and "missionary" to Rwanda gave another presentation that taught us that the Gospel that Paul taught and that Jesus brought is a healing of society, the earth, the individual and relationships. We spoke a lot about Jesus, and his interaction with people and how he brought healing and social restoration to the outcasts of the world, to foreigners, to everyone. He gave healing, and he praised faith. Brad talked about how sin has damaged the world around us, sin has destroyed our relationships, sin is the root cause of our environmental damage, sin is the cause of our relationship problems. Christs healing can restore individuals, relationships, and the earth itself. We discussed our responsibility, the love we had for each other [ideally], and the need to find healing that takes down the divisions between us. Brad mentioned the challenge of working with the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Friends in Rwanda have decided that the meetings would be integrated, this means that part of shared worship is learning to forgive neighbors for past arguments.

Of course, there was social time, more workshops, discussing theology, philosophy, friends family, looking at baby pictures, and sharing general love and passion. There were more sessions, talking about living simply, Hinduism [did not attend, I listened to Olson instead], and of course the ever popular discussion on how to live the Quaker testimonies of integrity, peace, community, simplicity, and equality -- also the relevance that these principles have on living in this world. Over all the process was valuable, and I have a lot that I brought home with me. The most important thing I brought home with me is the sense that I had the opportunity to share faith with a community of Christians, this fellowship warms my heart and strengthens my resolve to continue my path to salvation and healing.

Appendix:

This is a resume of guests who shared their work and faith:

Related schools with representatives:

Friends University
Barclay College
Wichita Friends Schools

Ministries with yearly meeting oversight, but not micromanaged:
Camp Quaker Haven
Evangelical Friends Mission

The ever present Political Action committee

and the boarding house in Washington DC

What does it mean to be Christian, and live a godly life? Ask around today, and you'll get several different answers: be good, don't do bad stuff, go to church, be tolerant and love everyone, be excusive and follow only Jesus. Who's got the right ideas? Who's up the garden path?

            In Jesus day, the religious leaders know what it was to be godly. At least they thought they knew. They had regulations for every aspect of their lives that they could tick off to make sure they were following God. It sounded good in theory, but it left Jesus unimpressed. Hence we come to Jesus' ­Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon we learn that living Christian lives isn't about ticking boxes to stay in God's good books. It's an ongoing process of becoming more and more like God and continually moving in the direction of holiness. It's a sermon that turned religious protocol and expectation upside down in Jesus' day, and if we're honest, it does the same today. That's why we can understand Jesus instructions to us as living life upside down. It's a sermon that challenges our expectations of the Christian life, and stretches us to live accordingly.

Prayer

Basis for Prayer: Psalm 32

Lord, often we don't rejoice in the things you rejoice in, and the things we do rejoice in your often despise. Yet you have drawn us into a relationship with us, and call each one of us ‘friend''. Help us to see life from your perspective. Help us understand what Jesus taught. And help us live our lives upside-down.

In Jesus name we pray.

Living life upside-down

Read: Matthew 5:1-10 

Going by worldly standards, who would you say the lucky people are? People with money and possessions? People who have extraordinary abilities? People who are famous? People who are powerful? People with a high education? It's these kinds of people who the world calls lucky. But Jesus comes along and turns this way of thinking upside down. Jesus says no! It's actually the lowly people, the down-and-outers, those who are doing it tough that are lucky. And it's not just that they are lucky, they are blessed by God. They have God's approval. They have God's thumbs up.

So who are these people, and how is it that the unlucky are actually lucky? Jesus gives 9 characteristics of these people and gives reasons for them being blessed. The first 4 consider how the person relates to God, and the following 5 considers how the same person relates to the world.

The poor in spirit are those who recognise their helplessness. They know they can't compete with the fast pace of the world. As such, these people don't live by the standards of the world. These people long for the things of heaven and not the things of the world. It is by Jesus himself that people can enjoy the things of heaven.

Those who mourn are those who know they're not worthy of God because of they're sin. This is a wild statement to make because in Jesus' day, plenty of people did things to make sure they didn't sin and therefore we're worthy of God - or so they thought. The reality is no one can ever be good for God. What God wants is for people to understand that, and cast themselves on his mercy. Because in God's mercy, he sent Jesus to take away our sins so we would be good enough for God. It's not about what we can do, but what God has done.

The meek are those who don't seek revenge for wrong done to them. Has anyone had someone do something wrong to you? Of course! We all have. And the first thing we want to do is get back at them, right? But Jesus says no! It doesn't really matter because God owns the whole earth anyway, and can give it to who ever he pleases. Squabbling over this and that doesn't do anyone any favours because it's all just temporary. We stand to loose it one day. But those who long for heaven, and depend on God's mercy, they'll inherit the whole earth. Again it is Jesus who makes this possible.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are like those who mourn. They want to live the way God wants but they know they can't. Despite all attempts not to sin, they keep on doing the same old thing. Jesus says that they will be filled with righteousness. This will happen because Jesus will become their righteousness. Jesus will be righteous on their behalf. So instead of depending on their selves for righteousness, where there's none to be found for anyone, they will depend on Jesus who is righteous.

The merciful are those who don't bare grudges - sounds a bit like the meek, doesn't it? They have a forgiving spirit, and love those who are suffering. Jesus says that the same kind of mercy we show others is the same mercy God will show us.

Those who are pure in heart are those who are honest and want to worship God in truth - consistent with the Bible. Many people today want to make God out of what they think, and in Jesus' day, outward appearance were all that matter. Truth was dispensable. Not so with Jesus. Truth and purity were a great priority. And it just makes sense. If our hope is in heaven, if we mourn over sin in our lives, if we're dependent on God for mercy and righteousness, then surely we want to know God as he really is and respond to him properly. In this way, those who are pure in heart will not only know God, but they will see God.

The peacemakers are pretty straight forward. They're the ones making peace. But it's more than that. God is already at work in the world to bring the world back to himself. This is called reconciliation, and God is doing this through the person of Jesus. So the peacemakers aren't just running around saying "don't fight!" They are doing the very work of God to bring people together in a proper relationship with God and each other. As such, these people will become sons of God, as surely as Jesus is THE Son of God.

The main point to all this is we need to have our focus on God. If we think we're someone, and we can somehow earn our way to God, and we're somehow more important then other people, and others owe us respect, then we'll be focussing on ourselves, and only be giving lip service to God. That's why Jesus doesn't call the rich, or the able body ‘lucky', because they have no reason to look beyond themselves. But if we've come to that point where we know we can't depend on ourselves, there's every reason to look beyond ourselves and the world. It is then we realise and there's nothing in this world worth arguing and squabbling over, like two seagulls over a potato chip. Instead, we'll be focussed on God and his purposes. That's what makes us blessed, because it is that relationship with God that really matters.

© The Student’s Desk, 2008.

Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan of Kiev and all the Ukraine (1935- ). Pray for him, as he under attack by Orangies, Uniates, Schismatics, and America. What a cross this man carries!

The spiritual leader (sic) of the Eastern Orthodox faith called Friday for religious unity within Ukraine and carefully hinted at possible independence for the local church, which is trying to move away from the powerful Russian patriarch, according to AP. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is visiting the Ukraine for three days of celebrations marking the 1,020th anniversary of this region’s conversion to Christianity.

However, the event risks turning into a fierce political battle between Kiev, which is eager to win independence from Moscow for the local church, and the powerful Russian Orthodox Church fighting to maintain its influence over this nation of 46 million. "We came to here to pray together with you for the unification of all Orthodox Christians in the Ukraine into a single church, a church of your people, a church of your country”, Bartholomew said at a festive welcoming ceremony at the airport. "We came as angels of peace, those who strive for unity, freedom and peace”. In a bow to Moscow, Bartholomew also thanked Russian Patriarch Aleksei II for the opportunity "to mark this wonderful occasion together”.

Bartholomew’s visit is an important victory for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who is trying to establish an independent Orthodox church in his country. It is the first time the spiritual leader (sic) of the world’s Orthodox believers has visited Ukraine in 350 years. Bartholomew’s references to "a church of your country" and "angels of freedom" were interpreted by Ukrainians as support for their own church.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church complained they were shut out of the preparations. Patriarch Aleksei II is expected to arrive at the festivities Saturday. Experts (!) (sic) say that the Ukrainian church is bound to attain independence in the long run. However, an abrupt decision could lead to a deep split between Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church, which claims 95 million out of the world’s 250 million Orthodox believers and is the biggest in the world (As per usual, the Ukrainian Orangies get it wrong. There are 140 million faithful in the MP. We are two-thirds of Orthodoxy: editor’s note).

Efforts to win autonomy have split the Ukrainian church, with two breakaway churches setting themselves up since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Both churches are smaller than the Russian-affiliated church in the Ukraine, which claims up to 28 million believers here.

25 July 2008

UNIAN News Agency

http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-263610.html (in English)

Editor’s Note:

I have been trying to stay away from this story most of today. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I do not wish to bore you with a concentration on one topic to the exclusion of all others. Secondly, it is shaping up into being a train wreck of colossal proportions. Black Bart is living up to his name, I am afraid.

Unfortunately, Bart has convinced the western media that he is the “head” of Orthodoxy. Sadly, there are Roman Catholics who believe it. If Bart goes through with this lunatic suggestion of his, they are going to find out otherwise.

I am VERY apprehensive over tomorrow. Yushchenko is not playing with a full deck, and the chances of an attempted violent act against His Holiness Aleksei or His Beatitude Vladimir are too high for comfort. I wish that His Holiness would cancel this trip. At the least, he is going to be humiliated by Bart and Yushchenko. If I had the opportunity, this is what I would say, “Your Holiness, please stay in Moscow! Don’t glorify Bart and Yushchenko with your presence”.

I was depressed by all of this yesterday. If anything, I am sadder today. I see a beast rising from the sea, and I can do nothing to avert its ravening. However, let me assure both Bart and Yushchenko, if you provoke us, you shall see what sort of people we are. Draw back from the brink, if you will. I fear that such is not to be, though… 

Speakers include Bill Johnson, Cindy Jacobs, Stacey Campbell and Jim Goll.  Todd is speaking for 3 nights, July 26, 27, and 28. 

Is Todd Bentley preparing to open a new portal for angelic visitations in Pasadena?   Is it just me or does anyone else see the Freemasonic / Knights Templar connection to these meetings - "33 nights" and 33 degrees? 

As Knight of Malta Rick Joyner said over Todd at his "commissioning service":

" God has sent you as an antidote for the lukewarm spirit. You have unstopped the well here…there are more wells to unstop...oil wells that will catch on fire!

And this word by  Josh Fowler:   

“Todd, the Lord has made you to be a detonator, I see cables going around the world to different nations;  I see great Britain being set ablaze by the power of God;  I see that even as you go into places that God says that you will go even with the glory like William Branham and the Lord says you’ll carry a portal anointing and whatever city you go over there will be a portal, there will be a portal that will be opened up says the Lord, and the Lord says you’ll detonate and boom, boom, boom, there will be release of glory, through the nations, says the spirit of the Lord.” 

Todd has been talking about open portals / gates all along:

This is an ad for a "teaching" series that is advertised on Todd's Fresh Fire web site:

Spiritual Gates, Doors and Portals – CD 1

"On this CD, Todd will give clarification, both through the Word of God and by sharing amazing personal experiences, how spiritual gates, doors and portals trigger supernatural encounters with God. Using Jacob’s life as an example, Todd will teach you how to position yourself for a holy visitation from God."

This is just rediculous.  This is pseudo-christian new age mumbo jumbo that unfortunately too many people are buying.  But apparently Peter Wagner and his ilk have been spewing the same thing for years:

 
Peter Wagner’s web site said, “This is a year to open the gates. Most of us think that the gate is a physical place that will appear in front of you. However, the first gate we must go through is Heaven’s Gate! This is where we enter boldly into the Throne Room and receive super-abounding grace so we can leap through the place of the “new” in the earth! Consequently, on we will be convening a gathering in Dearborn to open the gate of change to realign the nations. Speakers include Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Barbara Yoder, Pat Francis, and Cindy Jacobs."

First of all, does anyone even ask the obivious question "what are they even talking about?"  Realign the nations???   Align must be Peter Wagner's favorite word.... I mean that's what he did to Todd Bentley when he commissioned him.  But Bentley has boasted that there was an open portal over Lakeland.  He even talked about building a permanent building to house the "revival".   

This is a quote from the Lakeland "revival" web site:

There is an open heaven over Lakeland
06/08/08

Lakeland is an epicenter… There is a portal that is open and it will never close! Lakeland is called as a “hub” It is meant to connect all over the world to those that are hungry. Revival “hubs” ... fires burning continuously all over the earth! God is pouring out in this hour is the wine and only those regions that have the wineskin... and apostolic wineskin... that God is going to begin to move on revival “hubs”. And He wants to connect all the revival “hubs”!  See more at: Revival-vision Lakeland-Outpouring!

 Guess it never happened because now he's taking his show on the road.   In total contradiction he now says: "Where once the revival hubs seemed to stay put, sometimes for years,—the Lord is telling us, “Move, walk the land, move the Ark of My Glory.”

And here's an even stranger connection.   L Ron Hubbard and his partner Jack Parsons attempted to open a portal in 1946 in Pasadena, California (where Todd Bentley is going to be this weekend to open gates and portals with Che Ahn)  to release the woman Babylon, which is talked about in the book of Revelation. 

"According to occult lore, the Portal (Alistar Crowley's) was further enlarged by a Jet Propulsion Laboratory founder and rocket fuel scientist named Jack Parsons, and Scientology and Dianetics founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1946, facilitating - so it is said - a monumental paradigm shift in human consciousness.  This Magickal working was called the Babylon Working, and like the Amalantrah Working (Crowley's ritual) on which its ritual was patterned, it was based on ceremonial sex magick. 

Together they "endeavoured to ... incarnate a physical aspect of Babylon, the Scarlet Woman of the Book of Revelations (17:3-6).  They believed that Babylon was the herald of the new Age of Horus, and that Revelations was the understandably negative interpretation by those of the dying Age of Osiris."

The gist of it was that Parsons desired to take the spirit of Babylon, the "Whore of Babylon," and invest it in a human being.  The idea was to create a child in the spiritual world, and then call down the spiritual baby and direct it into a human womb.  When born, this child would incarnate the forces of Babylon, which they considered to be a good thing. 

In any event, the rites were duly performed as written from January 4th to 15th of that year.  It is not known if a spiritual child was enwombed from them.  What is known is that the Magickal Portal first created by Crowley, and which originally let Lam into the earth-world, was reestablished with considerable intensity by Parsons and Hubbard.  From the diaries of the participants, it is also clear that they were not as adept as Crowley in the closings of portals.  What they seemed to have accomplished was the drastic enlargement and ripping of an existing Magickal Portal and the subsequent non-closure of it.  Perhaps the rip they created was not possible to close.  In any event, the modern UFO era began exactly a year and a half later on June 24th, 1947, with Kenneth Arnold's sighting over the Cascade Mountains in Washington State."

www.boudillion.com/lam/lam.htm 

"The purpose of the series of ceremonies performed by Parsons and Hubbard was to unseal an interdimensional gateway, that had been sealed in antiquity thereby allowing other dimensional entities known as the 'Old Ones' access to our space/time continuum. The culmination of the ceremonies was reported to have been successful, having resulted in the establishment of 'extra-terrestrial contact'..."  http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/UFOs/demons_aliens_clothes.htm

And June 23rd 2008, on the eve of the modern UFO era, Todd Bentley was 'commissioned' in another occult ritual.  (see my blogs on the occult symbolism in Todd Bentley's commissioning service http://truthspeaker.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/todd-bentleys-occult-commissioning-service-part-3-william-branham-anointing-and-the-knights-of-malta/). 

One has to beg the question, who and what are the entities that Bob Jones, Todd Bentley and now Peter Wagner are trying to bring into the earth realm through their open gates and portals?  If Todd Bentley's "angels" are not of God, then who are they?  Can anyone say Genesis 6?? 

i loosened up early with some aleve and a beer at the beginning.  not easy to just grab a beer at 7am.  i didn't see anybody else with one so I grabbed a little mini 1beer cooler from my bad (that looks like a golf bag) and put the cold beer in it and placed it on my bag.  pretty slick i thought.  i had a few as we traversed the course and i was happy with a few shots.  a lot of guys from work were there since it was benefitting a memorial garden at the office.  it's nice to get out and spend some recreation time with guys that usually you just talk about work with.

i hadn't golfed since last summer and the rust was definitely showing.  none the less, i had a great time.

i'm working the church bazaar at my parish this weekend.  i need to grab a quick shower before heading out so you all take care and enjoy the weekend.

His Beatitude Vladimir Sabodan (1935- ), Metropolitan of Kiev and all the Ukraine, First Hierarch of the canonical UAOC (MP). The cossacks are there to guard him from Orange and Uniate fanatics.

Editor’s Foreword:

In light of coming events in Kiev, I wished to find something recent written by Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, the canonical hierarch involved. A friend in Russia suggested this piece, and I think it fills the bill. Indeed, what Metropolitan Vladimir says has resonance far beyond the boundaries of Eastern Europe.

******

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the present stage of her development faces many threats because of the current development trends in the Ukrainian society, said His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and all the Ukraine in his report presented at the 2008 Archpastoral Council, mentioning nationalism, secularisation, and consumerism as particular threats.

The ideology of nationalism, popular because of the processes of national revival and the gaining of statehood, reached its peak in the 1990s, Metropolitan Vladimir said. Those who adhere to this ideology criticise the canonical relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Moscow Patriarchate and their common prayers, claiming that these make the Ukraine's independence impossible. “Nationalist-minded politicians accused us of many things, using all kinds of means to make the life and ministry of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as difficult as possible. We lived in the context of an informational blockade; they tried to call our Church 'anti-Ukrainian’ and took away our church buildings and property unlawfully”. The Church courageously opposed the ideology of nationalism and willingly participated in the processes of national revival of the Ukraine; Metropolitan Vladimir emphasised and continued, “We have become the genuine Chur