In preparation for the class that I will be starting in September, I spent the majority of the evening at REV Coffee studying the origins and general timeline of the Old Testament, from Abraham's departure from Ur to the Intertestamental Period.
The material covered not just a summary of events, but also the general history of how the Old Testament came to be in its present form from its stories in oral tradition to being collected into a canonical text.

The Lost Gospels, BBC Documentary

Interesting BBC documentary on the lost gospels of early Christianity.

On YouTube in 9 parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L7cQ3BrD5U

This I believe...

This train of though started back on 11/28/10, and has been added to at various times since then, and will continue to be added to, subtracted from, and modified as time progresses. These thoughts are stream of consciousness drives, and fall in no particular order.

I believe that God is not a He or a She or even an It. God IS. God is the ultimate IS-NESS.
I believe that we have to quantify God in order for our minds to understand and relate to "Him." (My use of the word "Him" is for convenience sake, and not a statement of the gender of the man or of the Infinite.)

I believe in the Angels and Archangels as creations of God. Sparks of the infinite, willed into existence for a specific purpose.

I believe that the universe came into being through the First Postulate (First Thought, First Word).

I believe that God gave us Christ through Jesus to teach us the way of peace, brotherhood, forgiveness and unity.

I believe that "salvation" comes not only from accepting Jesus's death for our sins, but in truly understanding Christ's resurrection, and the teachings that came before and after.

I believe that Hell (the act, not the place) is created by the sinner as punishment for their own shortcomings.

I believe in Heaven (The Ultimate state if Isness) as the ultimate goal of the Spirit of Man.

I believe that The Bible,  a compilation of stories, histories, mythologies, and inspired works; inspired by God, but written my man, and authorized by man; is meant to serve as a handbook for living a better life.

I believe that other "inspired works," that were systematically removed from the canon of scripture and ultimately (mostly) destroyed, are worthy of historical, academic, and spiritual consideration.

I believe that God helps those who help themselves. I believe that we have been shown the way, but it is up to us to act upon it.
I do not believe that God or Christ would have us surrender our strength, our free-will, or our sense of personal responsibility.

I believe that "Evil" was created in the universe long before The Fall.
I believe that "The Devil" as we have come to call it, is the antithesis of the Holy Spirit.


I believe that man does not necessarily need "The Devil" to do evil. Some men are capable of committing atrocities that would make even "The Devil" blush.

I believe that God created Man in His own image, and Man, being the gentleman that he is, returned the favor.

To be continued.... always...

The way Some People Think, CCC

If we all lived as though the Lord WAS coming, we would all be a whole lot nicer to each other.

In a nut-shell...

It is interesting, going back through the journal that I have been keeping for the last few years, how some of my viewpoints have changed. Some of them in major ways, some of them very subtly. **All posts prior to this moment (and this moment... and this moment...) are subject to change in perspective without notice (although I will try to keep up with them as best I can.)**

I thought it might be pertinent to give a little background information on who I am and why I am doing this.
I was raised in a non religious family. Both of my parents (my Mom and Step Dad) are agnostic. I spent my summers in New York (with my Dad and Step Mom) from the age of six to sixteen in a Hindu Ashram.
I went to church occasionally as a child; Catholic Church when I would spend the weekend at my best friends house, and Southern Baptist church when I would spend time with any of my varied grand and great-grandparents.
As a teenager, I started studying the occult, and western European pagan religions. I spent well over fifteen years as a practicing Wiccan/Pagan, going so far as to very nearly completing formal studies to become a Wiccan High Priest.
I was introduced to Scientology in in the late 90's, and found that it changed my perspectives on things. A lot of Scientology makes sense, and there are still a lot of its premises and practices that I still adhere to. (You may be surprised at how much Scientology has in common with the underlying ideas of paganism and even Christianity). I left off being an active Scientologist due to my disagreements with the church's administration.
In the Spring of 2007, I had an incident (or a series of incidents) that changed everything, both in my spiritual life and in my physical life (more on this in a future post). This led me, over the last five years, over a very rocky path to where I am now.
Ultimately, this journal will go back to that first incident in the Spring of 2007, in hopes that I may make some sort of sense of it all.
I am not here to preach the Gospel. I am not here to proselytize. I am here to talk about my experiences. Perhaps through others reading this blog, they will provide insight that will further my spiritual journey. And perhaps my experiences will help others with theirs.

Just a note...

After posting several back dated entries, and updating my blog description, I realized that I am feeling a little defensive about this. I have many friends who are Christan, and many who are of other faiths and practices. Someone said to me today; "I can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be for you, and the rest, to deal with the public perception...". It is not "the public" that I am uncomfortable with. The Public does not know my faith. I am much more uncomfortable sharing this with my friends. Some of my experiences may be seen as unconventional, or even unbelievable. But I am doing it anyway, in hopes that I may gain some insight from my loving and caring friends.
That's all I've got for now. I'm going to bed.

Am I/I am a Christian./?

If I had to base my belief as a Christian on the image projected by high-profile media political and pop-culture Christians, I could not be one. Gandhi once said: "I like your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." I try to life my life day based on my understanding of God and Christ. Not other peoples interpretation of God and Christ.

From the depths of Heaven
My soul falls to the
Heights of Hell.
I stand here on my mountain top
starring up at the diamond studded,
black velvet underside of Heaven.
Milton once told me that it was "Better to reign than to serve."
What do I reign over now? Who do I now serve?

What is the Truth about God?
Who decided what the Truth about God was?