Chronological New Testament

A chronological New Testament is not only about sequence, but also about chronological context -- the context-in-time, the historical context in which each document was written. Words have their meaning within their temporal contexts, in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole.

Seeing and reading the New Testament in chronological sequence matters for historical reasons. It illuminates Christian origins. Much becomes apparent:

Chronological New Testament

Denial

"It is equally as dangerous to deny the supernatural, as it is to immediately jump to it as an explanation."

From a conversation with Celeste regarding the necessity/reality of exorcism in the modern world. 

The Practice of Spiritual Awakening

Another presentation from Ted Nottingham.

It's simple really...

"The theology of Christian mysticism is simple. God is love. You are created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, be love. Got it?" ~Carl McColman

Praying for Satan

"But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed a friend yet had not a single one, the one sinner among us all who had the highest and clearest right to every Christian's daily and nightly prayers, for the plain and unassailable reason that his was the first and greatest need, he being among sinners the supremest?"  -Mark Twain

I think it is an excellent and thought provoking point. But before we (being I in the Royal Plural) jump headlong into the fray, let us clarify a few points:
  1. Satan is not an entity. It is a title. More correctly, it is ha-Satan, or "opposer, accuser, or adversary" in Hebrew. You will find in the Scriptures that this is on office in the celestial hierarchy (Divine Council) (See Job 1).
  2. The fallen angel that see seem to be referring to here is commonly known as Satan, the Devil, or Lucifer. None of these are quite correct. As previously mentioned, Satan, or ha-Satan is an office of state. The word Devil comes from the Greek "diabolos, which means "slanderer" or "accuser." Lucifer is 4th century Vulgate Latin for "shining one" or "morning star." It has a long and rather complicated etymology, but ultimately stems from a reference made in the scriptures of Judaic Enochian mythology. The bottom line here is that neither Judaic not Christian Scripture actually NAME the First of the Fallen, so we are forced to rely on the extrapolative interpretation of pre-Christian and early Christian writers. For the Sake of argument though, we will call our antagonist, Satan, as it fits in with our original missive.

So what we have here is an Angel. An Archangel. Perhaps God's first and most powerful angel. An Archangel who strays from its purpose and aspires to power. Aspires to the Throne of God. War breaks out in Heaven, and ultimately Satan and His followers (1/3rd of the Angelic Host) are defeated and cast out of Heaven, and into the outer darkness. Into the Chaos. Later, we will call this Gehenna, then even later, Hell. So, if you properly understand your scriptures, then you will understand that Hell is not a place, but a state of being. The state of being in separation from God. So here we have Satan, cast out of Heaven, and therefore separated from God, therefore in...Hell. And I rather suspect that he is pissed. And being an angel, an immortal creation, time and space have no real significance to him, so he will stay pissed for a very long time. So who is he going to take it out on? Us humans. God's most loved creation. Raised in status above all of the Angels of Heaven. He is going to continue to fulfill his role as "The Adversary", only now he is going to do it on his own terms. (This metaphore is best saved for another discussion).

So, before I get too far afield... Should we pray for Satan? Would we be praying for the redemption of what we believe to be an entity, the ultimate embodiment of evil, here on Earth to corrupt the hearts and souls of man? Or would we be praying for a Fallen Angel, a lost sheep, one who is blinded by his misguided anger, so that he might once again see the light and the love of God, and want to go home? Or would we be praying for an idea? The idea of the redemption of everything on Earth that stands between the Human Spirit and the perfect reunification with God?  Can you forgive Satan enough to pray for him?  I don't know if praying for Satan can help. But I do know that it cannot hurt. I know that I will.

Thoughts from the Firefly

Book: What are we up to, sweetheart?
River: Fixing your Bible.
Book: I, um... [alarmed] What?
River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logistics - doesn't make sense.
[she's marked up the bible, crossed out passages and torn out pages]
Book: No, no. You-you-you can't...
River: So we'll integrate non-progressional evolution theory with God's creation of Eden. Eleven inherent metaphoric parallels already there. Eleven. Important number. Prime number. One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one... Noah's ark is a problem.

Book: Really?
River: We'll have to call it early quantum state phenomenon. Only way to fit 5000 species of mammal on the same boat.
[rips out page]

Book: Give me that back.

[snatches back remains of bible from River]
Book: River, you don't fix the Bible.
River: It's broken. It doesn't make sense.
Book: It's not about making sense. It's about believing in something, and letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about faith. You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you.

Mother Teresa?

So I was on my lunch break earlier this week, sequestered away in one of the unused offices, meditating on the Jesus Prayer. I had managed to clear my mind, turn off the internal TV and radio, and just focus on the words. Then suddenly, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, white and blue striped robe and all, popped up out of the darkness which had taken on the form or a crowd, and kissed me on the cheek. Needles to say, my session was over, but I am still going "Huh?"

Already there...

You show me a Christian who says "When you die, you will burn in Hell." and I will show you a Christian who is already there and just doesn't know it yet.

Sometimes I think...

Sometimes I think I would like to just let go. Let go of all my worldly cynicism, all of my concrete anchors, all of my grounds in what I think is reality, all of my concerns over how others will think of me, of how I think of myself. Sometimes I think I would like to just let go and experience God.  Delusional I say? Sometimes I think it would be better to be delusional and happy, bathed in the light of God's love than sane and miserable in this dark world so full or doubt, fear, hate, and absolute death.

Haters gonna Hate

There are a lot of Christians out there who do a very poor job of expressing their religious and spiritual convictions. They use the Bible as a weapon, they cherry pick the scripture to justify their own sociopolitical ends, and above all they forget that Christ said: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So to address the point;
  1. If you attack hate with hate, even if it disguised as righteousness, it is still hate, and will separate you from God.
  2. If you are busy loving God with all of your heart, soul, and mind, then you are too busy to be judging others and telling them how to live their lives, or that their way of living is wrong.
  3. You cannot change the world en-mass. You can only change it one person at a time. If you are not willing to invest the time in one person, then you should not be wasting your time and breath on the masses.  
  4. Only when you can accomplish 2. above, can you proceed to "Loving your neighbor as yourself." For once you have known and loved God with all of your heart, soul, and mind, you will know that despite our individual aberrations, we are all God on the inside.
  5. It is possible to disagree with someone without hating them, and it is possible to love someone without agreeing with them. "Judge not, lest you be judged." is the phrase to remember.
I get a lot of scatter fire from my non-Christian friends against Christianity in general, accusing us of intolerance. At the same time, they show their own intolerance by painting with such a broad brush.

Debbie*: If you have made it this far, congratulations. Most people don't follow my ramblings for this long. It is admirable that you "hate having that which is wrong in GOD's eye's being called right, normal, and acceptable." Except for the "hate" part. Hate implies that you have issued judgement against that thing or person. It is not our job to judge or to hate. It is our job to love, pray, and seek to help others. It is our job to lead by shining example of God's Love. It is our job to open ourselves to God, exposing our own inadequacies, so that WE may be healed, and in turn go out and heal others. Recognize the mote in your own eye before pointing out the speck in another's, seek to help those who will listen, and knock the dust off your shoes for those who won't. Everyone comes to God in their own time and in their own way. YOU cannot force it upon them. As for others calling you names for standing up for what you believe in, ask yourself: Are you doing it in such a way that exhibits love, compassion, and forgiveness, or are you doing it in such a way as it puts others on the defensive?

Hater are going to hate, dust off your shoes, say a prayer, and walk away.

*This missive was originally a letter to an individual.

Part of the Solution...

I stand up and apologize to the world for eons of misinterpretation and misappropriation of Holy Scriptures of Judaism and Christianity.
I apologize for and stand against the atrocities that have been, and are being committed in God's Holy name.
I stand against the hate rhetoric of the "Christian Right".
I stand against the literalistic interpretations of the Holy Scripture that have bred a culture of ignorance, fear, and hatred over the ages.

I stand up for Christ Yeshuah of Nazareth, called Jesus, who came as a perfect example of Man and God, to this world to reunite the human spirit with the source of all creation.
I stand up for loving your neighbor as yourself.*
I stand up for prayer, contemplation, and love over anger, rashness, and hate.
I stand up for spreading messages that kindle the hearts and minds of your fellow human beings, rather than denigrating them or their beliefs.
I stand up for leading by example, not by volume, money, power or any other worldly influences.

I have a lot of friends who are of other religious and spiritual paths. I love them all, with no reservation towards their religious practices or spiritual beliefs.** But when they post statements and meme's on social media boards that generalize all of Christianity and all Christians as being ignorant, bigoted, and hateful, I wonder if they realize that they are being just as intolerant as those they are accusing of intolerance. I also wonder if they know or care that they are including me, their "friend", in their accusations.

I have never been one to shove my religion/spirituality down another's throat. I do not post Christian Propaganda on my FaceBook page explaining why God is better than x, y, or z.***
I do not decry others for their "ungodly heathen ways." I pray for my friends and family that they may find peace with God, and serve their time on this planet, and in this universe, in ways that leave it better than they found it.

So before you speak or act, criticize or complement, condone or condemn, etc., ad nauseam; ask yourself: Is what I am going to do or say True? Is it Helpful? Is it Kind?**** Will it result in the betterment of this planet that we all have to share, or will it create even more ill will and divisiveness.



*If you do not love yourself, and are therefor incapable of loving your neighbor, then I suggest that you get off the bus and get that mess sorted out. Because that is a long, lonely, and dreadful way to live. If you need someone to talk to about it, call me.

**I don't have to agree with my friends to love and respect them. In the end, every individual will stand and know if they have been right or if they have been wrong.

*** Say, a colour television set.

**** There is a difference between "nice" and "kind." What you have to say may hurt someone's feelings in the short run (see the other qualifiers), But you don't have to be a dick about it.