Church History/Philosophy

 2020

THIS MOUNTAIN

‘If you have faith- just like a mustard seed- the smallest of all seeds [less than zero?] you would say to THIS MOUNTAIN ‘be removed and be cast into the sea’ and it would do it’!

Jesus says lots of neat stuff ‘I am the door of the sheep- by me- if any man enter in he shall be saved’.

Door?

Yeah.

You mean hinges and stuff?

Well- not really- you’ll see soon.

The other day I caught an interview with Julian Assange.

He’s the WikiLeaks founder who has been hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy.

The U.S. is hunting him down- and he’s staying there as a shelter.

Why are we hunting him?

He was the recipient [not the leaker!] of thousands of emails and texts that Bradley Manning ‘illegally’ downloaded to his computer disk- and gave them to WikiLeaks [a site that exposes the secrets of corrupt governments].

Now- I am not saying I agree with all the leaks he did- but some were exposing corruption.

The most damaging of the leaks showed secret recordings between the U.S. and other govts- things that are indeed bad- some real bad.

The worst thing leaked was the video of a U.S. chopper killing civilian reporters [by accident].

The problem?

There were kids in the van- and we kept shooting!

On the video- you hear our guys realizing there were kids that we might have shot.

Our guys say ‘that’s what they get for bringing there kids’.

These were civilian reporters for heavens sake!

Okay- that’s the worst of what Assange REPORTED.

The U.S. govt. is trying to catch the guy- if we do- he will never see the light of day.

We tried Manning on charges that could have merited the death penalty.

For what?

National security secrets?

No- for what I just told you.

So- we are trying to execute- imprison- and stop folk- who exposed some bad stuff.

Yeah- now your ‘getting’ it.

I was reading the book of Revelation the other day.

I like the imagery of the powerful angels.

They are putting chains on satan- casting great stones into the water.

These images show us stuff.

Stones into the water?

Yeah- one angel cast a great millstone- ‘like a mountain- into the sea’.

Hmm?

Sounds like the verse at the top.

Mountains represent kingdoms- power structures.

When these ‘mountains’ become corrupt- they are ripe for getting thrown into the sea.

So- in Jesus day they had this custom.

We read in the bible [Acts] that there were those who made/worshipped idols at the time of Jesus.

You could have your own little idol statue made- for a price.

Those who renounced these practices- after becoming Christ followers- they would take these idols and throw them into the sea.

Yeah- like casting a stone into the water.

Now- the bigger the rock- the bigger the splash.

One day Jesus was walking with his men- rumor has it that they were right next to a spot where you would take these statues- stones- and cast them into the water.

Right up the trail there was this strange sight.

It’s still there today.

There are these 2 mountains.

But one of the mountains has its ‘top’ cut off- and the other mountain has ‘extra’ on top.

The story goes that king Herod- a corrupt king who ruled Palestine at the time of Christ.

He had the slaves literally cut the top of one mountain off- and put it on top of the other.

Yeah ‘king of the hill’ type thing.

He built this palace/penthouse on top- so all the world could see who was the king of the hill.

Now- you have this radical revolutionary- Jesus- who has come in the footsteps of John the Baptist.

John was a mad man- dressed in loin cloths and ate grasshoppers!

One time Herod had John put in jail- but John couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

He kept yelling ‘Herod- you took your brothers wife- your committing adultery!’

Herod was afraid of John- but the misses- well now that’s another story.

You could imagine the anger- she had to hear this rugged prophet- day in and day out- telling everyone what she did [John was the original WikiLeaker!]

So- one day Herod’s wife’s daughter dances this sensual dance for the king.

The king says ‘wow babe- that was the best lap dance ever- name your price’.

She asks her mom ‘what should I ask for’?

Now- the mom is sneaky- and she says ‘tell him you want John’s head- on a platter’.

Yeah- the deed is done.

So- that’s the Herod that Jesus knows- the one who beheaded his friend/cousin.

So- one day Jesus is walking with his men- they know the scoop- that these stones- when you cast them into the sea- well- it’s representing a kingdom- an idol- coming down.

Now- in this context- standing right by Herods Mountain top Villa.

Jesus says ‘IF YOU HAVE FAITH- YOU CAN SAY TO THIS MOUNTIAN- GO- AND IT WILL’

See?

Well you know the story- Jesus gets crucified- there are various Roman Emperors who will come after and destroy Gods people.

There was this general by the name of Constantine- a great military ruler.

In the 4^th century he comes to fight for the rule of Rome- he wants to consolidate the Roman Empire under one rule.

He has this dream before the big battle.

In the dream he sees a vision of a Cross in the sky.

He hears a voice ‘in this sign conquer’.

The next day he paints this Cross on the shields of his men.

He wins the battle- becomes the new emperor- and in a short time he will declare Christianity the new religion of the realm.

Yeah- even this mountain fell- just like Jesus said.

Note- Door of the sheep.

In Jesus day you had these circular walls- they were stone sheep pens- in a circle.

Problem?

They had no gate- no door.

When the sheep would enter in and bed down for the night- the Shepherd himself would lie down in the entrance.

He became the door.

No sheep could leave- or wolves enter- unless they passed over the door.

See?

That’s what Jesus meant when he said HE was the door of the sheep- he would lie down [in death] for his sheep- friends.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] - I have posted lots.

2005

3-22-13

SPIRIT GUIDES?

Had another good day of giving my stuff away.

I have been decorating the city for Pete’s sake!

Huh?

Yeah- each day I put some of my valuables in the car- and I leave some at the halfway house [yesterday my favorite statue of st. Francis- a bird bath I had in my yard- went to the front stoop of the halfway house].

Some I give to the guys- John David got about 300 dollars worth yesterday [my favorite oil painting- that depicts both of our ministries- and a classic Clarinet- a few other things].

And yeah- when I head to that side of town I drive down some old industrial streets- Agnes- Laredo.

And for years whenever I drove these streets they reminded me of home- N.J.

So- I thought ‘what the heck- let me just place a few of these things in some spots- and see if they last’.

Sure enough- they are still there!

Stuff like a wooden cross I used to set out years ago when we would do some type of park outreach.

That’s now right off of Agnes- kinda by one of those old re-sale shops- in the front.

So you could mistake it for some type of business decoration- heck- I don’t care- I just like seeing it when I drive by.

Okay- these last few months I have also had- believe it or not- a ministry to some girls who are addicts- re-covering addicts.

How?

Look- because of my past temptations- I avoid doing ‘outreach’ to any of the girls on the streets.

But- my friend David has had a couple of different girl friends these past few months and when I go to the halfway house- on the way out I usually stop by his place.

He lives a few blocks from the halfway house- I live on the other side of town.

Problem?

He sleeps till about 10 am.

I’m up at 3 am- so our time tables don’t match too well.

Anyway- if I’m at the halfway house at 7- and I’m heading out by 8- he’s sleeping.

I might go by- drop off one of my free gifts- and head out.

But- if one of his new girlfriends is up- sitting out in the yard- I’ll hang out for a while and talk.

So over the weeks I have become good friends with Jackie- a drug addict who has had her ups and downs.

Jackie has liked it when I talk with her and she has questions and stuff about God- I have simply taught her stuff and prayed for her a bunch of times- we are good friends.

And at times she has been doing so well- helping us- a lot- with the ministry.

But every so often David would say ‘she went back out- she stole all my stuff- I’m thru with her’.

And yeah- that’s what would happen.

Then a week later I would show up- and there back together- like nothing happened!

So the last break up was about 2 weeks ago and David already has a new girl- Laura.

Yeah- I have already spent at least 8 hours talking to Laura- in 2 or 3 visits!

She’s really into new Age stuff- crystals- the whole thing.

Now- she’s real smart- physics- metaphysics- lots of stuff.

And I know all types of stuff like that- so I try to give her the Christian view of all the things she’s involved with.

Yesterday I laid hands on her- prayed for her- that the ‘gates’ she has opened- that are not good [she has all types of spirit guides- yikes!] would close- and the ‘good gates’ [Holy Spirit] would be open.

She does appreciate my teaching- and she likes all the history that I mix in [I did the whole overview of Greek thought- before Christ. And I taught her the development of Gnosticism- and how it arose. This is the history of her belief system- which I dont think she was aware of].

So you could see- I was made to order for her- so to speak.

The funny thing is David- he gets anxiety if I go ‘too deep’ in my talks with him.

I mean I might be talking about theology- not wacky stuff- and it gets him nervous.

So as I began talking to Laura- well- lets say she can get ‘deeper’ than me- and go on much longer than me about all sorts of Portals and stuff.

I asked her ‘does David get into these discussions like me’?

She kinda hinted- no [I figured this out already to be honest].

So it was kinda funny- you know- he rejected my long winded theology- and now he has to deal with all these spirit guides!

As I was sitting there- talking to Laura- Jackie walked by in the alley- hoping no one would see her.

This area is a drug infested spot- and she was probably looking for stuff.

I saw her out of the corner of my eye and stopped her- just to see how she was.

As I talked with her- I almost started to cry.

I have never seen her this bad- she is so strung out- scared- telling me how David hates her.

Just a few weeks ago she was doing so well- going to the prayer meetings at 6 am- so happy.

Now she looked like a scared kid- shaking- dirty- in fear.

I gave her a hug- I prayed for her- I looked into her eyes- so dark.

‘Jackie- I want you to get better- I feel so bad for you’.

She was off- I went back to the table- an outside area where we sit at times- and finished talking with Laura.

In a strange way- God allowed me to have some friends- some girl ‘friends’- girls that I would not normally work with.

Not because I’m too good- no- because I know I cant be getting attached emotionally to the girls like I do with the brothers.

So- I have always avoided having one on one outreach with them.

But this little scenario of David sleeping late- me getting up early- yeah- as silly as it is- has been an open door to try and help these girls.

I’m glad it happened.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Face- book] - I have posted lots.

2001

3-16-13

PAPA FRANCIS

Okay- we have a new Pope as of this post.

Yeah- it’s hard to write a journal and not post it- who knows- maybe none of this will ever be seen?

J.D. Salinger became sought after because of that very reason [he published a couple of hits- Catcher in the Rye- and then went into hiding].

So- let’s see what happens.

Now- I think Francis might become my favorite in recent history.

Why?

Francis [the name he took- from Francis of Assisi- also speaks about his character. St. Francis forsook family wealth to work in Gods field- he believed God called him to help restore the church to her original design].

So- Pope Francis lived the same type of calling.

He’s the first Pope from America [albeit Latin America].

He’s the first from the Jesuit order to hold the office- the Jesuits are my favorite Catholic order.

If you remember my church history section- I covered the Jesuits- and complimented them a lot.

The Jesuits are the intellectuals of the church- now- the Catholic Church as a whole is of course very intellectual.

But the Jesuits were very influential in the development of the scientific method.

As a percentage- there were more Jesuit leaders in science than any other group.

They also were missionary minded.

When I covered them in the past I showed how after the 16^th century Protestant Reformation the Jesuits did a sort of Counter Reformation and evangelized Asia- an area where the Protestants fell short.

So- as you can see- I’m a fan of the Jesuits.

Francis- from Buenos Aires Argentina- lived among the poor- he cooked his own meals and rejected the perks that Cardinals/Arch Bishops get.

Yet- he was a ‘conservative’ in doctrine.

Huh?

How could he be a sort of Liberation theologian- and yet hold to conservative views?

Here’s where our modern news shows mess stuff up.

As an avid news watcher- the last few years one of the critiques I gave was the mistake of men like Glenn beck and others- who associated Liberation Theology with heresy.

Now- Beck and others meant well- they just made the mistake of demonizing people they don’t understand [remember the rampage against Van Jones?]

But that’s why we need to get our info from better informed folk.

Anyway- Liberation Theology is a form of Christian teaching that associates the ministry of Jesus to the poor- and seeks to impellent that- sometimes too far- with government programs.

So- in Latin America- you have had Catholic champions of the poor and down trodden- who advocated for the poor- and at the same time believed in the historic positions of the doctrines of the church.

For instance- some ‘liberal’ scholars reject the resurrection of Jesus- and other key teachings of the church.

These men [both Catholic and Protestant] are referred to as Liberal scholars.

Francis is not one of them- he’s ‘conservative’ when it comes to the historic faith.

Yet- in his actions [Orthopraxy] he is ‘liberal’ [that is if you think identifying with the poor is liberal].

So- Francis is a lot like me in my belief [I too am conservative in doctrine] and practice- I have lived with the poor and down and out for years.

So- he just might be my favorite.

Let’s wait and see.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.