Riffing off of what we talked about in the call today, I got this video recommended in my Youtube feed.

The biggest problem in general are the finer mouth movements. The graphics and their movements themselves outside of that can be mistaken for live action if done right, but mouth movements are really hard to nail down. However, the renderings at around 2:30 - 3:30 don't come off as computer generated to me. And this is really without that heavy use of AI, as far as I can tell.

The cinematic scene starting at 4:10 also comes very close to real-world footage. Maybe seeing it in passing, with the right context, you could fool a lot of people.

So, things are getting pretty close.

What happens when God's Elect walk in their privileges?

Peter says that when women don't follow the worldly ways of feminism, but walk according to biblical submission to their covering, they have a real impact on everyone. The world could see these Christian women living by eternal truth and would be forced to admire their faithfulness. Then he goes on to add that believers should not flaunt any material wealth but their spiritual wealth. Adorn yourself with moral truth.

By symbolism, this makes women heirs of Sarah's blessings that she obtained with her husband and lord, Abraham, as representatives of Heaven. By the same token, men should not be suckered by the masculine arrogance of Judaism, which later seeped into the Gnostic heresy. In Gnosticism, you must be male to go to to Heaven. Men, pamper your wife; she is your greatest treasure on this earth. Abusing her is abusing yourself and hinders your prayers. It defiles you so you cannot stand before the Lord. The Law of Christ is to love His people as He loves them.

This sort of orientation on life extends to the rest of your faith family. Demonstrate what the sacrificial love of Christ looks like in how you deal with them. Peter quotes from Psalm 34 about how this allows us to lay claim to the blessings of the Covenant. If this makes God smile, who can object to such sacrificial love? If it causes outsiders to persecute you, then you have moved into the highest privilege of all, carrying the Cross of Christ. People are going to ask you about this; be ready to answer in some way they are likely to understand. We can afford to be humble and generous in our response to the people of this world. Let your kindness show that those who slander you as troublesome are lying. Let God use you as He pleases to testify of His reputation.

Peter offers a sort of catechism statement about how Christ did not hesitate to face suffering and death despite His innocence, so that He could pay the penalty for our sinful natures. Meanwhile, His Spirit was still alive and went down into the Abyss to announce to the rebellious spirits how He was rolling back their agenda by empowering His people to walk in holiness. They had their chance to repent during the long years it took for Noah to build the Ark. While they had succeeded in spoiling the majority of the human race, that was not going to happen with the Elect.

The Flood that destroyed humanity also served to rescue Noah from the pervasive evil of his world. That was the symbolism of baptism -- what killed the flesh would empower the Spirit. The ritual of baptism was a pledge of loyalty to Christ as Lord. His resurrection paves the way for His followers to join Him later in Eternity, and there was nothing the rebel alliance among the elohim, nor their lackeys the Nephilim, could do about it.

Forgot to post in the announcements section about our usual prayer time, a few days ago on Wednesday. I blame it on the holiday distraction, partially, but mostly on my ability to be distracted easily. 

It's easy to miss what Peter is saying here if you keep reading your western evangelical biases back into the words. He calls for his Hebrew Christian readers to stop acting the way Pharisees taught them to act. It was a wicked way of life, expressed in deception, double standards, envious spite, slandering others as if peace with God was a ruthless competition. That's what the Devil's domain looks like, not the one Christ is building. Let those old ways die. His readers have been born into a new life, and like infants, they should crave spiritual nourishment. Thus, he portrays "salvation" not as a status but a privileged way of life that we grow into. We are drawn down this path by the sweetness of how the Lord uses us.

Peter draws up a parable of being included in Christ's Kingdom. If we think of Him as the prophets indicated, a heavy cornerstone rejected by the Jews who were building an earthly kingdom, then we should hasten to invest our lives into this new spiritual kingdom. Following Christ, they were no longer "Jews" as commonly defined, because Jews rejected their Messiah, clinging to the perverted Talmudic definition that defamed the name of Israel. They call themselves Chosen, but apparently have been chosen for damnation, because the Elect belong to Christ.

Hebrew Christians are foreigners to that old life; it's just another expression of fallen mortal humanity. To be alien in this world is to be alien to Judaism, too. Don't live like they do. Walk in purity and holiness; even if they slander us as sinners, they won't be able to argue with our glorious conduct. When the Lord returns for us, they will have no choice but to glorify Him for how we have lived in their sight.

Don't go out of your way to resist human governments. Don't be bitter about political fortunes either way. God ordained the concept of human government to keep some semblance of order. We have no vested interest in political outcomes. Yes, Christ is a higher authority, but we don't use that as an excuse to stir up political and social disturbances. By acting in ways that glorify the reputation of Christ, we denounce those who waste so much time and effort on a doomed search for human perfection. Any order is better than chaos, so promote the efforts of those who maintain order, however they do it.

Peter lays out a holy cynicism: Don't expect too much from people who don't follow Christ. As bad as slavery is, if you are a slave, exploit the opportunity to demonstrate the power of a reborn spirit over fleshly self-interest. Yes, we put up with an awful lot of injustice and sorrow, often for no good reason at all. We can conquer only our own perversity in how we respond to such testing. That's how our Savior handled Jewish and Roman injustice against Him. He refused to play by their rules, knowing that this world is a farce in the first place.

At one time, we were part of that stupidity. But we have left it all behind to follow Christ into a spiritual kingdom. We take His wounds for ourselves, as well as His healing; we embrace His death and His resurrection for ourselves. He suffered all things so that we could live like eternal people, and He walks beside us during the worst so that He can carry us through it.

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

Peter writes from Rome, after Paul's execution and shortly before his own. His audience is Hebrew Christians in what we today call Northern Turkey. This region of the Roman Empire featured rather severe persecution rather early. But because Peter already knows his time is short, he's in a good position to offer apostolic advice. This was the "last times" for all of them.

The first thing he mentions is that they belong to a spiritual realm in Christ, not of this world. There is no comparison; our eternal inheritance is precious beyond anything here. When we find ourselves in the last times -- a phrase referring to persecution -- knowing this keeps us focused on our testimony. Our lives were forfeited on the Cross with Christ, so we should hardly be surprised when this world seeks to take them.

We carry on in this life solely for the glory of Christ, for His reputation. This typically demands that we pass through persecution in order to offer the testimony of our relentless commitment to Him. Nothing can pry us loose from His grasp; the world needs to see that. Suffering for Him is a privilege that isn't available to fakes.

Peter declares the paradox that we live in faith precisely so we can die with grace. Death is the ultimate deliverance from sin and sorrow.

The prophets of old knew their messages of the coming of the Messiah were not for their times, but far in the future. They did their best to discern the signs of His coming. It puzzled them that He was supposed to suffer and then glory. Indeed, the heavenly beings were longing to understand all of this, as well. Apparently, God kept close counsel on this plan.

So, this is worthy of contemplation. Dig deep into the implications of His Return and the Judgment. Get the big picture on all of this. Find your role in the final revelation of Christ as the full manifestation of God Himself to all of Creation. Don't listen to fleshly urges and miss your chance to be a part of this. Naturally, that means being ready to suffer and die just like He did on the Cross, for the Cross is part of our divine heritage. Our lives should manifest His holiness.

If you call God your Father, He who judges all righteously, then demonstrate how seriously you take His Word. We aren't here in this foreign world for that long, so don't fold. Our Jewish ancestors threw away the spiritual inheritance and left us nothing. The ransom to recover all of that treasure was not mere material things, but the sacred blood of the final Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Son was there at the Creation of all things, and Creation knew instinctively His Day would come. And it did arrive, quite recently, just in time for all of us to come to Him when we needed Him most. The Father raised Him from the grave with such glory that there is no mistaking where we put our trust.

By submission to Him, your souls have been washed clean, and you are fit to stand in His Presence, to absorb the power to love each other as He does. We are a new kingdom of souls born into Eternity through His promises. Isaiah warned us that all mortal flesh lives and dies rather like grass and flowers, but the revelation of God is eternal. That revelation is the gospel message you heard, and it owns you.

Just got a call from Lori. Nick collapsed in the shower, vomited, and evacuated his bowels. She is on her way to the hospital with him. I just went over to clean up the bathroom and I'm going to meet them there. Please pray that it's nothing serious. I'll give updates when I can. Thanks, family!

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

For the first time in months I think, I have an entire day and night to be at home. So therefore I was able to light my wood stove. It's going to be warm again starting tomorrow through Wednesday.So I thought I would get a fire in while I could. I am so grateful and excited!!

   

Hallelujah

Western commentaries tend to assume James begins this chapter addressing non-believers. That would be missing the point. He's addressing Jews specifically; not people of the Covenant but of the Talmud. They believed that wealth was the mark of God's favor, while James' brother Jesus taught that, when it comes to the question of material wealth, God was more likely to favor the poor in Israel, if anyone. That's because, on average, a Jew became wealthy by deceit, trickery and fraud, all covered up by exemptions in the twisted "law" of the Talmud but condemned specifically by Moses. The Talmud was filled with gotchas that favored the smart-aleck materialist.

James lowers the boom on them, warning that while they are saving up wealth, God is saving up wrath in their names. Their materialism was rotting their souls. By contrast, James plays up the patience and tolerance of an otherworldly orientation. The Kingdom of God was not found in material wealth, but in the treasury of souls.

Note: There is some symbolic ambiguity in his use of the phrase, "the Lord's return is near." The Greek word itself also means "approaching" -- active as opposed to the static "near" -- which accords with a typical Hebrew conception of things as dynamic rather than static. Hebrew minds would not take this the way it sounds in most English translations, as if James imagined it being any day now. It could be today, but that's not the point. Rather, it's more a matter of, "Don't be caught with your pants down."

A part of Job's moral duty was to endure things he could not understand. One must be patient with God, since He is even more patient with us. Embrace that habit of indulging your brothers and sisters, as well, since you don't get to choose them; God chose them, and you must embrace them. That means dropping the habit of making people swear oaths, as if that somehow makes them behave more to your liking. Can't you just trust each other? Learn to say "yes" or "no" and be the kind of person for whom everyone takes your word for it. Swearing oaths drags in spiritual forces you may regret.

Our first instinct when suffering should be to pray to God, not whine to other people. And should we feel blessed, let God be the first to know. If you start suffering health issues, don't pretend you are some kind of martyr. Your elders need to know so they can pray with you and perform the standard rituals that go with seeking God's favor.

This is how God told us to deal with such things. It's not silly nonsense; He takes it seriously. He regards the prayers of those who make it a habit to cultivate His favor. Do you take seriously the legends about Elijah? Those aren't myths; his prayers carried a lot of weight with God. His prayer for a drought brought one that lasted for a time of tribulation (3.5 years). His prayers also brought back the rain so that crops bore fruit again.

Would you like to bear fruit? Try helping your brother stay on track with faith and obedience. God pays attention to such efforts, even if your brother doesn't.