Nana is out of the hospital and back in rehab. The only reason she's not back home is because she has a wound that is slow healing due to diabetes. I stand by the words the Lord placed in my heart on day 1 when I was all panicky, "she will heal and be back stronger. She will be a light illuminating My Glory thus saith the Lord Most High, Amen". Yep, that is pretty much what hit square on the chest, boom!

My mom in law, Miss Judi to the village of Blowing Rock, NC as a treasured member of the community and a blessing to all, Mom to my wife and Nana to me and my children. She is in dire need of the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous on this forum and to all your prayer chains. She has been in hospital and rehab and back in the ER today with concern of her CO2 levels. Her problems are related to complications of diabetes. Tonight the Lord placed a heavy burden, a weight on my heart to go visit her to impart a healing gift. I have no clue , other than to say that at certain times at our Father discretion, I have been able to heal and bring relief to pain in the persons he directs me to. Praise God, I was given the gift to take some of my father's worse pain onto myself to the Glory of God and see the scales fall off his eyes so he could finally understand that God's love and mercy had been with him all along, which allowed him to praise his redeemer in his last day's. Pray for Nana's recovery and that I may be worthy to impart God's gift to her in accordance to His direction and everlasting Glory. Amen and Amen.

Vox Day referenced the post that contained these comments, here. There are some interesting claims re: Platonism and Hellenization in general.

This question isn't directed to anyone in particular. Possibly Ed more than anyone, since he has the most suited background for discerning this stuff. And it's not even a question--it's more just a presentation of ideas.

Original link for this comment. I'm well aware he's addressing Hellenized Christianity more so, but interesting claim nonetheless:

Quote:I’m well aware that Christian believers will find this unacceptable, but I’ve long since come to an unoriginal conclusion: Christianity is triumphant renovated Zoroastrianism. It is not a continuation of Judaism mixed with some Hellenic ideas derived from Neoplatonism & Orphism.

Ideologically, Christians owe most of their world-view to Zarathustra & his followers: 1) dualism (not di-theism), 2) angelology, 3) World Savior, not a local Messiah, 4) figure of the Evil One, who is more like Zoroastrians’ Ahriman than traditional Jewish Satan, 5) great final conflagration, very visual & scary apocalypse- again, more Persian than Judaic, 6) fierce sense of election of God’s favorite group of people, which dwarfs Jewish chosen people story- again, Zoroastrian, 7) image of Heaven & Hell, which is absent in classical Judaism, 8) resurrection of the dead.

Of course, Christians don’t care – theologically- for fire; they have a strong sense of guilt (unlike classic Zoroastrians); phraseologically & iconographically, Christians derive their mythology from Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, but: take away Zoroastrian ideas from Christianity & you’ll be left with zero, zippo, zilch.

Normative Judaism is not the birth place of Christianity; Essenes & other intertestamental pro-Persian sectarians are.

Quote:Judaism is ethical henotheism which became ethical monotheism. It is a this-wordly religion focused primarily on covenant with God & ethical behavior, the purpose of human life being in fulfilling God’s commandments. From ca. 500 BC to 300 AD, many foreign elements, chiefly from Zoroastrianism (angels, resurrection of the body, Messiah, Hell as the state of divine retribution post-mortem, the end of times,..) & Hellenic (immortality of the soul, Plato’s concept of spiritual cultivation through learning, Neo-Platonic idea of unicity of Being & man’s possibility of direct communion with God, erotic love as the metaphor for God’s love,..) have been assimilated, theoretically, in Judaism’s religious practice, but the stress remains on this life with meager interest in metaphysical & otherworldly dimensions of religion.

Quote:One is that nowhere in the whole of the Tanakh does it say that a whole people can make themselves holy through study of texts. That’s a purely Platonic idea, and comes out of Plato’s Laws. That simply shows how thoroughly Platonized the rabbis of the second century were. The other one, which I say in this book and it has already given some offense, is that in fact not only is Judaism, which is a product of the second century of the common era—and it’s worked out by people like you know Akiba and his friends and opponents like Ishmael and Tarphon and the others, is a younger religion than Christianity is. Christianity in some form exists in the first century of the common era. What we now call Judaism comes along in the second century of the common era. Christianity is actually the older religion, though it infuriates Jews when you say that to them.

It's altogether natural that we should be less hostile to Muslims than the average Western Christian. This is a part of what puts us mostly outside of mainstream organized religion, American evangelical religion in particular. If you've spent much time in Europe, maybe you got a feel for the way some elements of Western Christian thinking have become institutionalized in the popular culture. In their minds, to be Western is to be Christian.

Oddly enough, a lot of Muslims agree with that assessment. Aside from indigenous Near Eastern Churches, most Muslims tend to think of Europe instinctively as part of the meaning of the term "Christian" in their own languages. I suppose it's no secret that a significant number of Muslim leaders have encouraged the idea of Muslim immigration to Europe as the path to conquering the infidels, and that it would go a long way toward removing what they consider the insult to Islam that Christians are so militarily dangerous. Those leaders say that, since military conquest is obviously not possible, they should send refugees to breed Christians out of existence.

I don't take that as a joke. I'm not worried about the loss of so much fake Christian religion, but I can say with prophetic gravity that if Europeans -- such as they are -- do not crush the Muslim invaders in some sense, Europe will change so radically in the next few years that we won't recognize it. Thus, Russia and Eastern European Christianity will become the new symbol of "Christianity," because they will most certainly fight such an invasion. They already fight it now, and are quite ready to escalate.

Some portions of America would join that fight, but certainly not all. The parts that won't have already surrendered culturally to a different problem entirely. Muslims aren't much of an issue here; the big problem is globalism, the new face of communism. We aren't going to see a communist revolution the way Europeans have experienced it (much less the way Asians have). It's a whole new brand of red revolution, seeking to crush the Western Crusader Christianity through mainstream secularist subversion. Only now are we starting to hear about violent revolution, and even that will be different from what manifested in the past.

This is part of what will split the US into smaller parts. The fracture in our country is irreparable, and in due time it will split wide open. It's all part of a broader vision of tribulation that Western Christianity will take a major hit over the next few years. Naturally this will reduce Israel's protection considerably.

The forums were down for some time last night. Not sure how long. It was my fault, since I had my hosting on manual renewal and not auto.

Everything looks good now.

Growing up my heroes were John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and the ultimate in cool Steve McQueen. Overriding them all was my Dad. He was a health and fitness freak, a cyclist and a distance runner a good decade before it became the "thing" to do, he also was an avid hiker and backpacker. He hiked across the breadth of the Scottish highlands in eight days and seven nights, in an event called the Ultimate Challenge on nine occasions, he left me a stack of certificates of the plethora of races he ran along about four pounds of medals. He maintained this until he developed hip problems in his sixties, eventually he had a hip replaced but, he still yet retained a fitness routine until cancer eventually broke him down and took him from us at, what should have been, for him, the young age of 81. 
   He was not a particularly religious man, he rather frowned on organized religion as full of hokum and hucksters and although he did not receive much in the way of formal education he possessed a keen mind, curiosity and a ,sometimes crude, wit and wisdom that defied his slow hillbilly drawl. He believed a man ought to walk like Jesus not just yak about him. He grew up during the great depression raised by a sweet loving mother and an angry young father who spared neither rod nor Bible in the old time Hellfire Methodist tradition which no longer exists. In spite of this, according to his peers, he retained an effervescence of spirit that was contagious and infected all who knew him. He was my protector while I was growing up, in that when in his presence, my mother played the role of dutiful wife and loving mother, while she may have been the former, she was far from the latter. I shall speak no more of her other than to say she is receiving her reward in the slow crumbling of her sick mind under the stewardship of my elder brother 3500 miles and an ocean away from me. I did my part juggling her psychoses for two and a half years after my father died. Enough said.
    In short, I give God the glory for my joy but, it's root is found in the man who, I'm convinced is a giant in Heaven, gave me his unconditional love my Pop. AFC Harold D Helton, USAF Korea Veteran. F86 jet engine mechanic, who once told me "a surefire cure for a hangover is to sit in the cockpit of a F86 and breathe pure oxygen for ten minutes". My Dad was never near the combat zone but, worked on many an engine that did and if you ask any pilot they will tell you it was their ground crews that got them there and back. Our Government may be involved some downright Godless endeavors but the lives they put in harms way are our sons and daughters and need all the prayers we can send them.

We should be the happiest people on Earth, for we have found a path that allows us to more closely connect to our Father and His creation directly through our hearts, rather than stumbling around using our minds to fit 10lbs of stuff into a 5 lb bag. We use words to paint pictures, to indicate rather than define truth. While our Western counterparts twist themselves into thought knots, we are merrily skipping through a meadow brushing the wildflowers with our fingertips happy as clams, knowing that God's truth is whatever he chooses to share with us. I'm not going to go into it any deeper than that, there are those here who have the faculty to probe the matter and have done so, if you are interested brother Ed has written books on it that are highly informative and FREE!!! If you draw from well and it quenches your thirst then you may wish to give something to the man who dug it but, only from a heart of thanksgiving. Now to get back on track, dear reader I'll start a fresh paragraph.
If you're still with me thank you, let us continue. What we have in our hearts should bubble up as a spring of endless joy because what we have is stupendous! Our every transactions with people should exude happiness. This is how we reflect God's glory. Now I must admit at first glance, I may look slightly intimidating in my "uniform" of workboots, jeans, t shirt, leather biker jacket, chrome dome and scowl, I quickly warm up with good cheer when I encounter people. Especially babies and small children, they see right through me which is good because I love talking to little ones. 
   The world should know us by our cheery dispositions, while the rest are striving after wind, we should be safe harbors of peace, contentment and light for those who are lost in the storm that rages outside.
   Tell me what you think. I would like to see this forum as a safe harbor offering a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate to the weary and to those who feel alone, prayers of support and encouragement.
 Love to you all and may our Lord Jesus Christ guide your heart on the path to the blessings of Shalom.

Study Shows Jesus as Rabbi

This more a history lesson than anything else, but it's still crucial to know the cultural context in which Jesus operated. As most of you know, there's the text of the Bible, but there's a vast sea of presumptions sitting behind it that are necessary to knew what's really going on. Learning what scripture says, I would dare say, is much more an exercise in socio-cultural enrichment than arcane theology. 

If you are aware the details of the backdrop, much of what Jesus said isn't so mysterious, though not all of it was necessarily easily understood. Jesus, in fact, wasn't all that mysterious in His occupation and teachings. He was essentially a wandering Jewish religious teacher; one of a great many in His time and place. Practically speaking, there may have even been some rabbis in the same league and "skill level" as He was. 

This might be a huge letdown to the near superhero proportions the westernized Jesus was given. Of course, this is in no way a means to diminish the mystical/divine nature and the irreplaceable impact of what He did and became.

Ed linked to this page in one of his blog posts. It confirmed some things I personally knew about the "human-religious" role Jesus played, but it also filled in plenty of gaps.

".....and the home of the brave!!!!!!" YAY!! EVERYONE CHEERS!!! The USAF fly's over WaaaOOOOOSSH!!! YAYYY!!!! Everyone goes bananas. Pick your occasion it's the same thing Superbowl, yeehaa Daytona 500 boys! or Indy 500! Yes! Milk with Vodka! Billy Graham's funeral, well okay maybe that's a bit much but, my darling boy who just turned 17 (the terrible two's for teenagers, not quite there yet but, they think they ought to be) on the 22nd, told me that in Morganton, NC. LEO's and firefighters had blocked off one lane on bridges that cross I40 so people could sit in lawn chairs to observe to solemn procession transporting the great Evangelist's mortal remains to DC. I may break my no news watching policy to watch as much as I can stomach. Fox News, of course, as a good patriotic 'Merkan Christian should. Now, where I'm from BG and Lil' Frankie have a big footprint. Samaritan's Purse is based in Boone, NC, I have a friend who works in the employees cafeteria kitchen. I don't suppose they see the big cheese very often. My wife sees Franklin once a year when he comes to the clinic for his flight physical, he's a pilot you know. I pass by Samaritan's Purses' training and conference center almost everyday on my way to the grocery store to "get something for supper". It's a lovely building, originally conceived and built by Blowing Rock Stage Company as a theatre just before the collapse of 2008. BRSC was great, I love theatre and every season we would go to at least one performance in the auditorium of Blowing Rock School, they had big plans for their new facility but, alas it was not to be. Still, I got to see one play and saw Guy Penrod which was wonderful. But, I'm not here to talk about SP. 
   I do not hold to the decision theology of modern America, to which, the late Dr Graham was it's greatest exemplar but, even he, said this "being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion, it is like a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ". The problem I have with this approach is that it makes obscene, the sacrifice of Christ. What do I mean by this? I believe scripture is clear that salvation is purely a work of God. Nowhere does Jesus say " If you like what you hear, come join us" or "heaven or hell, the choice is yours", to the contrary Jesus speaks of those the Father has given him and the sheep hear MY voice. A choice is a work of the human mind, which is fallen so, to make salvation a mere human decision is an obscenity. Check your Bible and find me one instance where "the individuals right to choose" has a positive outcome and I will buy you a box of Krispy Kreem donuts*. Find me an instance where the "individuals right to choose" has a negative outcome and you get nothing because, the Bible is chock full of them and that's because when people get to choose, they generally choose sin. Now if you can point back to where your journey began, that's great, if it was at a Church altar, that's great too. For me, it was the living room of a small apartment in Vista, California, was I "saved" that morning? Heck no, within a month I was back to old ways but, God had his hooks in me and he kept reeling, two years later I was baptized, was it then? No, I was marked before the foundation of the world. What I'm trying to say is salvation, American style where you just decide one day after listening to someone talk, "okay, that sounds good, I'm a Christian now" is false and a money racket. Salvation is God pulling you on a level that your mind, no matter how you cut it, can pin down. The Bible calls it a mystery, it also speaks of the heart as the conduit through which God speaks. If you are called by Him, on some level you sense it as indescribable and unexplainable but, it's there you feel it, you know it. It is inherently mystical, now don't get scared and run off. All we try to do here is explore the mysteries of faith in Jesus Christ through the faculty of our hearts and that's how it should be, how it was in our ancient past, how it will be long after we're gone and how it will pass into eternity. Amen.

Phew! That was a long'un.
* Artistic license I ain't buying nobody donuts! Although if I ever knock on your door I'll make sure I bring some.

Brothers and Sisters, I ask for your prayers as I embark on my job search. I believe my shoulder is healed "good enough" to start a full time job, certainly our finances are screaming YESTERDAY!! Trying to make ends meet on my wife's income alone leaves no wiggle room when faced with things like car repairs. The seasonal work I've been doing, house cleaning and light handyman stuff, is still two months away. I'm getting to the point in life where age (54) starts to become a negative factor, in spite of my knowledge and skill sets. My greatest asset in overcoming this is reliability, I'll be there, on time and ready to work, everyday I'm scheduled regardless of how I feel. 
  I want to be wherever the Lord can use me to do the grunt work that brings Him glory, in Jesus name Amen.