Very important post in terms of helping us to persevere. I've had some good talks with people over what is going on. One local pastor ultimately decided to close his church today. He called me last evening to explain himself. He was apologetical, He at least understood that he was caving to evil, but he had some rationalizations. I didn't quite buy them.
However, he at least felt the need to justify himself. He felt that it was not yet the time to stand up and defy the authorities.
Even the local Mennonite church was closed today. I drove way out into the countryside to attend. I felt that they would have caved in to pressure, but I drove out there anyway. Oh well.
There are people who know. They aren't quite yet ready to go from knowledge to acceptance to action.
I think the point of your post is very well made. We are God's children and we are here to learn what we need to learn in this life experience, and he will arrange that we will be able to learn that.
@Jake - Perhaps you aren't saying it; but I would be wary of assuming that there is some kind of groupish socio-political 'action' that could reverse this; and even more wary of assuming that it is the point we are aiming for. That is the style of thinking that led us here. It seems to me that our main lesson is of the ultimate basis of everything in actual personal love and agency - the falsity of systematic, groupish abstractions. At any rate this is an 'action' (way of being) attainable by everyone, including you and me. Any group effects are secondary and consequential.
23 March 2020 at 06:48
Jeb said...
"to induce widespread fear and despair (these being sins) -"
I saw the post a few days about fear being a sin, can you make a new post with more detail and more quotations or something. Can you expland on this please.
Bruce, Thanks for the reminder. I may have been thinking on the "group action" line to some unconscious extent. Consciously, I felt I was/am seeking out friendship and companionship with like-minded souls. I've already written in a previous comment a bit out the developing relationship I'm in, and how important that is. I want other real relationships based on personal love and agency. Perhaps I was going about it the wrong way be looking to find it in a particular building called a "church," wrongly assuming that such physical boxes might have a higher concentration of what I am looking for. Point taken. Bless you.
On the good side, the pastor I referenced above and I do have a good, developing relationship of some kind. It's teaching me something. I'm sure there are many lessons to come from all directions.
Now back to my day job, preparing our IT stuff so that people can work from home while cowering in fear.... sigh.
In my struggles to comprehend and decide; it's all to easy for me to forget that God knows! God knew that this current totalitarian takeover by the Global powers of evil was planned, and he knows the nature of these plans.
And - although we are free agents whose choices are not foreknown - God had an accurate prediction of how things were likely to play-out - given the dispositions and histories of all the people (and demons) involved, and the structures of this world.
So God know what best to do about it; and that is exactly what God is doing. Now. Every moment of every day. Everywhere.
I need to remind myself that that best is, of course, Not a matter of sustaining and rectifying worldly arrangements - Not about optimising global or national peace, prosperity and comfort.
God's best efforts are directed towards my spiritual well-being and development... And yours... And every person's (we are all God's children, after all).
So, as events unfold; God is intervening and shaping events in ways large and small (mostly behind the scenes, naturally), for our ultimate, eternal, spiritual well-being.
"A comforting thought"
6 Comments -
Very important post in terms of helping us to persevere. I've had some good talks with people over what is going on.
One local pastor ultimately decided to close his church today. He called me last evening to explain himself. He was apologetical, He at least understood that he was caving to evil, but he had some rationalizations. I didn't quite buy them.
However, he at least felt the need to justify himself.
He felt that it was not yet the time to stand up and defy the authorities.
Even the local Mennonite church was closed today. I drove way out into the countryside to attend. I felt that they would have caved in to pressure, but I drove out there anyway. Oh well.
There are people who know. They aren't quite yet ready to go from knowledge to acceptance to action.
23 March 2020 at 00:52
I think the point of your post is very well made. We are God's children and we are here to learn what we need to learn in this life experience, and he will arrange that we will be able to learn that.
23 March 2020 at 00:57
@Jake - Perhaps you aren't saying it; but I would be wary of assuming that there is some kind of groupish socio-political 'action' that could reverse this; and even more wary of assuming that it is the point we are aiming for. That is the style of thinking that led us here. It seems to me that our main lesson is of the ultimate basis of everything in actual personal love and agency - the falsity of systematic, groupish abstractions. At any rate this is an 'action' (way of being) attainable by everyone, including you and me. Any group effects are secondary and consequential.
23 March 2020 at 06:48
"to induce widespread fear and despair (these being sins) -"
I saw the post a few days about fear being a sin, can you make a new post with more detail and more quotations or something. Can you expland on this please.
23 March 2020 at 11:35
Bruce,
Thanks for the reminder. I may have been thinking on the "group action" line to some unconscious extent. Consciously, I felt I was/am seeking out friendship and companionship with like-minded souls. I've already written in a previous comment a bit out the developing relationship I'm in, and how important that is. I want other real relationships based on personal love and agency. Perhaps I was going about it the wrong way be looking to find it in a particular building called a "church," wrongly assuming that such physical boxes might have a higher concentration of what I am looking for. Point taken.
Bless you.
On the good side, the pastor I referenced above and I do have a good, developing relationship of some kind. It's teaching me something. I'm sure there are many lessons to come from all directions.
Now back to my day job, preparing our IT stuff so that people can work from home while cowering in fear.... sigh.
23 March 2020 at 12:55
@Jeb - https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/search?q=fear+sin
23 March 2020 at 14:32