Possessions

...A man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:16-26 NIV)

In 2006, we downsized houses and got rid of a lot of things.  Later, we sold and got rid of even more, but we still had a lot left.  We also acquired items from relatives as they moved on with their lives -- photographs, photographic slides, slide projectors, artwork, and various things our mothers did not have room for in their senior-living apartments.  We also had a lot of things from Britain, and various keepsakes.

My wife was given a lot of "family history" records from relatives on both sides of the family.  She enjoyed researching and figuring out connections.  In my view, pursuing genealogies can turn into an endless endeavor, and it doesn't do much to expand the Kingdom of Heaven, so I had asked her to wrap it up.  She said that she would, and was working on it because she respected my request.  I often told her, "I got me the best one," and she often quoted from the movie Oblivion, "We're a more effective team."

Photographs.  We collected a lot of them over the years, and with technology they are very easy to create.  Many of them are stored electronically, either on our computer devices or on cloud services, but I told her I prefer having prints that I can hold in my hands and put into physical albums.  She printed a lot of them, and they are sorted into boxes.

We have lots of stuff from our early marriage days.  People used to have a set of fine china dishes for entertaining people and special occasions.  We received ours as wedding presents.  We also collected different sets when we were in Britain.  So did our mothers.  We have it all now, and nobody wants it.  Young people just don't use fine china these days, so it all sits in boxes.

We also have ceramic figurines, ceramic houses, thimbles, and love spoons.  Many of them are displayed in a curio cabinet, a china cabinet, on the fireplace mantle, or hanging on the wall.  I have a large grandfather clock that I bought after my grandfather died in 1983.  Our walls have many different pictures, many from Britain.  There are lots of memories and emotions tied up in all of those things.

All of this household stuff is a burden to me.  The house, the car, my mother's car, my mother's affairs, the garden and yard, the bills, the property taxes, the computers, the DVD's, and all of my wife's Kindle books are all worldly and they distract me from what I really want to be doing:  chasing after the Kingdom.  My spirit wants to do what Jesus says in the Scripture quoted above, but my flesh wants to hang on to everything.  I was trying to lead my wife in that spiritual direction, and she was trying very hard to follow me.  She was emotionally attached to all of our things, too.  If something had been easy to get rid of, it was already gone.

This home was ours, but in my mind it was hers.  She found it, she designed the landscaping and she decorated the interior.  I contributed, of course, and I did most of the physical work, but in spirit it was her household.  Am I supposed to move?  I do not know.  The place is too big for just one person.  Cleaning up and getting rid of things should be easier now that she is gone.  The dynamic has changed.  Perhaps I can make some progress.

I was doing the best I could, and thought my wife and I had more time to be together.  We make our plans, but God determines our steps.  Jesus will be her judge and my judge, nobody else.  This is His project and His Game¹.  In chess, it is sometimes necessary to let your own queen be captured in order to ultimately win the game.  There is also a way to get a queen back on the board.  (I actually hope it's her.)  We'll see what happens.

All glory to God.

 

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UPDATE, 07/10/2022...

This post triggered a rift in my family.  My girls still will not talk to me, more than fourteen months later.  I strongly suspect the strains were already present well before my wife's death, and I am certain she did what she could to hold relationships together.  Once her influence was gone, however, reality appeared and things came apart.

I love and adore my children, and this situation continues to break my heart.  I am sure their hearts are broken, too.  It's been a very tough and difficult loss.  I know God is in control.  He wants reconciliation, and I want to do anything and everything in my power to bring it about.

My first eleven months of widowhood were very solitary.  Looking back, I needed that time alone.  Then I found some new friends to share with, and have had opportunities to talk about my wife, our life together, and what God has been doing.

This past week I learned my "Myers-Briggs" personality type, through the help of a friend.  I had heard about that particular tool before, but in all of my professional years it was not an evaluation I ever did.  I have now, and I discussed the results and implications in updates to my Engineer post.

This morning, I read through the fifteen other personality types and believe I've identified my wife's description.  I believe she was an "ISFJ."  You can read about it under the other post.  This has given me more insight into my relationship with my wife and the dynamics between us.  Despite what anyone may think, or what any psychological tools may say, we loved each other with our entire hearts and I am still heartbroken that I lost her.  I know God brought us together, kept us together, and produced through us the 'fruit' He wanted to produce... and that includes our children.

... This is how I continue to process things.  After all, I'm an "INTJ"!!!

 

UPDATE, 07/11/2022...

¹Added "and His Game" to clarify this paragraph.

I love metaphors, similes, parables, etc.  I guess that's how I'm wired.  Maybe this is part of the reason my kids don't understand me.  I wish they could just love me like their mother did.  She loved me anyway, even if she didn't understand me.......

😢

 

Milestone

Twenty two years ago today, I was baptized by immersion into Jesus Christ.  It was a Sunday, just like today is a Sunday...

I found this with the certificate.  It is the "testimony" I spoke to the church audience before I went underwater.

I talked about my baptism in an early post.

 

All glory to God.

Sunlight

Light is good; the Darkness hates it.

We used to live in a house with lots of trees.  I tried to grow a garden, but it only got two hours of direct sunlight, so nothing grew.

When we moved to where I am now, my wife liked all of the trees we had, but they soon started coming down for various reasons.  Some pines were just ugly, and she wanted them gone.  We took out a wonderful Crimson King maple because its roots were breaking up the driveway.  The top of a big white pine crashed down in an ice storm.  The power company wanted a big ash tree removed because they were afraid the roots were bad and it would fall on their lines.  Two of the city's big elm trees died of Dutch Elm disease, so they cut them up and hauled them away (picture).  And the maple that shaded the driveway was sick and a big branch came down in a storm last June, so the city removed it.  The only remaining large tree is an ash that the city regularly treats to fend off borers, but it is on the north side of the property and only shades the street.  I have lots of sun now, and I like it.  The grass grows more evenly and I enjoy being in the warmth.  As best as I can recall, we lost eleven trees since we moved here in 2006.  Eleven.

My older daughter lived in a northern Michigan community for a year, and there was a big maple in front of the apartment she rented.  One day, lightning struck it and it had to be removed.

My younger daughter has a house, and a big tree that was shading it fell over in some wind.  I had been advising her to get rid of it and another tree because both were too close to the house.  Fortunately, the big tree fell the other way.  She ended up taking my advice.

It seems like circumstances have been taking the trees away from my family and opening us up to more and more sunlight.  God is in control of all things and I understand the parable.

 

Before my wife passed away, I was following some people online who advocate eating like our ancestors, and I shared some of their information with her. They recently posted a video about vitamin D, and I learned some things.  I embedded the video at the end of this post, if you would like to watch it.¹

"Vitamin D" is a fat-soluble hormone.  It is not actually a vitamin, so I am going to call it 'sun hormone' to be more accurate and descriptive.

Our bodies are designed to primarily get sun hormone from sunlight.  That's why we were born naked.  We can also get some from fish, but few of us do.

There are sun hormone receptors everywhere in our bodies, including the nucleus of cells.

A deficiency in sun hormone can lead to lack of sleep, or bad sleep.  When we sleep, our brain is designed to paralyze us so we do not act out our dreams, but it must keep us breathing.  If we are deficient in sun hormone, our brain sends out incorrect signals; our breathing becomes paralyzed but our skeletal muscles act out our dreams.  Ceasing to breathe is sleep apnea, and it causes fight-or-flight stress.  The bottom line is we do not get the sleep we need, and our bodies cannot restore and repair themselves.

My wife had sleep apnea as long as I knew her.  She never slept well.

Sun hormone and B vitamins are crucial for restoring sleep.  Gut bacteria make B vitamins, and they need sun hormone to survive and thrive.  You can take all of the probiotics in the world, but without sun hormone, the gut will not be healthy.  B vitamins play a huge role in sleep, and B vitamin deficiency symptoms cover everything that's wrong with everybody.  We get B vitamins from eating red meat.

Severe sun hormone deficiency can lead to autoimmune disease.  It also leads to rickets and other health problems.  Sun hormone is crucial in the development of babies and children.

Reduced sun hormone in animals is what triggers their hibernation.  Human chemistry is similar and reduced amounts of sun hormone signal that it is winter.  The body conserves energy and stores fat in winter to stay alive.  Those who have low sun hormone and stay out of the sun are in 'permanent winter,' and losing weight can be impossible for them.

My wife could not lose her belly fat.  We tried many things, and she eventually gave up.  We both supplemented with 5000 IU of D3, but I don't think that was enough to restore her system.  I wish I had known about this years ago.  She rarely went in the sun.

(From Ivor Cummins video, below)

We were advised to avoid the sun for years because sunlight causes cancer.  But what was the specific advice, and was it right?

There are two kinds of ultraviolet light that come from the sun.  One is "good" (UV-B), and the other is "bad" (UV-A).  The good sunlight enables production of sun hormone, enables tan protection, and produces the effects of sunburn to give feedback and warn against over exposure.  The bad sunlight does none of those things, but it destroys deep layers of the skin.

Good sunlight can lead to "cosmetic" skin cancers that are not a threat and can be easily removed.  Bad sunlight can lead to malignant melanoma cancer, and that is deadly.

Good sunlight is easily stopped by glass, sunscreen, and the atmosphere.  We need to be exposed to it when the sun is high in the sky if we want it to do us any good.  If your shadow is shorter than your height, the sun is probably high enough to produce the good effects.

Bad sunlight goes through the atmosphere more readily, no matter the time of day.  It also goes through most sunscreens and even glass.  A suntan (melanin) will stop it, however.

I am programmed to stay out of the sun when it is high in the sky, wear a hat, wear sunscreen, and take my walks and do my yard work in the early morning or later in the day.  Given the above information, however, that is entirely backwards.  It minimizes my exposure to good sunlight and leaves me vulnerable to bad sunlight.  It also minimizes my synthesis of sun hormone from sun exposure, which is how God designed my body to work.

Why were we given this advice?  That is a good question.  It's almost like we were given advice that would make us unhealthy.

I think my wife was deficient in sun hormone.  Nobody ever tested her for it², or questioned a possible connection between it and her systemic inflammation, sleep apnea, inability to lose weight, and her other infirmities.  I am not happy about this, but there is nothing I can do about it now.  At least for her.

Most people who had poor outcomes with "the virus" were either old, or had compromised health.  Their bodies were not able to defend against it, and they probably had significant sun hormone deficiencies.  Isolating people indoors certainly didn't help, nor did chasing people off of beaches.  Given this, and all the censorship of non-"official" solutions to the problem, it seems like there was a concerted effort to NOT help people avoid getting sick.  Why is that?  Who are these people who have been systematically undermining our health?

What are the Georgia Guidestones?  Look up the term.  Listen to opinions about them and examine the evidence of what has been happening.  Think for yourself.  Then pray for understanding.

We do not need to continue living the way we have been.  We need to deprogram from all of the error we have been taught.  This is what God wants for us.  He wants us to know the Truth.

 

All glory to Him.

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¹Here is the video I watched:

 

That video recommended another video, which I also watched.  It is more technical, but I think it is well worth viewing.  It is good to see someone acknowledge that our bodies are "designed."  Just ignore his praise of the false god, "Evolution."

Ivor Cummins video

Here is a technical article covering some of the things I discussed above and that are in the videos:  Extra-Skeletal and Endocrine Functions and Toxicity of Vitamin D, Journal of Endocrinology and Diabetes, symbiosisonlinepublishing.com.

²I looked through my wife's records and found a value for "25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D, TOTAL" from December, 2014.  The value was 44 and the range was 30-80.  It does not say the units.

Ivor Cummins discusses the units of 25(OH)D at 1:14:25 in the second video, above.  He uses ng/ml because that is common in the research.  Someone in the audience stated they had been tested and the results were in nmol/l.  Ivor said that the conversion factor between the two sets of units is 2.5.  He gave the optimal range as follows:

• 32 - 50 ng/ml
• 80 - 125 nmol/l

He showed this chart back at 1:12:08...

It is hard to read here because it is a screenshot.  The scale across the top is in the units Ivor uses for 25(OH)D level, ng/ml.  Here is a description of the ranges...

• Red range -- zero through 18.  He calls this range "deficient."
  
• Orange range -- 20 through 30.  He calls this range "insufficient."
• Green range -- 32 through 50.  He calls this range "optimal."

The dark red bar at the lower left of the chart is the range where rickets occur.

The different colored bars in the green range are "disease incidence prevention" percentages for the various diseases listed in the column on the left.  The data indicate that 25(OH)D levels in the green range correlate with reduced incidences of disease.  Ivor stated that 25(OH)D levels tend to plateau and reach equilibrium at 42 ng/ml, which means the body takes in what it needs and maintains it there.

As can be seen from the black distribution curve, 70% of the US population has insufficient or deficient levels of 25(OH)D, or "sun hormone," as I have been calling it.  Apparently it was only 50% fifteen years ago.

The small, green distribution curve at the bottom is what an engineer would hypothetically try to do to improve the situation -- make changes to tighten the distribution and shift it to the right.

Going back to my wife's one piece of data, it seems likely the units are nmol/l.  The span of the "range" of her result (30 - 80) is 50.  The span of Ivor's "green" range (80 - 125 nmol/l) is 45.  Pretty close.  The span of Ivor's "research" units (32 - 50 ng/ml) is only 18.  Doesn't really compare.  Fifty (50) divided by 18 is 2.78.  Pretty close to the 2.5 conversion factor Ivor talked about.

Also, the top end of the range printed with my wife's result is 80, and that seems too high above Ivor's maximum of 50 ng/ml to make any sense.  It looks like nmol/l is the logical fit. 

 If that is the case, my wife's lab results "range" would be...

• 12 - 32 ng/ml
• 30 - 80 nmol/l

Only the very top value in that range (32 ng/ml, 80 nmol/l) falls into the green.  The rest is in the orange, and even well into the red.  It fits the black distribution curve, which is actual results, not optimal.

My wife's single value would then be...

• 17.6 ng/ml
• 44 nmol/l

This is in the red range, deficient.  It is also on the back slope of the black, USA distribution.

Although this is just one piece of data, it confirms my suspicion.  My wife was deficient in sun hormone, and nobody ever said anything about it.  Worse than that, by presenting the single measurement as being in the "range," it implied things were normal and okay.  She never gave it a second thought, nor did I.

The values on her results were presented without units.  If someone were to compare that 44 value with data typically found in the research, they would be comparing 'apples' (nmol/l) with 'oranges' (ng/ml), and might conclude that the value of 44 is in the upper half of the 32 - 50 ng/ml "green" range, and essentially the same as the optimal value of 42 ng/ml.  Again, this would give the impression that things were normal and okay.

There seem to be levels of deception going on here.  Yes, there is plausible deniability, but it has certainly taken a lot of work for me to get to the truth, and most people are not going to have the time, knowledge, or motivation to do that.  Why would things be this way?  Why would a medical business want to obfuscate the truth about vitamin D levels?  As discussed in the main text, above, vitamin D is crucial for good health.  Perhaps that is the key.

Healthy people do not need medical attention.

Who ARE these people?

Ruthie's

My mother has a friend who owns a timeshare condominium in Antrim County, Michigan.  He had seven nights to use last year, but he was afraid of "the virus" and did not want to go there without some reconnaissance of the situation.  His adult children all live out of state, and none of them were interested in traveling during the "pandemic," so he asked my wife and me if we would like to use it.  He offered two periods, and one of them ended on our anniversary.  I picked that one, of course!

As I was packing, I picked out some movies to take and watch.  The Holy Spirit distinctly had me take our DVD copy of Dan in Real Life, starring Steve Carell.

The condominium was located in a resort near a small town not far from where our older daughter had previously lived for a year.  We were familiar with much of the trip there, but we had never been in that particular community before.

We ate at restaurants at least once a day, and noticed Ruthie's Dairy Twist on the main street.  We went there for dessert, and I mentioned the connection to the movie I had brought.  My wife laughed, and we decided that was the movie we would watch that night.

There is a character in the movie called "Ruthie" -- "Ruthie 'pig-face' Draper," to be exact, played by a very young Emily Blunt.

The story is about a middle-aged widower, Dan (Carell), who has three school-age daughters.  They travel to his parents' house for a weekend with extended family.  While he is there, he meets a woman, Marie, in a bookstore, and they are very attracted to each other.  It turns out that Marie is Dan's brother's new girlfriend and she is there to spend the weekend in the same house.  Nobody but Dan and Marie know about this, however, so comedy ensues.

Dan's parents know he is having struggles with his kids, and it has been four years since he lost his wife, so they set him up with a date.  Marie and Dan's brother agree to go with them.  The date's name is Ruthie, but the guys remember her as "pig-face," apparently because she had some unfortunate facial features.  As the family is waiting for her to arrive, Dan's brothers serenade him with a song about his soon-to-be porcine companion.  (It's worth a listen:  here.)  When Ruthie shows up, she is no longer "pig-face."  She's a plastic surgeon.

Dan and Marie are eventually married at the end of the movie.

 

My wife and I enjoyed our time at the condominium and reported conditions back to my mom's friend.

About a month later, he offered the remaining condominium nights to us.  He didn't want to go, and he could not get anyone in his family interested.  We readily agreed.

This second time, the trees were gorgeous and the autumn colors were at their peak.  We drove around and enjoyed them.  There were many political signs up at that time, too, because the general election was less than a month away.

Antrim County received considerable attention after the election because the Democrat Party candidate received significantly more votes than the Republican Party candidate.  Anyone who knows that county, or had driven around it in October like we did, knows that just could not be correct.  The Republican campaign signs far outnumbered those of the other party.  It turned out the results were wrong, and corrections were made, but it was a huge 'red flag' that something was not right.  To this day, Antrim County, Michigan is the only jurisdiction in the country to have the voting machines forensically audited¹, and the report states the machines were insecure, voting results were unreproducible and computer history logs were deleted.  (I have copies of both the redacted and unredacted versions of the report.)  As I write this post in April of 2021, the election results are still being contested.

(Notice the triangle-shaped parking lot, with missing apex?)

That audit took place at the Antrim County Building in Bellaire.  We ate at the Corner Bistro restaurant in Bellaire at least three times, and it is right next door to that county building.  What did our presence have to do with the election and the audit?  I have no idea, but we were there, and we had never been there before.  This kind of thing has not been unusual for us, as I have discussed in other posts.

My wife died the day after Inauguration Day.  Soon afterward, I realized that Dan in the movie was a widower, and that our watching that movie had foreshadowed my wife's death.  I do not know what it means, if anything, but those circumstances have both produced a lot of tears, and provided a lot of comfort.

I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but as Dan's last line in the movie says, I should, "plan to be surprised."

All glory to God.

 

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UPDATE, June 22, 2021...

¹This Antrim County audit was a forensic audit of the voting machines only, and was in support of a lawsuit by an Antrim County resident.  The court ordered a "forensic audit" be done in Antrim County, but what resulted was essentially a partial recount, which is not a forensic audit.

Patrick Colbeck is a former Michigan State Senator, and he describes what a forensic audit is at this link:  letsfixstuff.org.  A forensic audit collects information that can stand up in court.

The State of Arizona has completed a forensic audit of 100% of the votes cast in the Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ 2020 November Election, and the results will apparently be made public in the middle of August, 2021.  Other states are considering doing forensic audits of their 2020 elections.

 

UPDATE, August 30, 2022...

Since I wrote this post and last updated it, I have learned about our actual history and real American Government.  These elections are not the elections we are owed on the Soil/Land Jurisdictions.  They are simply proxy elections of foreign government-services corporations and only give people the impression they have a voice.  They are manifestations of the Darkness and serve to divide people:  "Democrats" versus "Republicans."  They are a distraction and a waste of time.

Notice that symbols of the Democratic and Republican Parties are included in the "Secret Societies" graphic in the Manifestations post.

I discussed this in updates of the Authority post.

Film Critic

A year ago, I wrote a critique of the television series, The Chosen.  I didn't like the program, but I did enjoy writing the review.

God made me a very analytical man, and I like to study things.  Discernment is important, and I am going to discuss what I see in several movies that I own copies of.  You may agree with my opinions, or you may not, but this may give you insight into how I think.

One of my favorite biblical films is The Visual Bible's Matthew.  I like it because it sticks rigidly to the 1984 New International Version translation, and because Bruce Marchiano portrays a very human, yet righteously authoritative Jesus.  His dressing down of the religious leaders in Matthew 23 is impressive, and his compassion for those he heals seems genuine.  I have watched this movie countless times, and the words are seared into my memory from the repetition.

I do find it interesting that Bruce always covers his head when he portrays Jesus praying in this movie.  Elisha was bald and Paul thought men praying with covered heads was dishonorable.  The Jewish practice of men covering their heads began well after the time of Jesus.¹

The film also treats Mary Magdelene as a reformed prostitute, which I believe is unsubstantiated in Scripture, as I discussed previously.

I had an opportunity to talk with Bruce Marchiano when he visited my church when he was promoting his book, In the Footsteps of Jesus.  He expressed disappointment that the people running The Visual Bible brought in some big-name actors for the followup Acts movie.  We both agreed that the Holy Spirit didn't seem to make an appearance in that second production.

This movie resonates with me because the biblical book of Matthew is written to believers.  It is the book of Mark with insights behind what Jesus did.  I think word-for-word productions of Mark and Luke/Acts might be useful for evangelizing non-believers because those books are written to them.

Another favorite is The Prince of Egypt.  The music is fun and the artistic and historical licenses don't contradict any important biblical concepts.  I saw the movie in a theater when it first came out, and the Burning Bush theme made me weep.  The scene where Moses explained to Tzipporah what had happened to him at the Bush prompted me to ask my wife to follow me on my spiritual journey.  The song Look Through Heaven's Eyes is probably the best wisdom in the movie, and it was the subject of my first post after I lost my dear wife.  The demonstrations of God's power always make me feel some adrenaline.

The movie only goes through the Red Sea and just shows Moses with the tablets; it doesn't go any further, which is probably fine for a kids' movie.

I do always bristle a bit when Moses tells Tzipporah that his motivation for going back to Egypt is to free 'his people,' rather than because God commanded him to do it.  They are God's people, after all, and the movie left out the part where God made Moses' hand leprous.  Yes, those are details, but I think they are important ones.  Did the medical industry use their influence to make sure any references to miraculous healings did not appear in the film?  Given what I know now, it seems logical.

Another thing that makes me uncomfortable are some of the lyrics of the song When You Believe.  They are rather worldly and attribute results of miracles to us, rather than to God.

I always chuckle when God in the Bush gets angry at Moses and says, "Who made man's mouth?"  There's a discontinuity in the script because nothing was mentioned in the movie about Moses' mouth.  In the Bible, Moses claimed he could not speak well, as he made excuses, and that pushed God to get angry.  But the movie couldn't go there because the cartoon Moses did not have a speech problem.  It is difficult to adapt a book into a film.

Overall, this is one of my favorite spiritual movies.  It came out in theaters a few months before I was baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit, and the subject matter is the same as I was reading when I had my "I believe" moment when I was nine years old.

The film Risen is an interesting extrabiblical story about a Roman officer who encountered Jesus and his resurrection.  I liked it.  As one reviewer opined, the movie tends to cause modern, western Christians to identify with the Romans, rather than the disciples of Jesus.  That may be true for some, but not for me.  I'm the weird one who blogs about being a Jew.

I love how this movie treats the miracles around the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and how Jesus disappears from the room where his disciples are gathered.  His healing of the leper is good, too.

My main complaint about the film is the message it conveys at the end.  There's a lot about love and peace ("a day without death"), but nothing about repentance.  Nothing.  That's a problem, and it pervades most movies like this.  This is precisely the reason why I am writing this post.  This is dangerous, and we need to call it out.²

This film also treats Mary Magdalene as a reformed prostitute, as I discussed above.

The Visual Bible's The Gospel of John just doesn't work, in my opinion.  The book of John is written to believers who have the Holy Spirit, and it goes into great detail about some difficult subjects.  In general, movies are a visual medium which requires the director and actors to convert much of the story into actions.  This invariably results in them introducing their own beliefs and biases into the final result.  I also find the visual elements distracting, which seems to crowd the Holy Spirit out of the discussion.

Another disappointment in this film is the actor's depiction of Jesus.  He is very stoic and rarely exhibits fruits of the Spirit.  I understand the text is very serious, and much of what Jesus says is critical of the religious leaders, but Bruce Marchiano managed to pull it off well in Matthew and I think it could have been done here.  It's too bad they didn't use Bruce, but I think he and the producers had gone their separate ways.

This movie also conveys the typical extrabiblical elements that show up in similar movies, including Matthew:  Mary Magdalene starts out dressed as a harlot, men cover their heads to pray, and people fold their hands and bow their heads during prayer, which is stereotypical behavior in the modern church.  In addition, the smell of Replacement Theology seems to waft through the film as the actor playing Jesus scolds the religious leaders and rabid crowds.

When I first started reading the Bible, I tried to read John but didn't understand anything.  After my baptism in water and Spirit, I got a lot out of it and focused on it almost exclusively for a while.  We must have the Holy Spirit in order to understand the "meat" that Jesus teaches us, and John is very "meaty."  The book of Mark would be a much better candidate to make into a movie because it is written to unbelievers, plus it is very short and to the point.  My DVD copy of The Gospel of John has a flyer advertising The Gospel of Mark, which was apparently in production when the 'John' DVD was released.  Unfortunately, it appears that project was never finished.  What a pity.  I think they should have started with that one in the first place.

The Passion of the Christ is a high production value passion play viewed through the director's religious glasses.  There are a number of extrabiblical elements in the film that reflect Roman Catholic programming, many of them focusing on Jesus' mother.  The film is very well done, but it is exceedingly brutal.  That brutality may be close to the truth, but it makes the film difficult to watch.  The dialog is in the original languages, and I like that authenticity.

The Holy Spirit has always dissuaded me from picking this film to watch, and I had not seen it in years, until I rewatched it so I could write this review.  I don't think Jesus likes reliving those events.  He did say, "It is finished," and I think He really meant it.

The world and the Darkness seem to enjoy producing passion plays, perhaps because they like seeing the God of the Universe humiliated, but I don't like it.  I understand what happened, but I prefer to live a resurrected life with Jesus, rather than dwell on the gore of the Crucifixion.  The Bible says I should worship God in Spirit and in Truth, and doing so brings on its own persecutions.  I am now without my beloved wife, for example, and I see that as part of "carrying my cross."

So, after over two hours of arguing, agony and gore in this movie, we finally get to see the Resurrection, and it lasts for 81 seconds.  That's where my personal journey began, after I got my tool bag.  We can watch all of the 'passion plays' and Bible movies that are out there, but until we commit to living our own blockbuster, we may be in peril of missing out on what is actually available to us.

That The World May Know with Ray Vander Laan is a teaching series that takes viewers to places in the Bible.  Early in my spiritual growth, our Sunday School class viewed several of the lessons and I learned a lot from them.  Shortly after that, we acquired VHS copies of the first five volumes.  Later, we acquired additional DVD copies through volume 12.  When we stopped going to church, we still viewed the programs in our home.

I would love to go to Israel, and I romantically think about eventually living there.  This material provides some access to those yearnings.  When I first watched the videos, I became aware of some of the very dark parts of the biblical narrative, such as child sacrifice and demon worship.

This series helped me learn to worship in Spirit and in Truth.  Vander Laan modeled that behavior for me.  He pointed out truth by going to real places, and he coupled it with spirit by opening up and reading from pages of the Bible.  Every VHS lesson began with the statement, "The ancient land of Israel is a testimony and evidence of the greatness of what God did in that country, a testimony to the truth of the words that we find in the pages of the Bible."  As I re-watched the lessons, I could see where his teachings had influenced me, both good and not so good.

In Volume 4, Lesson 2, Ray talks about the demon-possessed man in Mark 5, and he points out that Jesus would not let the man come with him after he had been set free.  He told the man to go tell people what had happened to him.  Later, when Jesus came back to the area, many people came to see him and he miraculously fed four thousand.  Ray says, "Just show people what's happened to you."  It's that kind of thinking that motivates me to maintain this blog.  I was set free, and I want to share my story with others, too.

Ray has a divinity degree and is an ordained minister, so he went to a seminary...and he got programmed.  His upbringing and programming gave him a set of religious glasses, and he has programmed others by utilizing the pattern, both literally as can be seen in the picture, and through technology by the dissemination of the video productions.  By understanding his background, it is easy to see his biases and blind spots.

For example, in Volume 4, Lesson 10, as Ray reads portions of the passage cited in the picture, Acts 2:42-47 (NIV 1984), he tells the group that what marks someone as being filled with the Holy Spirit is whether or not they care about people around them who need what they have.  In doing that, he totally leaves out any mention of, "many wonders and miraculous signs," done by the apostles.  He spends most of his time trying to make a tenuous connection between Moses giving the Law at Mount Horeb and what took place fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, instead of on the demonstrations of the Spirit's power.

Ray rarely ever mentions the disciples performing miraculous signs and wonders in his lessons, and this is a good example of where he leaves it out.  This is typical of teachers in 'evangelical' circles.  Under their tutelage I believed those things were only for Jesus to do because nobody ever talked about them, let alone demonstrated them!  But Jesus said...

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.  (Mark 16:16-18 NIV)

As I watch the people in the videos, I feel sorry for them because I used to be in their shoes.  At some points, they lament that they feel powerless against the evil of the culture, and Ray seems to reluctantly concur.  He said in Volume 4, Lesson 3 that sixty million evangelical Christians in the United States ought to have an effect.  But do they?  I believe they don't because they see themselves as "Christians," and not "apprentices," they do not have their complete 'tool bags,' and they lack authority because they do not identify with spiritual Israel.  That identification would give them the authority they need.  Unfortunately, the programming they have received from teachers like Vander Laan has left them unequipped to deal with the Darkness, and that's the way the Darkness wants it.  Repentance is the only way forward.

Another thing worth mentioning is in Volume 5, Lesson 1 where Ray talks about what Jesus said at Caesarea Philippi.  Ray implies Jesus was speaking to a crowd of Pan worshipers when he talked about losing your life to save it and gaining the whole world but forfeiting your soul, but the text clearly states Jesus was only talking to those who were following him.  I was reading the text like a Berean and noticed this, but Ray's audience members in the video were probably not, and Ray does not reference the text.  Through his message, Ray implies we should use these passages to evangelize, but they are intended for believers and seekers, not the unrepentant.  They are profound ideas that deserve pondering, and the unrepentant will only laugh at them.  I think this confuses people and potentially blunts the Gospel message.  This blog is intended for believers, not unbelievers.  The statement of the Gospel in the blog heading³ gives unbelievers the message they need to hear, as does the 'Featured Post' in the sidebar, Apprentice of Jesus, and they are unlikely to read any further if they persist in their unbelief.  My purpose is to primarily encourage and challenge believers without upsetting unbelievers.  Jesus tailored his messages for his audiences, and I try to do the same.

I noticed in one of the original That the World May Know lessons that there were 33 people in the group, including Ray.  (I assume the production team was not included.)  That means there were 32 students and one teacher.  Those numbers mean things, and I don't think it's a coincidence.  The series was funded by Ed Prince, father of Betsy DeVos and Erik Prince of Blackwater fame.  I think these things may be connected and could help explain what is really going on.

Columbo was a television program I used to watch as a teenager.  He was a homicide detective who always figured out the crime, and he did it by being curious, persistent and logical.  I love the Truth, and I have found that it is those things that help me discover it.  Jesus said that the Father is looking for people who worship in Spirit and Truth.  That is what I do, and I am passionate about it.

All glory to God.

-----------------

¹Kolatch, Alfred J., The Jewish Book of Why, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., Middle Village, New York 11379, copyright 2000, pp. 120-122, 298.  Also: https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-beginnings-of-the-talmud/.

 

UPDATE, October 14, 2021...

³This was the heading text at the top of the blog when this post was written:

I do not deserve the mercy nor the grace extended to me...

Repent and believe, be immersed in water in the Name of Jesus for the remission of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

This is the true Gospel.
If there is anything good in me, it is from Above.
If I have any knowledge or understanding, it is from the Holy Spirit.

If I have any confidence in myself, I am a fool.

Yeshua is my King!

UPDATE, March 31, 2023...

²I feel rather foolish for some of these specific statements. I was led to re-watch this film this evening, and before I had even selected "play" on the DVD menu I heard the theme music and teared up because I realized what Yehoshua did for me.  I don't do that often, at least not in an extroverted way...

 

When I began watching the film I realized I was wrong about the lack of repentance in this movie.  The Tribune is seen walking in the desert at the beginning of the story.  He is in rags.  He has walked away from his former life and he has changed.  That is the essence of repentance.  Wanting peace (i.e. a day without death) is what I want, too.  It is all I want; for me and for everyone.

'Course correction.'  That is what God wants for us, and it manifests in many ways.  I am sorry.

 

I also realized that I really like stories that take place around the biblical narrative, but do not try to tell that narrative.  It avoids the risk of contaminating the message, but shows the impact it has on people.  I think it is a safer route.

Now, ... to go watch the movie.  I so miss my wife.  Watching movies is how we spent our time together for so many years.

Altered footnotes to maintain proper order in the main text.

Pattern

What is this pattern?

What is its purpose?

Where do we see it?

Is it for communicating?

In what direction?

Why is this pattern used?

Who uses it?

Who really uses it?

Click to enlarge

Where is this?

Do you see the pattern?

Do you see what surrounds it?

A pentagon?

Five sides?

Who does that represent?

What is this place?  What is its purpose?  What is 'Burning Man'?  What happens there?  Look it up.

How long has this pattern been around?

Where is it used?

To fill minds while they are young?  At the optimal age, when brains are still forming?

Who should be doing this?  A father?

Yet, who do we allow to do it?

Who is really doing it?

Where else do we see this pattern?

Is it for the same purpose?

Again, who uses this pattern?

Who really uses this pattern, and why?

Can they only be in one place at a time?  Do they need hierarchical structures to maintain control?

Do we want to be under control?

Or, do we want to be free?

What happens if the "pattern" isn't big enough?  What has been invented to increase the reach and influence of those who use the pattern?  How can one person communicate to the entire world at once?

Can we, instead, individually follow the Holy Spirit?

Is He able to communicate with us directly?

Is it two-way communication?

Can He coordinate what we are doing?

Is He always right?

Is He righteous?

Can He make us righteous?

Can He guide us onto the narrow path?

...That leads to life?

 

Repent.  Turn your back on the way you have been living.  Before it's too late.

All glory to God.

-----------------------

UPDATE, August 26, 2022...

My "personality type" typically spots patterns, and sometimes we have difficulty expressing our ideas to others.  (See updates to Engineer.)  I feel led to elaborate about this particular post and explain my thoughts.

Jesus went to where the religious Israelites were, ...the synagogues.  Taking advantage of their tradition, he spoke to the group...

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  (Luke 4:16-21 NIV)

Any of the men could get up and speak, in fact they were expected to take their turn.

That does not happen in a modern church.  Only a few people speak; the rest sit and quietly listen.  That is what 'the pattern' is about.

Paul gives us some insight into what Holy-Spirit-led worship¹ is like...

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three², and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three² prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.  (1 Corinthians 14:23-40 ESV)

The Holy Spirit runs the show.  Everyone is involved.  Men are the ones under authority.

I know my job is to go find the lost sheep of Israel, but most of them are in churches and "the pattern" controls access to them.  I cannot do as Jesus did and start reading Scripture in front of everybody.  I am not approved; I have not gone to seminary; I am not controlled.  The Darkness has boxed me out.

This is what amazed me about the coffee shop.  It is a church lobby without the church.  I can go in and talk to anyone who is there, and for the most part I can do that without interference.  I can find the sheep, and then go from there.  And while I am doing that, I can watch my bobber to see if I am getting any nibbles.

Sorry, I can't help but mention the metaphors.  That's how I am.

 

This is so much fun!

UPDATE, August 27, 2022...

¹ I do not think Paul was talking about "worship" here, but "service."  Bible translators have inserted the word "worship" into headings, which influence people to think about the "Going to Church" model and its forerunner, the tabernacle and temple activities of the Old Covenant.  But Jesus already made the Sacrifice we need. 

The Father does not want us to spend our time showing him obeisance.  He desires mercy.  He wants us to go find the lost sheep of Israel.  He wants subjects for His Kingdom.  He wants us to do what Jesus showed us how to do.  He wants us to make disciples (apprentices).

Our job is to go out into the public, demonstrate the power of God through miracles, speak the Good News about the Kingdom, and build each other up in private.

Paul said...

...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind ... Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.  (Romans 12:1-2, 6-8, NKJV, without paragraphs and headings)

It's about service, not holding a service, but getting the job done.  It's about achieving results.

UPDATE, August 30, 2022...

The NIV translation uses the word "pattern" in Romans 12:2, although it is only one of four that does...

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:2 NIV. This link lists all English translations.)

The Greek word translated as "pattern of this world" is aión, meaning:  a space of time, an age...

Usage: an age, a cycle (of time), especially of the present age as contrasted with the future age, and of one of a series of ages stretching to infinity.

...properly, an age (era, "time-span"), characterized by a specific quality (type of existence).

Example: Christians today live in the newer age (165 /aiṓn) of the covenant – the time-period called the NT. It is characterized by Christ baptizing all believers in the Holy Spirit, i.e. engrafting all believers (OT, NT) into His mystical body (1 Cor 12:13) with all the marvelous privileges that go with that (Gal 3:23-25; 1 Pet 2:5,9). [Biblehub.com #165]

The NIV translation of Romans 12:2 seems to support the point of this post, which is about one particular pattern found in the world.

Someone told me yesterday they attend a regular Bible study session and suggested I am welcome to join it.

This morning, I realized Bible study sessions are a form of the "pattern," and they are probably things I do not want to get involved with, although there may be reasons why the Holy Spirit wants me to go and investigate this particular situation.  We shall see what happens.

UPDATE, September 7, 2022...

² Notice Paul says "two or three" should speak in tongues or prophesy -- more than one and no more than three.  God is the one speaking in both cases, and he holds himself to the biblical standard of two or three witnesses.  This demonstrates it is about God giving instructions to his people, and has nothing to do with praising God.  Praising himself makes no sense.  I believe this further supports my observation that these activities are about service and equipping people to serve, not obeisance or 'partying.'

UPDATE, October 10, 2022...

I was led to listen to a sermon yesterday, and I think the experience illustrates "the pattern."  Who gave it and where they were does not matter.  It was typical.  A man spoke in front of an audience and everyone listened quietly.  I viewed it on-line.

The topic was the Gospel, and I was eager to hear how it would be presented.  I ended up having concerns about what he said, and if I had been sitting with him in private I could have made it into a conversation, but contributing to the discussion yesterday was impossible due to "the pattern."  I was boxed out and the audience did not benefit from what I believe the Holy Spirit was leading me to say.

He started out by describing some false gospels.  One of them was...

Be right -- about everything.  Say it confidently, and it's right.

My question was, "Shouldn't we strive to be right about everything?  Isn't that what worshiping in Spirit and Truth is all about?"  I agree many people confidently preach error, but is being right somehow wrong?  Wasn't Jesus right... about everything?  If this guy I'm listening to isn't right, then why am I listening to him?

He went on to say that trying to use these false gospels to transform people to be like Jesus is like trying to push a boulder up hill.  He's right about that.  Leaving things out of a gospel presentation is a big problem.

He eventually got around to saying:

The gospel is a scripture-based declaration about who Jesus is, what He has done, how He fulfills prophecies, and how we should respond.

That was from a book written by a couple of guys.

He then talked about some things from Scripture:  the Kingdom of Heaven, the Messiah, Jesus' death and resurrection.  Then he discussed what our response should be:

• Repent
• Believe
• Follow Jesus

He described the first two a bit, but was vague about what it means to follow Jesus.

Then he quoted someone else who wrote a different book...

The gospel about Jesus without the gospel of Jesus becomes destructively incomplete.

He said, "Having a partial definition of the gospel, but not a full definition, is something that is dangerous because it lacks clarity."  Clarity?  No, ... it's error.  That is why it is dangerous and destructive.

Again, he mentioned repentance and belief, but did not describe what it means to follow Jesus.

He challenged his audience to do this exercise.  He said each day this week they are to focus on one of the six sentences of this statement...

The Gospel is...

The Kingdom of God has been ushered in through Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus is Christ, the King, God in a human body.  This Jesus suffered and died on a cross and on the third day, was resurrected according to the Scriptures.  Through Jesus' sacrificial death and God's grace, the separation between people and their creator was bridged.  Therefore, anyone who repents of their sin, believes the good news and demonstrates this belief by following Jesus, God rescues.  It is only through the Holy Spirit that we are able to live this new life as Jesus' disciples.  When King Jesus returns as He promised on the Day of Judgment, everyone who is following Him will enter into God's eternal Kingdom.

Actually, that's seven sentences.  Count the periods.

This is the only time I recall him mentioning the Holy Spirit, and he said nothing more about it.  No mention of baptism.  No mention of deliverance.  And he still did not explain what it means to follow Jesus.  He alluded to some classes they offer, but the details apparently don't warrant any discussion in his Gospel presentation.

I have been frequenting a particular coffee shop for ten months.  The Holy Spirit led me there and has worked through me there almost continuously.  He had me get to know everyone, and in particular he wanted me to get acquainted with the elders of the church that sponsors it.  He wanted me to make sure they know who I am.

So far, I have found one person who wants to follow Jesus and who listens to me.  One.

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”  (Luke 10:16 NIV)

I am following Jesus.  I publicly state it on this blog and social media.  I tell everyone I am following Jesus; that I am His apprentice.  I even took my physical tool bag into the coffee shop for several weeks as a prop to reinforce what I am doing.  Hardly anyone noticed.

The one person who listens to me turns out to be a spiritual sibling, and we spend a lot of time together.  We are frequently inside the coffee shop, but we usually take our relationship out onto a public bench so we can talk more privately.  Everybody in the coffee shop and everybody in the public area knows we are "an item," and that we are having a great time.

This spiritual sibling and I began talking because they happen to have visible, physical handicaps.  Like Jesus, I began visibly praying for them to be healed, with their permission of course.  I was trying to demonstrate how to follow Jesus and do what He did.  People didn't like it, ... surprise, surprise.  We altered our behavior to maintain peace.

Our discussions eventually led to my spiritual sibling wanting to be baptized, and that happened in September after a long wait for a "baptism service" on the church calendar.  The baptism made a big difference in their life, but most people don't seem to notice.  They are busy socializing and serving the neighbors.  It appears to me they think that is following Jesus.

I listened to the sermon yesterday because the speaker is one of the leaders of the institutional church that sponsors the coffee shop.  In my opinion, he left out some major chunks of the Gospel, and those are the very aspects missing in the coffee shop.  I believe the Holy Spirit will continue to guide me to help these folks realize what it means to follow Jesus.  Serving coffee is just a way to interact with people.  Knowing what to do once we have their attention is the real mission.

UPDATE, November 23, 2022...

My spiritual sibling and I had a good laugh about some creative verses for the traditional song The Twelve Day of Christmas, and the Spirit led me to compose a version summarizing what I have observed during my past year in the coffee shop.  My sibling and I had another good laugh and agreed we believe it contains a lot of Truth.

My sibling says she can sing, despite her speech difficulties.  She says she was in choir in high school.  She has yet to prove it to me, however, and I tease her about it.

I am going to share the lyrics here out of love.  My intention is not to offend but to share Truth, so that some might realize what is really going on and make some changes.  Repentance is key, but we must know we need to repent before we can actually do it.  As I said, I share this out of love...

I would love to hear my spiritual sibling sing it.  After all, it is about her.