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	<title><![CDATA[SpiritualFamily.Net: Voices of the Prophets's blogs]]></title>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/68201/shepherds-wanted</guid>
	<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:41:16 -0500</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/68201/shepherds-wanted</link>
	<title><![CDATA[Shepherds Wanted]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4B0082;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">Shepherds Wanted</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">It&rsquo;s hard to know where to begin with this issue. As all dedicated students of spiritual truth know, the &lsquo;desertification&rsquo;, or spiritual desiccation of the traditions, is a symptom of a much deeper spiritual malaise. The tradition based shepherds have strayed far from the fountain of living spiritual truth and are now well and truly lost. Their flocks have unwittingly followed them into a great and terrible spiritual desert. This tragic reality was foreseen by the prophet Amos, chapter 8:</span></strong></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><em><span style="font-size: 18px;"><sup>11&nbsp;</sup><span>Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:</span></span></em></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">This statement references the great spiritual crisis that the &lsquo;global north&rsquo; [North America and Europe] is currently experiencing.</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><em><span style="font-size: 18px;"><sup>12&nbsp;</sup><span>And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.</span></span></em></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">This speaks about how the people of the &lsquo;global north&rsquo; will search for spiritual sustenance among the traditions of the East, i.e.: Buddhist and Yogic traditions, and even the atavistic and shamanic traditions of the south.</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><em><span style="font-size: 18px;"><sup>13&nbsp;</sup><span>In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.</span></span></em></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>But the severity of the spiritual crisis will be intense and will probably be indicated by high suicide rates, self-destructive behaviours among our youth, the further breakdown of the family, and the high places falling victim to fatal corruption &ndash; leading to national devastation. This is the great famine of&nbsp;</span><em>The Why</em><span>. Nietzsche once said, &lsquo;he that has a &lsquo;why&rsquo; can bear with almost any &lsquo;How&rsquo;&rsquo; and what this means is that a person that sees that their life has meaning, value, and purpose &ndash; he that has a &lsquo;why&rsquo; can endure and overcome the most insurmountable of obstacles, whilst without a why we stumble over molehills. When Jesus taught that we should &lsquo;seek first the kingdom&rsquo; he was admonishing us to find our WHY, our purpose [satisfaction through the pursuit of perfection, joy through loving service for our fellows, and completion in worship]. Without purpose life becomes aimless and unprofitable; it tends towards chaos. Purpose gives us perspective, puts things into proportion, helps us determine what will help us and what will hinder the realisation of our goal, what we should keep and what we should let go of. A pile of wood is useless to a man without a vision but if that same man dreams of a log cabin, or a boat then that wood becomes a means of realising a dream &ndash; it acquires purpose and value, and it gives his life direction and aim.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">&lsquo;Not a famine of bread and water&rsquo; would indicate a time of relative material prosperity. The challenge generated by material opulence is the false confidence that occurs when we fall under the illusion that we&rsquo;ve &lsquo;got it all&rsquo;, that we &lsquo;got it made&rsquo;, are self-sufficient, but, in reality, all we are is self deluded.</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><em><span style="font-size: 18px;">&ldquo;You will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom. Learn to be faithful to the kingdom even in times of peace and prosperity. Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease-drifting souls.&rdquo; [178:1.10]</span></em></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">We forget that material wealth springs from spiritual resources like honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, justice, humility, conscientiousness, thriftiness, exaltation of family life and social service, but success leaves us vulnerable to pride and as pride goes into ascendancy these virtues are undermined and immediately are sown the seeds of the destruction of that culture. Thus our angels have been forced to lead us &lsquo;into troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save [our] ease-drifting souls.&rsquo; Indeed,</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><em>&ldquo;For when culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom, then does civilization contain within itself the seeds of retrogression; and unless buttressed by the swift augmentation of experiential wisdom, such human societies will recede from high but premature levels of attainment, and the &quot;dark ages&quot; of the interregnum of wisdom will bear witness to the inexorable restoration of the imbalance between self-liberty and self-control.&rdquo; [118:8.6]</em></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Recessions [sudden corrections] occur when individuals and large groups lose their spiritual bearings or values, when they follow/worship&nbsp;</span><em>false values</em><span>. Without an effective spiritual compass, we are lost and today &ndash; arguably more than in any other generation &ndash; we are experiencing the most profound spiritual bankruptcy or famine that has ever been experienced in the history of the world. So profound is this famine that every resource has been plundered and there is nothing left, politically, economically, traditionally, we appear to be screwed. Folks are really feeling it. On the other side, this is a tremendous opportunity for those that possess a great revelation, a grand and consoling spiritual and cosmic perspective.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Unfortunately Roman Catholic Institution is suffering because the princes of the tradition abandoned the gospel in favour of political ecclesiology. It stands under condemnation of one of the great laws of the Kingdom, </span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><em>&ldquo;He who selfishly loves his life stands in danger of losing it; but he who is willing to lay down his life for my sake and the gospel&#39;s shall enjoy a more abundant existence on earth and in heaven, life eternal.&rdquo; [174:5.8]</em> </span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">These princes have knowingly and willingly sacrificed the lives of children that they might protect a man made creation, their true values [or lack thereof] and the extent of their blindness is revealed in that they value the dead and lifeless thing that is their institution above living children. They abandoned the gospel values they were sworn to up hold. </span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><em>&ldquo;He who is a hireling, when danger arises, will flee and allow the sheep to be scattered and destroyed; but the true shepherd will not flee when the wolf comes; he will protect his flock and, if necessary, lay down his life for his sheep.&rdquo; [165:2.8]</em> </span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">They abandoned the flocks to the wolves, worse - they protected the wolves and enabled them to sneak from flock to flock despoiling everywhere they went. The Master taught that &lsquo;by their fruits you would know them,&rdquo; when they abandoned the flocks they abandoned the gospel - one is the shadow of the other - they fled from the post they were supposed to defend and proved to onlookers that they were mere hirelings, not their true shepherds. Now the flocks wander, lost &ndash; in search of a shepherd in a world full of wolves.</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">The litany of cruelty that occurred in my country at the hands of these men is appalling. The spiritual law that declares that you &lsquo;reap as you sow&rsquo; is surely taking effect now. The whole world knows that these people abandoned the gospel; that they sacrificed children to maintain their careers. Alas, it would have been better if they were willing to sacrifice their careers and maintain the gospel. They have fallen so tragically short, have been measured and found wanting. Can they find their way back into the good graces of the flocks again? </span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Behold! The Lord has opened a way. Right now they wolves are circling, endeavouring to enslave the whole world! The flock are looking earnestly for shepherds that will fight, even die for them and the gospel. Are any willing to lay down their lives to defend the flock? Are there shepherds that can lead people out of the deserts the wolves have prepared for them and into the green pastures that are the heritage of the children of God? Are any willing to highlight the hypocrisy and corruption of the leaders, as their master did? Are they willing to condemn the toxic ways, the toxic food, the toxic culture exalted by the corrupt and corrupting leaders and instead exalt the healthy, wholesome and life giving ways of the Lord?</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Until they do, they will no more find their way back into the good graces of the flocks again. They fed our children to wolves and refuse to accept responsibility. Consequently, they are finished in their current form. They must be willing to die so that they may be born again &ndash; in a new form! The princes of the Roman tradition know their days are numbered. Their own prophecies, one&rsquo;s that they accept as true, tell them that the &lsquo;Church&rsquo; is to be led into the desert, where she will be stripped of everything, in an effort to purge her of the false, unnecessary, and blinding, there to rediscover the source of her true riches. Behold, the hour has come.</span></p><p style="margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</p><p style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">We, the children of the next revelation, should be studying hard to get ready for our call to service. As the door of one age closes the door for the next age swings open. The hour is striking for a spiritually famished people to re-discover the supernal life and teachings of the Master. The angels are preparing the world, whetting the appetite of truth-seekers and sharpening the talents and skills of truth teachers. Are you ready for the call?!</span></p><p style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center;"><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/strangepreacher/p/shepherds-wanted?r=17ovtn&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 18px;">SOURCE</span></a></p><p style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></p>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/65576/children-of-the-lesser-known-god</guid>
	<pubDate>Fri, 13 Oct 2023 13:38:39 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/65576/children-of-the-lesser-known-god</link>
	<title><![CDATA[Children of the Lesser Known God]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6699ff;"><span style="font-size: 28px;">Children of the Lesser Known God</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6699ff;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6699ff;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><img alt="" height="817" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/36506/master/" style="margin: 6px 12px; float: left;" width="562"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">In this article I am going to explore the experience of God on our world, Urantia &ndash; as framed within the contexts outlined in that book. Before I do, I&rsquo;d like to take a moment to outline some experiences and insights I have acquired from my career and then later use these to contextualise and explore ideas put forward by the text. I worked in the medical device manufacturing industry for almost two decades. While there are an almost innumerable host of devices available to assist and promote health they generally fall into two classes: one could be categorised as for external use only [like a wheelchair or blood pressure monitor] the other as internal devices [like hip joints or pacemakers]. The internal devices can equally be divided into two classes: one could be classified as purely mechanical, while the other is a device that would be mechanical <em>PLUS</em> some <em>active ingredient</em> &ndash; such devices are known as <em>combination devices</em>. Devices that introduce APIs [Active Pharmacological Ingredients] have a whole universe of additional quality controls on them that govern their function and release.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">The manufacture of medical devices is governed by very carefully designed procedures. There is zero room for tinkering with the process. With few exceptions, the manufacturing process has to be performed exactly as prescribed or it goes in the bin. Every device has to be calibrated and the calibration documented. Even the devices used to measure other devices have to be calibrated and their calibration documented. All of this to ensure and prove that the device in question was made to the exact specification required and that the proof of this is documented. Any deviations from the process are reviewed by a suitably qualified board. They will deliberate on the nature, effect and cause of a deviation, how to eliminate that cause going forward, and determine if the item can be safely reworked or if it needs to be disposed of. The exactitude associated with these processes is impressive. It needs to be, lives are at stake. Getting it wrong can lead to serious harm or even death.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">In this space, &lsquo;Tinkering&rsquo; can only be legitimately carried out in designated research areas by qualified and suitably trained personnel. It is in the research stage that every single control is determined, but only after testing. Every single element of the device is controlled, from the room temperature to who handles it and why &ndash; especially is this true of APIs. Inappropriately administered APIs can have lethal consequences. As a result the procedures in place surrounding these substances are significant, and in this I see considerable parallels in the Urantia Book.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">I know the parallel is crude but one can see the celestials approach <strong><em>LIFE</em></strong> much as Quality Engineers would approach the handling of an API. There are very specific procedures and suitably qualified personnel associated with it. Devising life vehicles, and establishing life on the spheres, even its evolution from initial inception to the final realisation of Light and Life, is executed according to very specific procedures. However, unlike APIs, LIFE is considered SACRED and is approached by those who are charged with its elaboration and preservation with a holy reverence.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">According to the UB, ninety percent of the worlds of space and time are built to according to specific and unchanging procedures and managed by appropriately trained personnel. However, ten percent of the worlds [approximately one in ten worlds] are designated as Life Experimentation Worlds, also known as Decimal Planets. These are essentially the Research and Development Departments of the Heavens. On these worlds, the celestials try to do things a little differently. These adventures/experimentations are thoroughly reviewed before they are signed off on. Consequently, the evolving life experience on these planets differs from other worlds. However, even on worlds such as these, though the <em>expression</em> of LIFE might vary somewhat in <em>spirit</em> the challenges are the same &ndash; self mastery, service, perfection attainment personally and socially. That said, life on these worlds differ and as a result the experiential appreciation of God will vary slightly also. Hence, when compared to the dominant trend on the other ninety percent of planets, the Father would be understood in a different way on such worlds.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">I remember once thinking that LIFE is a &lsquo;controlled substance&rsquo;. It is, without question, the most precious resource in the Universe of universes. The UB flatly contradicts much of modern philosophy and science, which probably contributes much to its slow uptake. The revelation teaches that Mind comes only from mind, energy comes only from energy, spirit from spirit, personality from personality and that in the Great Source all these phenomena are one. Life does not come from not life, mind does not emerge from not mind, energy is not created ex nihilo. So, though the argument may seem circular, life does not emerge from nothing &ndash; it emerges from something, from LIFE - it is through the auspices and agencies of Living Beings that it is established.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Having been once established those that brought it into being bear a responsibility, a divine duty, for that life. Such beings are answerable to those by whom they were entrusted to foster its potential. This inescapable duty becomes the inspirational source of the efforts to &lsquo;save&rsquo; the wayward worlds, the divinely rooted urge to restore them to the divine family that brought them into being and to which they belong, and to re-establish them on the high and divine destiny that the Creator had ordained for them since before they were even formed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Of all the worlds out there [and ten million spheres have been projected for habitation] few suffer the ravages of rebellion. Our world started out as a Decimal Planet, then it was cursed by the affliction of rebellion by the &lsquo;Head of the Department&rsquo;. This created considerable commotion in terms of competing regimes [loyalists and secessionists] and their conflicting agendas and goals, practically knocked our world back into the Stone Age, retarding and hampering social and cultural development. Efforts to get the world back on track were further derailed by the default of Adam and Eve, whose progeny, it was hoped, would eventually restore the world to harmony with the celestial administration and get our world back on track. These are major celestial car-crashes to try and recover from, such was the catastrophic nature of the calamities that befell us that it drew the attention of our Universe Sovereign and He courageously chose this sin stricken and wayward sphere as his home. It is certainly arguable, at least from a regime or administrative point of view, that the arrival of Jesus on this planet instituted an upheaval no less profound than either two previous defaults.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">To revert to the medical device analogy, when there&rsquo;s a major breach in quality all manufacturing is immediately suspended (depending on how serious the issue is) while the source of the breach is &ldquo;root-caused&rdquo;. During this phase the Quality Engineers endeavour to &lsquo;scope&rsquo; out the extent of the issue. Everything is stopped. Everything is counted. Nothing moves. If deliveries leave the site they are recalled, or a detention order is issued to the receiving site. You will, no doubt, be familiar with the term Product Recall. These are issued when a breach in procedures occurs that could result in harm to consumers. It becomes, therefore, necessary to have consumers return the goods to the store and seek a refund. Until we can be certain of the extent of the issue nothing moves. These remind me of the protocols that came into play during the rebellion.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">During a major event nothing comes onto the site or leaves it, and all communications are restricted and channelled through pre-approved lines. Rebellion, such as we have been subjected to, is astoundingly toxic. It represents a major breach in procedures, one that can have harmful life altering effects at best or soul destroying effects at worst. Consequently, safety protocols would necessitate the suspension of all traffic to and from the affected sites. One wonders if these protocols are what is behind the revelation that regular procedures regarding sleeping survivors were put on hold, procedures that prevented even Elijah and Moses from taking their rightful seat on the Mansion worlds &ndash; prior to the advent of Michael?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">It is certainly arguable that one of the clearest pieces of evidence we have of the fact that our world has been caught in the cross-fire of a <em>War-In-Heaven</em> is in the <strong><em>astounding silence of space</em></strong>. We are receiving not one single signal that might indicate life on other worlds. On the surface, we appear to be alone and adrift, but those of us blessed with the gift of the revelation know that this is not true. We detect the comings and goings of high level staff who are eagerly working to bring things to a close, who are as distressed by the delays as anyone but who are bound to procedures &ndash; specifically those procedures through which the full, final, and complete redemption of the world will be effected. However, <em>they</em> will not yield to the temptation to deviate from the procedure -&nbsp; &lsquo;even if it takes a million years&rsquo; to wind up the consequences.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">On troubled worlds such as ours conventional universe wisdom can be unavailing. Here our divine overseers must implement <em>experimental</em> wisdom, apply policies and procedures not tried on many worlds. Consequently, <em>new things</em> can be learned here that cannot be learned elsewhere and that makes our tiny little sphere especially intriguing. It is also instructive that the author of paper 35 [one of the Chiefs of Archangels, no less] points out that our administrative troubles have been so profound as to transform our universe into one vast clinic. An interesting thing about this observation is that the Archangels are one of the few beings capable of communicating from our world. They form part of the divine administration whose duty it is to save our world, to eliminate the stain of rebellion and bring us back into communion with the spheres of light.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Consequently, our experience and appreciation of God is markedly different from the majority of the worlds out there. Being born on the wrong side of the cosmic tracks, as it were, we begin our cosmic adventure at what would seem a decided disadvantage. In many ways, the children of this world are born to a spiritual warzone &ndash; facing levels of poverty, desperation, and isolation that is in marked contrast with an average world. In a sense, we are like spiritual war orphans &ndash; cut off from, and deprived of the benefits of, sound direct celestial guidance. Now we face endless explosions of crisis and competing orders and conflicting priorities coming at us from every conceivable angle, disorienting, confusing and frightening us. Injustice, deception, and tragedy seem to proliferate. The corrupt seem to have the upper hand, and there appears to be no power on earth that can prevent them from enslaving the whole world. Finding God under such circumstances is quite the challenge. Consequently, the God we know and the God we need &ndash; is markedly different from the face with which He is more generally known throughout the galaxies. And those of us who succeed in finding the Creator under such difficult circumstances are, indeed, the Children of the Lesser Known God.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">When our race on this troubled little sphere is run, the children of the far spreading household of Heaven will be intrigued and fascinated by our vision of the God who sustained us throughout these struggles. When our stories of salvation are heard on high His glory will be multiplied and amplified, as the universes learn that His light shines brightest in the darkest corners.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/63941/ghandi-and-god</guid>
	<pubDate>Wed, 16 Aug 2023 06:34:21 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/63941/ghandi-and-god</link>
	<title><![CDATA[Ghandi and God]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p>For Gandhi, God is beyond reasoning and since reasoning is an individual affair there will be several reasons and un-reasons for the existence and otherwise of God. God is a matter of faith and not reason and without faith one may not understand the idea of God. (Young India, 21-01-21, p.80 &amp; TEH, p.60). &nbsp;Gandhi becomes fatalistic in the matter of God and understanding the idea of God. However, Gandhi is successful in making God a functional idea by saying God is Truth and Truth is God. A seeker of truth is therefore a believer in God. He is also quick to say that all believers are not Godly and that all atheists are not ungodly. God cannot be understood by arguments and reasoning but by following a Godly path. One who follows a Godly path has the power to convert an atheist into a theist. Atheists cannot be converted to theists merely by arguments but by leading a Godly life than merely having a belief in God. (Harijan, 1-9-40, p.268/269 &amp; TEH, p.62).</p>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>France Tremblay</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/49366/the-kingdom-of-the-woke-and-the-revelation</guid>
	<pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2022 23:27:10 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/49366/the-kingdom-of-the-woke-and-the-revelation</link>
	<title><![CDATA[The Kingdom of the Woke and the Revelation]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 28px;">The Kingdom of the Woke and the Revelation</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="720" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/49363/master/" width="1280"></p><div><div><div style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;"><div id="header"><div id="Header1"><div id="header-inner"><div><h1 style="margin-bottom: 10px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://thestrangepreacher.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Strange Preacher</a></h1><h2 style="font-style: normal; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="background-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0.4em; margin: inherit;">Saturday, 21 May 2022</span></h2></div><div style="margin-bottom: 25px;"><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><img alt="" height="223" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/avatar/view/StrangePreacher/medium/1486204923" style="margin: 4px 12px; float: left;" width="200">The Urantia book offers a treasure trove of remarkable insights. One that I find interesting, and feel speaks to the age: With God the Father, sonship is the great relationship. With God the Supreme, achievement is the prerequisite to status &mdash; one must&nbsp;<em>do&nbsp;</em>something as well as&nbsp;<em>be&nbsp;</em>something [115:0.1]. It seems to me that the children of the Age of the Woke are fixated with the&nbsp;<em>being&nbsp;</em>phase of reality and repudiate the merits of the doing phase. Martin Luther King Jnr. understood the importance of this dynamic when he said that he had a dream that one day his children &lsquo;would be judged, not by the colour of their skin but, by the content of their character.&rsquo;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I&rsquo;ll never forget that line. As the years have passed I crafted a maxim about character: Character is what is left in the wake of the decisions that you make. Character, then, is a testament to your decisions and values. It is not fixed or set in stone. It can change as you change and grow, are inspired by higher values to make better decisions. As you grow, and mature, you discover new truths and values and adjust your settings accordingly &ndash; at least this is what you do if you are aspiring to be wise, if you aspire to the happy life. One cannot be happy and live out of harmony with truth, one can be in denial about this but there can be no abiding happiness with conformity with truth. And as your awareness and appreciation of truth grows and deepens and your endeavour to align yourself ever more perfectly with it, so too does the trajectory of your life arc in response.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">When we place the&nbsp;<em>content of character</em>&nbsp;above the colour of skin [or any incidental factor which we inherit from nature] what we are saying is that we are defined by our values. It does not matter if you are black or white, it matters that you turn up on time for work, and when you are there that you do a good days work. It does not matter if you are Jewish or Christian, it matters that you turn up for your family. You are defined by what you&nbsp;<em><strong>do</strong></em>, not by genetic factors over which you have no control. Do you make a positive difference at work, home, school, or neighbourhood? Then that is admirable. It doesn&rsquo;t matter what colour you are, it doesn&rsquo;t matter what you like to do between the sheets, it matters that you can get a job done, that you can be relied upon.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">These days we see these ridiculous spectacles of people introducing themselves by their &ldquo;identity&rdquo; &ndash; by the very things that they are not responsible for and that can tell absolutely nothing of value about them. You don&rsquo;t&nbsp;<em>achieve</em>&nbsp;&lsquo;blackness&rsquo; &ndash; how can you be proud of something that you didn&rsquo;t have to work to accomplish? Being born black or gay is not a boast, it&rsquo;s just a fact. How can you be proud of&nbsp;<em>being</em>&nbsp;Irish or American? Pride is the flower of achievement. Being tall, or blond, or having a big ass, is not an achievement. It required zero effort, this was just the hand you were dealt by the Cosmos. In this universe, it&rsquo;s not the hand you were dealt that&rsquo;s important but how you play it. A person might be Yellow and be an awful parent, a Muslim and a terrible neighbour, the important thing is not that they are Yellow or Muslim but that they are awful to their kids or neighbours. No sensible person could care less about what colour you are or the religion you were born into, but they are perfectly justified in caring how you might behave, or what your values might be.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">If the Woke Brigade were to be truly consistent, and genuinely believe that all virtue consisted merely in being a thing then the things they do wouldn&rsquo;t matter but that&rsquo;s not what they truly believe. We know this because they are inclined to cherry pick specific &lsquo;doings&rsquo; [accomplishments] and equating them with &lsquo;beings&rsquo; [accidentals] such that &ldquo;if&nbsp;<em>that</em>&nbsp;then&nbsp;<em>this</em>&rdquo; &ndash; if white then you are an oppressor, if black you are oppressed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">It&rsquo;s like with the push for &lsquo;diversity&rsquo;, it is as though you are not enough unless you are complemented by every other identity. This moronic form of thinking implicitly believes that everyone is inadequate, that no one is truly adequate, that all groups are inadequate because they are not truly &lsquo;representative&rsquo; of the diversity of life. This is a lame ideology at best.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I have long pondered the fact that the book teaches that all specialised skill ultimately has its origins in one&rsquo;s genes. Genetics determine how tall you are likely to be, how strong, what colour your eyes or skin will be, if your hair will be curly or straight, even your IQ. These traits are just what the Cosmos assigned to you. It is quite amusing to watch a person that is &lsquo;proud&rsquo; of their IQ, like it was an accomplishment. Being proud of a high IQ is like being proud of being tall. Unless you used your tallness to benefit your community and family, unless you specifically parleyed these talents into an increase for yourself, your family, and your community, then you have nothing to be proud of. You could merely be arrogant, which is the shadow of pride.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Happiness is determined by accomplishments not accidents.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Accidentals can&rsquo;t be changed, and they can tell us practically nothing of value about an individual or a group. Of one thing we can be sure, those vociferous few who refuse to recognise the importance of accomplishment over accidentals are running retrograde to the advance of civilisation and anyone supporting this lame ideology hamstrings the forward advance of civilisation.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mm.spiritualfamily.net/Urantia_Book-Online_Reader-2019/TUB-Online_Reader-WP.htm" target="_blank"><img alt="Banner Of Christ" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/serve-icon/49367/large"></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;"><div id="crosscol" style="margin-right: 15px; margin-left: 15px;">&nbsp;</div><div id="crosscol-overflow" style="margin-right: 15px; margin-left: 15px;">&nbsp;</div></div></div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div></div><div style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;"><div><div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div></div><div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div style="border-right: 1px solid transparent;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div></div><div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div>&nbsp;</div><div style="border-left: 1px solid transparent;">&nbsp;</div></div><div><div style="float: left;">&nbsp;</div><div style="float: right;"><span style="background-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0.4em; margin: inherit;">Saturday, 21 May 2022</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/36512/days-of-tyranny</guid>
	<pubDate>Thu, 25 Mar 2021 18:53:59 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/36512/days-of-tyranny</link>
	<title><![CDATA[DAYS OF TYRANNY]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800000;"><span style="font-size: 36px;">DAYS OF TYRANNY</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800000;"><span style="font-size: 36px;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="817" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/36506/master/" width="562"></p><p><img alt="" height="167" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/avatar/view/StrangePreacher/medium/1486204923" style="float: left;" width="150"><span style="font-size: 18px;">It required a great power,&nbsp;a mighty influence, to free the thinking and living of the Western peoples from the withering grasp of a totalitarian ecclesiastical domination. Secularism did break the bonds of church control, and now in turn it threatens to establish a new and godless type of mastery over the hearts and minds of modern man. The tyrannical and dictatorial political state is the direct offspring of scientific materialism and philosophic secularism. Secularism no sooner frees man from the domination of the institutionalized church than it sells him into slavish bondage to the totalitarian state. Secularism frees man from ecclesiastical slavery only to <strong>betray him into the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">tyranny of political and</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">economic slavery</span></strong>.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[195:8.4]</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">We know that Machiventa was the &lsquo;mighty influence&rsquo; referred to above. I wonder if he would return to free the world from GLOBAL political tyranny and economic slavery? The thing is, if he is to wait his turn [and I can&rsquo;t see that Michael would arbitrarily change the sequence of Planetary Governors] then he wouldn&rsquo;t be due for another 500 years or so, which is a tad disappointing &ndash; no disrespect intended to the current Governors!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The Revelators continue:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Materialism denies God, secularism simply ignores him; at least that was the earlier attitude. More recently, secularism has assumed a more militant attitude, assuming to take the place of the religion whose totalitarian bondage it onetime resisted. Twentieth-century secularism tends to affirm that man does not need God. But beware! this godless philosophy of human society will lead only to unrest, animosity, unhappiness, war, and&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">world-wide disaster</span></strong>.</span>&nbsp;<span style="color: #696969;"><span style="font-size: 9px;">[195:8.5]</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Although Jesus referred&nbsp;one phase&nbsp;of the kingdom to the future and did, on numerous occasions, intimate that such an event might appear as a part of a world crisis.</span> <span style="font-size: 9px;">[170:4.15]</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I think that it is fair to say that we are witnessing the beginnings of the first man-made disaster of truly global proportions. The Melchizedeks are the Emergency Sons, always first on the scene to help salvage wayward planets from catastrophe. There certainly is room for speculation that such a global disaster, as we now face, could be sufficient to merit the attention of the Melchizedeks, and if they were to send any then why not the vice-gerent himself?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">And when the kingdom shall have come to its full fruition, be assured that the Father in heaven will not fail to visit you with an enlarged&nbsp;<a href="https://truthbook.com/urantia-book/index.cfm?linkID=183" target="_blank">revelation</a>&nbsp;of truth and an&nbsp;enhanced&nbsp;demonstration&nbsp;of righteousness. </span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[176:2.3]</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I think we can all agree that the first part of the excerpt above as being the FER itself but the second element has not yet occurred and it would seem that this will be a response to the growing crisis. 195:9.3 &rdquo;times of great testing and threatened defeat are always times of&nbsp;great revelation.&rdquo;</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The Publication Mandate also speaks of how the book was sent ahead of time to be in readiness for the age following the global ideological struggle, when the world would [at last] be made safe for the teachings of Jesus. Implying that we live in a time in which it is not safe to be a believer and follower of Jesus. The next age, the so-called spiritual age, in which people will be striving for a quality of thought</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">We can see now that western civilisations have crumbled as a result of the leftist efforts at ideological subversion and this collapse will give birth to a global political tyranny that will weaponise economics and reduce the general population to economic slavery. It seems we need to &ldquo;get out&rdquo; before this all goes tits up. We are taught:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">&hellip; an ideal society cannot be realized when either the weak or the wicked lie in wait to take unfair and unholy advantage of those who are chiefly actuated by devotion to the service of truth, beauty, and&nbsp;<a href="https://truthbook.com/urantia-book/index.cfm?linkID=321" target="_blank">goodness.</a>&nbsp;In such a situation only one course is practical: The &quot;golden rulers&quot; may establish a progressive society in which they live according to their ideals while maintaining an adequate defense against their&nbsp;benighted&nbsp;fellows who might seek either to exploit their pacific predilections or to destroy their advancing civilization.</span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[71:4.16]</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">It seems to me that unless we &lsquo;pull out&rsquo; we will sink along with it. But how do we withdraw? How do we establish a more progressive society?</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear&mdash;the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. </span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[195:10.21]</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The answer is there: cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization. This would imply that we should sponsor something better.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The revelators tell us:&nbsp;If the Christian church&nbsp;would&nbsp;only dare to espouse the Master&#39;s program, thousands of apparently indifferent youths&nbsp;would&nbsp;rush forward to enlist in such a spiritual undertaking, and they&nbsp;would&nbsp;not&nbsp;hesitate&nbsp;to go all the way through with this great adventure. </span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[195:10.10]</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">How many times have people asked what is the Master&rsquo;s Program? What does he prescribe?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The answer is there: cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization, establish a better social contract which exalts the Great Father, Family, and Fatherland, that promotes justice and eschews corruption, that fosters and protects freedom of thought and expression, and honours self-service.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">In order to do this, we need a community of spiritual people who:&nbsp;&ldquo;delight in bearing one another&#39;s burdens; [who] actually desire to practice the&nbsp;golden&nbsp;rule.&rdquo; Who willingly and abundantly know how to bear the fruits of the spirit.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">What could be meant by the &ldquo;enhanced demonstration of righteousness&rdquo; except a community who define themselves as distinct from the spiritually bankrupt elements of the western democracies, who reject &ldquo;social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization&rdquo; and who are dedicated to putting idealism back into science, principles into politics, exalt the pursuit of a noble character rather than the acquisition of mere knowledge, of imbuing industry with morality, that exalt service over selfishness, vilify wealth without work. A community dedicated to enabling others to achieve a &lsquo;quality of thinking&rsquo; &ndash; which the current global struggles show us is running at a catastrophic low! The revelation teaches us that: At first life was a struggle for existence; now, for a standard&nbsp;of&nbsp;living; next it will be for&nbsp;quality&nbsp;of&nbsp;thinking, the coming earthly goal&nbsp;of&nbsp;human existence. [81:6.28] This community must surely be invested in facilitating this?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">If Christianity could only grasp more of Jesus&#39; teachings, it could do so much more in helping modern man to solve his new and increasingly complex problems. </span><span style="font-size: 9px;">[195:10.19]</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Between the glorification of service motives, the supernal allure of the ideals of perfection, and the enhancement of thinking I think we can see a way out.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Of course, they do teach that:&nbsp;Idealism can never survive on an evolving planet if the idealists in each generation permit themselves to be exterminated by the baser orders of humanity. And here is the great test of idealism: Can an advanced society maintain that military preparedness which renders it secure from all attack by its war-loving neighbors without yielding to the temptation to employ this military strength in offensive operations against other peoples for purposes of selfish gain or national aggrandizement? National survival demands preparedness, and religious idealism alone can prevent the prostitution of preparedness into aggression. Only love, brotherhood, can prevent the strong from oppressing the weak.</span><span style="font-size: 9px;"> [71:4.17]</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">It seems&nbsp;we need an Ark, an Exodus, or some other device that will allow us to come together and take shelter from the catastrophic cultural collapse that seems likely to befall the world.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">You have to wonder what they really mean by &ldquo;an <strong>ENHANCED</strong> demonstration of righteousness.&rdquo; I imagine they could mean something like: the demonstration, by a collective, of a righteousness that has been enhanced through cosmic insight, revelation, and faith. This righteousness would have to be displayed by a community and be highly distinct from the trends of the dominant culture. Of course, it could mean something entirely different, for example, it could mean a demonstration of righteousness on the part of our divine overseers &ndash; maybe the hosts of heaven intervening to save the &lsquo;elect&rsquo; [highly unlikely] or depose the wicked.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I thought it might be worth reflecting on a few of the times that the words enhance, enhanced, and enhancement are used:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/641?term=enhance#U194_3_3" target="_blank">194:3:3&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(2063.1)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> The religion of Jesus provides the joy and peace of another and spiritual existence to&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhance</span></strong>&nbsp;and ennoble the life which men now live in the flesh.</span></p><p><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/642?term=enhanced#U195_10_1" target="_blank">195:10:1&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(2084.1) </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">Jesus&rsquo; disciples should be more than conquerors, even overflowing sources of inspiration and&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhanced</span></strong>&nbsp;living to all men.</span></p><p><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/643?term=enhances%20enhancement#U196_3_27" target="_blank">196:3:27&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(2096.3)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> Religion provides for the&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhancement</span></strong>, glorification, and assured survival of everything morality recognizes and approves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/627?term=enhanced#U180_5_12" target="_blank">180:5:12&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(1951.1)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> The old religion taught self-sacrifice; the new religion teaches only self-forgetfulness,&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhanced</span></strong>&nbsp;self-realization in conjoined social service and universe comprehension.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/628?term=enhancement#U181_2_19" target="_blank">181:2:19&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(1959.3)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> Dedicate your lives to the&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhancement</span></strong>&nbsp;of commonplace toil.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/617?term=enhance#U170_3_9" target="_blank">170:3:9&nbsp;</a>(1862.6) He taught that the religion of the kingdom is a genuine personal experience which no man can contain within himself; that the consciousness of being a member of the family of believers leads inevitably to the practice of the precepts of the family conduct, the service of one&rsquo;s brothers and sisters in the effort to&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhance</span></strong>&nbsp;and enlarge the brotherhood.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/529?term=enhanced#U140_4_5" target="_blank">140:4:5&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(1572.5) </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">We are admonished to let our light so shine that our fellows will be guided into new and godly paths of&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhanced</span></strong>&nbsp;living.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I would also like to point out this statement, which is repeated many times throughout the text:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/420?term=enhanced#U71_3_7" target="_blank">71:3:7&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(803.7)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> The laws of the ideal state are few in number, and they have passed out of the negativistic taboo age into the era of the positive progress of individual liberty consequent upon&nbsp;<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">enhanced</span></strong>&nbsp;self-control.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Enhanced self-control is a significant theme throughout the revelation and is highlighted as a key feature of the &lsquo;next age&rsquo;. One has to wonder if there is a correlation between &lsquo;enhanced demonstration of righteousness&rsquo; and these phrases littered throughout the text in which true religion enhances all key values.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">These elements aside, I would like to offer this passage for your consideration &ndash; which lends some credence to the concept of divine intervention:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">166:3.4 </span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(1829.1)</span><span style="font-size: 18px;">&nbsp;&ldquo;But herein is the danger to all who would postpone their entrance into the kingdom while they continue to pursue the pleasures of immaturity and indulge the satisfactions of selfishness: Having refused to enter the kingdom as a spiritual experience, they may subsequently seek entrance thereto when the glory of the better way becomes revealed in the age to come. And when, therefore, those who spurned the kingdom when I came in the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">likeness of humanity</span></strong> seek to find an entrance when it is <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">revealed</span></strong> in the&nbsp;<strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">likeness of divinity</span></em></strong>, then will I say to all such selfish ones: I know not whence you are. You had your chance to prepare for this heavenly citizenship, but you refused all such proffers of mercy; you rejected all invitations to come while the door was open. Now, to you who have refused salvation, the door is shut. This door is not open to those who would enter the kingdom for selfish glory. Salvation is not for those who are unwilling to pay the price of wholehearted dedication to doing my Father&rsquo;s will. When in spirit and soul you have turned your backs upon the Father&rsquo;s kingdom, it is useless in mind and body to stand before this door and knock, saying, &lsquo;Lord, open to us; we would also be great in the kingdom.&rsquo; Then will I declare that you are not of my fold. I will not receive you to be among those who have fought the good fight of faith and won the reward of unselfish service in the kingdom on earth. And when you say, &lsquo;Did we not eat and drink with you, and did you not teach in our streets?&rsquo; then shall I again declare that you are spiritual strangers; that we were not fellow servants in the Father&rsquo;s ministry of mercy on earth; that I do not know you; and then shall the Judge of all the earth say to you: &lsquo;Depart from us, all you who have taken delight in the works of iniquity.&rsquo;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">This passage seems to suggest the Kingdom being revealed to the world <strong><em>unexpectedly</em></strong>, and implies a divine order being established in the midst of regular affairs on earth. Further, this image implies some kind of judgement and rejection of the selfish and self-righteous [a Magisterial Mission perhaps], specifically the religious orders, in that it depicts individuals looking to come forward to offer their services and expecting recognition for the same only to be rejected and condemned. It specifically says that &ldquo;you had your chance to prepare for this Heavenly citizenship&rdquo;. Jesus here seems to suggest two periods, an initial phase in which the Kingdom is revealed in the likeness of humanity and a following age [after the first phase will have come to its &lsquo;full fruition&rsquo;] when the kingdom will be revealed in glory.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The event they are speaking of here cannot be the inauguration of the Age of Life and Light. That would be an expected event, one which the whole world would be prepared for and ready to celebrate - as it would come at the end of the age of the Trinity Teacher Sons and signalise the final victory of good over evil. The event being alluded to here must necessarily precede the age of Light and Life because the wicked are still active in the world. In light of this, I can point to a great many of the &lsquo;unexpected visit&rsquo; parables to which Jesus often referred. These correlations would suggest our unseen celestial brethren will at some point take decisive action to reveal themselves and in some manner reassert control over planetary affairs or, at the very least, interpose a visible ruler through which our connection with the divine administration can be resumed and that final authority during such an event could be invested in a Magisterial Son. However, such an idea is also in keeping with the one put forward by Jesus in which the Melchizedek Messiah steps forward to assume planetary responsibility.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">However, a couple of things make me pause for thought: <a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/623?term=%22visitation%22#U176_2_6" target="_blank">176:2:6&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(1915.3) </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">&ldquo;Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new&nbsp;visitation&nbsp;draws near.&rdquo; And also the following: &ldquo;<a href="https://www.urantia.org/node/642?term=%22the%20worst%22#U195_6_4" target="_blank">195:6:4&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-size: 9px;">(2076.9) </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">At the time of this writing&nbsp;the worst&nbsp;of the materialistic age is over; the day of a better understanding is already beginning to dawn. The higher minds of the scientific world are no longer wholly materialistic in their philosophy, but the rank and file of the people still lean in that direction as a result of former teachings.&rdquo;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">These statements seem like they should correlate with one another, and also with the statements regarding the disastrous outcomes of secular totalitarianism. While the world has definitely improved economically over the last 60 year I am not at all convinced that this momentum can be maintained; life and culture are subject to radical reversals and current actions by those in authority are such as will reduce the world to slavery as a result of the fact that the general quality of thinking is so poor. Personally, I find it hard to accept that the &lsquo;worst&nbsp;of the materialistic age is over&rsquo; but, of course, the writers are looking at this from a very different perspective. During the 1930&rsquo;s such a claim might have been tenable, when theologians, scientists, and philosophers could make headline news, but I ain&rsquo;t feeling it in the 2020&rsquo;s! It may be that the present materialism has just reached its apogee.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">I guess the key takeaways from this article are:</span></p><ul>
	<li><span style="font-size: 18px;">The times of global political tyranny [evisceration of all fundamental rights and constitutions] and economic slavery [complete economic dependence on oligarchs] are upon us</span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: 18px;">This should precipitate a global spiritual reaction</span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: 18px;">This should manifest in either a new spiritual community evolving as a sort of cultural Ark through which we can weather the storm and/or divine intervention in the re-establishment of a visible ruler, possibly a Melchizedek but more likely a Magisterial Son</span></li>
</ul><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></p>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/36000/a-tale-as-old-as-time</guid>
	<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2021 21:03:40 -0500</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/36000/a-tale-as-old-as-time</link>
	<title><![CDATA[A Tale as old as Time]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<div><div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div id="header"><div id="Header1"><div id="header-inner"><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://thestrangepreacher.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #FFFFFF;">The Strange Preacher</span></a></h1><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></p></div><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div><div><div><div>&nbsp;</div></div></div><div><div><div><div id="main" style="margin-left: 1em;"><div id="Blog1"><div><div><h2><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Saturday, 27 February 2021</span></span></h2><div><div><div><h3><span style="font-size: 22px;">A Tale as old as Time</span></h3><div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div id="post-body-6473655022410699097"><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">If you&rsquo;ve&nbsp;<strong><em>never</em></strong>&nbsp;been in a relationship with an abusive person it is almost impossible to recognise the abuse, especially if the abuser is a truly clever manipulator. There are several factors that hamper individual&rsquo;s ability to detect the problem. Firstly, because &ldquo;you&rdquo; would never abuse someone you couldn&rsquo;t imagine the mindset of a person that for whom abuse is just another tool to be used to achieve a goal, much less the mind of a person that would enjoy such a despicable thing. It is that inability to conceive the abusers mindset that often leads victims to engage in all kinds of justifications for the reprehensible behaviour of the abuser.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">For the abuser the primary goal is control, once that&rsquo;s been achieved the victim can be twisted and contorted in any way to satisfy the whims of the abuser. The abusers job is near complete when the victim has internalised the abuse. In a sense, they become possessed by the spirit of the abuser and exorcising that evil spirit can be painful. To an abuser the victim is merely a means to an end, an object to be controlled as opposed to a person to be cherished. This vision of another human being is also quite inconceivable to any well meaning soul and their naivet&eacute; and good nature operate as an effective blinker, blinding the victim to the real motives underlying the abusers behaviour which again can lead to a protraction of the relationship.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Few horrors equal the first moment of revelation that this person with whom you are engaged is truly and actually malevolent and few struggles are more terrifying that endeavouring to break free from the grip of a genuinely malevolent being.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Abusers can often become peculiarly bound to their victims. The &lsquo;loss of control&rsquo; of the victim is an affront, an insult, a shame and these irrational creatures often become obsessed with the one that has escaped from their clutches and consequently plot and scheme to reclaim &ldquo;their&rdquo; possession or otherwise commit themselves to tormenting and wrecking vengeance for the perceived insult. However, once the victim comes to understand the pathology they become forever loosed from the abuser; in a sense, they become inoculated against this malignancy. Hence, are the abusers driven to pursue damage limitation by casting aspersions on the good character on their &lsquo;beloved&rsquo;. This is a tale as old as time.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Examples of the kinds of methods these dark creatures employ are: gas-lighting, isolation, terrorising, any and all things are justified in order to attain the end goal which is control.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The experience of abuse leaves an indelible mark. You can become cursed with anxiety as a result of the discovery that not everyone is full of sweetness and light and so can become suspicious and distrustful of everyone &ndash; even those who genuinely love you and who would do you no harm. This is a natural and instinctive reaction to trauma, instinct makes us conservative.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The fundamental dynamics of the relationship between an abuser and its victim can be found echoed in both micro and macroscopic dimensions, like between a government and its people. There is a huge trust relationship and a tremendous imbalance of power between the individual and the state and our ancestors, who were subject to an incredible amount of abuse at the hands of the state, have endeavoured to correct this imbalance through devices like a constitution. Abusers HATE to be impeded, which is remarkably ironic and spectacularly hypocritical because while they strongly resent having to be forced to conform to the will of the constitution they utterly love bending everything and everyone to serve their will. Consequently, malevolent state actors will intentionally seek to remove restraints on their action. They will often do this by so orchestrating events such that the victim will positively BEG the abuser to behave in the way the abuser wishes to behave [Problem/Reaction/Solution]. And so, malevolent state actors will shamelessly and with wicked intent contrive scenarios where the villain will appear as a hero all the while secretly undermining the victim &ndash; leaving them perilously exposed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">And just like the victim who could not conceive that they are in a relationship with a genuinely abusive person, so the unwary citizen is duped into thinking that the state is acting with their best interests at heart. Alas, waking up to this disturbing truth often occurs far too late and the abuse continues far longer than it should have because of the blindness of the citizen.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">The story plays out nationally exactly as it does personally. Friends and family of the victim get involved because they care about their loved one and they despise the abuser. So they remonstrate with their loved one, &lsquo;S/he&rsquo;s a monster/a bad egg/you have to leave him/her&rsquo; but the victim clings to their abuser all the more while the villain vilifies family and friends, casting aspersions on their character. This exact scenario is what occurs when patriots speak out in defence of the nation. The abusive state depicts its critics as destroyers, not to be trusted, and wickedly intentioned - accolades which in truth belong to them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Wherever there exists a tremendous imbalance of power, like between the state and the citizen, the likelihood of being abused is directly proportional to the naivet&eacute; of the people. As Mark Twain once said, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s easier to fool the people than to convince them that they&rsquo;ve been fooled.&rsquo; In light of these reflections, one could say that it is easier to abuse people than convince them that they are being abused.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Rolling back on constitutional protections is not a path to peace, safety, and security. It is, without question and every single time it is indulged, a direct path to shame, destruction, despair and horror. All those who say otherwise are liars, thieves, and abusers of life and liberty and they cannot be trusted. Right now, for the first time in human history, the whole world has entered into an abusive relationship. The devastation will, likewise, undoubtedly be global.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">Perhaps, when all this is done, some form of global constitution will be formed and the human race will learn to enshrine the sacredness of life, liberty, and the freedom to pursue happiness. Perhaps it will address and correct the imbalance of power between the citizen and the state, the consumer and the corporation, society and social media. Perhaps the world will learn the only cure for political treachery is lead and enact it quickly before these fools destroy us all. Perhaps, like the abuse survivor who emerges from the abusive relationship wiser and stronger &ndash; pledging to themselves to never entertain an abuser again, the whole world will finally learn how to protect itself from the wicked intentions and machinations of malevolent beings and, consequently, learn to live in peace and prosperity.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px;">We&rsquo;ve got a lot to learn and don&rsquo;t we just love to learn the hard way?! God have mercy on us all.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Mark Twain Fooling people" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/serve-icon/36001/large"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/33384/reflections-on-the-publication-mandate</guid>
	<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2020 20:49:19 -0500</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/33384/reflections-on-the-publication-mandate</link>
	<title><![CDATA[Reflections on the Publication Mandate]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<h3><a href="https://thethirdtempleofthefather.blogspot.com/2020/11/reflections-on-publication-mandate.html?m=1&amp;fbclid=IwAR3YGhgXsOFuYSnQdf1pG2LZbf0l8WYxicUMx2_cZMcV_VMFW3OYExFpZt8" target="_blank">Reflections on the Publication Mandate</a></h3><div><div><span><a href="https://thethirdtempleofthefather.blogspot.com/2020/11/reflections-on-publication-mandate.html?m=1" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link">November 04, 2020</a></span></div></div><div id="post-body-2291417043106548099"><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="" height="223" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/19519/master/" style="float: left;" width="200"></p><p>&nbsp;<span>The students of the Urantia Book are often astounded at the apparently slow progress of the revelation but the Publication Mandate reminds us that:</span>&nbsp;</p><p><span>&ldquo;The book is being given to those who are ready for it&nbsp;<strong><em>long before</em></strong>&nbsp;the day of its world-wide mission.&nbsp;<em>Thousands</em>&nbsp;of study groups must be brought into existence and the book must be translated into many tongues. Thus will the book be in readiness&nbsp;<strong><em>when</em></strong>&nbsp;<strong>the battle for man&rsquo;s liberty is finally won and the world is once more made&nbsp;<em>safe</em>&nbsp;for the religion of Jesus</strong>&nbsp;and the freedom of mankind.</span>&rdquo; [Emphasis mine]&nbsp;</p><p><span>This paragraph is pregnant with many insights which, if carefully unpacked, I believe could help us understand our situation and so manage our expectations. Firstly, the book is &lsquo;given&rsquo; &ndash; it is a gift from divine beings to us as a planet, and to us as specific&nbsp;<em>individuals</em>,&nbsp;<span>&ldquo;<strong><em>long before</em></strong>&nbsp;the day of its world-wide mission.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span>If you have ever tried giving this book to anyone you quickly learn the astonishing ambivalence expressed by&nbsp;<em>so many</em>&nbsp;people toward it. This ambivalence is in stark contrast with breathtaking enthusiasm of those that have &lsquo;found&rsquo; the revelation. Of those that have found and recognised the revelation it offers a window through which we may glimpse the destiny of the universes [and all who dwell therein] as it traces their march through the heavens in their endless pursuit of everlasting perfection. Alas, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder and those selected and blessed to receive the teachings must be content with a long and somewhat lonely vigil, fanning the spark of the revelation in their own corner of the planet and in relative obscurity. We must be content to carry the torch from one generation to the next, to nurture the fellowship as best we can, until the day comes when the world wakes up to the fact it needs a revelation of this type and discovers that we have been here present for a long time, waiting at the sidelines for humanity to mature to the point wherein it recognises the value we offer. Much disillusionment and tragedy must occur before this happens.</span></p><p><span>My reading of the above suggests to me that the revelation will not have any significant global traction until&nbsp;</span><strong>AFTER</strong><span>&nbsp;the battle for man&rsquo;s liberty is finally won; at which point our ability to meet demand will, undoubtedly, be challenged. This notion should frame many of the strategies of the present movement and the expectations of the community should be adjusted accordingly. But, that said, it is a very significant statement. The theme of Liberty runs throughout the revelation as a seam of gold in a mine; many priceless insights can be acquired through studying the teachings related thereto. The second statement is also instructive. They imply two ages: the current one in which the &lsquo;religion of Jesus&rsquo; is not safe, and a subsequent one in which it is.</span></p><p><span>The mandate clearly states that &ldquo;The book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle.&rdquo; This is an open reference to the great religious age to which it offers many allusions. However, it points out something to which I was completely blind &ndash; an age of active hostility to the religion of Jesus, [the current age in which we live] and &ldquo;hostility to the religion of Jesus&rdquo; must include persecution of the followers of the teachings of Jesus and virtually endless ideological challenges to the civilisations based on the religion that bears his name. These words suggest the culmination in a global ideological struggle in which the teachings of the Master will ultimately prevail; a victory secured, no doubt, at great cost.</span></p><p><span>This would suggest, then, that the world is presently engaged in something of a life or death struggle; that the teachings of Jesus have been beset with countless challenges from the day they were first loosed upon the world and, having reviewed the historical facts &ndash; it is hard to deny. The teachings make reference to one specific challenge to be mindful of, one given by the Master himself to his own apostles while he still walked among us:</span><span>&nbsp;[<a href="http://mm.spiritualfamily.net/Urantia_Book-Online_Reader-2019/Paper_178.html#178:1.10" target="_blank">178:1.10</a>] [You] will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom.</span></p><p><span>In the global west many western leaders &ldquo;</span><span>nominally accept the gospel&rdquo; but, given recent actions by these individuals, their behaviour clearly indicates that absolutely none of them grasp the gospel and, given the evidence, it is safe to conclude that a &lsquo;nominally&rsquo; Christian world is&nbsp;<em>genuinely</em>&nbsp;worse than a culture based on actual &lsquo;Christian&rsquo; values. The problem that the children of this world have with &lsquo;Christian values&rsquo; is that they make the acquisition of power difficult because it highlights and insists upon the need for &lsquo;checks and balances&rsquo; &ndash; the social structures that it seeks to sponsor attempt to off-set, control, and otherwise ameliorate the inescapable weaknesses of our brethren; sincerely endeavours to create a world free from fear wherein justice flourishes. Such social systems do not suit the selfish and the wicked and so are subject to ceaseless attack. The children of the Kingdom view power as a means to an end, a means through which the lives of our fellows can be enhanced but, in contrast, for the children of this world power is an end in itself.</span></p><p><span>My studies have taught me many things about Christianity and the challenges it has faced over the years. The teachings single out one challenge as particularly dangerous: &lsquo;godless, secular, totalitarianism&rsquo; in which the state seeks to take the seat once held by the monolithic totalitarian Christian Church. The progressive spiritual desiccation of the Christian world has undermined the immune system of Christendom, left it vulnerable to all sorts of spiritual diseases and invasions which threaten the very existence of the Christian world.</span></p><p><span>One particular ideology has harassed gospel teachers since the inception of the faith on this world. From age to age it appears in slightly different cultural raiment but it always driven by the same ideals and goals. This ceaseless challenging of the authority of the Church and the merits of the gospel led to the unbelievable hostility of the medieval Christian Church to dissenters, such that they would even dig up the bones of old enemies and drag them through the streets before burning and cursing them. The enemies of the Church then, like the enemies of Christendom today, share common ideals and goals: the destruction of the family, the demolition of private property, the elimination of all competing or secondary loyalties, exalting the needs of the group over the needs of the individual and the fostering of institutions that protect and serve the group while undermining the rights of the individual.</span></p><p><span>These appear over and over, throughout the ages, from one country to the next, like a spiritual cancer. The similarities can be traced from the Gnostics, to the Cathars, to a wide variety of the self proclaimed true followers of Christ whose radical interpretations of his life and teachings precipitated convulsions of unbelievable destruction. It was these conflagrations of spiritual delusion that sprang ever and anon throughout Europe that led the hierarchy of the medieval Catholic tradition to take an astonishing hard line on heresy. It was not merely to protect church coffers, but to stamp out highly destructive radicalism to which heresy often gave rise. Those &lsquo;religious refugees&rsquo; that fled Europe due to the &lsquo;persecution&rsquo; of the Catholic church were all too often adherents of religious sects whose ultra-radical teachings were detrimental to the social order. Catholicism was unusually tolerant of all kinds of spiritual groups from within its own family but was virulently opposed to radicalism, and for good reason. Upon arriving at the new world these extremists were confronted with a social structure vastly different from that prevailing in Europe and necessitated adjustments i.e.: abandonment of certain of their more radical elements in favour of those that promoted greater social cohesion and co-operation.</span></p><p><span>Traditional Christian values take their origin in the Divine Family, and hold the family to be a value of absolute and sacred importance [the absolute foundation of the cosmos residing in the personalities, actions, and purposes of the Absolute Family of the Father, Son, and Spirit], supreme loyalty to the transcendent [one that embraces, validates, and wisely enhances all secondary loyalties to country, race, religion, or football team], primacy of the individual and the fostering of institutions that protect and serve the individual, and the exaltation of service &ndash; the consecration to the dual duty/privilege of perfection of the self and the enhancement of the world.</span></p><p><span>The revelation itself offers these words of comfort with regard to the present crisis, in that it points out that&nbsp;</span><span>[<a href="http://mm.spiritualfamily.net/Urantia_Book-Online_Reader-2019/Paper_099.html#99:2.1" target="_blank">99:2.1</a>] &hellip;Only the real religion of personal spiritual experience can function helpfully and creatively in the present crisis of civilization.</span></p><p><span>It warns that [<a href="http://mm.spiritualfamily.net/Urantia_Book-Online_Reader-2019/Paper_195.html#195:8.13" target="_blank">195:8.13</a>] The complete secularization of science, education, industry, and society can lead only to disaster. During the first third of the twentieth century Urantians killed more human beings than were killed during the whole of the Christian dispensation up to that time. And&nbsp;</span><strong><em>this is only the beginning</em></strong><span>&nbsp;of the dire harvest of materialism and secularism;&nbsp;</span><strong><em>still more terrible destruction is yet to come</em></strong><span>. [Emphasis mine] Given recent developments, I think that we are beginning to sense to the true meaning of the &lsquo;dire harvest&rsquo; to which the revelators were alluding. One would have thought the Second World War, the Holocaust, the proliferation of despotic godless Communist States, the Cold War and the nuclear brinkmanship to which it gave rise, would have been adequate evidence that the &lsquo;dire harvest&rsquo; had come and gone but, given recent events, you would have been wrong. It would certainly seem that the ominous promise of &lsquo;still more terrible destruction to come&rsquo; is yet to be fulfilled. A chilling prospect indeed.</span></p><p><span>All is not lost though. The teachings point to a way out: [<a href="http://mm.spiritualfamily.net/Urantia_Book-Online_Reader-2019/Paper_195.html#195:10.21" target="_blank">195:10.21</a>] The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear &mdash; the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.</span></p><p><span>This is a huge challenge. The children of Christendom have become almost hopelessly addicted to luxury and these teachings suggest that salvation will only be found through abandoning &ldquo;the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization&rdquo; and making the Cross, and the life of unflinching loving service to ones fellows which it glorifies, the very centre and horizon of our life. Overcoming great obstacles requires great sacrifice. If our very way of life is one that encourages our bondage and destruction then that way must be abandoned and new ways must be found in which we can thrive or else doom will crown our efforts.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></p></div>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/32691/the-conspiracy-theorist</guid>
	<pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2020 19:32:22 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/32691/the-conspiracy-theorist</link>
	<title><![CDATA[The Conspiracy Theorist]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<h3 style="margin-top: 0.75em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 22px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><span style="color: #000080;">The Conspiracy Theorist</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000080;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 1.5em; font-size: 10.8px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div id="post-body-8504844190456030207" style="font-size: 13.2px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><div><span style="font-size: 16px;"><img alt="" height="223" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/19519/master/" style="float: left;" width="200">Conspiracy theorist is a pejorative term used to denigrate the character of anyone who dares question orthodox thinking, question the narrative put forth by the establishment, the accepted thinking of the &quot;authorities&quot;. In another age such people were called heretics. Words like &#39;heretic&#39; and &#39;conspiracy theorist&#39; are psychological weapons used by the powerful to shape the perceptions of the fearful and obedient. Such creatures are diseased and association with them or their ideas is a grievous sin that can only bring trouble on you and yours. &quot;For your own good, and the good of the &#39;xxxx&#39;, have nothing to do with them!&quot;&nbsp;</span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 16px;">Civilization was never moved forward by those who exalt orthodoxy. Without the freedom to critique the official position advanced by &quot;those in authority&quot; be they in matters of science, politics, economics, and religion what freedom is there? Indeed, how can any civilization be advanced if the &quot;authorities&quot; are allowed to criminalise those who highlight, question, and discuss the flaws and shortcomings of the &quot;accepted thinking&quot;, who dare critique was is and envision a better way? And what is a Better Way but a system in which justice more abundantly abounds and unjust imbalances of power are corrected, where abuse is reduced, and respect multiplied? Who stands against such advances but those who profit from the status quo? Traitors of their fellow men.&nbsp;</span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 16px;">The prophets have always been people of exceptional vision, capable seeing beyond the mere surface of things into deeper truths, sometimes sensing the hidden dangers and fallacies, which the less enlightened mistake for truth. Thus illuminated by wisdom they perceive the catastrophes that await if humanity fails to adjust its course, fails to align itself with higher truth. They who reject the wisdom of their prophets will be consigned to the dust while the prophets will take their seats among the everlasting stars as shining lights whose enlightenment ever and anon will illuminate the destiny of men and nations for those that have the ears to hear.&nbsp;</span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 16px;">We achieve liberty insofar as we can discover and abide by new and higher truth and those who would hide, or through violence and subterfuge, seek to suppress truth thereby endeavour to keep men in the sure chains of darkness - which is ignorance. But who would hide truth save those who fear it and who fears truth other than a deceiver and what is a deceiver other than a thief? The one who questions the Establishment is not always the enemy of the state neither are the emissaries of the Establishment always the friends of the state, much less protectors of their fellow man.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><img alt="" height="160" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/30585/master/" width="551"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="817" src="http://mm.spiritualfamily.net/ProphetsToday/Kahlil_Gibran/images/Prophets%20Today-1a.png" width="562"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></div></div>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/29714/the-opening-of-the-first-seal</guid>
	<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2020 00:10:57 -0400</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/29714/the-opening-of-the-first-seal</link>
	<title><![CDATA[The Opening of the First Seal]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<h1 style="margin-bottom: 10px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center;"><a href="https://thestrangepreacher.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #000080;">The Strange Preacher</span></a></h1><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><a href="https://thestrangepreacher.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-opening-of-first-seal.html" style="color: rgb(51, 170, 255);">The Opening of the First Seal</a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><img alt="" height="36" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-arch-01.png" width="560"></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img alt="" height="223" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/photos/thumbnail/18386/master/" style="float: left;" width="200"></p><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Hi folks,</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Can you spare 6 minutes?</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>I thought I would throw an idea out to you to see what people thought of it. To say that recent events have been a tad disconcerting is an understatement. They&rsquo;ve got me thinking about the future and how vulnerable our Christian family is to the vagaries of fate.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Christ taught us spiritual liberty and spiritual independence. He taught us not to become spiritually reliant on &lsquo;middle men&rsquo; and to establish a direct personal relationship with the one Great Source of all, the Almighty Father. In this relationship he promised we would find new life, abundant life, even everlasting life. He has invited us into the achievement of unimaginable joys through the loving worship of God, the freely bestowed loving service of man, and the perfection of our own characters. He gave us the freedom to do God&rsquo;s will through faith and this freedom no one can take from us, making us free indeed by his divine grace and abundant mercy. His message contained tones of self reliance and an urge to profit from one&rsquo;s talents for the glory of God and especially not to waste the great talents we&rsquo;ve been given.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>However, as the ages passed, the children of Christendom have been rendered virtually unconscious by endless &lsquo;comforts&rsquo;. They have, unwittingly, drifted into complacency and allowed themselves to become&nbsp;<em>dependent</em>&nbsp;on external forces, in this instance the forces that shape the economy like&nbsp;<strong><em>Globalisation</em></strong>. However, recent developments have exposed the vulnerabilities of globalisation. These vulnerabilities reveal the huge liabilities of current practices and imply, at some point in the future, very great cost to the communities of the great nations of the earth, not least to the followers of Christ.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Globalisation has provided almost universal access [in the global west at least] to cheap goods&nbsp;<strong><em>from abroad</em></strong>: cheap food, clothes, medicine, cars, technology, and holidays. This affluence carried with it an exorbitant, but hidden, cost to the family and to the social order in general. Now we can very plainly see that if the Lord should &ldquo;choose&rdquo; to strike the earth with a plague then our &lsquo;global&rsquo; supply chains will be terminally disrupted and the faithful will be cut off from food, medicine, and other essential supplies. A truly intolerable situation.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong><em><span>I think that we have been given an unbelievable blessing that recent events occurred in Spring and not at the start of Winter.</span></em></strong></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>I believe the Fellowship of the Children of God should consider setting up Co-Operatives for the growing and sharing [read that as buying/selling] of food stuff [and possibly textiles]; if for no other reason than to guarantee their own supplies. We have become reliant on forces external to us and thereby have become extremely vulnerable. It is, then, incumbent upon us to restore our own power and to promote a culture of self reliance.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Recently, I&rsquo;ve been reflecting on the Book of Revelation and how the Children of God are tested through the &lsquo;end times&rsquo;. I can&rsquo;t imagine that the children of those days enter these times &lsquo;unprepared&rsquo;, for it is certain that such will be the severity of the testing of those days that unless they have established their own supply chain then they will vanish from the face of the earth every bit as quickly as the ungodly. Indeed, I was struck by the thought that perhaps one of the reasons the children of God become victims and martyrs in the &lsquo;last days&rsquo; is due to the fact that they have made provisions for the testing and thus become targets by the unprepared &lsquo;children of this world&rsquo; who might seek to plunder their resources. It has to be admitted, the &lsquo;End Times&rsquo; appears to be nothing less than a global siege of truly biblical proportions.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>The outlines seem to follow coherently: Disease [global pandemic] followed by calamitous social unrest [also global, as citizens turn upon their governments for their ineptitude, short sightedness, and in consequence of the breakdown of the global economy] followed by famine [which must inevitably follow as global unrest adversely impacts supply chains], and that is&nbsp;<em>just the start</em>&nbsp;of the woes, more and worse is set to come possibly in the form of a cosmic calamity in which interstellar matter lays waste to the planet. To think that we could survive such a testing without working together is insane and to think that this working relationship [with all its tools, resources, and systems] will just magically appear when the time is right is not only delusional it is positively suicidal and guaranteed to work to the very great detriment of the children of God on earth.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Right now we have a chance to do something of lasting value for the Kingdom, for our children and our children&rsquo;s children. And even if what&rsquo;s occurring today is just another blip and nothing to be concerned about, at least it can serve as a wake-up call to us all &ndash; one that should wake us to the profound vulnerability of our social structure and get us thinking what we might do to weather the storms ahead because, no matter what, the storms are coming.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>A&nbsp;<strong>Christian Growers Co-operative</strong>&nbsp;would not only give the community a fighting chance&nbsp;<strong><em>IF</em></strong>&nbsp;things were to go south but would provide us with fun opportunities to come together as a community. It would also serve as a means of reaching out to and taking care of some of the most vulnerable and needy members of our community but it need not stop there. There really is so much more that could be done but I don&rsquo;t wish to take up too much of your time. I guess I just want to plant a seed. [Pun intended]</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Presently, for one reason or another, our farmers [especially small farmers] are on the back foot and need us now more than ever. What&rsquo;s more, it is now glaringly obvious that we desperately need them. The sooner we can foster a solid working relationship with them the better for all concerned.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>In light of recent events, it seems like it would be wise to establish contracts with Farmers so that they can make a decent living. As a fellowship we can assist in the planting, growing, harvesting and distribution of these supplies; anything that reduces cost to the farmers and ensures our control and access to the goods. The community can negotiate a fair &lsquo;price&rsquo; on the goods and use the profits to enhance the welfare of the community.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>Today, while reflecting on the Book of Revelation, a fact struck me: that during the END TIMES global opinion is divided [at least if we are to accept the account given in the Book] as regards the &lsquo;starting of the clock&rsquo; on these events. It seems that only the Elect are conscious of the fact that the &lsquo;clock&rsquo; has started [or at least are prepared for such an eventuality [are so living as though it was true]], while the rest of the world sees only coincidence or that the faithful are merely twisting current events to suit personal narratives. But regardless as to whether or not the spiritual Starting Pistol has been fired, recent events have revealed that we have become complacent with regard to our independence &ndash; in that we have become so dependent on a globalised market &ndash; that we have become dangerously vulnerable as a community which is anathema to the Lord&rsquo;s desire that&nbsp;</span><span>we long endure on the face of the earth.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>There is only one brotherhood, the Brotherhood of those that seek to do the Father&rsquo;s will. We should not allow the shackles of tradition to restrain us in working in concert with our brethren from other traditions to ensure the long term welfare of the brotherhood of the faithful.</span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span>This seems a wise move to me. Such activities could do wonders for revitalising the community of believers, create great teaching and service opportunities. It&rsquo;s not that I think we are [or should be] Dooms Day Preppers but at the same time, dependence upon God without the supporting pillars of wisdom can only end in disaster for us. As Cromwell is alleged to have said: &lsquo;Trust in God but keep your powder dry.&rsquo;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></span></span></div><div>&nbsp;</div>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>The Strange Preacher</dc:creator>
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	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/25660/a-warning-to-the-power-elite-from-enoch</guid>
	<pubDate>Tue, 10 Dec 2019 12:07:07 -0500</pubDate>
	<link>https://spiritualfamily.net/blog/view/25660/a-warning-to-the-power-elite-from-enoch</link>
	<title><![CDATA[A WARNING TO THE POWER ELITE FROM ENOCH]]></title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A WARNING </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">TO THE POWER ELITE </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FROM ENOCH&nbsp;</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p><p>The following words are taken directly from 1 Enoch, a prophetic work written around 100 BC written about the end of the age in his, then distant future. Verb tenses and pronouns have been harmonized. The individual verses have been reordered from the original work in order to produce an easily readable coherent narrative. I believe that this narrative represents God&#39;s judgment and predictions regarding the rulers and leaders who plunge the world of today into an ever deepening chaos. The words in parentheses are my clarifications, the rest are from Enoch excepting the last verse which is taken from Ezekiel. Now then we have:</p><p>&quot;Before the flood, oppression existed and prevailed on earth. Great punishment took place; and there was a consummation of all iniquity, which was cut off from its root, and every fabric raised by it passed away (The Great Flood). Iniquity however, shall again be renewed, and consummated on earth.</p><p>&quot;In the seventh week a perverse generation shall arise; abundant shall be its deeds, and all its deeds perverse. Every act of crime, and every act of oppression and impiety, shall be a second time embraced. The powerful shall transgress, and think themselves gods; while evil shall be multiplied among them. Therefore iniquity, sin, blasphemy, tyranny, and every evil work, shall increase; and when transgression, impiety, and uncleanness also shall increase, then upon them all shall great punishment be inflicted from heaven. Contemplating the earth as they (the powerful) do, they who are men, put elegance upon them more than married women, and both together more so than unmarried ones, every where arraying themselves in majesty, in magnificence, in authority, and in silver: but gold, purple, honor, and wealth, like water, flow away. Erudition therefore and wisdom are not theirs. And in it shall they perish, together with their riches, with all their glory, and with their honors. They are sinners who counsel men to commit crime craftily. They are found in every place, every counsel possess a little of them. Their strength shall be in their riches, and their faith in the gods whom they have formed themselves. They shall deny the name of God, and shall expel Him from their places of worship, in which they assemble. They build up their houses with crime and acquire gold and silver. They will condemn the angels of heaven, shall lift up their hands against the Most high, shall tread upon and inhabit the earth, exhibiting all their works of iniquity.</p><p>&quot;Woe to you who are rich, for in your riches have you trusted; but from your riches you shall be removed; because you have not remembered the Most High in the days of your prosperity. Your wealth makes you resemble saints, but your hearts reproach you, knowing that you are sinners. Woe to you who feed upon the glory of the corn, and drink the strength of the root of the spring, and in the pride of your power tread down the humble. Woe to you who frustrate the word of the righteous; for to you there shall be no hope of life. Woe to those who write down the word of falsehood, and the word of the wicked; for their falsehood they record, that they may hear and not forget folly. Your faces shall be covered with shame; while every deed, strengthened by crime, shall be rejected. All your evil deeds are disclosed in the heaven; and that none of your oppressive acts are concealed and secret. In heaven they are daily written down before the Most High. This word shall testify against you, for the remembrance of crime.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The world shall be marked for destruction; and all men should be on the lookout for the path of integrity. The Son of man (whom all will behold), shall raise up kings and the mighty from their couches, and kings from their thrones; he shall loosen the bridles of the powerful, and break in pieces the teeth of sinners. He shall hurl rulers from their thrones and their dominions; because they will not exalt and praise God, nor humble themselves before Him, by whom their kingdoms were granted to them. Yet shall not the mighty rulers of that period be destroyed; but shall be delivered into the hands of the righteous and the holy. Nor thence forwards shall any obtain commiseration from God, because their lives in this world will have been completed. The countenance likewise of the mighty shall he (Son of Man) cast down. In the day of trouble evil shall be heaped up upon sinners. In those days the kings of the earth and the mighty men, who have gained the world by the work of their own hands, will become humble in countenance. They shall not be saved by gold and by silver. Nor shall they have it in their power to secure themselves, or fly. Trouble shall come upon them, as upon a woman in travail, whose labor is severe, when her child comes to the mouth of the womb, and she finds it difficult to bring forth. One portion of them shall look upon another. They shall be astonished. Their faces shall be full of confusion; darkness shall be added to their faces. Darkness shall be their habitation, and worms shall be their bed; nor from that their beds shall they hope to be again raised, because they exalted not the name of God. From that period those who possess the earth shall not be powerful and exalted. Neither shall they be capable of beholding the countenances of the holy, for the light of the countenances of the holy, the righteous, and the elect, has been seen by God. They (the powerful) shall perish from before the face of God, and from the face of his earth. But in the day of their trouble, rest shall be on the earth. Iniquity will pass away like a shadow. Every work of the ungodly will disappear from the whole earth. Sin shall perish in eternal darkness, nor be seen for evermore.&quot;</p><p>&quot;God will change the face of the earth; He will bless it; and cause those whom He has elected to dwell upon it. But those who have committed sin and iniquity shall not tread upon it; for God has seen them. The righteous ones He will satisfy with peace, placing them before Himself.&quot; The Lord God thus declares, &quot;Repent therefore, and live! For it is not My desire that anyone shall die.&quot; (Ezekiel 18:32)&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="111" src="https://spiritualfamily.net/images/Bars/Bar-00-break-c.png" width="1000"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description>
	<dc:creator>Paul Kemp Administrator</dc:creator>
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