Where The Mind Leads The Body Follows

So I guess a new phrase needs to enter the English lexicon.

"Lunatic, Unaffiliated Voter, Quasi-Mormon with Republican parents".

If we're going to be honest we have to address the elephant in the room. There is a problem here. He indirectly is being identified as a conservative because his family registers as Republicans. Per CNN voter registration records show that Tyler is registered to vote unaffiliated with any party, and he is also listed as an “inactive” voter, meaning he hadn’t voted in at least the most recent two general elections. So...even if he self-identified as a conservative, there is an ideological discontinuity here.

This is the same as many self-described Christians that are clearly not Christian as many jaded disenfranchised Christians can attest to. This is also akin to a man that identifies as a woman. Just because you’re a man with a penis saying you're a woman doesn’t make you one. Just because one identifies as a Republican, Democrat, man, woman or alien doesn't mean they are.

The Bible tells us that we know the tree by the fruit. We know the season by the changing of the leaves. So what fruit was being produced in this shooters head? For that we need to address the inscriptions on the shell casings. In identity he was not a democrat or liberal but wrote extreme leftist ideologies on his casings. Specifically anti-fascist Antifa propaganda. These are far left talking points.

A brief stint at college was enough to radicalize this monster. A single year of professors dripping their toxic propaganda and lies into his ears poisoned his brain. He fell in with the wrong crowd. Joined Antifa Discord rooms. Took photos wearing communist shirts. He argued with his family over dinner that Kirk was a fascist and an existential threat. And then made a plan. He engraved Antifa sayings on the bullet casings.

Please understand I am not I’m not blaming all democrats. I’m just saying he wasn’t Republican, despite his family being so and his registration. He hadn’t voted in last two elections, and most recently identified as unaffiliated with any party. I don’t blame anyone but him. The truth though is that he used bullets as a medium of destruction that were inscribed with Antifa ideology. There is also a large far-left contingent of people openly supporting this nutjob in what I deem a godless immoral manner. If he was a registered Republican, the fact is that everything he wrote screams extreme left akin to Antifa.

Additionally, some in the media are labeling him and his family as Christians. The truth is they attend the Church of Latter-Day Saints. They are Mormons not Christians. Mormonism is a cult. It is not surprising that a cult member would be easily confused as they have been cut loose of actual Scripture. This is where core theology and doctrine actually matter.

Therefore, the extreme left via media and politicians radicalized this loon through their violent rhetoric enough that he shot and killed Charlie Kirk. Proverbs 23:7 tells us clearly that as a man thinks, so is he. 

Additionally, as a man acts so as he thinks. The actions and thinking of the shooter were evil and most clearly aligned itself to the radicalized thinking of the anarchic far-left that seeks chaos and death. So he created it. Apple trees bear apples. Condoning angry words and violent rhetoric bears violence. Harboring deep anger and contempt for another person (which the assassin did as do those applauding it on the left) violates God's law of love and can lead to destructive outcomes, both internally for the angry individual and in their relationships.

The Logic Syllogism of Liberalism

For the slow of wit and people have difficulty understanding why the far left is such a problem.

Group #1/Statement #1: Liberals that are either the media, trans, sexually confused, college educated urbanite women, liberal college educators, cloistered celebrities, Democrat politicians or mentally unstable that are either shooting at Christians and people with traditional values or encouraging more shooting and death.

Group #2/Statement #2: Liberals that are remaining silent and not speaking out against it. This group also includes all the spineless conservatives that remain silent too. Especially when it comes to legislation and judicial matters.

Group #3/Statement #3: Liberals like many of my friends and family are bailing out of the party and disassociating from the left completely becoming either Independents or Libertarians like me.

Conclusion: Therefore 2/3rds of the Left or those identifying as liberal are either mentally ill, murderous or complicit. The remaining 1/3 are technically not liberal at all.

An understanding of violence must include its perpetrators, those who remain silent, and those who speak out against it. While the perpetrator is the source of the evil, bystanders who stay silent enable it, and "upstanders" who speak out are crucial for challenging and dismantling it. Silence in the face of injustice tacitly endorses and perpetuates the status quo, allowing harmful systems and behaviors to continue unchecked. The perpetrator creates the initial harm but relies on silence to maintain their power.

The silent bystanders allow the harm to continue by failing to intervene, which reinforces the perpetrator's control.

The speaker shatters that system of control by refusing to accept the violence and challenging it publicly, creating a pathway to justice and accountability. I am the speaker.

As famously stated by Elie Wiesel, "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim" Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr.'s observation that "we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends," highlights how inaction in the face of injustice is its own form of violence. It is sadly ironic that Martin Luther King, Jr was gunned down for his words too.

Charlie Kirk and the Death of American Civility

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

The Bible has a lot to say about what got us to yesterday and the unfortunate circumstances around Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Passivity is a choice in the face of violence but not necessarily a wise one. We live in a godless culture that is inhabited by a specific faction that hates truth. It hates alternate opinions and above all it hates God. If Charlie was anything he was a Christian. He was immensely influential and was attempting to reach that godless faction the right way. He did it through dialogue and debate. The other side returned his grace with gunfire and malice and put him in an early grave. With Charlie, civil discourse was resoundingly rejected with a bullet. Do we return the favor in kind? No. We do not go on the offensive. Do we roll over and play dead just taking more gunfire and punches to the face? Absolutely not! Note the distinction. Violence for violence’s sake or violence for self-preservation.

In this past week’s violent one-sided exchanges, we can see the good and the evil clearly. The result is two dead beauties in Charlotte and Auburn and one dead Christian apologist in Utah. The idea that Christians and good people should somehow continue to ‘turn the other cheek’ is a tad trite and irritating. By all means be peaceful as doves but be as shrewd as vipers. I also know the Bible says that we’re not to return evil with evil. So, what are we to do? Do we fight back? The problem is that if evil remains unchecked it expands and consumes even more ground eventually taking over the culture and society as we’ve witnessed over the last twenty years. So just allowing this doesn’t seem like the wise or prudent step to take in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death.

What to do?

I read my Bible. Here is what the Bible said about dealing with unjustness and evil violence at the meta-narrative or overarching level. No cherry-picking here, I offer the unambiguous view from the entirety of Scriptures to paint a clearer picture.

Mind you, this answer is not the trite and truncated sound-byte of Scriptural cherry picking invoked by posting verses like 1 Peter 3:9 that teaches Christians not to retaliate with evil for evil or insult for insult, Instead, they should respond to mistreatment with by offering a positive statement (blessing) or, more deeply, by praying for God's favor upon the offender. By all means do so because the people that murdered Charlie are the same type of people that murdered Iryna Zarutska & Dr. Julie Gard Schnuelle. They and their motives were immoral and wicked. Pray that these lunatics see the light as this is the only way to deal with this violence which is now rampant and pushing us all towards a very uncivil war.

Firstly, Christians can protect themselves from a violent culture by balancing spiritual principles with practical wisdom. Literally to be peaceful as doves but shrewd as vipers. While they are called to live peaceably, Christians also need to recognize the legitimacy of self-defense for themselves and the vulnerable, requiring careful discernment. Peter warns us to be ready to suffer for doing good as Jesus did but nowhere in this passage does it say that this has to be the default mode in every violent situation. That’s just dumb. It does not say that one cannot or should not protect oneself. It is in this subtle difference that the verse hinges. If the situation allows, be peaceable and pray for the salvation of your attacker. It is clear their lives took a drastically wrong turn somewhere. Conversely, you also have an obligation to protect the temple that the Holy Spirit resides in. You, your body and your mind are God’s and their preservation is paramount as you’ve been made in the image of God and efforts should be made to preserve that image if only to honor God.

God knew his people would be put in harm’s way. The Bible is rife with passages that allude to this fact directly or indirectly. Paul speaks of the aggressive proactive nature of the mental battle we all face every day confronting a hostile world that seeks our demise. What did he say?

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

So, in this passage a Christian is called to literally fight mentally to keep the world and the demonic out of our heads. This is not a passive, rollover and play dead passage. It is taking an aggressive approach to protecting your mind. It logically follows that where the mind leads the body follows. This therefore proactively protects the person physically by proxy. Within this passage we see the impetus of every other action we’ll need to take when faced with violence. How we react starts in our mind or as the ancient Christians and Jews said, in our ‘hearts’, the heart being the seat of our conscience.

The Bible presents a complex, view on self-defense, distinguishing between righteous protection and personal vengeance. While emphasizing peace, mercy, and non-retaliation, it also includes instances where defending yourself and others is not only permitted...it is commanded. Nowhere in the Bible does it say a person is to initiate violence. To the contrary all passages defer to God’s vengeance. The Christian is always to first seek peace, and love for enemies whenever possible. 

In fewer words: What is your intent and motive?

The Old Testament contains laws and narratives that illustrate the permissibility of defending life and property using physical aggression. In the case of a burglar in Exodus 22:2–3 there were nuanced rules for confronting a thief. Killing an intruder at night was not considered murder because one could not be certain of the intruder's intent. However, if the incident occurred during the day, it was not justified, as the threat was more visible and a non-lethal response was possible.

In Nehemiah 4:14, when rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah encouraged the people to fight for their families and homes against undefined threats. You have the right to life, to your property and the right to defend it.

The Bible clearly states a believer in the context of a war can and should train for battle. Psalm 144:1 praises God, who "trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle," acknowledging that preparedness for conflict is sometimes necessary.

In the New Testament Jesus' teachings on non-retaliation are seen alongside passages that acknowledge the need for protection in a hostile world. In the context of preparing for violence Jesus clearly mentions buying a sword in Luke 22:36, "The one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one." This is often understood as recognition that they would face danger and would need to be prepared for protection, not as a command to use violence recklessly. Defense is in view here, not offensive aggression.

Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 26 for using a sword to defend him during his arrest. In this context, Jesus knew that resorting to violence was against God's plan for His crucifixion and showed that violence is not the means by which his kingdom advances. But…when the servant of the High Priest is struck Jesus says, “Put your sword back in its place.” The implication here is that the sword has a proper place and a purpose. Sometimes it needs to be sheathed and at other times, unsheathed and used. Jesus is not forbidding the use of violence in perpetuity; he is noting that there is a time and place for everything. Remember Ecclesiastes 3 ??? There is a time for everything… “a time to be born and a time to die…a time to kill and a time to heal… a time for war and a time for peace.”

Violence in the protection of others is not only acceptable, the Bible emphasizes the duty to protect the weak and vulnerable. Violence in the act of protection in this situation literally needs to be seen as an extension of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. You’d protect yourself, you need to protect others from wanton violence too. Proverbs 24:11 urges us to: 

"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter" 

The words "rescue" and "hold back" are imperatives and active commands to intervene and not be passive observers. The danger is described as being led to "death" or "slaughter," which can be interpreted literally as physical execution or figuratively as spiritual destruction. 

It emphasizes the importance of protecting innocent life and taking action to prevent harm and loss of life. The following verse in Proverbs 24:12 is a hammer to the pacifistic nature of some in Christian faith. There is a consequence for our inaction in the face of violence. God states that those who ignore this duty will be held accountable by God, who "weighs the heart" and knows if people are aware of the situation. That means the people that sit in view of violence and are able to do something about and do not act are in fact, as guilty as the killers. The other people on the train in Charlotte. The media aiding and abetting a culture of unsolicited violence and fear. A government that not only does nothing to protect its citizens but actually encourages more of this wicked behavior in their irresponsible inflammatory rhetoric. Yes, the Bible literally says you’re as bad as the perpetrator for either encouraging or doing nothing about wanton violence.

So where do we end this discussion? 

In the New Testament violence as aggression or offense is a no-no. Violence as retaliation is frowned upon too. Violence in protection of self and neighbor is not only valid; it’s a duty and responsibility. Non-violence is not the same as non-retaliation. In the New Testament, I fail to find calls to non-violence. Instead, I find a call to non-retaliation. Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5). Paul calls us to non-retaliation when he tells Christians to stop suing each other (1 Corinthians 6). Peter calls us to repay curses with blessings (1 Peter 3). Jesus did not retaliate and, because of this, we now walk in forgiveness and new life. Yet, he most certainly flipped tables in an indignant manner in the Temple in righteous anger when confront with evil.

Again, I note, I am not encouraging violence but the Bible does not forbid violence. Realize also that killing and murder are two different things that hinge on the person's intent. The sixth commandment says thou shall not murder תִּֿרְצָֽ֖ח in the Hebrew. It doesn't say 'do not kill'. The intent was to prevent premeditated murder. Violence as a necessity of survival is another issue entirely. Peacenik errant teachers of Scripture that opt for passivity have the right to not act. I am not one of those people and nor does Scripture require that I be. When violence becomes a duty to protect yourself or others as it is in Proverbs 24:11-12, failure to do so can be understood as disobedience. If you are wantonly and wickedly attacked like Charlie Kirk by all means protect yourself. Be sure of your target and its backdrop. Practice gun safety at all times. Be careful not to hurt innocent people.

[My prayers of peace and comfort to Charlie's widow and children.]

A Tragedy of Two Blondes: Iryna Zarutska & Dr. Julie Gard Schnuelle

Both of these women died within days of each other approximately 350 miles apart. They are inextricably linked though by forces that have been in play in this country for a couple decades and are now threatening to overcome Europe sending it into intentional chaotic disarray. Their deaths are not just the result of two men’s knives. It is the result of a system that values Marxist (or socialistic) ideology over safety. It is the result of ideologically driven Marxist/Socialist prosecutors who keep letting violent criminals out. The very same ones fighting every moral inroad to correct all the immoralities of the last 10 years including securing the border and deporting invaders. 

These deaths are the result of a complicit socialist propaganda media machine that decides which lives count and which lives can be erased in an Orwellian manner. They erase the people they deem irrelevant by merely not mentioning them. The go down a memory hole and disappear having had no impact. A memory hole that seeks the deliberate alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing videos, photographs, TikToks or other records, particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened.

We see parallel behavior in the Islamic invasion of Europe. Those that perceive themselves as the oppressed or victim stabbing and killing the perceived oppressors. Not ironically with knives as most Europeans have now been disarmed and made into ready-made victims. The majority of those 'oppressors' being white colonials viewed as propagating or upholding a modern form of colonialism that must be dismantled. Hence the destruction of the existing cultural framework by tearing down historical symbols like statues and overturning long held laws or behaviors within institutions. In doing so these two parasitic ideological entities infuse the culture they just destroyed with their Marxist or Sharian ideology.

While Marxism and Islam are fundamentally incompatible in their core doctrines, there have been historical instances and specific interpretations where Marxists / Muslims have formed temporary alliances to pursue what they construe as shared anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist goals. However, such collaborations have been largely strategic rather than ideological. The instances of Marxists and Muslims working together were/are based on shared, temporary political objectives rather than a complete alignment of ideologies. The history of these alliances is marked cooperation against common perceived enemies and then eventual betrayal or conflict by one side or the other once their goals of overthrow were attained.

The main examples being

(1)   The early Bolsheviks' call for an anti-imperialist "holy war" that was a strategic move to enlist support from Muslims in colonial territories, even though communists suppressed religion domestically. The Marxists then routed out the Muslims.

(2)   In Iran before the 1979 revolution, Iranian Marxists collaborated with Muslims against the Western-backed Shah. The concept of martyrdom in Shi'a Islam, for instance, became a shared belief that helped unite the two groups. Afterward, Islam pushed out or murdered the Marxists.

The worldwide liberal Marxist cabal is now in the process of attempting a worldwide coup through violence, political subversion and division within all western nations. They're using Islam to this end. They're using trans, gender-fluid and sexuality agendas to this end. They using gender issues between feminists and men to this end. Emascuating men, empoweing damaged women with chips on their shoulders and destroying traditional (nuclear) families in the process. They're using racial division between black and white. They're inverting the social order...the Biblical order in a demonic manner. 

They're purposely overwhelming the system into collapse. Lawlessness by design. Invading militant Islam is just another symptom of the disease, as is it's bastard child anti-semitism. Same ends different modes or mediums to carry out the subterfuge. Degradation or outright destruction of western civilization through an insidious godless, immoral Marxist agenda using any tool available including religiously zealot Muslims.

Marxism and Islam share similarities in their emphasis on social justice and the belief in an inevitable, revolutionary transformation of society, often driven by a charismatic minority to achieve a more egalitarian state through violence and deception. Both systems are often critical of existing social structures and can be seen as having a pre-determined historical narrative. In other words, colonialism. They seek to obliterate and overturn those systems they view as oppressive. Fooling themselves as the useful idiots that they are that somehow Marxism or Islam will be better. That they will be put to the front of the lines and top of the heap for helping usher in the new society. Failing to see that they themselves will be the first to be erased once these systems are in power, exactly because they are rebellious and incorrigible. The irony is that whichever ideology wins, Marxism or Islam, it will absolutely destroy the other. They cannot coexist.

(Source: Why I Am A Marxist Muslim) 

These deaths are the end result of demeaning lives to mere political statistics and voter constituency. This is the end result of failing to enforce laws and giving preferential treatment to known criminals because of their race or ideology just as communism and fascism did in the 20th century. This is what Marxism and Islam do through identity politics.  (Source: Politics of Identity) 

Finally, these deaths are the result of men failing to be men and protecting women regardless of their color. The idle bystanders or witnesses are the worst part of this. They exhibited complete dispassionate behavior and apathy. The dying woman on the train meant nothing. Her life had no value to them. This is what Marxism does. It devalues any individual life because the entirety of the community is more important as a whole. The system in mostly urban settings has become Marxist; the perps are merely tools to that end. The masses have had subversive demeaning philosophy constantly drummed over their heads until no one matters but themselves.

The perpetrators are scum and needs equivalent death penalties where they both unalived in terror just as their victims were. The idle bystanders and so called 'magistrate' should be held to account for failure to act morally. Unfortunately, our system is so corrupt recompense from the morally ambivalent observers will not be forthcoming. The so-called judge will not face any punishment. 

These two blond women are just two more examples of godless ideologies that have slain millions over the last few centuries. Because 90% of the population are historically and morally ignorant, they are already repeating the past. The depth of the depravity is astounding but should surprise no one that know both the history of Marxism and Islam and the bloody trail both have left in history.

How much more clearly do I need to tie these things together and show the obviousness of this for people of even dull wit to comprehend what is happening nowadays both domestically and abroad?

The Paradox of Pain: A Dwelling Place of Grace

I have written on suffering and pain extensively over the last 15 years. The most in depth I ever went was when my father was dying in 2010. It was very painful but through his decline I wrote on the underlying purpose of suffering theologically as a thesis for college (theodicy). I know often what and why God allows it based on examples from the Bible. 

I admittedly don’t have individual answers to everyone’s questions but I know usually why, in an overacrhing sense, God acts or doesn’t act in situations of suffering. As I have been prone to say to many, “I don’t have ‘your’ answer to your suffering but I have ‘an’ answer based in Scripture.” Dad’s death now feels like it was a long time ago. That is because it was. Time has softened the sharp edges of his loss. I know that my mother is not long to this world and I will need to revisit this pain and loss again soon. Herein we see the one of the paradox of pain. It hurts intensely when it happens or as we're enduring it but over time, properly dealt with suffering and pain deaden or we find ways to manage it. Sometimes other suffering comes along that overcomes the prior like waves on the shore. We attenuate accordingly.

In the 15 years since dad left for the Lord, I lost a marriage of approximately 15 years. I lost numerous meaningless jobs. Most recently in the last two years I watched my fiancé Rebecca endure cancer treatments via chemotherapy and radiation. It was lousy knowing I couldn't help her at all except to be there when she needed help. In the cases of my father’s passing and Rebecca’s battle with cancer the one similarity was my inability to do anything to change the process or outcome. Except through one avenue...I prayed. Did it work? I guess it depends on who you ask. In some situations I believe it did, in other situations sometimes God just has different plans from ours. 

Through all of these trials I also had crowning moments. I watched my sons grow into upstanding Godly men. They are now both pursuing post-high school training and education as young adult men. They are finding their way in the world the way I did. I have tried to be there for them as much as possible. I still provide for them as much as I can but at the same time, I'm beginning to cut the tethers that bind parents to their children. The balance of responsibility for their own lives are now shifting to them. I just stand back and admire their progress. 

I found love again which I swore would never happen after the divorce. I struggled through decades of a love-hate relationship with women which, if I’m honest, I still struggle with. I inherently distrust women and their motives after being burned and gaslighted so often. Rebecca has helped change this in me because of a compassion for the abuses of my life. It is a relationship though and as with any relationship it has its ups and downs. I realize now as I have with everyone that you cannot make people do things. You can’t make people love you any more than God can make people love Him. That is a choice born of freewill. Even if God knows what I would eventually choose, it was still my choice. I now realize that a lot of the relationship issues was me unable to love myself. Forgive myself. When I realized God loves me and forgave me, then I could? Relationships are not one-sided dances. Whether they be platonic or otherwise, it takes effort from all parties involved.

I learned in all situations including the good of raising sons, that the only real power I have is to pray. I could affect no change to my own life let alone anyone else’s. I had to humble myself and get out of my own way. I was once a man who thought he knew it all. Had all the answers. I could handle any hardship. These losses showed me I am flawed, broken and wasn’t as tough as I thought I was. Life beat it out of me trial after trial. 

Here is another paradox of pain. It strips you down forcing you to start over lighter, more agile and mentally resiliant. It is strange how pain can break you down and make moments more poignent. Force you to focus through the distraction. 

When I rebuilt, the underlying support structure was based on God and His word. Every other base was just shifting sand. It was only then that the ground stopped shifting under my feet. It was then I was able to start to build a firm foundation for what remains of my life. The suffering is still here but I recognize it like an old visitor. I don’t attempt to evade it when it is clearly and directly in my path and meant for me. The fire is best dealt with by walking as directly through it as possible.

The benefit of walking directly into suffering’s center is you see that the center of pain is the dwelling place of God’s grace. Suffering is an unavoidable aspect of life in a fallen world. It's a call to endure by God for God's grace. This endurance and grace are the path to spiritual strength formation and a deeper, grounded hope. There's no guarantee against suffering, but there is a promise of God's presence and enablement to endure it.

Because it is a gift of grace, we learn a few lessons about suffering’s character that we should take note of and learn from. As stated before, pain is part of human existence both physical and mental. We are not entitled to the absence of it. The world is fallen and so are we. Even if God doesn’t remove the trial, He is present in it. He provides our way through or out of it eventually. One way or another.

Suffering is difficult but it builds endurance, humility and grace. Ofttimes, even those observing the suffering are affected by it as it has with watching Rebecca hopelessly at times. I pray more earnestly now and God is more immediate/imminent to me. It has strengthened my bond with Rebecca and God. I love more deeply now. I feel real joy when she has breakthroughs and victories.

I see suffering now for what it is...another test of faith. In the face of suffering, faith becomes an anchor, providing certainty and empowering endurance. In many situations my only way to help others that are suffering or help myself through it is to turn to God in faith to break a stalemate of discomfort or mental torment. I take my thoughts captive to God and allow him to bear the burden. If the pain is physical, I mentally withdrawal to a place of refuge where God allows me to endure. It is amazing how the mind can compartmentalize pain.

In the end, suffering is the story of Christ and the Cross. Suffering shows that the world’s expectation of comfort/success in all situations isn’t realistic and is improbable. Suffering forces a person to release the childish dreams of an idyllic painless world that doesn’t really exist. If these are not let go of, faith turns to disillusionment and doesn’t prepare a person for hardship. The Gospel or Christ’s death on the Cross shows unequivically that ultimate good comes of the suffering. In this way God inverts the order of things and turns the Fall of Man into a crowning acheivement. Your pain and suffering are temporary. The glory and reward to overcome it is eternal. Toiling instills a sense of value and importance.

In this way suffering becomes more about time and movement towards a place not about being immobile unable to move. God beckons you to him in these times. He is your refuge. It is in His presence that you find relief. The key word here being 'find'. It is there that you will discover grace. It is only with this grace that you can truly understand the love of God. Keep moving towards the light. In time suffering ends and is replaced with joy. The darkness lasts only for an evening but light comes in the morning. Run, walk or crawl towards the light. How you get there doesn't matter, the fact that you are moving towards it does. The act of moving to something away from something else puts you on the right heading. Persevere. 

God Has a Sense of Humor

"The widespread failure to recognize and to appreciate the humor of Christ is one of the most amazing aspects of the era named for Him. Anyone who reads the Synoptic Gospels with a relative freedom from presuppositions might be expected to see that Christ laughed, and that He expected others to laugh, but our capacity to miss this aspect of His life is phenomenal. We are so sure that He was always deadly serious that we often twist His words in order to try and make them conform to our preconceived mold. A misguided piety has made us fear that acceptance of His obvious wit and humor would somehow be mildly blasphemous or sacrilegious" ~Elton Trueblood, The Humor of Christ (1964)

Jesus was fully human (and divine). It is fully human to laugh and find humor in things. Jesus clearly liked and used exaggeration and hyperbole. See planks in anyone's eye lately? He also liked wordplay and wit, as was clearly evident in the story of the faith of the Canaanite woman...

"Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment." Matthew 15:21-28

Why do we need to continually drive people away from Jesus with this version of Him that clearly couldn't have been true as He was truly human? I mean come on people... look at His disciples, look at us! He has to have a sense of humor! He clearly got angry, why wouldn't he have had a good laugh? A humorless, stoic "stick in the mud" Jesus is an unrealistic image of Him. He was a baby at one time. Anyone remember the giggle of their child? The squeal of delight of an infant? 

Laughter seems to be something uniquely human. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner. Are these not the very things the Bible encourages us to be and do? It stands to reason that if God is the word, God is therefore part laughter. 

Surely Jesus experienced joy in His time here on earth and even now? We wrongly see Him as an ancient version of the Borg or a Vulcan from Star Trek trying to "assimilate" or “compute” followers. Sorry, I just can't see Jesus saying, "that's illogical" or "we are Kingdom" even if the Spirit unifies us as one. Jesus was fully human and humans laugh. Jesus laughed. So should we...before we end up being like the Borg and being absorbed into a mindless collective like the surrounding culture of humorless Karens and Chads.

I’ve been lectured many times by stoic humorless Christians that the Scripture never says Jesus laughed. Indirectly it does, just as I stated in this post. The Scripture never says the word Trinity either but we know it to be a true concept from implications in the text. So too laughter. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. If he is fully human it stands to reason Jesus ran the gamut of emotion also. Being fully divine He created the emotions. 

Implication: The Creator of emotion having taken on the complete attribute of humanity would've laughed just as He angered, and wept, and sweat and bled and suffered. We also know that children loved being around Jesus, in fact they flocked to Him in droves. Has anyone ever known of a child drawn to a person with a constant sourpuss? Do we really suppose this is the way Jesus was 24/7 for 33+ years?

"The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." Luke 10:17-21

The word joy in (v.21) is ἠγαλλιάσατο / egalliasato which means to rejoice greatly or jump for joy. Do we really suppose Jesus is grimacing through this in pain? Please.

No Assimilation, Only Annexation In Islam

I am routinely told I am xenophobic and uneducated for posting this type of stuff. For all of you that tell me this...you need to get your heads out of your arses. Those telling me this always cite some Muslim they know that are kind hearted and good people, as if this is the rule not the exception. I respond by telling you this. They're either willfully silent about their own religion. They're practicing al-Taqiyya or they're ignorant of their own religion and are basically dhimmi for the religion. There are no exceptions to this. Islam's holy writ DOESN'T allow for it. Go and actually read their texts and stop believing the intellectually arrogant dimwits that have been propagandized by academia that have a vested interest in bringing down the American system along with the Muslims. The arrogance and ignorance of some of you is self-righteous and astoundingly arrogant considering true Muslims would rather you be hanging from a rope or put to the point of a saber.

Islam institutes Sharia by parasitically piggybacking into existing legal and governmental systems slowly building case law against non-Muslims or Kafirs. They then out birth all competing birthrates until they are 51% of voting constituents. Once they gain the majority they set to work destroying the native culture. This happened in Afghanistan centuries ago. Most don't realize Afghanistan was once a Buddhist nation. England did this to itself. As is France and other dhimmi countries in Europe and Asia. Fools one and all. This is exactly what is happening in the cesspool of Michigan and Minnesota too. That is why they have activist Muslim representatives in Congress in the form of Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Their constituents are either complicit Muslims or idiots dumb as a bag of rocks. They hate America and unequivocally know that Sharia is antithetical to the Constitution. There is not compromise or assimilation in Islam. Only infiltration or annexation.

Their goal is to subvert Constitutional Law by creating legal sharia precedence to overturn American's rights. The idiot democrats are too stupid to see it or actually want this to happen. The socialists are aiding this through destruction of the government through all means available to them including the trans agendas, feminist agendas, etc. They are all working towards the same end. Most Americans are blissfully ignorant as it unfolds too. You'd think Europe would be a warning sign. We are a country of dolts and morons that think the Christian 'do unto others' and the Golden Rule will work on Muslims. It won't. They think you're beneath them. Sub-human. They believe in a form of the Golden Rule but only for other Muslims. Everyone else is just a Kafir or less than Muslim and not worthy of being treated equally.

True Muslims are in a constant state of Jihad until they acheive worldwide caliphate. That's because failure to submit to Allah is the first offense. Therefore it justifies waging Jihad on the infidel. Their ends justifies their means. They will not stop until they meet this end. Regardless of what they tell you, this is what their Holy writings demand. Otherwise they are not be obedient, subservient Muslims.

Collaboration: A Unity in Spirit

Starting soon I will be trying something different with my blog.

A collaboration. A unity in Spirit.

For the first time in 15 years I will be handing over the human deep dive into some of the topics to Rebecca. She is brilliant and a writer also but sees the world through more feminine and compassionate eyes. I'm a brute that just wants to fix things, not necessarily feel them.

My goal writing my posts was always to parlay overarching principles and theology. I've known for a decade that these posts don't always address people's day to day struggles and that some have a hard time relating to what I write. People have PM me to ask for answer to their dilemmas and suffering. Sometimes I don't have that insight. I merely write to show the metanarrative and don't dive down. She said she wants to do this and I agreed it would be a good idea. I believe God is placing the last piece of the puzzle to a blog thats been incomplete for 15 years.

Thanks Rebecca.