Special Posting: THANK YOU LMU!

Dear Followers,

I wanted to write to all of you to announce the awesome donation made by LMU in the donating of over $63,000 worth of school books to Ascension Catholic School located in Los Angeles California. This school badly needed these materials and they will be used for all students at every grade level. It is the work of God in our daily lives that I want to bring forward to all of you in order that this donation shall stand as proof that God does works miracles for everyone in the this world and for our Listening Faithfully Community.

To show our graduated for this gift Ascension Catholic School would welcome letters from the Listening Faithfully Community thanking the Development Director of LMU for making this miracle happen. Lets let the University know how important this donation is for this small school in need.

Please Address all thank you letters to:

Director of Development
Latino Alumni Association
and Scholarship Initiatives

LMU / LA Loyola Marymount University
University Hall
1 LMU Drive, Suite 2800
Los Angeles, CA. 90045-2659

Special Prayer Request: Remembering Leslie Frankenheimer

Special Post: This is For You!

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” ~ Psalm 18:2

Each of us are given certain gifts, some of us are good at writing, some at mathematics, still others are good at teaching, but our dear sister in the Lord Leslie Frankenheimer was extraordinarily talented in the entertainment industry as a set director who was honored four times as an Emmy Award Winner. But she was also a loving and dear wife, mother, a gracious sister to her many brothers and sister, and a devout daughter to her parents bringing them honor and pride in all that she did in this life. Leslie was quick to donate her time and resources for many children at Ascension Catholic School, and helped her brother Neil McCarthy purchase various supplies for his students, which makes all the difference to all our children. Life is worth living by helping others, by being the best person you possibly can, and reach your hand out to touch those less fortunate than yourself, and our sister in Christ Jesus exemplified these qualities to the fullest.

We all will miss her deeply and as a world wide community we pray;

Almighty Father, eternal God, hear our prayers for Your daughter Leslie Frankenheimer whom You have called from this life to Yourself. Grant her light, happiness, and peace. Let her pass in safety through the gates of death and live forever with all Your saints in the light You promised to Abraham and to all his descendants in faith. Guard her from all harm and on that great day of resurrection and reward raise her up with all Your saints. Pardon her sins and give her eternal life in Your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

cross

To her surviving family members, everyone here at Listening Faithfully Community offer our condolences for your loss, and we offer this special prayer to help guide you through this troubled time. We all are with you in your grief;

O most wise and merciful Lord, Who hast ordained this life  as a passage to the future, confining our repentance to the time of our pilgrimage here, and reserving for hereafter the state of punishment and reward; vouchsafee to us who are yet alive, and have still the opportunity to reconciliation with Thee, the grace so to watch over all our actions, and to correct every slightest wandering from the true way of heaven, that we may not be surprised with our sins uncancelled, or our duties unfulfilled; but when our bodies shall go down in the grave, our souls may ascend to Thee, and dwell with Thee forever in the mansions of eternal bliss. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.

Leslie Frankenheimer was a set decorator and four-time Primetime Emmy Award winner: for Carnivale (HB0), James Dean (TNT), Buddy Faro (CBS) and Max Headroom (ABC). Before transitioning to television, she worked on films with such luminaries as Ridley Scott, Francis Ford Coppola and John Landis. She attended UCLA, New York School of Interior Design and Art Center College of Design, majoring in space design. Prior to becoming a set decorator, she worked for A.C. Martin and Assoc. and Morganelli-Hume and Assoc., both architectural engineering firms. Frankenheimer has served on the Peer Group Executive Committee for Art Directors/Set Decorators, the Set Decorators Society of America and as co-chair of the Community Outreach Committee. She also served on the executive board for IATSE Local 44 representing the set decorators. A fourth-generation Los Angeleno, she and her husband, John Frankenheimer, an entertainment lawyer and co-chair of Loeb & Loeb LLC, have two wonderful adult children, Erin and Sean, both of whom are working in the entertainment industry.

Visitation & Rosary on Saturday Jan 26th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. (Rosary @ 6:00)
Memorial service Sunday Jan 27th @ 4:00 pm.

Both services will be at:
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial
1218 Glendon Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

If you would like to make a donation in Leslie’s name, please send your donation to:
City of Hope
Memorial: Leslie Frankenheimer (HCT/Dr. Stephen Forman)
1055 Wilshire Blvd., 11th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Attention: Britta Bucholz

Arrangements under the direction of Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles, CA.

~Los Angeles Times Obituaries: Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013

Reflection 2: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Belief; pt 2

“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16

It is a hard concept for some to come to grips with the idea of “GOD”. The idea of a singular “GOD” that is so powerful, so perfect that He would even want to count us as His children. It makes no sense logically speaking that the “GOD” of the Bible would hang in there and forgive each and every collective sin, striking covenant after covenant, until finally having to hand over His only son. It is a very hard concept to believe in because we would not have treated ourselves with such grace, so why would “GOD” love us so much? I think a bigger question is why would God continue to love us after the sacrifice of His Son and seeing the brutality of it, a death befitting a common criminal. “GOD” is such a hard concept to believe in that some refer to Him as a fantasy no different than all the sci-fi shows and fantasy novels that fill the movie-houses and books-shelves of popular culture of today. In this light “GOD” is regarded as nothing more than a story to explain our beginnings  no more important than filler until we arrive at some sort of scientific imperial truth. The argument these people use is based upon the lack of  change in the human story over the past two thousand years, the lack of evidence that proves Jesus was really a person, the lack of evidence that surrounds other Bible tales like the events chronicled in Genesis,Exodus, Job, Isaiah, Daniel, Jonah, and a host of other Old Testament stories that didn’t make it into the Bible. These arguments however do not stop at the Old Testament, but continue throughout the remainder of the Holy Bible as our one “GOD” seems to have undergone a metamorphosis from start to finish. The biggest argument I have personally heard is if our sin debt is paid in full why then are we still so completely filled with sin and destruction on every level of being? With these ideas permeating throughout our world it is not surprising there are some who do not believe or even entertain God or the Bible, but I ask all who do not believe; “At what cost will this lack of faith and belief in God cost you in the end?”

This question as a youth is what drove me to first research God, to study God, to understand the cost of disbelief. In part the very idea of “GOD” and His perfect love is what gave me my center balance and my ability to live through unforgiving situations, it is this belief centered life I was given by our singular God that constantly reaffirms my belief in Him daily and every-time I actively seek him out. In retrospect, I was more afraid of missing out on the greatest, most powerful, spiritual, loving being known to mankind as; “GOD”, that I put away all notions of a Godless Universe, because after all who made everything I see, feel, touch, experience, love, and who is it that feeds me when I am hungry, forgives me when I have sinned. The hole I had in my soul was so vast and empty it drove me to my current conceptualized belief  I hold today. It was through many hours in deep contemplation, research,reflections, conversations, and life experience which brought me to understand the God of our Bible, of our world, and of our universe. With all these collective influences I came to the point of simply handing over all control of my life  to God, doing His will, allowing Him to mold me into a more perfect person, the person He wants me to be. I was filled and still am with His Holy Spirit, I feel His  forgiveness, His love, His mercy, I see His miracles in my life, and I know without a doubt He will always be there no matter what, even after my mortal death. In short I was more afraid of not being forgiven for my sins and transgressions and having to live with them for an eternity absent of God. So I find it next to impossible to teach others about the Bible, and the power of belief without referring to my own past infantile thinking about religion and of humanistic spirituality. Therefore, in no short order this post will delve into a very grey area for most of you, and all I ask is that you read and confirm what I have written here in order that it build your fabric of belief so as to fill all the gabs and holes, to make you stronger in your faith, to bring you closer to God, and to hopefully steer you away from false doctrine which is so plentiful in our modern world. With that said I will be asking a lot of logical questions that I hope you ask of yourselves in doing your research into the Bible, questions that will if applied guide you and help you conduct the best possible research on the subject matter of God and in your growing belief in Him.

Question 1: Concerning Everlasting Life; “According to John is it here or in Heaven we will live forever?”

Because the spirit of God is so vast anything is possible. But the idea of living forever has been with mankind from the start, the wanting to live forever has been the catalyst that is found behind many great fantasy stories in our popular culture. The requirements found in the Bible are somewhat different than what is found in many non-fiction stories that have been told for centuries, interestingly the bond in all stories dealing with immortality include obtaining to some-degree a potion, spell, or magic that can transform a mortal body into a non-mortal body. The best evidence in this cultural idea is found in John 20:15-17; and again later in John 20:28-29 which reads;

Events After Jesus’s Resurrection:

15 “Jesus said to her, ‘Women, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away , tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” ~John 20:15-17 

In this passage we, the reader, are to believe that Jesus arose three days after His death and talked with Mary. He was unrecognizable to her, which in and of itself is a stretch of what writers and story tellers call the, “Suspension of Dis-Belief”. This then is made the focus when Jesus call’s out to Mary and then she saw Him for who He really was. This event in faith is one of the most powerful indicators that something out of the norm happened to the mortal body of Jesus, and that something was so unexpected that Mary had not conceived of looking and finding anything other than a dead Jesus, not a living one. Even though He told all His disciples of what would happen three days after His own death.

Question 2: “Why then were they not looking for a living Jesus?”

The crushing reality for those who witnessed the brutality of the Romans in their onslaught against Jesus and then to see His mortal suffering and death drove into their minds that no one could have survived the punishment Jesus had suffered. This fact also leeds us to believe in the notion Jesus really died on the cross just as it had been told. The scene was so gruesome and Jesus’s body so mangled that there would have been no possible chance for resurrection. The feelings of  hopelessness, grief, guilt, and fear was so well chronicled that even if Jesus’s followers had believed they still would have been taken by surprise, and as the Bible tells us the disciples did not believe in Mary’s words, in fact they where cruel to her in their response. This then brings in to question Mary’s state-of-mind when the tomb was empty, in that her grief overshadowed her faith and made her cry real genuine tears. This part of the story is believable to anyone who has lost a loved one. This is a human response, one filled with love, and panic as she inquired to the whereabouts of the body of Jesus, not recognizing Him for who He really was, again ignoring the obvious out of grief. We can extrapolate from this text that Jesus died, and arose in a transformed body, a spiritual one, an immortal one, not unlike the body He presented to three of His disciples, Peters, James, and John during the transfiguration of  Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8Mark 9:28-36 and ten again refereed to in 2Peter 1: 16-18. Going back to mans longing to be immortal the Bible is a clear foundation for later stories we have build up over time. Each fantasy being larger and more fanciful than the one before it. We have more details to non-fiction characters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The world of J.R.R. Tolkien, and The tales of Narnia than we do for the resurrection of Christ. The Bible goes into no detail to how Jesus defeated death, rather it plainly states that He did defeat death just as He said that He would. In fact much of the story had already been written thousands of years before Christ such is found in,  Psalm 2:7,Psalm 16:9-11Psalm 22:14-25Psalm 30:29Psalm 40:13Psalm 110:1Psalm 118:21-24Isaiah 53:9-12Hosea 5:156:3, and Zechariah 12:10,and so on.  This drives scientists crazy, and with them all others who are lacking in faith. Because the Bible tells us nothing of the, “How Factor”, of Christ’s resurrection and because of this missing peace of the puzzle there have been countless hours spent looking at physical evidence such as the Shroud of Turin, and other important artifacts from that time period. But because our God is so mighty in knowledge and perfect in His execution Jesus gave us something even more powerful than proof, He even said it aloud to Thomas;

27 “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach you hand here, and put in into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and My God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ~ John 20:28-29

The act of believing transcends factual evidence, as proven by non-fiction stories that after a time people begin to believe in them. What is interesting in this human behavior is we have the power to believe in events that have happened but are so unexplainable and unbelievable to others that some how we are forced to make a leap of faith. But Jesus gave us the power to believe without seeing, because His life was prophesied about, then in The Acts of the Apostles his story was spread and eventually replaced the many Gods of Rome. We know this to be true because of many writings found in Acts such as,  Acts 2:22-363:13-184:10-12335:29-3210:37-4313:27-3717:2330-3223:624:14-1625:1926:68; etc. Again the Influence of Christ was written about in other books of the Bible such as, Romans 1:3-46:391 Corinthians 15:1-582 Corinthians 4:10-14Galatians 2:20Ephesians 1:19-23;Philippians 2:5-11Colossians 2:121 Thessalonians 1:104:141 Timothy 3:162 Timothy 2:8-11Hebrews 13:20; and 1 Peter 1:21; etc.

In truth this is the true story behind the non-believing, unrepentant, and lost Christian who struggles in their faith, that is the real story, the human story behind the Bible tales of Moses, and King David, and plethora of others who struggled in their belief. But, at some point they and we had to stop questioning and simply believe in a world where mortal and immortal collide. Our hearts long for it, we chase after it, and to some extent we fight against the power of belief. Mary did when looking for a dead Jesus, the disciples did in not believing her, Thomas when they all told Him of the resurrected Christ, Paul did in His persecution of Christians, and we all do before we meet Jesus face to face in our hearts. We may have based our fanciful stories of immortal beings from Greek authors, but the Bible stories share their truth in their telling from an spectacular reality; from an unknown, “How Factor”,  of man, to the immortality of God. We gain our immortality through the belief in Him, and thus to answer question 1 we will live and reign forever with Christ in Heaven. We will be with Him wherever He is as God created us all in His image and will recreate us in His resurrected likeness. Unlike many fantasy stories that have no shred of proof, there is proof to Jesus. His immortality was not achieved by some elaborate mystical spell that no one could repeat, but rather in the belief in God, though His perfect love, through the belief in the Holy Spirit, and in the belief in His mission to save mankind; all of which give us the promise and power to believe that there is nothing God cannot do. Likewise, our immortality is secured by our faith and belief in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, as we too live, die, and will live forever in His glory.

10 “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’” ~ Acts 1:10-11

Truth in the power of belief is all we have in this world, the feeling deep in out heart is all we have to know that God is with us. It in reality is the tuning into the heart, into morality, to hold the covenant with Jesus Christ as the most important aspect of ones life. The Holy Bible offers us a wonderful chance to look into the world of belief from Gods point of view, from Jesus’s point of view, from all the Saints and Prophets vantage point. We are all called to believe without seeing, and to ask for forgiveness through Jesus Christ who has paid our sin debt in full, for Hell itself has been over thrown by Jesus for you and me and everyone living and dead. To some regard I look at my life since understanding these most basic tenants of belief and can truly see all the small miracles in my life God has placed there. My life is no longer aimless, and without direction, rather I can see clearly the path He wishes for me to travel. It is this assurance I offer to you now by reviewing the “human” Jesus, the “scared” Mary, the “vulnerable” disciples, for it is this aspect of our belief that is the corner stone to Jesus transcending from mortal to God through His resurrection. A tantalizing peace of the puzzle is simply over looked in telling this story, Jesus was the only one of His age that could bring people back from the dead, they were not in their spiritual bodies, but still fully flesh and blood. When Jesus died their was no one to bring Him back, but yet His arose. The Disciples could not have this because they where hiding, and the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them, so this “How Factor” rests with God. The tomb was filled with Angels, indeed it was the Angels that rolled back the heavy stone to His tomb. The Bible describes the Roman guards that were placed there by the Pharisees  bore witness to these events. The proof we all seek is in the scripture, but the power of belief is in your heart.

43 “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever in Him shall receive remission of sins.” ~ Acts 10:43

Challenge Question: If we use this power of believe in every aspect of our lives, how would it impact our thinking, feeling, and emotions selves, would our lives be better or worse for having done so? 

Amen

If you liked this Reflection on BELIEF please leave a comment. Also please LIKE and SHARE this post with others.

Brian Keith

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Brian Keith

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 

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2012 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Reflection I: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Anger; pt 1

“Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry.” ~ Ecclesiastes 7:9, NKJV

In this life we experience so much, and so I thought it appropriate to start the new year with a new series of blogs dealing with each of life’s experiences. This posting will explore anger in the context of its usage and its qualities for both good and bad. The focus will center around the effect upon others in each category as it relates to how our God has used anger in the past. We will delve into the model left by Christ on this topic and how it applies to every single human-being today, and how Satan does his best to thwart our efforts and then to pull us down through anger.

Anger as a noun is defined as, “A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility.” ~ Thefreedictionary.com/anger

Therefore, in our life when we feel angry it is neither good or bad. It is simply a reaction to something that has happened to us. It is logical to then state that one does not willfully make ones-self angry, but rather an external force is at work that which we are reacting too that makes us feel this natural and neutral emotion. In my life I have seen things which I have  taken a strong disliking too, however by nature I am very slow to anger, but once there I am angry for a long time. In my youth as all kids do, I misused anger and in doing so said a lot of things I would later regret having ever said. In this manner anger can be used for evil deeds, but most of our children simply misuse anger for lack of training and experience. In the context of angry emotions being used for good is found simply in the recognition of the fact that you are angry, this is of course rudimentary logic. Interestingly, in our society feeling angry is often looked upon as being a bad emotion and is shunned. Ironically, the shunning of this emotion leeds to burying it deep inside and if left to fester will cause great damage to the person and all those around them as they erupt like a volcano uncontrollably. In that sense we create the evil in what was otherwise a neutral emotion. The simple act of recognizing that you are angry is a pure, honest, and healthy way to handle this feeling. In most cases it is not enough to simply recognize your angry, but rather develop the ability to know why your angry, what was the trigger, what external force brought you to this emotion. In understanding anger in this manner you bring control and wisdom to the next step of the process, which of course is the actions you commit while being angry.

Anger as it is a verb is defined as, ” To make angry; enrage or provoke.” ~ Thefreedictionary.com/anger

In this perspective anger is the act of being provoked into action. Thus, if full control is not first asserted those who have provoked have a distinct advantage over the one who is being provoked. Think back if you will to when as a child your sibling called you a name that you disliked, or kept you from doing something you wanted to do. Most of us fired back without thinking, not to simply keep your sibling from making you angrier, but as an act of revenge. This in turn proved yourself, (not evil), but immature, lacking the ability to control your anger, and thus at a distinct disadvantage to your sibling or aggressor. In large part this lack of control is due to the rush to action while ignoring the honest recognition of being angry. Had we stopped, taken a breath, then thought it through most of us would have brushed the insult off. But by nature children do not do this because their brain is not yet developed enough to process the “why” aspect of this honest emotion. Most of us where spanked into submission and took this punishment for being angry or becoming angry, rather as it should have been explained that the punishment was not for becoming angry, but what we did with it. Therefore, the evil in the emotion is found within the action taken while experiencing this honest, natural, neutral feeling of being angry.

I have often times told my own daughter that, “it’s ok if your angry at me or your mother. But instead of acting out on your anger stop and remember that you love both of us equally. It is ok to tell me that your angry, as long as you do it in a respectful manner.” I remember having many conversations with her about angry emotions, about acting out in anger or rage. I always made her the promise that I would listen to her. In more recent times our relationship has become rocky at best, partly because of needless events that were outside both our control. There have been many things said to me, about me, in front of me, and be-hide my back which my daughter should have never been apart of or in its hearing. To some degree our hearts have been hardened, and angry emotions have been left to run rampant in our conversations. In this aspect anger is not yet evil, but is hurtful, destructive, malicious, disrespectful, and the actions taken are not pure, and thus are not controllable. Subtle changes have occurred in her language over time such as the absence of words like, “I miss you”, or “I love you”, or “I am sorry”,  have all but disappeared, which reveals her anger is due in large part to the secrets she has been forced to kept from me. But never-the-less the disparity between us if left unchecked will grow more divisive and become spiteful at which point it will be pure evil. I bring this up not to disparage my daughter, who is about to be seventeen, but to point out the difficulties within interpersonal relationships built into high conflict marriages, and the pure immaturity to which anger leads to the mutual destruction of the family unit, and in this manner anger is evil.

On the other hand God has never used anger for evil means, though He is blamed for it all the time. Rather that deed belongs solely to Satan. Evidence of this in the Bible is found in how Jesus handled anger and thus left us a perfect model to follow, though admittedly it is in part shrouded in mystery.

“23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, ‘Get you behind me, Satan: you are an offense unto me: for you consider not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.'” ~ Matthew 16:23

In reading this specific scripture the love Jesus held for His disciple Peter is hard to find. One’s mind instantly snaps to Peters defense as the justification was not apparent that supported Jesus’s reaction to Peter’s words to him. So it is tradition in reading the Bible one must dig further and read what Peter had said that angered Jesus so;

“20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” ~ Matthew 16:20-22

If we take away the word “rebuke” and simply put, “Peter took Him aside and said to Him,” this passage would have an entirely different meaning. In fact Peter was acting with good intentions, (far be it from Jesus, that He must be made to suffer so.) To anyone else this would have been seen as a act of compassion. But because Jesus was the Christ, Peter inadvertently rebuked Him. For Jesus to not complete His mission that He had just revealed to His disciples would have been tantamount to failing God and in that Satan’s reign would be assured. In no other manner of  Heavenly thinking could this be allowed, and thus in the mind of Christ, Peter proposed an abomination in the face of the living God, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This abomination rightfully angered Jesus, though this was a mystery to Peter. Waisting no time, Jesus did the following within a split second; He first recognized He was angry at Peter for having voiced this abomination; for had he not His actions might have been to smite Peter where he stood. But Christ did not smite Peter rather He answered the devilish notion Peter proposed calling it what it was; and idea placed into Peter by Satan. Therefore, Christ’s action was mature in nature and swift in scorn out of  both love for Peter, and out of a mature, controlled, resounding anger that was aimed at Satan;

“23 Get you behind me, Satan: you are an offense unto me: for you consider not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” ~ Matthew 16:23

To apply this new found knowledge to life as we know it in the modern era of the twenty first century, then we must first delve into  anger from the perspective of how it progresses through each stage as stated above in the example of how children perceive hostel external forces and then apply scripture to it. So as a child being picked on by a sibling or other children at school the external force is in the buttons pushed by the name calling or other aggressive action which the target child internalizes and thus begins to show a resounding disliking too.

(Note the usage of  “child examples” are also relevant to how grown-ups react and thus are also very much acting out as a child would. In addition, when children are punished their is a layer of mystery to the “why” aspect of the punishment much like the “why” element Peter experienced with Christ as described in Matthew 16:23. These moments are not unique to just Parent child relationships, but extend out to envelop all relationships at all levels of life.)

When children or adults willfully pick on each other the buttons being pushed which trigger the anger is done in a willful manner. These proverbial  buttons are pushed deliberately, in this example as much fun as it may be, the evil is still found in the action of the aggressors, but this evil can be transferred to the one being being picked on as these repeated actions cause real, physical, pain, and suffering. Anger swells up, emotions take over, and negative actions are bound to take place. However, in the spirit the aggressors themselves are also being prodded to commit these acts of teasing. In this example of children evidence of Satans involvement is found in the uncontrollable action to continue the undesirable behavior. Think back to how many times you teased someone, or did so without ever thinking about it. Allow yourself to remember how effortless it was and in many ways fun to keep doing it. That behavior is not intrinsic of humanity, but rather was introduced by Satan to humanity. How easily was Peter taken that he did not even realize it, and if this was easy for Satan to take one of Christ’s disciples then how much more simply will our children be influenced to commit evil deeds.Thus, applying this logic the reaction the victim will have from being teased is also uncontrollable as it can also be attributed to Satans influence. This is exemplified in how the Sanhedrin seemingly revolted at the idea of Jesus being the Christ. They, (supposed spiritual leaders),  actively sought Him out to kill Him.

Now in the example of my daughter, the notion of having to rebuild a relationship, her anger with the events of her life dealing with our interpersonal relationship that has taken a beating from external forces that we both could not control, that progressively led to both of us becoming frustrated and angry at each other for allowing these external forces to have such a devastating effect in the first place, has led her to misplace her anger. Like Peter she has proposed disastrous ideas, which in large part where placed there not by me but by many other people; so called professionals in the Family Court Industry. Thus, some of what she has been indoctrinated with could have never possibly worked  because like Peter those notions where of Satan, they were derived or conjured up in the spirit of division, separation, and thus destroying our relationship. But to her, like Peter everyone else wants to come to her defense when I try to correct her. (Note: I am not rebuking my daughter, rather the ideas that which she has proposed, much like Jesus did to Peter. i.e. these ideas given to her by other people who’s spirit have been influence by Satan that which she has acted out on.) Because these ideas did not originate within her, her anger is caused by the ill effects of the actions taken which did not work, thus misplacing her anger at what she thinks is the cause rather at the true source. Therefore,  she becomes frustrated and angry at me when in fact she needs to direct her anger at those whom gave her those disastrous ideas in the first place. Because she is still in large part a child her brain has not developed enough to be able to decipher the complete realities and in truth she has only been told what was required to prod her into doing the things she has done that did not work, and which has forced her to simply ignore not just me, my entire family, which is indicative to an unhealthily (all or nothing) mentality.  In that context abuse has taken place as she is completely left defenseless, this abuse is from all the other adults whom willfully destroyed our relationship. My justification in punishing her actions, like Jesus, is hard to see but nevertheless justified because I bared witness to all the events from their creation, (like Jesus to Peter), and in my struggle to prevent them from happening, and in the fight to protect my daughter whom I love just as Jesus loved Peter, there has been conflict that was completely unnecessary.

(Note: Jesus was not about to take this abomination from Peter, and thus no parent should ever have to suffer such evil as what has transpired through the Family Court System of our day an age.)

From a parent perspective much sacrifice is required, so it is that in the spirit of Christ who sacrificed His life to save humanity, we in modern times sacrifice ourselves, our time, and in some instance we are called to do the unthinkable no matter how unfair it seems at the moment, no matter how upset our children get at us, they are still children, (liken to Peter), and we are adults, (liken to Christ).

“And Jesus answering said unto him, ‘It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'” ~ Luke 4:12

The usage of anger for good is best exemplified in the the term; “Righteous Indignation.” Jesus placed himself in a position to be tested, to prove His divinity, and His rightful place next to God. Satan played the role of tempter, as he had prior to being thrown from Heaven by God. In all these temptations we can extrapolate the role of Christ as being the role of parent, and the role of Satan as the spoiled child who is trying his best to get his way. Rules have been laid down for both to follow, and when this line has been crossed by Satan, i.e. your children, then you, as Jesus the parent turn with righteous indignation to punish or present to alternative which keeps the rule intact and this both prevents the child from harm, but also teaches the lesson that all rules must be followed. Admittedly, Satan has no intention on following any rules, and thus the lesson is wasted upon. But the point of the lesson Jesus was exemplifying even Satan could not ignore. In this role play, Jesus as parent retained the right to use His anger in a justifiable manner.

Again taking from the example of my daughter, in this struggle she, like all those who have lined up to test me, to test my resolve, to test my role and right at being a parent to her, all of whom continually finds new and very interesting ways in which to dethrone my rules, (and the courts rules), my thoughts, my opinions, my wants, my desires, and to manipulate all my time for the sole purpose of wearing me out so that I will quiet trying be her father.

(Note: This drama is very much an earthly drama and open rebellion against authority and against the very laws of nature itself. Much like the drama found in the Bible as we, men, women, and children, rebel against our father in heaven.)

Admittedly this goal is not apparent to many who have been involved nor has it been apparent to my daughter who as a child naturally rebells, which is liken to Satan who disguises his attacks and methods so as to make it look like someone else or something else entirely, thus throwing everyone off track continually without end. So my reaction like that of our Lord, using His example, in my anger my response has always been to confront the problem, to address the rules, and to attempt to enforce the stated rule. Unfortunately, I am not Christ, and the courts have no backbone and refuse in enforce their own rules as it relates to my ability and right to parent, and their judgments do not follow State Statute. Thus, the frustrating no-win scenario  falls to an unhealthy imbalance that swings the pendulum permanently to one side and thus no lesson of any value is taught to my daughter and there is a false sense of security built up into a false teaching that dictates there is no repercussions from your ill actions against others and you can do whatever you want to whom ever you want as no one will stop you. This is the underlying philosophy of Satan himself. This is what Satan tried against God in heaven, this is what he again is trying against Jesus found int he temptation scripture of Luke 4:12. This is at the core of all interpersonal relationship we experience when open rebellion occurs. No matter how righteous we are, we are taken Satan, as we are all sinners and thus susceptible to his influence.

Therefore, I say to all those people whom have cost me so much, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” for the Lord our God protects his children whether it is apparent to you or not. For the fact I am still here should be proof enough, thus I say these things to you with righteous indignation.

“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” ~ Matthew 12:32

Anger can lead us all to do the most stupid of things. It can confuse us, disorientate us, and force us to commit the most grievous of sin. I teach all my children and thus I teach to all of you through my writings here on this blog, that there is one sin which God chooses not to forgive. This if you will is the surest way to anger God, to call upon yourself His most devastating of punishments and that  punishment no one can erase, argue for you in your defense, ease your pain, or take it away, for this curse is so resoundingly devastating there is no coming back, there is no second chance, there is nothing you can do to make amends to God. That act is the act of blaspheming the Holy Spirit of God, to utterly reject God. Coupled with this grievous of sins which has two stages, Jesus Christ gave us a warning prior to this one about His reaction to all those people whom reject Him in public;

“33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 10:33

Therefore, to reject Jesus Christ in your life, to ignore His commandments, to place man’s law above His, to think you are better than, to spite in His face, Jesus will rebuke you to His father, to our father in Heaven. Most of the time this action is done out anger, and it at this point can be forgiven, but to continue in your anger, in your rage, in your sinful act of rebellious revenge than and curse God Himself, the Holy Spirit, to reject God completely as Satan has tried to make us do, that he himself has done, which forces God hand, then there is no salvation.

In putting this into our modern day examples the simple truth is this, children need both parents, they need our love, our guidance  our understanding, our commitment to their mutual success in life. When outside forces willfully disturbs this balance built into nature then anger in both parent and child naturally occurs. It always dumbfounds me when courts ignore this and take form child a parent whom loved them. The courts mandate is to always do what is in the best interest of the child, but there actions are of the exact opposite  Train professionals seem to have a an axe to grind when told something negative  that which is given to them by the child, in some instances taken out context, warped  twisted, and misunderstood by the child. In my personal experience the therapists  social workers, lawyers, and the judges themselves have a deceived the masses into a false sense of security, and thus get away with the destruction of our families. Jesus stated he was not here to create peace, but to bring the sword. In His perfect example in dealing with ideas of Satan, or evil intonations we must reject those ideas, we must shut the door to the sin they bring with them. And when people, be them your family or friend denies you, rebukes you, spits in your face, lies about you, then they have done so out of anger, and if your a true believer in God then they have sinned against you, but also against God. Your testimony must then reflect this sin, it then must be atoned for in order for that person to be truly forgiven, the compassionate words of a sorrowful heart is the only path to redemption. It is this drama that anger brings to bear, as most of us are still very immature in handling it in comparison to Jesus. I am always open to a sorrowful person, I am always available to a person whom has sinned against me and wishes to make amends, but I am not as Jesus was not available to those who wish to keep on hurting me, for I am about our fathers business. In fact Jesus instructed  us, His disciples to do the following;

“And whosoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” ~ Luke 9:5

Therefore, be slow to anger, be forgiving to one another, use compassionate words always, be ready to apologize and ask for sincere forgiveness, be tolerant of others, be mature in your actions, always investigate fully before assigning blame, always ask what your actions have done to others that which would have cause strife, and above all use the examples of Jesus when angry.

In Jesus’s name I say these things to you as a witness to His Devine mercy. May God Bless in all that you do, in all your endeavors  for the rest of your life. I ask that you never stop learning, growing, walking, and listening to our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen

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Brian Keith

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Special Reflection: Sin Series e-Book Release

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The nature oJesusf sin as it was introduced is based upon the most grievous of acts known as Pride. This act as the base sin brings us to the most inhuman levels of existence as it glorifies such emotions as selfishness, greed, wrath, rage, violence, madness, the want for instant gratification, and ultimately leaves the human soul depleted and filled with anger that turns the heart as black as coal. Within this series now in e-book format SIN is discussed in a more understandable, conversational manner that brings the reader through the Origin of Satan, the introduction of the first sin, and then finally through the various pitfalls of sin better known as the Seven Deadly Sins. There is in great detail the path everyone can follow to avoid these sins and their affects on our lives. This Armor Plating which repeals SIN is found in scripture and always starts with forgiveness.

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