Hassan Ammar (above) is not actually Satan. Questionable hygiene? Definitely. Whether he is genuinely satanic is another matter altogether. He claims to be an Islamic warrior for the Kremlin, which has taken on the mantle of Godly virtues recently in an effort to ignite jihad against Ukraine. Ukraine’s crime? Being invaded, I guess. Totally humiliating the Russian Army, according to Russian holy men, in Vlad’s employ, could only be done by Satan & his minions.
There is more here at PJ Media. Based on reports, Vladimir Putin will be leading the forces of God as Michael the Archangel — reborn. Ok. If Vlad says so? It’s a lot like Pedo Joe, his sidekick the Ho, and Nancy Pelosi trying to take the moral high ground IMHO.
From PJ Media: …Woke, argues an article reprinted by the Catholic University of America, is the next big Western religion. “The Church of Woke has began its Long March to transform American life in the mid-1960s. Like Christianity, it has burrowed deeply into elite society and the institutions of state power. Now we are locked in a culminating phase. The third generation of Woke—true to Late Roman antecedents—must cast down the Pantheon of American Exceptionalism, of Founders and Heroes, establishing a new divine order that will wash away America’s sins of Racism, Patriarchy, and Heteronormativity.” Naturally the new religion of the West must be fought by old-time promoters of the Worker’s Paradise in their Kremlin basilica.
Thus the return of Satan to the center stage of political discourse is not only understandable but inevitable. Yet in this fight, which is God and which is the Devil? You decide. But it’s well to remember that if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, then his second greatest was to ensure, that once discovered, you thought the other guy was Satan.
The article is worth reading. h/t Claudio for bringing it to my attention.
A thought on Sermonettes –
I started on a sermonette based on Daniel Ch 5. Sometimes those sorts of things come together and sometimes I lack the time and inspiration to craft something useful, that you might be able to take away with you. On Earth there were kings. Each king wanted to be bigger than the others, and eventually, strife broke out among them all. Time passed. Strife continued. The causes and conditions that produce kings dwindled and changed their results. Royalty disappeared from the blood and blood disappeared from the royalty, but the Book of Daniel is more than merely a discussion of the passing of kings and the conversion of kings from idolatry. I’ll try to do it justice in the future.
The Sermonette
There are some who will object to the terms that I use so hang in there as I try to explain myself. The gift of Atonement by Jesus Christ to all who accept it and Him is salvation.
But what of our behavior?
The path to spiritual salvation is not about securing, gaining, or achieving status in social orders, or institutional hierarchies. It is not about pleasing teachers or preachers. It is not about employing rote memory to achieve technical proficiency, nor repetition to achieve craft or guild proficiency, nor is it the province of intellectual erudition. Many conflate the honors that men confer on other men as a measure of salvation. It is not. So for today’s Sermonette, I turn to Paul’s first letter to the Bishop of Corinth in the Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece, and to the Corinthians living there, who were members of the Church:
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity. envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
It’s a very high bar.
L.L. you just solved all the worlds problems with one word. The law of charity is thee best structure according to J.C. The free gift is my only hope, and the for giving in advance only motivates me to respond with labor out of gratefulness. IMHO the plannedemic could have been solved with a simple solution on the front door of every business; ” Enter at your own risk.” Could the illegal border invasion could be solved with a 50¢ lead piece? I’m just a nail pounder with some humble ideas and questions. An Oregon refugee recently relocated to TX, and closer to family. Currently in NE chasing cloven hooves in nearly 0 wind chill. Only because I was invited… Proverbs 17:17.
High bar indeed and one we should all strive to achieve.
The grateful and generous heart…a simple concept, not always easy…yet it is our charter.
Paul could have blasted the Corinth church for straying from the Gospel, as most leaders would…but he didn’t in his opening salvo. Instead, in a velvet hammer sort of manner, he reminded them of their responsibility to God’s prescriptions; “quit muddying the spiritual waters and get back on the straight and narrow path.”
We should never doubt what God has placed on our hearts to do or say when necessary.
Very good Sermonette this morning LL, they are always illuminating, as God’s voice rings through.
“Quit muddying the spiritual waters and get back on the straight and narrow path.”
https://youtu.be/l3fAcxcxoZ8?t=162
Hahah…funny BUT TRUE.
My mother, Roman Catholic, and not a judgmental person, was of that era that would define people by which Catholic church they were part of, even if only a few blocks away.
It is difficult to separate politics from religion.
What isn’t dogma is heresy.
And dogma occludes religion.
Which is why that clip is profound.
Religion drove our political heritage in this nation.
The Judeo Christian ethos drove our founders.
I say it’s time we got back to the basics; too much “sophistication” has pushed the cart so far off “the path” half the country thinks we’re in good stead and that faith in a higher power is a joke.
The Greco-Romano + Germanic & Christian ethoses (ethea) drove the Founders.
Early immigrants to the Eastern seaboard were fleeing religious persecution in their homelands.
Their settlements were soon fractured by sectarian strife. Breakaway communities were formed, each eyed the others with distrust.
Some of the Founders e.g., Franklin and Jefferson were, familiar with the Encyclopedists: Freethinkers, Masons and Deists.
A great number of the founders and the early movers in this country were Hebraicists.
They were inspired by early Israel.
On my last broadcast Scott Powell and I talk about the Hebraic influence on the Founders.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dmiegWa2YdXT0VHQsG7um
Starting at the 15 minute mark.
Yes, a very high bar. Thanks LL and also GFW2 for Proverbs 17:17.
The world is changed by our examples – not our opinions.
It is impossible in ourselves to love the way Christ expects us.
I found this out the hard way.
My first wife was nagging me again.
Shouting accusations in my face.
One was so hurtful that I raised my hand to slap her.
While my hand was raised, God quietly let me know that I did not love my wife.
I wondered what I should do next since He was obviously right.
I knew He frowned on divorce.
Then I realized that He loved me. He loved my wife and His Spirit dwells in me.
I quickly asked Him to love my wife through me.
The anger, bitterness and rage melted out of me and I stepped forward and hugged her and told her I loved her.
I had recently read Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life.
He explained it and I got it.
It is not normal. It is supernatural. And we are expected to operate in it.
I have believed for a very long time America and God’s true followers are in the biggest spiritual battle we have ever known. When half the doctors eschew everything they know about virus protocol and treatments to push an unknown injection and snake oil, otherwise “no admittance”, and people die at their hands which they chalk up to “oh well”…you know minds have been seized by Satan. Under a normal time these people would be in prison.
When viewed from the spiritual perspective, clarity ensues. What should be done thereafter, for me, is a work in progress. I have few answers…prayer is only half the equation., the actionable part is still unclear…because there is no convincing the lost.
Well, there’s love and there’s justice and I’m amenable to administering both.
In life, balance is important.
In the eternal scheme of things, justice will be meted out by the most just.
Therefore, pray for mercy, not for justice.
As always, excellent sermon.
For what it’s worth, I find it helpful to focus on the word atonement, at-one-ment, which is the purpose of all religion, to re-ligare, to bind us back together with God or, in St. Paul’s words, to reconcile us to him.
How is this achieved? By love or charity, manifested supremely on the cross. When we put ourselves in this way, walking however haltingly along the way of the cross, God’s grace grants the increase.
And what grace that is! My mind goes to the repentant bandit on Calvary, “Today,” says Christ, “You will be with me in Paradise.” Atonement achieved.
High bar we should all aspire to, but very few actually do.
“if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist“
Thank you for the “if”. The Devil’s greatest trick wasn’t convincing people he doesn’t exist. His greatest trick was convincing people he’s The Real Victim (throughout space and time) and that bad stuff happened to him, and that people hate him, For Absolutely No Reason At All.
You may be onto something, Mike_C. I never really looked at it quite that way, but yes, bum rap and all that. Misunderstood and was really loveable, but was chucked out over a minor disagreement. A victim in the same way as all the other victims out there, only an even more genuine victim.
Not merely loveable and a minor disagreement, but the poor devil was trying to improve things, repair things, and horrid short-sighted and reactionary forces slapped him down. Obviously I’m being a bit sarcastic (sarcasm is said to be the last refuge of the impotent (literally powerless, not sexually), and fair observation), but it’s also true.
The really bad part about the victimhood game is that at some point, it STOPS being a scam. The actual aggressor-playing-victim buys into his manufactured psychosis and starts believing he really IS the victim. This leads to many very bad things. Whatever restraint the soi disant victim had on his behavior is removed. He didn’t start it. He (or his ancestors, or his kin, or people who he claims to be associated with) was wronged. Anything he does is merely righteous retribution. He’s the GOOD PERSON, the rest of the world are foul, evil, beasts, always plotting against good people like him, failing to recognize his genius, his good and pure intent. Those beasts are always taking advantage of his good nature. He forgives and forgives their transgressions against him, but they Just Won’t Stop.
This is not theoretical, not something pulled out of my fourth point of contact. My first “real Job” I worked for a guy like this. I was naive about cluster B personality disorders (in this case narcissistic personality disorder), and I have the tendency to try and help people like this anyway. It took nearly a year to understand the pathology, and then there was the “helping” and “fixing” thing. I finally quit after the man asked me to falsify data for a major scientific paper. And I hardly had it the worst. I met the man’s wife. She was from a wealthy and powerful family (which basically disowned her after she married this guy, though she retained a sizeable trust fund — the disowning was political/power/influence related). She was 5’5″ and about 270 lbs. We became quite close from working together to unf*ck the work/political messes this guy started about every two weeks. Once she showed me a photo of the two of them in college. She was 120 lbs and very attractive. Tears ran down her face as she told me the following: “Do you know why I look like this? Because if I had stayed thin and beautiful then I would have options. And if I had options then I would leave him. And without me to support him emotionally, he would fall apart.” Okay, one can say that she was giving herself airs, but it was also true. This guy’s brother (very sickly) married a Getty heiress. Treated her like trash, repeatedly called her stupid to her face. (Admittedly, the entire family was very intelligent, so compared to him, she probably WAS stupid, but you don’t do that to anyone, much less a devoted spouse.) Guy looked like the Welcome Back Kotter actor, and the sickly brother worse, so it’s not as if they were marrying into wealthy and powerful families on the basis of good looks. Yet they were clearly successful, and their ilk are similarly successful. It’s a mystery.