Blank Page …
Courtesy: Masternservant
They say that every so often you should open a blank page and try to write something cohesive. So here is my blank page and a photo to go with it.
Are these guys playing B-Ball, and the game has been paused while they sit there on the court all relaxing and chilling? There are spectators in the stands but the MTV shirts could be a giveaway that they are not really ball players. What are they looking at and what is that grin all about on the boy in the white trunks?
I like this photo. Sometimes you find a photo that kind of speaks to you and you re-post it. I try to find photos that you could tell a story about or figure out what is going on in the photo.
*** *** *** ***
The skies are clear over the city and it has been a quiet week so far. I haven’t dine much this week. We usually follow the same routine every day, we get up, fart around online, watch some tv and then hit the sack for a mid afternoon nap before hitting round two of farting around online and watching more tv.
The only channel we watch these days is MSNBC. It is all politics all day every day and into the night. There are hits of other shows that are interspersed in our daily routine like Community and 30 Rock.
Right now Mick Jagger is singing live on SNL which is a Saturday night ritual in our house. It is the season finale tonight and it is speculated that a few of the cast members will be leaving the show after tonight’s episode.
The summer television season will begin soon and that means So You Think You Can Dance and Big Brother … We don’t really watch any other live reality type tv shows. Although CBS does own the market on reality tv.
*** *** *** ***
What else can I write about?
I had a really interesting dream the other day during one of my naps. It involved a good friend of mine and another friend whom I am acquainted with from the blog sphere. It was one of those naughty but nice dreams that went on for a long time.
I kept trying to hold onto it as long as I could when I realized that I was in the middle of a lucid dream. I have to say that it was pretty vivid and I carried it out of the dream and into waking hours. It is not usual that I can carry a dream out into waking. I usually forget them right after I wake up.
Let’s just say that if I ever get to meet Ruff face to face, we will have a lot to talk about. It must be that the zip up combat boots I bought from him must be enchanted with some kind of sex spell. They are infused with the memories of many leather oriented events while he owned them, and that energy must be pouring out of them into my feet.
It has been a great week for EBAY. All of the items I put up on the site sold and two pairs of motorcycle boots I put up are bid on and will sell come the end of next week. So I am poised to make a fair amount of change from this purge from my closet.
Speaking of purging my closet, this spring we are cleaning house in the hopes that in a few months we will be making the big move up in the city. Which means that all those old clothes that we haven’t worn in more than a year can go to Renaissance. Renaissance is an organization that collects used good from the community and turns them around in reintegrating folks into the community and the workplace. So all the goods you donate go to people who can use them right away.
I have to clear out the balcony of boxes of crap that we haven’t touched since we put them out on the balcony. Living in a high rise building, there really isn’t a place to throw away trash, except what goes down the trash dump. Each floor has a trash drop that goes into a main drop in the basement. There are several recycling dumpsters in the basement so we will be inundating them with old shit that we no longer need or want. This will all pay off when we move because we won’t be moving all that shit.
What are you doing for your community? And what changes are you going to make at home to free up the clutter in your life and try to simplify things. I am reading a book called “The Way is Made by Walking” written by Arthur Paul Boers, he is a Mennonite minister here in Canada.
It is all about his journey to France and Spain to walk 500 miles from St. Jean Pied du Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This is one of many pilgrimage journeys people from all over the world walk every year. There are a few pilgrimage points like Iona and Lindesfarne, the Holy Land and Rome.
From the European continent you can step out your front door in your respective town or village and find a “Flecha” and start your journey all the way to Compostela. People from all over Europe have walked from their respective countries to Spain over weeks, months and years. Several times a year a group from Montreal makes the journey. I attended one of those meetings at Concordia a few years ago, but I never followed up on it.
I think the one pilgrimage that I am going to make this year is to Cape Town South Africa. I am really looking forwards to going on this trip and also in what I will find and learn when I get there. My host is a world traveler himself and I will finally get to sit down with him and listen to some of his stories that we have only chatted about via email.
Pilgrimage is about transformation. And I am trying, ever so slowly to begin transforming our lives in new ways in preparation for our next step on our life path.
It is nearing the 1 a.m hour and I think I will close this blank page and say goodnight, I think I’ve purged enough thought for tonight.
Goodnight from Montreal.
To Watch Loneliness Vanish …
Courtesy: Wrestlingisbest
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn’t quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were noisy good fellows constantly craving attention and companionship, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand.
*** *** *** ***
Life takes on new meaning in A.A. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends — this is an experience not to be missed.
As Bill Sees It Pg. 90
It is raining, well, it is trying to rain. And you know, here in Montreal, it never really rains for long, if it does at all. It was a drizzly day today. The kind of drizzle that makes you have to carry an umbrella and for the most part not use it because it is just a pain in the ass, but you carry it nonetheless, because you never know if the sky is going to open and real rain fall from the sky.
The week had a great start. My Ebay purchase is in the pike to me as I write tonight. On Sunday I filed my last paper for Geography, my prof is going green and wanted us to submit electronically, instead of going to school and handing in a paper copy. We are now waiting on final grades for our final exam and final paper this coming week. On Monday I had my last Psychology class, and next Monday is our final and I will then be finished with my educational career FOREVER !!!
Today was a good day. I wandered to the church as usual. I have a few MP3′s on my phone of “E.P.C.O.T.” (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). I downloaded some of the ride music, like from Horizon’s ( that no longer exist), Imagination, Spaceship Earth and so forth and so on. I have them on loop and they play over and over again… So that has been my soundtrack as of late.
I finished set up by 5, because my girls come early to read their books. And tonight one of our women brought me a gift of a $15.00 I-Tunes Card as a thank you for just being present. Very cool.
The meeting was packed. We sat 42 folks. And we read from As Bill Sees It, from the above noted reading. Everybody in the room got to share, sans myself. My sponsor noted that newcomers take precedence and since I had ten years that it was ok that I did not get to share. So I will do that here.
Early on in my alcoholic career I always surrounded myself with people, be they friends, acquaintances, or allies. I never drank at home, it was always done in a club, with music, drag queens and club kids. And that life lasted long into my twenties. As long as I was young and pretty I was fair game.
Then the series of life tragedies came my way and life got ugly. Still in my twenties my diagnosis turned me from a pretty boy, into pariah overnight.
I became “other.” Something not to be touched or acknowledged. But still the drinking continued. I went from partying in the presence of friends and fellows, to partying on the periphery wanting so much to be part of, but knowing deep inside that I would never be ” Part Of ” ever again.
It was good that at that point I got sober. Because I was terribly lonely and if the fellows who came into my life during that period had not, I surely would not be here today.
That first few years of sobriety were years of heartache and pain. Queens can be very catty and mean. And they made it very difficult to maintain, but I did it just to spite them. I was not One of Them. I wouldn’t call that first sober community fellowship. And I think that those first four years were all about staying sober on the periphery. And I think that’s why I went out …
By the time I was partway through my SLIP, I had moved back to Miami Beach and I was well into my 30′s now. I drank to fit in. To be part of. But it was a lonely slog. I wasn’t 21 any more, I was defective and I was as far from buff, beautiful, and brawny as I could be. But still I kept at it, partying in the club with the big pretty boys and I was alone in a crowded room. It was a terribly lonely existence.
I had very few friends. And there was nobody there to take notice that I was so lonely. It was just me and an empty studio apartment. I don’t know who it was that poured me into a taxi and brought me home week in and week out after blacking out at the club. I never figured that one out.
But loneliness would come to an end. And thank God it did.
Someone up there was watching out for me. Maybe my landlord, or the man who gave me something to do with my down time. I later learned that he was sober some time, when I finally made it back.
When I first hit that 10 p.m. meeting, my friend Fonda welcomed me and took me in and then the group took me in and I became “One of them.” It was good that the meeting was ever night, at the same time at the same place. Because it gave me some place to go every night. And after every meeting there was fellowship. We broke bread together almost every night. They kept me on the straight and narrow for a good long time. It being December and all …
And that went on for the first few months until I decided to move here.
And once again, I got involved in fellowship. I met my next sponsor and we took together like best friends. We did everything together. There was not a night that went by that I was alone or lonely. And I was grateful for that gift.
But one night my sponsor had an ego attack, and our relationship ended quite abruptly. Sad, that in sobriety, how hard people fall when their ego’s come to bear.
I have been part of the same fellowship for more than 10 years now. With the dawn of social media I am never far way from another alcoholic, either by phone or by Facebook or at a meeting. And I like it that way.
It is a gift to sit in the same room week in and week out for years and years because I get to see newcomers come in and get sober. And they come in and they are lost, and at some point they “GET IT!” And the elevator goes to the top of the tower and the light comes on and they get their spiritual experience. The first of many to follow.
We get to see 40 plus people come to the meeting every week. And we hear them and watch them and we care for them, because we are community.
It is an experience that must not be missed…
It was a good day, and a good night was had by all.
Stick with the winners, my sponsor shared tonight. I’ll take that …
Good night from Montreal.
You Know …
Courtesy: Wrestling is Best
Good evening Peeps !!!
It is raining in our fair city. All day it rained cats, dogs and little fishes. And they tell us there is only more on the way, a rainfall warning is in effect and storms are on tap overnight. We are sitting at a balmy 16c at this hour.
It was a busy day today. Lots of things to do. I paid all my bills early this morning and “weeps” gave hubby $500.00 for the house. It seems we are being overrun by bills, bills, and more bills. I got out this afternoon for a haircut. I don’t know if I like it, my usual stylist was off so I sat for a stranger who just chopped my hair to pieces, and she got a little carried away because she totally missed what I told her I wanted and what she thought I wanted. It will grow out eventually.
I hit the bookstore after that and had to wait half an hour through the lunch break to buy my books, which ran me almost $80.00. I’ve been photocopying the book from the library so far because we couldn’t afford the extra money paid out. But now I need the books because I have an analytical essay to write and I need the special book that comes in the set for reading.
I put tickets on my Opus card and picked up my meds at the pharmacy, that was an expensive purchase $60.00. When all was said and done, I was in the negative on my budget sheet. I was running a tally of the money I was spending all day adding totals to the list. Hubby reimbursed me the $60.00 which gave me a little wiggle room and to have some money for the week ahead.
It’s amazing how fast one can burn through money. $762.00 up in smoke in less than 24 hours. Every penny accounted for and spent accordingly.
I got home around 3:30 and took a power nap before heading out to the meeting for set up.
*** *** *** ***
It was pouring when I left the house. Thankfully rapid transit was running right up to speed. I hit a train and a bus one after the other on the transit out. And when I got to the church, Matt and Robert were waiting for me to set up. Things get set up quickly with three people doing the work.
We had an impromptu business meeting to discuss our anniversary which falls on the 9th of December. What a fortuitous date. Linda picks up her cake, I pick up my ten year cake and the group anniversary falls on that same night. Busy Busy… But a handful of our women will be on retreat that weekend so we are going to postpone the anniversary until the 16th, the week after.
Since it rained, the count was light. But the room still felt full. A member from the group spoke. She is amid her 10th year, having just picked up her nine year cake in March. And you know, she spoke, you know, and she shared her story, you know, what it was like, what happened and what it is like now, you know…
People who don’t share often – often get stuck in the You Know… You hear it once and it is distracting, you hear it again and it becomes a pattern, then you hear it over and over for 40 minutes and by the time she got to the end you were praying for the end to come sooner than later. You Know …
When I was early in sobriety, one of our old timers used to sit and critique when we spoke or when we shared at a discussion meeting. Many people go through the “You Know” stage.
My Old Timer used to count how many times I said “You Know” during the times I spoke. He did that over and over again. Until I stopped using You Know in my speech.
This is one of those little lessons you learn if you are blessed enough to have someone point it out so that you don’t get stuck in the trap. Because nothing grates on the nerves more than listening to someone who is stuck in You Know.
At the end of the meeting we had a 24 year cake, a 45 year cake and a 19 year cake. Lots of good sobriety in the room. Lots of cake and conversation. I cleaned up the room and set off for home. I missed a bus and had to wait half an hour for another one. I got to the train station and the train was 6 minutes out. I got home after 11 – the news was on. We had a later dinner and I am still writing at the moment.
I got a very disturbing email from a good friend I grew up with for the last 30 years. We keep in touch through Facebook. I am shocked to say the least by her words and all I can do for her if offer her my prayers. If you pray, say a prayer for my friend Tina. She could use a few well placed prayers about now.
I don’t know what to expect for the weekend.
So stay tuned for more from a rainy, wet Montreal.
Thunder Snow …
I was up with the little birdies this morning to make my appointment at the clinic. As I was getting ready to leave it started snowing. When I got out of the building, it was REALLY snowing … By the time I got to St. Matthieu it was like a BLIZZARD with blowing snow and it was coming down in buckets. And at one point I heard thunder over head … Thunder Snow …
Now you think that if this continues for a long time, there is going to be a lot of snow on the ground. By the time I got to the bus, I was covered in snow it was falling like pea sized pellets.
The bus was packed. We got up the hill, I don’t know how that bus got up the hill but it did. It was still snowing when I entered the building. Thankfully all the elevators were working today.
The clinic was packed, all the chairs were taken, I was looking through the windows while I was waiting to see the doc. They say if you don’t like the weather in Montreal, wait 30 minutes and it will change.
The skies opened up and the clouds blew away and the sun was shining. The snow had come and gone.
I got in and out in less than an hour. Doc says I am doing well, he upped my glyburide and sent me off with an appointment in six months.
I didn’t get to see my favorite nurse today. I did not see her in the office while I was there.
The downhill bus was approaching the stop when I rounded the stairs out of the building, and I made it, just barely. I stopped by pharmaprix to fill my scripts and came home.
Now it is nap time, since I have a few hours until class tonight.
Train Station Dance
The T-Mobile Dance
Snow and lots of it …
This is what it looks like from our windows at this hour. It has been snowing for more than 6 hours and it doesn’t seem like it is going to end anytime soon. Hubby had made hair appointments for this afternoon and I had serious reservations about trudging through snow drifts to get to the mall for a little whiff and poof.I really did not want to get out of bed and get ready and have to dress in all my cold weather gear just to go get my hair cut.
But I relented…
They say we will get 15 to 25 cm of snow with this dump!!! That’s a lot of snow and the city has promised to do better this time around at clearing and upkeep of sidewalks and roads. We shall see if they keep their word.
Classes were cancelled tonight. Which is a good thing.
More to come. Stay tuned…
Oui, Montreal tops in new Monopoly game
In this photo provided by Hasbro, ‘Mr. Monopoly’ stands on a large version of the global game board of the new ‘Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition’ after it was unveiled on the CBS Early Show in New York, Wednesday, August 20, 2008. In worldwide voting by fans, New York and London were the only cities to earn a property space on the board from their respective countries.
(AP Photo/Hasbro, Ray Stubblebine)
EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. – Bye bye, Boardwalk. The Quebec metropolis of Montreal snagged the most expensive spot on a new global version of Monopoly, unseating the Atlantic City fixture as the board game’s most prestigious property.
Montreal will be joined by the Latvian capital Riga, which grabbed the game’s No. 2 Park Place spot, and 20 other world cities when Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition goes on sale later this month. Other cities featured include Cape Town, Jerusalem, London, Paris, New York, Rome and Taipei.
The latest version of the board game will be printed in 37 languages and sold in 50 countries, toy maker Hasbro Inc. said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards will highlight global cultural fare, from Brazil’s Carnival celebration to Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day festival.
Created with Atlantic City street names in 1935 by Charles Darrow, more than a dozen versions of the game that allows players to become pretend real estate moguls are sold today.
Hasbro said nearly 6 million votes were cast during an online contest to name the cities featured on the global edition of the game.
Monopoly Here & Now will be available Aug. 26.
Take That Onyxion 227
take that lip sync
I just LOVE this video from this young person in the UK. Enjoy!!!
Chad Fox returns…
I have a great announcement:
MR. CHAD FOX at Stop Touching My Food is back. Go show him some love.
Compare and Contrast …
What do you get when you cross a Benedictine Monk and a Dominican Priest/Friar when writing about Celtic Christianity? Compare and Contrast!!
Reading from: Celtic Christianity: A Sacred Tradition a Vision of Hope from Timothy J. Joyce O.S.B was amazing. Then moving forwards into Fr. Gilbert Markus’, Christian History, 1998, Vol. 17, Issue 4: Rooted in Tradition, was short, trite and to the point a piece of religious treatise.
Report: Anglican Head To Meet 'In Secret' With Gays
THIS is NEWS!!!
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(London) The leader of the world’s Anglicans reportedly with conduct a “secret” communion service in London for gay clergy and their partners.
The Times newspaper in an article to be published on Tuesday says that Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams will hold the service at St Peter’s, Eaton Square. The parish is home to many of the country’s liberal and wealthy Anglican elite.
The paper said the service will take place on November 29 and include an address by the Archbishop that is titled “Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church.”
Those attending will be there by invitation only, the Times notes, adding that they have been warned not to disclose any of the events or discussions which take place.
A list of those attending has been vetted by the Archbishop’s staff and and will be shredded.
Disclosure of the service will likely acerbate the already deep wounds between Anglican liberals and conservatives as the church appears to be inching closer to schism.
This week Williams will attend the Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans.
The meeting comes just ten days before a deadline imposed by conservative Anglican factions around the world for the Episcopal Church to guarantee it will not appoint any more openly gay bishops.
Tensions between liberals and conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Church have been increasing since the Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, in 2003.
Anglicanism’s national churches, called provinces. are loosely bound to one another in the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury its titular head. Appointed by the Queen on the advice of the British government, the Archbishop is little more than a figurehead.
Rowan William’s tenure has been marked by growing differences between right and left in the Church – seen mainly as a struggle between those provinces in the Developing World and those in Industrialized Nations.
Conservatives, led by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, oppose gays and females in the clergy, and believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Nigeria has the highest number of Anglican’s outside of the UK and about half of the Church’s members are in the Third World.
When he meets in New Orleans this month with American bishops Williams will attempt to work out a statement that will be acceptable to both liberals and conservatives – something most church observers say is impossible.
Earlier this month the challenge in avoiding a schism became more difficult.
Uganda’s Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi consecrated Virginia-based conservative John Guernsey as a bishop of a breakaway Episcopal group of 33 congregations in the United States that will recognize the Church of Uganda’s authority.
In Kenya two American priests were consecrated as bishops in the US as African conservative churches continued to poach dioceses in the United States.
A string of conservative parishes in America have broken from the Episcopal Church and aligned themselves to the African Anglican provinces.
Last month the Episcopal diocese of Chicago included an openly lesbian priest among five nominees for bishop.
Next year bishops from around the world are scheduled to meet in London for their once-a-decade meeting called the Lambeth Conference.
In July the steering committee for the Global South Primates, made up of churches mainly in the developing world and the most conservative in the worldwide Anglican Communion, said its bishops will boycott the meeting.
©365Gay.com 2007
All is Right in the World
I slept in today, UGH! But I did get to my evening class with Sara, my Celtic Christianity class, which I totally enjoyed. Sara’s classes are comfy and warm and cozy that you come in and you sit and allow the feeling to wash over you that “all is well in the world.”
That doesn’t speak of an easy ride mind you, but one of conscious thought and work. I have been reading the course pack and through tonight’s discussion we have learned a few things. That there is more to Celtic life than we may have known. That each reading in the book is set in its place for a reason.
Imagine standing before a forest, you boys out West can better understand this than I can paint a picture, but Sara used the forest imagery tonight. And I remarked how each reading, if laid upon the one prior paints a picture in successive layers of reading, and information. And the readings tease you to walk into the forest and turn leaves over looking for further clues to the real truth of the Celtic.
We are invited to start exploring the forest for clues to our study for this term. It is not all so easy, and reading about the past – we must use our lenses of hermeneutic suspicion, to read each text and article with a critical eye. I used that term tonight, and Sara giggled to the rest of the class, “oh Jeremy, you are so clever, aren’t you!” I had to explain this strategy with my fellows.
It’s all good…
And my young warrior from the West came to visit! You can check out his blog, The Life of Robert Wesley, he is a very special friend that I have known for some time. Joy of joys he has decided to continue writing!! YAY!!
On the way home I hit “Came to Believe” in time for the second speaker, just so I had some time to sit with myself and be quiet and listen to another speak about his trials and tribulations about recovery. I just wanted to sit and listen, which is always a good thing to do when possible.
Over all is was a great night. Now I am gonna hit some dinner and chill out…
A photograph from the Portfolio of Robert Wesley from B.C.
Celtic Christianity …
Celtic society was hierarchical and class based. According to both Roman and Irish sources, Celtic society was divided into three groups: a warrior aristocracy, an intellectual class that included druids, poets, and jurists, and everyone else.
Celtic economy was probably based on the economic principle of most tribal economies: reciprocity. In a reciprocal economy, goods and other services are not exchanged for other goods, but they are given by individuals to individuals based on mutual kinship relationships and obligations.
The Celts were polytheistic: We do know that Celtic gods tended to come in threes; the Celtic logic of divinity always centered on triads. This triadic logic no doubt had tremendous significance in the translation of Christianity into northern European cultural models.
“In short, what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. The soul dwells in the body but is not of the body; Christians dwell in the world, but they are not of the world. The soul is invisible and is confined in a visible body; so Christians are recognized in the world, but their religious life remains invisible.”
Many of the early British Christians known as the Celtic saints were monks and nuns. Monks lived in caves or huts, often grouped around a more experienced leader. Bishop Martin Tours (c316-97) was the best known of the early Western figures who pursued the monastic life. The monasteries of Gaul developed a strong intellectual tradition, and from 400 ce their influence spread to Ireland and Wales.
Columba established a community on the island of Iona, off the Scottish west coast, which became a centre of monastic life and learning throughout Celtic times.
Bishop Orama's Courageous Biblical Christianity
Originally read on:“The Anglican Scotist”
Probably by now you have heard that Bishop Orama of Oyo in Nigeria claimed
Homosexuality and lesbianism are inhuman. Those who practice them are insane, satanic and are not fit to live because they are rebels to God’s purpose for man…
Though one hopes Orama was completely misquoted, still, one might reasonably suspect that this opinion is authentic to Nigerian Anglicanism and the Global South faction; it might well be that strong, international criticism will serve not to change the opinion, but merely silence it, driving it underground where it can continue to operate unseen and unheard.
I. Curious Conservative Reactions
While some Western conservatives might disavow Orama’s comments, one might be forgiven for wondering why they would bother. Here’s Father Kendall Harmon of T19:
These words are to be utterly repudiated by all of us–I hope and trust.
Well, why is that? He wrote (beackets added):
[1]We are all in the global village now, like it or not, and the world is indeed flat. So what we say needs to take seriously the resonances that it may bring out in contexts other than our own. There could hardly be a worse statement in a Western context than to say of ANYONE that he or she is “not fit to live.” [2] It immediately brings to mind the Nazi language of Lebensunwertes Leben (“life unworthy of life”) and in flood images and activities too horrendous and horrific for any of us to take in even at this historical distance from the events themselves.
According to [1], the problem is that others will hear–we live in a global village after all, and comments like this will gain a wide enough audience to most likely hurt the Separatist cause. Why? Part [2] gives Father Harmon’s answer: it will remind hearers of Nazi language. And of course he is right about that. Bishop Orama is not a Nazi or fascist so far as I know, but he has no trouble employing their Eliminationist rhetoric. Some bishop.
But I am utterly stunned by Father Harmon’s reasons for repudiating Bishop Orama’s rhetoric. There is nothing specifically Christian–no laudable Biblical principle–invoked in Father Harmon’s words. And there is nothing significantly moral either. The trouble with Bishop Orama’s words is strictly instrumental: it will hurt the cause by bringing to mind Nazi depravity. I suppose such an instrumental reason could have a moral resonance for Father Harmon: the end–Separation–justifies the means perhaps. He did not say that Bishop Orama was in error, or that Bishop Orama’s words were unscriptural or anti-Christian. The problem? Bishop Orama could hurt the cause.
Here is Greg Griffith of Stand Firm (I do not know if he is ordained like Father Harmon: no disrespect intended):
[1] About the horrible nature of the remark, the injury to the Christian witness it does, and yes, even the “rhetorical violence” it commits… I agree completely.
[2]Describing homosexuals as “unfit to live,” or implying that that sentiment is in any way part of the Gospel message, is where I get off the bus. “Life not worthy of living” is the phrase Nazis used to describe Jews, dissenting Christian clergy, the physically handicapped, the mentally retarded, and anyone else who might spoil their vision of a pure Aryan world.
[3]If being homosexual makes one unfit to live, then being the kind of sinner Bishop Orama is makes him similarly unfit to live; and of course, that is not the Gospel of Jesus, not the Good News we have been entrusted by Christ to carry to the world.
I think it is pretty clear that Griffith does alot better than Father Harmon in stating his reasons for repudiating Bishop Orama’s remarks. The remark has a “horrible nature” perhaps due to its “injury” to Christian mission and its “rhetorical violence.” On the latter count, Griffith invokes comparisons with the Nazis in [2]. He goes further than Father Harmon, saying explicitly that the Nazi message of Elimination is not part of the Gospel message: thanks for that. Finally, in [3] there is some kind of half-baked argument that Bishop Orama deserves to die if homosexuals deserve to die–and that this is not the Gospel message.
While Griffith’s response has unmistakable specific moral content, and even refers to the Goispel message, still it leaves one wondering. What exactly in the Gospel message contradicts Bishop Orama’s message? It is odd–even comic–to see biblical conservatives in the tradition of Barth and Childs run to secular notions of moral good when push comes to shove. Guys, one does not need to hear the Good news of Christ to condemn Nazis, their Eliminationist rhetoric, and rhetorical violence: one can do that on purely secular moral grounds.
II. Throwing Down the Gauntlet
When push comes to shove, and Bishop Orama’s remarks constitute a shove, does the Gospel vision of these–or any–Separatist, Anglican, biblical conservatives have the resources to issue a specifically Christian moral repudiation? Can they do better on this count than, to choose another extreme, Borg and Crossan?
Show me. I do not think you can do it, because any sound, specifically Christian moral argument that implies the events of GC2003 are permissible for Christians counts as an utter failure of the Separatist biblical vision. In other words, to make the argument condemning the bishop’s remarks, you will end up conceding too much, and if you do not conceed too much, you will not be able to condemn the remarks.
Where is the crux of the problem? The problem is that Bishop Orama has the Bible–as construed by responsible Separatist interpretation–on his side. Leviticus is clear:
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.
All Scripture is of a piece, and Christ did not come to obliterate any part of the Law–not a single iota! Bishop Orama respects the Bible enough not to claim to be a biblical Christian and just pretend. His Bible says homosexuals must die–what does Father Harmon’s Bible say? Or Griffith’s? After all, Scripture is clear in Leviticus. The difference might be simply that Bishop Orama has the courage to be consistent and lift up his vision of Scripture for all the world to see, whereas other self-styled conservatives insist on hiding this unsavory part–ashamed–under a bushel.
Careful: an appeal to Authority, like the authority of a great old interpreter, is a fallacy. You ‘d have to extract the authority’s argument and let the argument stand on its own merits, and you had better hope it stands.
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From:
Father Jake Stops the World
There’s been quite a bit of discussion over the last 24 hours regarding Bishop Orama of Nigeria’s disturbing remarks. There have been condemnations of the declaration that gays are “unfit to live” from all corners of the Episcopal Church. For that we can be thankful.
Yet, even in light of these condemnations, this incident has given me cause to wonder if the sentiments expressed by Bp. Orama are really an isolated incident, or are they more broadly accepted, but just not so bluntly stated?
Mark Harris points us to an interesting article in the Boston Globe, which includes this paragraph describing a reporter’s experience at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Nairobi, Kenya:
…Criticizing the Episcopal Church’s embrace of gays and lesbians, the Rev. Samuel Muchiri told the 1,000 worshipers “we in Kenya feel this is not what God wants.” An usher advised a visiting reporter to “remember that Sodom and Gomorrah was demolished because there were homosexuals.” Another warned that the reporter could be assaulted if he asked worshipers about the issue, and said that America’s permissiveness toward homosexuality had led Osama bin Laden to attack…
Where are they getting these strange ideas? To some degree, they are probably being taught this by their leaders. For instance, in the same article, the Archbishop of Kenya made the following statement:
“God cannot be mocked,” said Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya. “Here, in the context of Kenya, if we take somebody who is polygamous and we make him a lay reader or a priest, we would be doing the wrong thing. . . . If I know somebody is a homosexual, and I make him a lay reader, or I make him a priest, or I make him a bishop, I am sanctioning what he is doing as right. I am saying ‘no’ to this, and the church is saying ‘no’ to this.”
Peter Akinola, the Archbishop of Nigeria, is also notorious for his hateful words regarding gay and lesbian Christians. With leaders like Nzimbi and Akinola at the helm, it is not surprising that bishops and clergy might feel free to perpetuate ideas such as gays and lesbians being unfit to live, and that they could be assaulted because they caused 9/11.
I think that the leaders giving either explicit or implicit permission for such rhetorical violence is a big part of the problem. But I think there is something more to it than that. In the Boston Globe article, the Primate of the Southern Cone, Gregory Venables, know as one of the more careful voices among the extremists, points us towards that “something more”:
…”Sadly, the sexuality issue isn’t the issue – it’s about Scripture,” said Archbishop Gregory J. Venables, the primate of South America. “What’s happened in the States is that they’ve moved away from the view that God has revealed himself in Scripture, and they’re rewriting that with post-modernity relativism”…
The erroneous accusation that “the States” have “moved away from the view that God has revealed himself in Scripture” might sound like nonsense to us. Most Episcopalians that I know, including myself, affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be regarded as divine revelation, which completes natural revelation. Our difference of opinion is over the matter of how we interpret this revelation.
And, it is on this point that the Global South extremists find allies among some North Americans.
This causes some problems in the current discussions regarding rhetorical violence, and gives us reason to seek further explanations regarding some of the condemnations of Bp. Orama’s remarks. Anglican Scotist offers us a good explanation of why this supposed stance rooted in “biblical authority” is problematic:
…When push comes to shove, and Bishop Orama’s remarks constitute a shove, does the Gospel vision of these–or any–Separatist, Anglican, biblical conservatives have the resources to issue a specifically Christian moral repudiation? Can they do better on this count than, to choose another extreme, Borg and Crossan?
Show me. I do not think you can do it, because any sound, specifically Christian moral argument that implies the events of GC2003 are permissible for Christians counts as an utter failure of the Separatist biblical vision. In other words, to make the argument condemning the bishop’s remarks, you will end up conceding too much, and if you do not conceed too much, you will not be able to condemn the remarks.
Where is the crux of the problem? The problem is that Bishop Orama has the Bible–as construed by responsible Separatist interpretation–on his side. Leviticus is clear:
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.
All Scripture is of a piece, and Christ did not come to obliterate any part of the Law–not a single iota! Bishop Orama respects the Bible enough not to claim to be a biblical Christian and just pretend. His Bible says homosexuals must die–what does Father Harmon’s Bible say? Or Griffith’s? After all, Scripture is clear in Leviticus. The difference might be simply that Bishop Orama has the courage to be consistent and lift up his vision of Scripture for all the world to see, whereas other self-styled conservatives insist on hiding this unsavory part–ashamed–under a bushel.
Careful: an appeal to Authority, like the authority of a great old interpreter, is a fallacy. You’d have to extract the authority’s argument and let the argument stand on its own merits, and you had better hope it stands.
The reality, which most thoughtful people accept without a second thought, is that scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, but also includes lots of other stuff as well. The argument has never been “The bible said it, I believe it, that ends it.” Otherwise, we’d be executing disobedient children, to give but one bizarre example of the biblical mandate. The debate has been over how to define what exactly is “necessary for salvation,” and what is “other stuff.”
Apparently, there are some bishops, such as Orama, who have not been informed of this particular nuance in the discussion regarding scripture. That is a rather frightening realization, it seems to me.
Regarding our continued discussion of this topic, I want to draw your attention to a recent reflection from Elizabeth Kaeton entitled What the Anglican Communion Can Learn from Dog Fights. Elizabeth affirms what the Anglican Scotist has pointed out:
…People like Fred Phelps don’t make up the hateful words on the signs they hold up during the funerals of people with AIDS or soldiers who have died in Iraq. That self-proclaimed but unlicensed minister of God takes them right out of “The Good Book.”
It is Levitical logic, of course, almost pristine in its purity and simplicity. Indeed, some of us in the LGBT community have said to our orthodox and conservative sisters and brothers that if they really believe every literal thing in Scripture, then they are compelled to pick up a rock and stone every last LGBT person to death…
But then Elizabeth continues with some thoughts that I think it is important for us all to hear:
…The worst thing we mongrel dogs can do is to allow ourselves to be baited into a blood-sport by those who glorify and are entertained by violence.
We must resist that temptation with every thing that is in us. This is not about us. It is not about homosexuality or even scriptural interpretation.
This is about power and violence and we who claim the high calling of Christ Jesus must be about peace and justice, mercy and compassion, and walking humbly with God.
This is neither our fight nor our sport. Let’s not dignify it with our blood. Let us not insult the blood that was shed for our salvation.
Let us, instead, like our Samaritan sisters and brothers in Christ, use our wit and our intelligence.
The Samaritan woman, that mongrel dog, said to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Mt. 15:27)
And Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” (Mt 15:28)
May it be so for us in our day and time.
And may God have mercy on us all.
I understand that some will need to express their outrage and indignation. But let’s not allow ourselves to be baited into pointless arguments that just may tempt us to toss out our own forms of rhetorical violence.
This is not some kind of rhetorical game. We must stand against violence and oppression. But let us make our stand with intelligence, wit and dignity.
J.
Crazy – Servant of the Bones…
Cue the music – start the fog machine – blue light GOBO slow pans across the floor through dimly lit space, and the first beat comes…
I am alone, it is early, the bar is not yet open, but I am there alone. Just me, the music and the spirit of God. Well, what little spirit of God there was at that time of my life. It is mid-summer in Ft. Lauderdale. I have just told Todd that I was going to die…
He wept.
Over the next few weeks, the teaching would begin. The team rose to the call, one of the boys was sick and was left on the side of the road with nothing but what little dignity was left in his soul. All I needed would be provided come hell or high water. Wild Horses would never stop the charge for life. We were all sick, we were all dying. Save for two people in the entire organization. My champions would save me, if I wanted it or not. Death was not an option and I would either get it or I would die…
So it began…
At that time, the temple of sin was alive and things happened so quickly that if you blinked you would miss it. The temple was filled with every earthly delight, Bosch would have been pleased with our Garden of Earthly desires, carnal, profane and truly sinful. I loved every minute of it.
The rule was set…
You have a life, outside the temple. When you come to work, you leave your baggage at the door, do not bring it in here. No exceptions. Come to work, and you will serve me your Master and do whatever you are told without question without complaint, is that clear!
Yes Sir…
I took that time of my life as sacred and profane, but that is another story. You can read about the Sacred and the Profane over there in Pages… This is another thread to a long running story of how this boy was made a man, a saved man, a profane man, and in the same vein Sacred. You never know where your lessons are going to come from, and you are grateful for the wisdom and time people took out of their lives to care for you and teach you lessons that nobody else was going to teach you. So pay attention Little One.
This is your life we are talking about…
The gobos are tracking across the floor slowly through smoke and mirrors as the music plays just for you. I learned very early on, in that space that music would identify particular moods, paint particular pictures. Farkle and I had a ritual. He IS the only one left from the fray of men who lived and died from the temple of sin. We began each shift in our own way, begging god another night, another day, another minute. I was surrounded with warriors fighting their own significant battles with AIDS. I was not hit by the KS demon. I was not plagued by things I saw and witnessed, thank the creator. It was ugly. It was brutal and it was most importantly the fight of the century for all of us. Many men went to their deaths in our arms. We bathed them, clothed them and in the end we buried them.
Angry Larry…
When I got sober there was a man with AIDS named Larry, he was a drunk like me. But he was unique. He sat with a bottle on the table and a loaded revolver to shoot himself. He carried that gun with him and showed it to every one of us, and he told us relentlessly that he was going to kill himself. He got sober with the rest of us. Over the years following his spiritual awakening, he did something that no one else thought to do.
People with AIDS were being left in the streets. Mortuaries would not process sick people, they would not touch a body that had been infected with AIDS. Families would not bury their children. We did that. Larry opened his services to the community and he became another champion of the cause. I knew him. He eventually got rid of the gun, so I heard.
For a few minutes during transition, I would warm up the smoker, fire up the turntable and start the computer so that I could worship my God to the music of my soul. I did that every night. I worshiped whatever was going to save me.
I was servant to the men. I was servant to my Master. I was a slave for God, be he dressed or undressed. You never saw God until you witnessed true beauty of the soul in all its carnality. There is something sacredly profane about this part of my life. What went on inside the temple stayed in the temple. Many months would pass and I battled my demons of alcoholism before I finally fell into the pit of death, and there happen to be somebody watching from the sidelines.
Danny saved me that night. He was the man who cradled me in his arms, oxygen mask on my face and had called the paramedics to try and revive me. Danny took me home that night, and did not leave my apartment for a week. He fed me, bathed me and cared for me, under that watchful eye of my Master Todd. When the word was spoken, action was taken, and hell hath no fury if you did not jump when told to. Todd was very protective over his boys and men. Especially me…
We were reminded that Todd had lost love to AIDS. Bob was buried across the street in the cemetery that faced our building. It was hard – it was painful, and it was sacred. Kevin and Larry did things for me that no man ever did for me in the real world. We were the three musketeers. We were the team to beat in bar management and service. We ran a tight ship and we were accountable, respectable and reliable. We proved a mighty force against the odds we all faced.
Let’s get it on…
Shift was begun at eight. The wells were filled the beer was stocked and the ice bins were full. Put your money in the drawer and let’s get the music thumping. Like clockwork at the strike of eight bells the first note hit the turntables. They were lined up around the building. Cars were parked all over the place. The temple worship had begun. Heaven was found amid the souls of suffering men who knew they were all marked for death, but for tonight, whatever you desired was fulfilled. You could drown away your sorrow and dip into the well of living water if you wished as well. You have never lived until you party like your dying with crowds of undulating flesh as far as they eye can see. The ghosts of those men now inhabit the fantasies and dreams I have still to this day.
One by one, two by two, they died in our arms. We held them until they took their last breaths. Memorialized in the careful and blood soaked threads of quilts, as the years went by, they started collecting by the dozen, then by the hundreds. If you’ve ever seen the entire quilt unfurled, all the men who were part of my life in those first years of my epidemic life, they are all together in death, as they were in life. Memorialized until the end of time. And we remember each of their names.
So many young boys torn from life before they knew what hit them. Men who infected them had died as well. Many of my friends were taken on trips that were detrimental to them, and just robbed them of life that was still left to live.
Todd saw to it that I would never go there…
You come to work, dress as you will, you obey me and do not waver from my eye, for I know your carnal desires and you are too young to tempt the devil with his dance. Because I surely did not know what could befall me if the right charmer enticed me into his web of desire, and they all knew I was fair bait. But in order to dine from my buffet, you needed explicit permission of my Master, who never allowed any man to defile me like many had been. I was off limits. I never crossed the line provided because that meant disrespect and I could never bear to break my Master’s heart with disobedience.
I loved Him, and He loved me – I had many problems. I was depressed and angry and resentful. I had the scars of traumatic visions of my dead lovers corpse in my head, and the words of his mother still ring in my ear today “I hope that every night until you die, that you see the corpse of my dead son in your field of vision.” That curse still lives with me and will go with me to the grave. Five day old corpses are not pretty. I had to identify the remains when all was said and done. Save that he was wearing jewelry that I could identify and part of him was still recognizable – God forgive me…
I remember that day, it was early afternoon the morgue called me from work to come and do the deed. I drove in and looked upon him in that room, I wept tears that burned into my soul forever. I just could not imagine – the pain was so hard to bear. I drove over to the bar. Bill was working behind the bar. I drank until I could not stand up on my own. I drank for a week, straight…
Todd and Bill needed to find me a solution and quick, because I was on the outs.
I started suicide therapy in a group setting that lasted 32 weeks. Nothing like rehashing death week after week, until the pain was purged from your soul, but is it ever? Months went by until I got my news.
But they cared for me in all my brokenness. A young angel would earn his wings back. Come hell or high water. In the end, when all was said and done, at the end of the day I survived, but so many did not. And each night I offer them prayers in hope that when I meet my death that all of them will be waiting for me in the Temple Of Earthly Desire in the promised land of the Kingdom of God, where the sacred and profane are mingled with the blood of the Almighty and the blood of my friends who have gone before me, on that day we will be cleansed of our sins.
And forgiven by God…
Amen
Goodnight angels of men
Lesbian Priest Among Nominees For Bishop Of Chicago
by The Associated Press
(Chicago, Illinois) The Episcopal diocese of Chicago included an openly lesbian priest among five nominees for bishop Tuesday, as fellow Anglicans demand that the church bar gay bishops.
Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, who has a female partner, will be on the Nov. 10 ballot.
If she wins, she would be the second bishop living with a same-sex partner in the Episcopal Church. New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who has a male partner, was consecrated in 2003, pushing the world Anglican communion to the brink of schism.
The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S.
Next month, U.S. Episcopal bishops will meet to decide whether they should agree to Anglican demands that they unequivocally pledge by Sept. 30 not to consecrate another openly gay bishop. If the bishops say no, the church could lose its full membership in the 77 million-member communion.
The other candidates for Chicago bishop are Rev. Jane Gould, rector of St. Stephen’s Memorial Episcopal Church in Lynn, Mass.; Rev. Jeffrey Lee, rector of St. Thomas Church in Medina, Wash.; Rev. Margaret Rose, director of national Episcopal women’s ministries; and Rev. Timothy Safford, rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia.
Chicago Bishop William Persell plans to resign after his successor is consecrated.
©365Gay.com 2007
Photo Essay #8 – Christ Church Cathedral (AIDS)
I was invited to a special unveiling of an exhibition at The Christ Church Cathedral today of art and information about The Primates World Relief and Development Fund. Directed at prevention and education about AIDS. A subject close to my heart, in fact, part of it as well. Below are photographs of the art on display for the next two weeks at the Cathedral.
Our Bishop, Barry B. Clarke, was on hand to open the exhibition and the chair of the Theology Department at Concordia University was there as well. They are looking for a few volunteers to show up and participate in the exhibition, if you have a spare hour or two, they could use your support.
It’s time to open our hands, hearts and minds to HIV and AIDS and respond with action, love and knowledge.
It’s time to stop the stigma and discrimination and act on God’s call to love one another, restore right relationships and ensure the dignity of every human being.
It’s time to break the silence and inaction and face a world with AIDS more holistically, more authentically and more compassionately.
It’s time to embrace all brothers and sisters as children of God without prejudice, judgment or fear.
It’s time!!!
This is the Altar piece from St, Michael’s Mission – artwork done by many artists. They represent different liturgical and seasonal scenes. The central panel is called “the life bearers,” to the left, “The Tree of Life,” and to the right, “beyond, what I see.”
The creator of this altar piece followed one of the artists home and this segment of photos is called “On the way home.” From St. Michael’s Mission.
The Primates World Relief and Development Fund
Hyperlink here
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What We Do
Development, Relief and Justice
PWRDF works in partnership with organizations in Canada and throughout the world to support people-centred development that improves the quality of daily life for vulnerable populations, promotes self-reliance, and addresses root causes of poverty and injustice. PWRDF is active in approximately 30 countries, and also accompanies Uprooted People – including victims of disasters, refugees, internally displaced people, and migrant workers. PWRDF partners are drawn from Anglican churches, ecumenical organizations and community-based groups. Partners address the root causes of problems and accompany communities as they move beyond survival into sustainable development.
Gay Bishop Announces Civil Union, Infuriates Church Conservatives
I support the V. Rev. Gene Robinson. Good for him and his partner.
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(London) The only openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Church has unveiled plans for a civil union with his longtime partner, unleashing an attack by church conservatives who call it a publicity stunt.
New Hampshire’s Episcopal Bishop, Gene Robinson, tells the British Broadcasting Corporation that he and his partner of 18 years, Mark Andrew, 53, will have a civil union shortly after the state’s civil union law goes into effect next year.
“The decision to take advantage of the new law that will come into effect in New Hampshire on January 1 is simply our taking advantage of the kinds of rights which are now being made open to gay and lesbian people in New Hampshire,” Robinson tells interviewer Michael Buerk in the program to be broadcast August 28.
The timing would bring it just weeks before bishops from around the world are to meet in London for their once-a-decade meeting called the Lambeth Conference.
Conservatives pressing the church to outlaw gay clergy accuse Robinson using the timing in a bid to gain a political advantage, something Robinson disputes.
“I am certainly not doing that to rub salt into anyone’s wounds, but no one should expect me to penalize me and my partner when these rights are being offered,” he said.
“I believe that Peter Akinola, the Archbishop of Nigeria, one of the primary spokespeople against my election [as bishop], I believe he is following his call from God as best as he can, I just wish he could believe I am following my call from God as best I can.”
Robinson first raised the possibility of entering into a civil union when he testified in April before a New Hampshire committee hearing leading up to the vote that passed the law.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the titular leader of the worldwide denomination has been trying to keep the Church from splintering over Robinson’s election in 2004.
While Robinson will be allowed to attend the Lambeth Conference, Williams will not allow him to participate or vote.
A similar restriction has been placed on bishops consecrated in the US by Akinola.
Despite claims by the dissident faction that they are not seeking a schism of the worldwide Church when leaders gather next year for their once-a-decade meeting bishops representing almost half of the denomination’s 77-million members will be absent.
Last month the steering committee for the Global South Primates, made up of churches mainly in the developing world and the most conservative in the worldwide Anglican Communion, said last month its bishops will boycott the meeting because the Episcopal Church, is allowed to participate.
On Thursday Akinola issued a statement saying the “the moment of decision is almost upon us” about whether Anglican conservatives and liberals can stay together.
The statement went on to say that theological conservatives cannot stand by as the U.S. Episcopal Church – the Anglican body in the U.S. – and the Anglican Church of Canada move toward full acceptance of gay relationships.
“We earnestly desire the healing of our beloved communion but not at the cost of rewriting the Bible to accommodate the latest cultural trend,” Akinola said. “We cannot turn away from the source of life and love for a temporary truce.”
©365Gay.com 2007
Stop Touching my Food !!!
Rumor has it that Scott-O-Rama is back in the game and also that the ever GORGEOUS Mr. Chad Fox, Stop Touching My Food, is on his way back to the City By the Bay!
This IS Mr. Chad Fox !!!
YAY !!
So I’ve cranked up a pod cast and I am currently jamming to The Bad Cast!!!
The boys of Summer are on their way back to the Sphere, so make sure you go check out the boys on the sidebar. And I think that if enough people write him and ask, maybe just maybe Mr. Chad Fox might grace us with a new podcast for Summer’s coming to an end.
In just a couple of weeks, we return to the grind of University! Finally! We will be shifting gears in the coming weeks to a Fall format. If you have any requests for writing or publishing please let me know.
My publishing partner has the preface to our chat book of the three writers from my birthday celebration. Ben Leto, Angela Leuck and Cooper from B.C. will be featured in my first book to be published this fall. The books is titled “Celebration!!”
These books will go on sale here on the blog in the coming weeks.
I am also putting together several other writing projects in bound form. If you would like customized copies of some of my “Pages” writing please let me know. We thought that putting these small booklets together and publishing them ourselves, that we could offer them for sale here on the blog.
Just a little shameless publishing advertising for myself!!!
We have upgraded the blog to accommodate more uploads and I am working on adding audio-visual widgets to my sidebar so that I can share with you some music for your listening pleasure.
Big Things are happening here The Evolution of Jeremy is Evolving once again.
Publishing will come from Miracle Press here in Montreal.
Go visit Scott and Chad and tell them I sent you!! The boys are coming back, we are still waiting on a return confirmation from Knotty Boy out in Etna! Get out there and read, read, read…
Requests for writing and most importantly your input, comments and visits are very important to us here at Evolution. We look forward to offering you some NEW works in the coming weeks and months…
NIVB – #1
August 2, 2007
Jesus Said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4
The believer has no fruitfulness apart from union and fellowship with Christ. A branch out of contact with the vine is lifeless. A living union with Christ is absolutely necessary; without it there is nothing.
Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:22-23
