The Pope, The boy with cerebral Palsy and Terri Schiavo. A Limerick

terri4Pope and boyGovernor Palin was speaking  April 5 2013 in Philadelphia for the wonderful Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.
• April 3 I saw on TV the Pope hugging a boy with cerebral palsy.
The eyes on the boy showed something that brought my thoughts back to Terri Schiavo.
She had the same look in her eyes when her loved ones touched her.
Her life was taken away by legal means, starving to death.
Let us protect the lives of the most vulnerable, or we cease to exist as a society.

A palsy, a hug from the Pope;
As long as there’s life, there is hope.
For Terri Schiavo
There was no such bravo.
We are at the end of our rope.

Agape love: A Limerick.

agape350A few weeks ago our Pastor mentioned God’s love – agape and claimed it was a word that was coined by the Apostle Paul, since the word didn’t exist in classical Greek. I let it ride, but then last week he said it again, so a red flag went up, and I decided to check the true origin of the word. My first reaction was: It can’t be so, all the Gospels, and all the letters of Paul, Peter, James, John and Jude and the book of Revelation contains the word agape. The only exception is the book of Acts. Now I was really curious.

Being a naturalized citizen of the U.S, even though I have been in this country 45 years, I still sometimes search for words in English that are better expressed in my native Swedish tongue. So I searched the internet to see if anyone else forwarded the theory that Paul was the one that popularized the term agape. Indeed there were, more than one, and they seemed scholarly enough.

How can that be, and what did then Jesus really say to Peter in John 21:15-17 if the term agape is new with Paul?

The Greek language have many words for love, English is poorer and is using one word for all kinds of love, be it of sunsets, McDonald’s cheeseburgers, my wife, friendship, my newborn grandson or God. Classical Greek has 4 basic words for love:

Mania – Love of McDonald’s cheeseburgers would fit well.

Eros – Love of sunsets and my wife. Besides sexual it has a connotation of intense longing.

Philia – Brotherly love, the mutual love you develop among friends, and also a sense of belonging.

Storge – Commonly translated A mother’s love, the sacrificial love of a mother for her children.

The New Testament contains one more word for love – Agape. It has the connotation of total allegiance, love no matter the consequences. All true love is costly, and agape is the love God has for us, even dying on the cross for our sins. But it is not always that positive. In 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul writes: Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me.

The so-called Koine Greek was the lingua franca in the Hellenistic empire after the conquests of Alexander the Great. It is also called Alexandrian Greek, and in around 280 BC the Old Testament was translated into Greek. So I checked what word it used for love in Deuteronomy 6:5

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

The word used is agape.

It is quite clear. Paul may have introduced the concept to a more general audience via his letters that were circulated throughout all the churches, but he was in no way the author of the word agape.

Now John 21: 15-18 makes sense again:

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love (agape) me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love (phileo) you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love (agape) me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love (phileo) me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love (phileo) me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love (phileo) you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

Peter felt hurt because he realized his commitment to Jesus up to that point had been of the friendship type, not unconditional. For the first time he grasped the full meaning of the difference between God’s love and human love.

Maybe we can trace back the decline of our understanding of agape in today’s society back to Sigmund Freud where he claimed the highest state of man is sexual man. Since he didn’t believe himself he couldn’t conceive there is one more development; spiritual man. This last development is a gift of God, and only then can we enter into God’s rest.

All this led to a limerick on Love.

Agape, a word that means love;

a precious and God – given love.

The Muslims deny it,

Progressives refuse it.

For Jesus is it, it’s His love.

Free at last! Sarah Palin quits Fox News. A Limerick.

IneluctableA source close to Palin confirmed to Breitbart News that Palin declined FOX News’ offer to renew her contract, and the two parties seem to be parting amicably.

Bill Shine, an executive vice president at FOX News, said in a statement, “We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with Governor Palin. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.”

Sarah Palin is free from the Fox News charade.
Free to speak about life, and of all God has made.
For the Cross is the crux
when all else is in flux
It’s a spirit filled fight, she is sent to persuade.

Ryan, Biden, Romney, Obama and the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Ryan, Biden, Romney, Obama and the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Now when the election is over I am impressed how prophetic history unfolds before our very eyes. \The book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse) has fascinating reading, and the reader is promised a blessing if he so does. With all the death and destruction in the Revelation this promise always puzzled me. The seals of the Revelation starts the events of the tribulation, or so I thought. There is another view of these seals where they open the four dominant world powers that seek to dominate the world.

Let us first take a look at Revelation 6: 1-8

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The first horse is white. The rider has a bow and a crown, and he is bent on conquest. The color of the Catholic Church is white, and starting around 600 A.D. or so they consolidated power and tried to dominate the world.

The second horse is red. This represents Communism, socialism and all forms of Statism.

The third horse is black, and the rider represents Capitalism.

The fourth horse is most interesting. Most bible translation calls its color pale. The Greek word is chloros as in chlorophyll and in the two other instances in the N.T. it is translated green

The color of Islam is green, as can be seen in the flag of many Islamic nations. We can see this description fits since Islam by now has about 1,75 billion followers and the world’s population is about 7 Billion. In addition, their highest honor is to die as martyrs in Jihad.

Back to the four candidates in the Presidential race.

Paul Ryan is a faithful Catholic. He respects religious freedom and has respect for life.

Joe Biden is a nominal Catholic, but really a statist. How do I know? He has said paying more taxes is the patriotic thing to do. His charitable giving is less than 0.4%. He’d rather pay it through taxes. He represent the socialists.

Mitt Romney is a Capitalist. Nuff said.

That leaves us Barack Hussein Obama.

The name Hussein is an exclusively Muslim name.

His Father was a Muslim.

His Stepfather was a Muslim

He enrolled in school in Indonesia as a Muslim.

Is Obama a Muslim?

To become a Muslim one must simply pronounce the Shahaadatayn (Declaration of Faith) with sincerity and conviction.

The Shahadah can be declared as follows:

“ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH”.

The English translation is:

“I bear witness that there is no deity worthy to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.”

Barack Hussein Obama recited the Shahada by heart.

Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated,  Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.”

When Barack Hussein Obama publicly confessed the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, he “proclaimed  Shahada“.

To all Muslims it is therefore quite evident that Obama is a Muslim.

The only thing that can undo this and make Obama a Christian in Muslim minds is if he submits to water baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

If Obama produces a Baptism Certificate dated after the time he pronounced the Shahada , then and only then will I believe he is not a Muslim. .

He says he is a Christian. No devout Christian can refuse to submit to water Baptism and be believed.

I stand corrected if he produces his water Baptism certificate, complete with a renunciation of the Shahada. (The only known exception to this rule as far as I know is if he is a devout Quaker. They only recognize the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.)

With the four first seals opened, the next event is the opening of the fifth seal found in Revelation 6:9-11.  9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

This is where we are right now. There are right now more Christians being martyred than in any time in history. The State department is silent about it. But they are concerned about a video that insults Mohammed.

When is the full number complete?

Lord of the Ring: Obamas wedding band carries the first half of the Shahada.

“There is no God except Allah”

His “Christian” faith, a big haha.

The gold ring is the proof.

His profession a spoof.

Allegiance is with his mullah.

 

There has been much speculation about why Obama wore a golden ring on his wedding finger already as a student at Occidental. Later at his wedding, his bride gave him the same (or very similar) ring as a token. It carries the inscription: La Ilaha Illallah.

Egyptian-born Islamic scholar Mark A. Gabriel, Ph.D.  explained that on Obama’s ring, the declaration “There is no god except Allah” (La Ilaha Illallah) is inscribed in two sections, one above the other.

On the upper section, “There is no god” is written in Arabic letters, from right to left: Lam, Alif, Alif, Lam, Ha.

On the lower section is “except god,” written in Arabic letters from right to left: Alif, Lam, Alif, Alif, Lam, Lam, Ha.

In the lower section, the word “Allah” is written partially on top of the word “except,” noted Gabriel, the author of “Islam and Terrorism” and “Journey Inside the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist.”

It is common in Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy, especially when expressing Quranic messages on jewelry, to artfully place letters on top of each other to fit them into the allotted space.

Excerpt from http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/obamas-ring-there-is-no-god-but-allah/

The story made it to Al-Arabiya this morning: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/12/243401.html

It is common in the middle east to wear a ring with either a part of the Shahada or the full Shahada to protect against evil Jinns.

The five tenets of the Christian Faith. A song.

This glorious Good Friday reminds us about the redemption we have in Jesus Christ.

A few years ago I wrote this song in five verses. Five is the number of grace.

It can also be used as one way of expressing five pillars of the Christian faith.

To be sung to the tune of “Dark Eyes” (Ochi Chernye)

1 The word incarnate proclaimed by God.

• Once in David’s town
• As the prophet said
• God Himself came down
• In a manger laid
• Wise men saw his star
• They came from afar
• Unto Bethlehem
• Where our Lord was born

2. The prayer of submission to the cross.

• In Gethsemane
• There in bitter pains
• Sweat like blood did flow
• From His sacred veins
• In deep anguish he
• Prayed more earnestly
• That God’s will be done
• Jesus prayed

3. The redemption.

• Outside city walls
• Up on Calvary
• He hung on a cross
• In deep agony
• The atonement made
• As He loudly said
• It is finished, then
• Breathed his last

4. The Resurrection.

• First day of the week
• The three women went
• They the grave did seek
• Stone was rolled away
• Strips of cloth they found
• As the scripture said
• Jesus had to rise
• From the dead

5. The pilgrimage and final victory.

• Therefore let us rejoice
• Gladly let us go
• Conquered has our Lord
• Vanquished is the foe
• Christ without, our shield
• Christ within, our life
• Unto Him our all we yield
• this is victory!

Verse 5 can be sung: So let us rejoice if sung in the same key as v1-4.
Otherwise modulate one half step with the extra syllable.
©Lennart Bilen 2007.

The Biblical base for Obama’s economic polices. Luke 16:1-8.

“Jesus would back my tax-the-rich policy.”

President Obama really did say that at the recent National Prayer Breakfast.

He went on to say that his understanding of the Bible is his basis for his economic policies.

So the question is: Which Governmental policy was Jesus so supportive of?

I think I have found it: It is from: Luke 16:1-8 King James Version (KJV)

1And he (Jesus) said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

The certain rich man is the people of the United States, the steward is Obama, the goods are our national resources and heritage.

So far the People of the United States are commending the unjust steward.

Do you think this is the basis for his economic principles?

Please explain your theology, Mr. President.

Mr. President!

On the resent National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. you said:

“Jesus would back my tax-the-rich policy.”

You went on to say that your understanding of the Bible is the basis for your economic policies.

Campaigning in Ohio, presidential candidate Rick Santorum was criticizing your radical environmental views, which he said hurt the American people.

“It’s not about you [people],” Santorum  declared. “It’s not about your quality of life. It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible — a different theology.”

Very few commented on your statements at the prayer breakfast. People seem to be perfectly happy that you are using your understanding of the Bible as the basis for your polices.

When Rick Santorum challenges you on your understanding of the Bible, saying that your  theology is open to challenge, everybody is jumping on him, saying that any criticism of your Christian belief is over the line.

You invited a discussion on your understanding of the Bible since you use it as the basis for your economic polices.

What is your biblical basis for not having an opinion whether we should have a budget or not?

What is your biblical understanding on abortion? The only references on abortion I can find in the Bible are child sacrifices, as was practiced in Baal worship. Is that your basis?

Where is the biblical justification for Government regulation trumping Religion?

Please let me know where you stand on the Bible since it is your understanding of the Bible that is the basis for your economic polices.

You were in Rev. Jeremy Wright’s Church for twenty years. You said you never listened to his sermons. How did you obtain your understanding of the Bible?

 

98% of Catholic women use contraception. Really?

Planned Parenthood and NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) are telling their members that 98% of Catholic women use contraception.

My first observation is that this is a surprisingly large percentage. One Catholic woman in fifty is not using birth control. How can that be? Why would an 80 year old nun use birth control? 10% of all women are lesbians (this is a statistic that cannot be challenged), what type of birth control do they use? Or, is the very fact that they are lesbians a form of birth control? If so, why use the word contraception?

Planned Parenthood is quoting from a study made by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, a former Planned Parenthood affiliate. Did they exclude any women from their study, thus inflating the numbers?

Indeed they did. They included only women between the ages 15-44, normal child-bearing age. They excluded any woman who had not been sexually active in the last 3 months. They also excluded all postpartum or pregnant women. All women trying to get pregnant were also excluded. In fact, the only women included in the study were (pg.8 of the study) “those for whom a pregnancy would be unintended and who are “at risk” of becoming pregnant.” It is unclear if women whose attitude is: While I am not trying to get pregnant I am trusting in God, and if I do get pregnant it is the will of God to do a miracle in me. My hunch is that more than one Catholic woman in 50 has that attitude, so they would have to have been excluded as well.

The study probably should have been stated: 98% of all Catholic women using the services of Planned Parenthood use contraceptives and other forms of birth control, such as abortifacients  and abortion. That may be close to the truth.

There is no profit for Planned Parenthood in promoting abstinence. Yet it works every time.

Nancy Pelosi is informed as always. The hearing was on the constitutionality of the mandate, not biology.

This is her attitude to the Constitution of the United States: