a temp le t

a templet

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Mark chapters 11-13..

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God's way of doing "Temple" isn't first

what we've grown up to think, our culture's way.

It came before creation, and it busts

what's "practical", what we would likely say.

It mucks our preconceptions; but ah, salts, 

and lightens up a lot, our heavy loads!

The heart of one who doesn't look for faults,

but looks for fruit, like love, joy, peace; and goads,

if necessary, so to wake kids up.

The diff'rence is between a house and home.

And if you've thought this through, you'll see enough,

to live with his own kids, in tent or dome,

to have the chance to share life  is the stuff

this father's heart is open to, he wants,

to share like this, through easy and through tough

times, helping them grow up, and act (not ponce),

to make & build, to hear & think, in truth.

It seems he'd rather share with them the scant-

ty times, and help them learn to love "unroofed".

He'd rather have them than a chance to rant

about the carpet, or the polished boards.

He'd rather share with children in a slum,

than have a lot of "worshippers" in hoards.

The meaning of a temple is .. "Come, come!

- and see - it's more like "house of God" you know..

Yet, God dain't need a house, God wants a home,

for God's children to live belov-ed, so

- it's tenting holidays, beneath a dome!

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Followed by: https://appallinglife.blogspot.com/2021/09/b-temp-le-t.html

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Grace in place

 My mum's sos alarm has gone off I cannot contact her so I need to go and check on her... Sorry 😐

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Oh God, our God, give grace to Jack and Jill.

Pleace give them wisdom, creativity,

from you, to be a breath of life that will

feel something like that first nativity.

Oh no, that seems so powerless to us,

much pain and shame and ignorance and such.

If you have got another, with less fuss,

more certainty, but still with your clear touch…

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… with us

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Oh God, we love to work

down here with you today.

We do not want to shirk

the part you gave (to play)

to us, though immature,

and mostly ignorant;

we see that He was sure,

and trusted where you sent

for Him to be, and do

and watched about for you,

your work was his perfume,

knew when you're in the room.

As you yourself had said,

you're … with your people and,

you'll not leave them to tread

the path alone… at hand.

So he could "know" as you,

and act as you would do,

to bring your kingdom here

within his body - near!

Oh God your job was done

so beautif'lly in him,

to show us what a son

could do, when not "his whim",

but steadfastly, and sure,

would trust his father to

look after him, and more,

would always be with you.

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brutal bits…

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Hi Paul.  How are you going? I'm assuming you are an essential worker so life goes on similarly to you. A question :- the parable of the 10 ladies with lamps waiting for the bridegroom has come into my radar a number of times lately......I can't get my head around the idea that God/Jesus shuts the door to people who want to be with Him - be it that they were ill prepared and came late - they still desired to be with the bridegroom - surely God does not shut the door to anyone who wants to be with Him - there must be something I not understanding in this one ? Ideas please ?

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I love your attitude and statements.

The "smell" of God has to be on it..

Yeah, and the next two parables in Matt 25, and the bit in John 15 "..My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit"; similar stark, sharp demarkation,... 

Let me know as you come up with thoughts too, the Passion translation translates around the John 15 problem...

It may just be a difference between what the "not having enough oil" meant in those days for a bridesmaid. Was it like salt that was not salty??

Did it mean that the "Master of the house", who appears to be the Groom(?), was saying, "If you weren't ready to help my wife in the way called for with ordinary forethought from someone who is committed to her as a friend, and not freeloading; then I also have no use for you. I didn't ask you to come as my guest, you only came as her attendant - and that appears to be beneath your commitment. I've never met you myself, ...  so don't worry about coming... ? In other words if actual friendship with the bride is below them (do they just want to be part of the wedding party, and to be pampered and spoiled, but not (wear the bridesmaid dress, or) get enough oil to last the night.. was "not having the oil to last the night" then, the equivalent, for us now, of a bridesmaid not wearing the appropriate dress that goes with the wedding party plans, and  just coming in her own white dress, or her own comfortable jarmies??

I'm thinking too…

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Oh God, we like you very much, and ask

that you would help us make sense of these things.

Your wisdom for our living and the tasks

of following your call through what He sings

to us. We know that only birds that fly

might make it into nests up high above.

And cookoos in the nest of birds which try

to push the others out, might need a shove

themselves, if other species would keep on.

But maybe in a bigger scheme of things

both cookoos and the other ones could bond

and help each other, since they've all got wings...

I s'pose the people that He told these to

would have their stories tailor-made for them.

I wonder what he'd say, and what he'd do

if he were here today to speak again?

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The Way one lives as an heir in God's world.. (Part 2)

Journeyman’s notes:

• The way previous generations in Christendom used the term "the kingdom of God", has often led people to a static, concrete, place centred view of the text within the greek writings of the early followers of Yeshua Bar Joseph, who record this term (or its equivalent, with it's Aramaic and Hebrew roots) as extensively used in the mouth of Jesus: "βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ" transliterated into English as 'basileia tou theou'. The εὐαγγέλιον (euanglion) was the announcemnt of the rule of any Ruler, the “good news of this ruler's kind of authority” being instigated or maintained, with every ruler having a slightly different way (in Jesus' case, a significantly different way) of exercising their authority.

• Mark 1:14,15 in Greek looks like this: “⸂Καὶ μετὰ⸃ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν κηρύσσων τὸ ⸀εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λέγων ὅτι Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ· μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.”  ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 1:14‭-‬15 SBLG …   And the Common English Bible translates this as: "After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”" Mark 1:14‭-‬15 CEB

• From the Encyclopaedia Britannica:“Though the phrase itself rarely occurs in pre-Christian Jewish literature, the idea of God as king was fundamental to Judaism, and Jewish ideas on the subject undoubtedly underlie, and to some extent determine, the New Testament usage. Behind the Greek word for kingdom (basileia) lies the Aramaic term malkut, which Jesus may have used. Malkut refers primarily not to a geographical area or realm nor to the people inhabiting the realm but, rather, to the activity of the king himself, his exercise of sovereign power. The idea might better be conveyed in English by an expression such as kingship, rule, or sovereignty.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kingdom-of-God (accessed 13.08.2021@6pmAEST) 

• Notes from N.T. Wright on the Kingdom of God. 

• Jesus’ world was filled with horrible Kings & their rules. https://youtu.be/rLiy-WlS9mA?t=2938 

• He is reclaiming the biblical notion of Kingdom from the psalms… 

• Often Truth is grasped more by the imagination (love, healings) than by arguments.

• If God’s kingdom has been inaugurated, why are things not getting better? https://youtu.be/rLiy-WlS9mA?t=3124 

• There wasn’t any sort of public health care, or public education in the ancient world… 

• it was their lives that won over people to be Jesus’ followers.

• Jesus often offers an interpretive phrase with his parables: "The 'basileia tou theou' is like…". This can now be understood, not as describing the realm of heaven, or even any specific "realm", so much as the type, or kind of "rule, or reign, or leadership of God", the "way that God rules or exercises his authority. ie. "God's authority over humans is like this…."  a pearl merchant, a crop of wheat, a mustard seed, a lump of dough  etc… This is an act of interpreting the announcement of the gospel that Mark gives us so pithily twice in chapter one.

• Jesus (as recorded by Mark in ch10) makes a big deal about the way authority is used within his group, as distinct from the way it is used, or the kind of authority wielded, by "the kings of this Earth")...

• This, after two scuffles for prominence and leadership from his disciples.

• This has the same function as the parables… their life together IS an enacted drama/parable.

• In the NT writings, people are expected to have delved and seen this distinction for themselves. They are expected to have understood "another kingdom", another way of wielding and using authority, the way of Jesus, and the writers are often speaking, not of the powerful miracles and acts of Jesus, not even memorizing &  quoting his wise words all the time, but noting the actual coming of, and now this new and living Way of being God's regent or the ambassador or model of this new and living  way of wielding humanity's rightful authority on Earth. So we get exhortations like this: 

• "I, Paul, make a personal request to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:1 CEB (the gentleness & kindness of Christ, is something they pulled out of the story that enfleshes what we call the gospel)

• Paul speaking of "the most excellent Way" that makes all human power, knowledge, and insight, useless without it. (See 1 Cor 12:31 -14:26, 1 Cor 12:31-14:26;16:13-16)

• When groups of Jesus followers around the Roman Empire started (like Jesus' early disciples before them, the apostles) vying for prominence, power and influence, putting others down, or puffing themselves up, the apostle Paul does not command with any force of compulsion, just the power of a life of love known for what it is.

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Describing our humanity, especially in relation to the World, the Other and the self.

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Our speaking, kissing, lips, are of first note,

within the head, as are eyes, nose, and ears.

Our hands and feet connect in ways bespoke.

While heart and lungs give power over fears!

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Oh God, I'm yours, that's all of me, be-cause,

I want to be re-sponding, -flecting back,

and carrying your thoughts & words, and more

so all your motives show up here as acts.

That head and heart and hands might work as one,

while underneath the family's life & health,

connected and controlled, but much more fun,

with little muscle mem'ries adding wealth.

In other words it is the kind-a rule,

or reign our head has over us that counts.

For what that's like, affects the kind-a school

or home, the kids - are in, won't soon renounce.

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They say the neurons of our brain are more 

than those within our skull or head; they live

surrounding gut, and heart. And in that store

within the torso, we see that these give

a new way now to see authority*

and innervation of a body which

would be a mythic picture (like a tree),

used in the early days, a "Jesus" picksh-

-ure, parable, or metaphor, to show

how branches (or the limbs) might work with what

they're joined to, and so everyone might know

how now to treat each other, under God.

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* the head can over-ride, but will confide,

   and often delegates to other mates,

   and too expects that kind-a life to find

   a mirror in who waits, that correlates.

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please pray..

God please do help your child, where you sent him,

to listen to your wild wind's cle-ar whim

that blows where your creative love knows best

and knows what will make all your people blessed.

Give your son of your wisdom, to know when

to hide away from people who would bend

him to their whim to satisfy some hope

that may, or may not be, a way to cope

with difficulties, that are difficult,

when taken on one's own, not sharing fault

with God himself who handles these with ease.

He'd rather share our life, and our disease

than live in purity, and not know love.

The God of whom I speak is not above

the sorrow of a choice that turned out bad

with deep grief then ensuing, in this dad.

So you, oh God now know the sorry state

of those who make (from love) a world, and wait

for creatures who can choose, to choose for love,

as they themselves have been shown from above.

Please sink those two tap roots, truth and hesēd,

down deeper into soil and rock to bed

the fruit tree up above, withstanding storms,

accepting all the rain with breezy yawns.

For ou-r life on Earth is but a stage,

development comes with each turning page.

Please give your wisdom to us, God our sage,

we'll gladly take your gift, not bargained wage.

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Online class!

A big “Hello Class 2! Good day to you!”

One thirty (Sharp-ish) we will meet on zoom.

I'm telling you that there is lots to do,   

and Mr. Walker will be in the room.

             

Our Mr. Sharpe has been given some jobs

that take a lot of time, in great big blobs;   

so he will say "Hello", & then "Goodbye."

And we'll continue on... or we will try!       

I hope you're doing better than you’ve done

with troubles all around within the world.

You need not fear for you can have some fun

if you recall that something now is curled           

and growing inside you, thoughtful and kind,

the kind of boldness that can say what’s true.

We’ll cur-i-ous-ly sit, walk, stand, and mind,   

expecting to grow through this - me & you!   

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friends a’part … of something bigger

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The best friend that I ever had, Grand-dad,

was round before my mum & dad were born, 

& when I came into the world, was glad,

in fact I've rarely seen him quite forlorn.

From small, I just remember that he loved,

and thought of me, and sent me letters too.

He asked me lots of questions. Never shoved.

He wanted me to learn to think; and do!

Together, with some questions to find out,

and sometimes gems from right inside his heart,

that I could well recall (when not a lout),

to see just when to stop, and how to start.

He showed me how to live with pain, in this

ol' world where thoughtlessness and greed can be.

He showed me how to cry when people missed

their calling to be great, and "We shall see.."

is what he often said, when difference came.

I never heard him gloat, or tell more tales

of what could go wrong - sometimes he'd complain.

But then he'd catch ‘im-self; he'd say what ails

'im and admit 'his limitations too,

& then he'd get right back to thanking folk,

some people I'd not met, some folk I knew.

He thanked me when I helped, but not in joke,

he'd thoughtfully appraise what I had done,

and help me to grow better - for next time,

and just be glad to have me as "Grandson".

I want for ev'ry second line to rhyme!

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Let’s pray for each other..

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Please God, do help ol' Paul to do that book;

may Joseph get a job to give to folk,

and please help Dan to listen & to look

to what you’re doing all around that bloke.

And Mat, with work & sport and young folk too,

and Henry as the chap lain round those schools,

in those communities North of the Zoo.

And we are glad that you hang with us fools.

Please help us mark what you are up to now,

and join in as your younger brothers might,

if they were realizing that somehow,

in you Yahweh himself had come in sight!

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The Way one lives as an heir in God's world.. (Part 1)

The Way One reigns/ rules/ leads/ exercises authority...

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The big picture of REAL authority on God's Earth..

..Is that of loving adult parents raising a child from the one-cell stage (where nothing at all is yet known by the individual human cell, nothing of all human endeavours, knowledge, language, loves, pleasures, & appreciations), till the child is a healthy individual adult woman or man, who might be termed a "friend".

There are no guarantees.  

Only the possibilities

of creative love, which be's

or might in fact be, boundless.

"Guarantees" may be

the only things which hold them back.

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Perceptions:

• God's kind-a authority comes from the creative love, and the loving creativity that is

expressed in God's author-ship, as the creator of all that exists coming ultimately from

no "thing" but (in Einstein's words) ultimately coming from "the mind of God". 

Not only responsible for  author- 

ing the existence of the material Universe,

this God is also the author of life.

 

• When I willingly come under God's kind-a authority, I can come to know it, in my bones ..( and then, as Abraham and Sarah found...

• I am given (not in a contract, removed from me through the use of a distancing "third-object"

like money, but, in a covenantal agreement, calling for "truth", " honour" & "reality", 

that is close up and personal, as with  marriage) God's kind-a authority to lead/ rule/ reign,

and bless others God connects me with, or "sends" me to… 

(all the rest of the world of humans)

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Some Corollaries:

• Proposition One: Authentic author-ity comes from authentic author-ship.

• Proposition Two: Authentic (good quality, work that has integrity and consistency, &

has not been plagiarized) authorship (& there is bad … authorship),

is motivated by creative love, or loving creativity.

• Proposition Three: Authorship & authority can be authentically delegated or shared.

• Proposition Four: Authentically  delegated or shared authority will involve authentic

authorship that is respectful and honouring of its delegated or shared status.

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