Living Journey

Well, today my new energy saving enviromental globes arrived along with my water saving shower head. I received them because our energy provider is promoting green power. To be honest, I don’t mind the globes because they do cost less to run and I already had them in all the bedrooms anyway, so now I have spare ones. They are less expensive to run because they use less power and they last longer, so from a cost point of view they are good.

Now, I know there are two schools of thought on the the whole global warming issue. I mean, some say it is happening because of mans emissions while others say it could be a natural cycle because of the evidence of the warming happening on other planets, like mars for instance. Now there are those who say it has less to do with our emissions but has more to do with what the sun is doing and they say many sceptics are not deniers of global warming, only doubters of the significance of the role humans play in it.

It was only a few years ago, in the 70’s, that global cooling was the issue that was bantered around heavily in the media. In fact, some scientists forcast a global cooling could be expected to happen in around 6-7 years. It seems to me that the jury is still out and our political policy makers should consider very carefully the full ramifications of the Kyoto Protocol and what it will all mean to our country in all aspects of our lives, enviromentally and economically. Can this be done successfully, I don’t know? Time will tell.

Anyway, whatever is happening it doesn’t contradict the bible at all and in fact supports it; as the whole of creation is said to groan because of sin. The whole creation which does of course include the sun, mars and the whole universe and not just our little earth rotating around in the bigger scheme of things.

An absolutely startling report about climate change was published Wednesday in National Geographic which stated “the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun” and not by man.

Unfortunately, as this goes counter to the position of an alarmist media and their seeming field general, Dr. Global Warming aka Al Gore, it seems quite unlikely that these revelations will be covered in today’s papers or evening newscasts.

The article marvelously continued:

Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: “Global Warming Fast Facts”.)

Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.

In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.

“The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars,” he said. @ News Busters

Some have said that global warming fears are likened to religious beliefs and even though this article goes back to 2004 it is an interesting read:

Washington (CNSNews.com) - An MIT meteorologist Wednesday dismissed alarmist fears about human induced global warming as nothing more than ‘religious beliefs.’

“Do you believe in global warming? That is a religious question. So is the second part: Are you a skeptic or a believer?” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Richard Lindzen, in a speech to about 100 people at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“Essentially if whatever you are told is alleged to be supported by ‘all scientists,’ you don’t have to understand [the issue] anymore. You simply go back to treating it as a matter of religious belief,” Lindzen said. His speech was titled, “Climate Alarmism: The Misuse of ‘Science’” and was sponsored by the free market George C. Marshall Institute. Lindzen is a professor at MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Once a person becomes a believer of global warming, “you never have to defend this belief except to claim that you are supported by all scientists — except for a handful of corrupted heretics,” Lindzen added.

Anyway, whatever is happening out there, or on our globe, remember what the bible says about the condition of this earth and the universe it belongs in:

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

If for man’s sake alone the earth was cursed, it cannot surprise us that it should share in his recovery. And if so, to represent it as sympathizing with man’s miseries, and as looking forward to his complete redemption as the period of its own emancipation from its present sin-blighted condition, is a beautiful thought, and in harmony with the general teaching of Scripture on the subject. (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary)

And the earth will share in its recovery when Christ comes again with the coming day of the Lord, and not before, sorry restorationists, hate to burst your bubble.

2Pe 3:12-13 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

For related articles with creationist’s that don’t altogether agree with each other see:

• Global warming: what is ‘the creationist view’? by Carl Wieland
• Human-Caused Global Warming Slight So Far by Michael Oard
• Global warming: Examine the issue carefully by Michael Oard

I have been doing a lot of reading the last few days, and I have been reading some of the Christian sites and the many, many comments that have really become quite distasteful, and at times filled with vitriolic words of which I would rather not talk about or give any links to. Nonetheless, I have come away being quite challenged to delve more into the Word and into His Truth all the same.

I have come away wanting to become more Holy and more Christ-like, knowing all the more that this is an impossibility because the more I know Him, the more I understand my sin is what separates me from Him, Marantha …I now say.

Then I am brought to my knees in shame to that old rugged cross to see what I have done to someone who loves me despite of my wretchedness. I ask myself, who am I that I have deserved this grace? Truth is, I do not deserve it, and no matter what I do in this life I could never deserve this grace that washes me clean. Who am I, but I am nothing.

Anyway, the one thing I have managed to do so far this year is to keep reading my bible in a year program, I have been enjoying it, even though at times I struggle with it. I just want to know His Word and hear His voice amongst the screaming matches that are so prevalent today. God does promise that it is those who are His sheep that will recognise His voice. I want to hear it, so I must get my head into His Word to know what He has to say to me. I don’t want to lend my ear to something that is not of God. Let His Word be my measuring tool to know the difference.

Like I have said, I have been to these blogs and at times very colourful language is used by pastors because they want to reach the unsaved and be relative in todays culture.

Though I am not sure how relative a church can be - the church being the body of Christ - when the church has been called to be separate from the world and has been told that the world will hate her because the world hated Jesus first.  The Church can be salt but it seems that she is losing her saltiness these days.

Anyway, I am not going to shout or debate or argue about it today.

I just wanted to share this prayer with you, which to be honest, this prayer is actually for me, and is not pointed to anyone else. It is between me and my God, and I know I need to pray it, I pray that I am really changed by it and that it changes my heart and addresses my sin in my life:

Lord Jesus, I sin. Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it, never be content with myself, never think I can reach a point of perfection. Kill my envy, command my tongue, trample down self. Give me grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, peaceable, to live for Thee and not for self, to copy Thy words, acts, spirit, to be transformed into Thy likeness, to be consecrated wholly to Thee, to live entirely to Thy glory.

Deliver me from attachment to things unclean, from wrong associations, from the predominance of evil passions, from the sugar of sin as well as its gap; that with self-loathing, deep contrition, earnest heart searching I may come to Thee, cast myself on Thee, trust in Thee, cry to Thee, be delivered by Thee.

O God, the Eternal All, help me to know that all things are shadows, but Thou art substance, all things are quicksands, but Thou art mountain, all things are shifting, but Thou art anchor, all things are ignorance, but Thou art wisdom.

If my life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it, but do Thou sit at the furnace mouth to watch the ore that nothing be lost. If I sin wilfully, grievously, tormentedly, in grace take away my mourning and give me music; remove my sackcloth and clothe me with beauty; still my sighs and fill my mouth with song, then give me summer weather as a Christian.

Seems to me that it is pretty easy to live on the margins of reality these days. This post is an example. The world is filled with war, famine, disease, poverty, ignorance and we are being affected by potentially cataclysmic climate change. not some concern about whether a group of isolated men will recognize some sort of mythological anti-Christ These are the serious issues of reality. The current reality is serious enough without inventing an alternative one.

Funny… this is a response to one of my posts that was picked up by Chron.commons. The post in question was about the Sanhedrin and the anti-christ and the possibility of the Sanhedrin’s approval of a messiah like figure which could well be the revealing of the man of lawlessness himself.

I wonder if he/she realizes that they have pretty much just confirmed what scripture said was going to happen in the last days just before the so-called mythical anti-christ is revealed.

Mat 24:6-8 But you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See, do not be terrified. For all things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will be raised against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes against many places. But all these are a beginning of throes.

Mat 24:11-12, 13 And many false prophets will be raised and will cause many to err. And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. Then when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (the one reading, let him understand), Dan. 11:31; 12:11

Luk 21:28 But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.

Hmmmm, or should I just strike through this verse:

2Th 2:3-4 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

There now … that’s much better.

The irony of it

Let the reader understand indeed!

2Pe 2:3 And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.

Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their hands; and My people love it so. And what will you do at the end of it?

Buffoonery … that is all I can say about it. Complete buffoonery!

Part 1 Here

As we are getting closer to the passover I thought I would share with you something that I found recently concerning the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is a group of 71 orthodox men who revived the court a little more than two years ago. They were around in Christ’s day and were the ones who had to okay the paschal lamb for the passover every year.

‘Sanhedrin’ means ’sitting together’ or ‘council’ and in the New Testament they were described as being the ‘chief priests and elders of the people’. Jesus, the Messiah, was brought to the chief priests/Sanhedrin who sought after a false witnesses against Jesus’ claims to be Messiah, according to Matthew 26:59 so that they could find Him guilty and could then put him to death. He was unjustly put to death according to their own law which states that there must be two or three true witnesses, there were no testimonies against Jesus but there were plenty of false witnesses that came forward, as it states in Matthew:

Mat 26:59 And the chief priests and the elders and the whole sanhedrin looked for false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death,
Mat 26:60 but did not find any, even though there were many false witnesses coming forward…

All the council sought false witness - What a prostitution of justice! - they first resolve to ruin him, and then seek the proper means of effecting it: they declare him criminal, and after that do all they can to fix some crime upon him, that they may appear to have some shadow of justice on their side when they put him to death. It seems to have been a common custom of this vile court to employ false witness, on any occasion, to answer their own ends. Clarke

Even though this Sanhedrin did not accept the Messianic title of Jesus/Yeshua, Christ warned that they will accept another in his name, and that being the anti-christ of the last days:

Joh 5:43 I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive that one

Interestingly, the Sanhedrin will evaluate the coming so called ‘messiah’ according to the law and they are now taking all the necessary steps toward building the opportunity for a King in our lifetime:

The Gospels say Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin so its members could assess his messianic claims. This current Sanhedrin also sees as one of its goals to evaluate any potential messianic contender. “There is no redemption without the Sanhedrin,” said Stein. “We are building the opportunity for a king (messiah).”

“We want all the world,” Stein said, “to walk with God.” (see below link)

Well, this same Sanhedrin wants to revive the passover lamb, to re-establish the paschal sacrifice.

As Easter eclipses the last days of Passover this year, Christians will focus again on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. The Sanhedrin, meanwhile, will literally attempt to resurrect the Passover sacrifice of old.

For these Jews, the sacrificial Passover offering is not their redemption per se, yet it is vital to the process.

The Passover sacrifice is the latest of more than 40 legal decisions issued by the modern Sanhedrin. Seventy-one Orthodox men revived the court more than two years ago in the city of Tiberius, the same geographical spot they believe marked the final days of the Sanhedrin a few hundred years after the time of Jesus.

In antiquity, the Sanhedrin determined Jewish practice. It now rules on political and religious issues and ultimately sees itself as an alternative to the secular Supreme Court of Israel. It hopes to impose Jewish law on the Jewish people and the seven “Noahide laws — prohibitions on theft, murder, blasphemy and others, based on Jewish teaching — on Gentile nations.

So the Sanhedrin wants to impose Jewish law, not only on the Jewish people, but also on the Gentile nations. Does anybody else see a red flag waving???

This is interesting because of what Daniel the prophet says about the coming changes of times and of laws:

Dan 7:25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High. And he intends to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one half time.

Now my brain is clicking over and over with this verse. I have always wondered what times and what laws are to be changed by the ruler of this worldly kingdom, that being the anti-christ, which Daniel is speaking about. Could it be that the Sanhedrin eventually will okay a Messiah for the Jews and Gentiles? Could it be that the Sanhedrin will also institute the times of the law outlined in the Torah?

They would need a temple built on the temple mount for these laws to be in their eyes truly effective, and we do know that there is the ‘Temple Mount Institute‘ that has all the temple vestments and vessels necessary to have a fully operational temple very soon. Some say that the temple could be built in as little as three months, while others say that the temple does not need to be where the Dome of the Rock is now situated. They say that it leaves the Dome of the Rock outside of the confines of the Holy Temple, but from what I can see in the above diagram, the Dome of the Rock overlays the court of the Gentiles (Patrich’s reconstruction of Temple in 1st century A.D. overlaid on modern Temple Mount. Octagonal feature is Dome of the Rock. Diagram is oriented east up. Courtesy Hebrew University. (Drawing by Leen Ritmeyer))

Daniel explains further concerning this time,he says that there will be a regular sacrifice, and that they will be stopped when the abomination that desolates the temple is set up (read Maccabees I and II for a shadow of things to come, very helpful and a fantastic historical type of anti-christ is documented in the Maccabean revolt before the time of Christ):

Dan 12:11 And from the time the regular sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that desolates set up, a thousand, two hundred and ninety days shall occur.

Notice that this 1290 days is explained more in this verse found in Revelation:

Rev 11:2 And cast aside the outside court of the temple, and do not measure it. For it was given to the nations (meaning Gentiles), and they will trample the holy city forty two months.

What I found after looking closely at this verse is that the outer court or the court of the Gentiles is to be cast aside, and is fact to be not to be measured at all. I have read many explanations concerning the un-measured outer court, but because the outer court of gentiles could well be including the Dome of the Rock then perhaps they are not allowed to measure because of the outrage by the Islamic community? Perhaps this anti-christ temple will be so inclusive that it will include the Dome of the Rock inside the gentile court. These are just questions that I have asking myself of late, and I know that they will be answered in time. Here is what one explanation concerning the above verse it speaks about the outer court/court of the Gentiles and gives further insight.

The court (tēn aulēn). The uncovered yard outside the house. There were usually two, one between the door and the street, the outer court, the other the inner court surrounded by the buildings (Mar_14:66). This is here the outer court, “which is without the temple” (tēn exōthen tou naou), outside of the sanctuary, but within the hieron where the Gentiles could go (carrying out the imagery of the Jerusalem temple).
Leave without (ekbale exōthen). Literally, “cast without” (second aorist active imperative of ekballō.
Do not measure it (mē autēn metrēsēis). Prohibition with mē and the first aorist active (ingressive) subjunctive of metreō. This outer court is left to its fate. In Herod’s temple the outer court was marked off from the inner by “the middle wall of partition” (to mesoitoichon tou phragmou, Eph_2:15), beyond which a Gentile could not go. In this outer court was a house of prayer for the Gentiles (Mar_11:17), but now John is to cast it out and leave to its fate (given to the Gentiles in another sense) to be profaned by them. Robertsons Word Pictures Commentary.

I find this to be very interesting indeed. It seems to me, that if this temple is built according to these maps, then the Dome of the Rock (which is inside the court of the Gentiles, correct me if I am wrong, but that is what it looks like to me and just as a side note I have emailed Prof. Joseph Patrich and am waiting on a reply) shall be left alone and will not to be measured as scripture indicates. This temple may satisfy the Sanhedrin (time will tell), and the gentile Muslims would still have their Dome. An all inclusive place of worship for Jews, Muslims and for those Kingdom Now Christians who don’t know any better, they will think that the kingdom has arrived with PEACE finally being ushered in between all three major religions. The social gospel will have prevailed after all!

Back to the paschal Lamb, I will heed to the words that came from John the Baptist in the spirit of Elijah and I will remember this Lamb especially in light of today’s conflicts and I will thank Him for His sacrifice:

Joh 1:29 On the morrow, John sees Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world!

Carla from More Books and Things has an excellent post called ‘Home to Rome‘. An article well worth reading and the links in that article are worth following up too:

[...]the Catholics said that we used to be heretics (prior to Vatican II which had an Emphasis on ecumenism), but knowing it would be hard to woo us back to Rome by calling us that, now they call us ‘separated brethren’ until we come back and consume the Eucharist.

She asks a very disturbing question … what if the image that the world is forced to worship is the eucharist?

Time will tell … but she certainly has piqued my interest!

Just a quick post about Radio Free Church. They have been busy little bees making many more videos available with some very sound speakers. Make sure you go and check it, out most links work now, and there is even a list of subjects that you can watch under each name.

• Jacob Prasch
  
• David Hocking
• Live Bible Conference - Streaming
  

Also there are Topics on the left that have active links available, however, there still needs to be some work done but there are plenty of vidoes to watch and enjoy

I know this site will keep me busy for quite awhile!

| View Show | Create Your Own

Rev 6:2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in the civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.

But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That’s what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. George Grant

A must hear link from Olive Tree Ministries, this mp3 is all about ‘Kingdom Now’, ‘Dominionist’ theology. Thanks go to Carla from More Books and Things for this great find ( you are alway one step ahead of me Carla!). In this mp3 Dr. David Reagan and Jan discuss the false teachings of “Kingdom Now,” “Dominion theology,” and other similar theologies and explain why they are blatantly false yet are now running rampant even in evangelical churches.

It is a little over an hour long but as I was listening to it, I was struck by the terminology that Dominionists use, the terminology that I was most interested in was used in an extract from George Grant about how the Church is going to conquer the world. I managed to find something about the coming ‘World Conquest’ which I have referenced at the beginning of this post. The term conquer instantly reminded me of the Rider on the White Horse, which I have also included.

I have also found and am yet to go through a site called ‘Theocracy Watch‘. This site seems to be dedicated to the Religious Right and its involvement in the Repulican Party. I was directed to this site after searching for more information on George Grant and his dominionist theology.

The Rider on the Horse

Many people have questioned the identity of this Rider on the White Horse found in Revelation who comes to conquer the world. I have always understood that by taking the bible as a whole, especially reading Matthew 24ff and the book of Daniel together with the book of Revelation, that this rider is the anti-christ. The real Christ comes after the anti-christ has conquered the world and sets himself up in the temple of Jerusalem to be worshipped by all of mankind. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that the 1st rider on the white horse is confused with the 2nd rider on a white horse found in Rev 19:11ff. Because the anti-christ will be a counterfeit and a false christ and will deceive the nations into thinking he is The Christ that will save the world and bring in PEACE.

But reading the scriptures more thoroughly we have the 1st rider on the white horse not being identified by name and having only one crown, then proceeding from him three other riders which bring in certain destruction to the whole world (Rev 6).

But the 2nd rider on a white horse is called Faithful and True and He comes in righteousness, He judges and rules with a rod of iron with a sharp sword (representing the Word) and there are the armies which represent the saints who help with this process. What is this rider judging and ruling, the nations of the world! This time, as I understand it, represents the kingdom of God and it is very interesting to note that the kingdom of God is going to need a judge and to be ruled with a rod of iron.

This rider is given the name ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’. Clearly this is Jesus as there are many references that point to that fact.

Rev 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Angel and the Gospel

In the discussion Dr. Reagan brought up a verse that I had come across a few years ago and that verse puzzled me, that verse says:

Rev 14:6-7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

This verse seemed to fulfill completely the words of Jesus when He speaks about the end in Matthew 24:

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

I remember reading this verse in Revelation and thinking Wow, everyone living on the earth before Christ comes will hear because an angel comes proclaiming the gospel.

Anyway, lately my studies have led me to the kingdom parables found in Matthew and I have questioned how good and bad can both be in the kingdom of God. I mean, let’s face it, if Jesus has to rule and judge with an iron rod and makes war, then even after that, the great rebellion happens when Satan is let out of the dungeon after the thousand years, then the parables that talk about the kingdom may have to be read in light of these scriptures.

Mat 13:47-51 Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a drag net thrown into the sea, and gathering together of every kind; which, when it was filled, drawing it up on the shore, and sitting down, they gathered the good into containers, and they threw out the rotten. So it will be in the completion of the age: the angels will go out and will separate the evil from the midst of the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth. Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.
One thing I do know for sure is that this 1st rider is an imitation of the real thing and what we are seeing in the church today confirms and in no way contradicts what has been prophesied by Daniel, Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jesus and John the Revelator.

These are my thoughts and to be quite honest about it, I pray that the Holy Spirit guide me in all Truth.

Related Article

• The Rising Global Superchurch

While the Anglican Church plans to unite with Rome after a 40 year long dialogue between the separated brethren and the mother Church, I have often wondered how this unification will happen. What will the Church of Rome have to give up, if anything at all and what will the Anglican Church have to include?

The article called “Growing together in Unity and Mission” explains certain details of the last 40 years of dialogue between the two Churches. This unification has called the Anglican Church to recognize a universal Primate, that being the pope of course. Red flags are waving for me; anyway here is one article that addresses the need for an ‘only see’ the universal primate of Rome:

The office of a universal primate is a special and particular case of that care for universal communion proper to the Episcopal office itself. “The only see which makes any claim to universal primacy and which has exercised and still exercises such episcope is the see of Rome, the city where Peter and Paul died”. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ministry of the Bishop of Rome as universal primate is in accordance with Christ’s will for the Church and an essential element for maintaining it in unity and truth. Anglicans rejected the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome as universal primate in the sixteenth century. Today, however, some Anglicans are beginning to see the potential value of a ministry of universal primacy, which would be exercised by the Bishop of Rome, as a sign and focus of unity within a re-united Church. @ growing together in unity and mission (PDF file)

And to no surprise the Eucharist is to be celebrated as being the actual body and blood of Christ transubstantiated within this ecumenical movement:

Anglicans and Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The real communion with Christ crucified and risen presupposes his true presence, which is “effectually signified by the bread and wine which, in this mystery, become his body and blood.” “What is here affirmed is a sacramental presence in which God uses the realities of this world to convey the realities of the new creation: bread for this life becomes the bread of eternal life. Before the Eucharistic Prayer, to the question: ‘What is that?’ the believer answers: ‘It is bread’. After the Eucharistic Prayer, to the same question he answers: ‘It is truly the body of Christ, the Bread of Life’.” While Christ is present and active in a variety of ways in the entire eucharistic celebration, so that his presence is not limited to the consecrated elements, the bread and wine are not empty signs: Christ’s body and blood become really present and are really given in these elements.

Now, once the bread and wine have been turned into the body and blood of Christ there is a problem with what to do with the ‘host’ that has remained, you can’t just toss it and throw it in the bin, can you? Is there any left over after the mass? My understanding is that they keep it in a tabernacle to be venerated.

Anyway, you have this other document called “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission” Date: 2007-03-13. And this document was written by current Pope Benedict XVI and is filled with eucharistic ordinances and how the eucharist should be celebrated. There is a lot to read in this article but Cardinal Angelo Scola the coordinator at the ‘Synod on the eucharist’ had this to say about it:

“This is a document of great importance both at the doctrinal and pastoral level,” Cardinal Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice, Italy, stated as he presented the text at a Vatican press conference on March 13. He was “relator general,” a kind of coordinator, at the Synod on the Eucharist.

To highlight the value of eucharistic devotion in the life of Catholics, the pope endorsed another proposal that Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon had introduced at the Synod. The pope advocated “perpetual eucharistic adoration, both individually and in community” and suggested that churches be set aside for this purpose. He also endorsed other popular eucharistic devotions, such as “the 40 hours” and processions with the Blessed Sacrament.

After reading a little more about the Anglican Church I was made aware that they practice the ‘eucharistic adoration‘ too, I actually had no idea that they were so close in their traditions concerning the eucharist. ‘Eucharistic adoration’ means that the ‘host or species’ is placed inside the monstrance that is then set upon the tabernacle to be venerated by the masses of people who are in union with the Church of Rome.

…he [the pope] insisted that “the correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ’s real presence in the blessed sacrament.” The pope advised that “the place where the eucharistic species are reserved” should be “marked by a sanctuary lamp, and should be readily visible to everyone on entering the church.

Is it just me or does all this talk about the ‘host/species’ sound a little sci-fi alien?

What is it about the eucharist, the monstrance and the tabernacle that I am concerned about? I wrote a post not so long ago about my concerns, the post is called “What Christ is emerging from the ecumenical movement“. In that post I found that some emergent’s were all excited in finding their road to Rome; and now, added to that, we have 40 years of dialogue between Anglican and Catholic leaders that want to form an ecumenical path toward unity. I wonder how many other so called ’separated churches’ will want to join in this ecumenical movement that leads to Rome?

At what cost will this new ecumenical church be willing to pay is a question worth asking. What doctrines will now have to be included and what ones will have to be taken away? Which church will be willing to give up on long held doctrines based in scripture only and which church will be willing to take on traditions of men? Time will tell I guess.

There is an obvious sifting and judging going on in the house of God, just as scripture predicted, we are now seeing that happen in our life time and what interesting times they are:

1Pe 4:17 Because the time has come to begin the judgment from the house of God; and if firstly from us, what will be the end of the ones disobeying the gospel of God?

With all this talk about the ‘host’ which supposedly contains the very real presence of the body and blood of Christ and with certain churches set aside for people to visit this Christ in the tabernacles around the world I am reminded of this scripture:

Mat 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ! Or, Here! Do not believe.

Mat 24:25-27 Behold, I tell you beforehand. Then if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness; do not go out. Behold, He is in the inner rooms; do not believe. For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.

It is important to note that ‘inner rooms’ translates to: (a dispenser or distributor; akin to τέμνω temnō, to cut); a dispensary or magazine, that is, a chamber on the ground floor or interior of an Oriental house (generally used for storage or privacy, a spot for retirement): - secret chamber, closet, storehouse.

Not too unlike the tabernacle and monstrance really. Hmmmm…..

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• Purpose Driven Catholics
• Purpose Driven & The Catholic Church
• Churches Back Plan To Unite Under Pope
• Home to Rome
• New Spiritual Discipline From Ancient Roman Catholic Sources

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