Delete delete delete ....

There is a post sitting in my drafts on one of my least liked historical figures.

A famous figure that has said some really odd things, and I was so looking forward to posting it, then I noticed that a person that I really respect uses a quotation from this person in defining his/her blog.

Oh well.... Delete delete delete ....

We Have Met Anton Lavey and He is Us

Just to clarify for those that know me and have heard of Anton Levay, No I have not converted, just noticed the average Christian is drifting.

Anton Lavey in his Satanic Bible (an pseudo literate text devoted to excuses to be selfish) and the back bone of the Satanic church (a hedonistic self loving satirical faith) outlines the "Nine Satanic Statements."

There are two that seem to have been adopted by the Christian church in North America.

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!

Christ commands us to love our enemies “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you “(Matthew 5:43-44).

Is what happened in Abu Ghraib Prison an example of how a so called Christian country treats enemies?

5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!

But Christ said "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." Matthew 5:39:

If Al Qaeda hadn't slapped the West in the face when it attacked the World Trade Centre would we be in Iraq today. How much of this war is vengeance driven?

When did we become our enemy?

Walt Kelly used the quote "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us" on a poster for Earth Day in 1970.

Are we becoming mirrors of those we loath?

The Approaching Storm

The other day I stood on my balcony watching an approaching thunderstorm and thinking about the way my views on life have changed. The storm built and crackles of lightening ran across the bottom of the clouds striking the Gatineau Hills. I have friends up in Chelsea and I hoped that the hot weather and this lightening wouldn’t produce forest fires over there. I thought about another approaching storm the one in the Middle East, and the friends I have there that might get caught in that fire of violence and hate. If I had not changed my views on religion I would likely be thinking that the end of the world is coming that the end times prophesies were almost here, but somewhere I grew up and reality caught up with me in the form of rationality. Is it rational to think that God would let it end like this in war fire and fury or is it human fear of the future that created the dispensationalist idea of the end times?

The problem is even with my matured views watching the thunder storm approach gave me a very uneasy feeling.

59 To Go (with a few exceptions)

Life Experiences Meme

Bold the ones you've done..
91 (5 are judgement calls)


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink (all three of them)
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (three)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid (awesome)
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant itThat's why I am still married)
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (do you have to be at sea yourself or can you watch it from shore?)
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game(Monaco Grand Prix)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg (cool idea must try it)
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper (unfortunately)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne.(never never again)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity (it helps to be poor to get this one)
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (while the highschool custodians were on strike too)
28. Bet on a winning horse (never)
29. Asked out a stranger (married her eventually)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can (while drunk)
32. Held a lamb (in grade 2 - thankyou Mrs Patton))
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (in a Church ball game)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (I always dance like a fool)
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (why)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (huh)
39. Had two hard drives for your computer(huh 2)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced (finished shaving his head for him or he would have left more scars)
42. Had amazing friends (thay all are)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (more than once)
44. Watched wild whales (only once about three weeks ago)
45. Stolen a sign (almost forgot this one - does a Bathroom sign count)
46. Backpacked in Europe (more than once)
47. Taken a road-trip (again and again)
48. Gone rock climbing (without ropes - I know real dumb)
49. Midnight walk on the beach (bus got in late we couldn’t sleep)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (almost slept in a truck trailer ended up at a B&B run by Molly Mulone believe it or not)
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love (yup)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them (by invitation)
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds (huh)
57. Pretended to be a superhero (does super pickle count - I was 5)
58. Sung karaoke (drunk with a guy that had sung professionally - hey Gary want to do it again I’m Game)
59. Lounged around in bed all day (so)
60. Posed nude in front of strangers (not going to happen)
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain (several times)
63. Played in the mud (fun fun fun)
64. Played in the rain (see above)
65. Gone to a drive-in theater(once legally)
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (jsut to get a job)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (still in love)
69. Toured ancient sites (several)
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married (once)
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (acidentally)
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days (just to see if I could do it)
77. Made cookies from scratch (so)
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice (more than once)
80. Gotten a tattoo (does henna count)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" (sort of)
83. Got flowers for no reason (I love Michelle)
84. Performed on stage (as a cowboy singing “thank God I’m a country boy in public school)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark (gross tastes like gritty fish - don’t do it)
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone (Gaza -but not while the fight was on)
92. Buried one/both of your parents (I could say this but I think it implies that I had some hand in the arangement of the funeral or even knew the parent I was 2 my sisters were 3 and 4, poor mom)
93. Been on a cruise ship (on the Nile)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (sort of in Holland)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking (all the time)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication(do letters to the editor count - oh yeah and one to a kids magazine)
106. Lost over 100 pounds (I wish)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (just one - sorry JO)
111. Helped an animal give birth (I vaguely remember the birth of Charlie’s pups - and several guinie pig births don’t know if I really helped much)
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (does a finger count)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (with Michael Mansfield and his dad at the gravel pit)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (with the church group)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours to make up for lost sleep)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (does this mean more than 52 countries or more countries than you have visited states?)
124. Visited all 7 continents (sorry only 4)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (playing a xylophone at the science centre - I think I was 9))
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about (I Think)
130. Gone back to school (at 36 and got a degree)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach(why)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish)
137. Skipped all your school reunions (and will keep doing so - class reunions must be an American adiction - no one I know here in Canada really likes or goes to them just the superficial weird people)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (had to a several times))
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (a couple times then realised the dream had changed)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts (sort of it was half built)
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you (doe photos count)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ (for about 15 mins while he DJ went to Hurl)
148: Shaved your head (but I did shave some one else’s head)
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life (never had the opportunity and not sure I want to)

Plymouth Brethren

My religious background was in a Plymouth Brethren Chapel, when I mention this to people they look at me like I just claimed to be a follower of Jimmy Jones.

In reality the Brethren aren't children of the Corn or a any kind of creepy cult they are just nonconformists of a sort. While I am now firmly planted in the United Church of Canada here is some background material on the Brethren who still have a large degree of my respect, dispite the fundamentalism that I question strongly now, which was part of the church. What I respect is the fact they stress biblical scholarship rather than church dogma but this has a tendancy to make the adherants question their faith and often leave the church as I did.



Founders and Notable Persons
in Brethren Church History

1. Anthony N. Groves
2. Edward Cronin
3. Francis Hutchinson Original Seven
4. William Stokes So Called
5. John G. Bellett
6. J.N. Darby
7. E. Wilson

Edward Irving
B.W. Newton

Concepts of the Brethren

Ground of Gathering
Corporate worship
Priesthood of all believers
Apostasy of the established church
Milleniumism, Post and Pre-Milleniumism
Individual anti-Christ (virtually unknown
amongst Protestants till Darby’s
writings)
Substitutionary atonement.
Practical Godliness
Infallibility of scripture
No creeds and no name.





Notable Events

1825 Dr. Edward Cronin and Edward Wilson begin meeting Sundays for Breaking of Bread (based on Matthew 18:20)

1830 Darby leaves the priesthood

1832 B..W. Newton invites Darby to speak at Ebrington St. Plymouth assembly

Darby Bible

1845 Clericalism at Ebrington St. Plymouth
Newton espouses Post-
-milleniumism.
Darby effectively excommunicates Newton and Ebrington assembly.

1845 Beginnings of the exclusive brethren
Darby vs Muller.

Further divisions: Darbyites, Newtonites,
Mullerites, Granitites, Kellyites,
Stuartites, Ravenites, and Taylorites
Key Verses
______________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.

1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body.

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.

1 Corinthians 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made righteousness of God in him.

Colossians 1:20
And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.


From Unity to disunity is probably the best way to describe the history of the brethren church.
First it has to be pointed out that there is no real Plymouth brethren church in an of itself as the brethren hold no creed and no name. They strive to be as close to what they believe to be the New testament church as they can.
A Movement is the best possible description of the Brethren.. The origins of the movement can be traced back to the dissatisfaction that had arisen in the Church of England during the late 18 century, that same dissatisfaction that had produced the Campbellites and the Glasites. Like the Campbelites the Brethren were antisesordotal and stressed a degree of libertarianism. The movements origins can be seen in it’s founders. The founders predominantly came from inside the Anglican church itself. While there are seven recognized founders of the movement there are four that have made a major impact on the movement by their teachings. The Plymouth Brethren are noted for the scholastic nature of their assemblies and that is the reason why teachers played such a major role. The movement also can be said to have been influenced by the social disparity between rich and poor ..

The movement began as a group of scholastic clerics that meet to study pray and break bread on Sunday as they believed the first Christians did in the new testament church. This Four member group consisted of Anthony N Groves, John Darby, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson. Each of these men had considerable influence on the development of the movement and arguably the devolution of the movement.


One of the earliest sources of what could be called Plymouth brethren thought was Anthony N. Groves. Groves his convictions lead him to the conclusion that there was something wrong with society an he set out to make a difference in a personal way giving most of what he owned to the poor and volunteering for foreign missions. He studied at Trinity college in Dublin in order to prepare himself for a mission to the east notably to Bagdad. In his frequent trips to Dublin he came in contact with a select group of men with somewhat the same thoughts on biblical doctrine. During this period he experienced several major set backs that lead to his in ability to finance his schooling ( a burglary stool his tuition) From this Groves determined to continue his mission decide to go as a laymen . This development arguably changed his mind set on ordination and he began studying scriptures independently . He became convinced from his readings that believers baptism was a necessity and accepted baptism prior to his departure for missionary work . After the ceremony a friend came to him and said “of course, you must be a Baptist now you are baptized” to which groves replied with what is now seen as a general Plymouth brethren attitude toward denominations, and the unity of the brethren..
No I desire to follow all in those things in which they follow Christ; but I would not, by joining one party, cut myself off from the others. Then taking up the ring on which his keys were hung, he said, “if these keys were to hold by one another, all would go if one fell; but as each of them is attached to this strong ring, so should we each take hold of Christ, not of any of the systems of men and then we shall be safe and united: we should keep together, not because of any human system, but because Jesus is one.
It would seem that with this new tenant Groves break with the church was complete but that of the other members of their study and fellowship group weren’t. Darby in particular had not come to




Darby
The most notable member of the Brethren was John Nelson Darby . Darby was born into a upper class English family whose family home was Leap Castle Offally.. An expression of this upper class position is seen in John Nelson Darby’s middle name which came from his uncles long time friend Lord Nelson. Fitting to his position Darby attended Trinity College in Dublin to study law, graduating at age 19. In 1825 he was ordained as an Anglican deacon and quickly made his way up to the rank of parish priest in Wicklow Ireland. After 2 years Darby became dissatisfied with the Church of England he in association with Anthony N Groves, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson, began to preach the apostasy of the church. The apostasy they saw was the distance the church had come from the new testament church model Darby question the tenants the church treated as truths. He believed that the passion of Christ (the Crucifixion and resurrection) was not a simple act of sacrifice but an act of Substitutionary Atonement as he said the sacrificial death of Christ “is the sole ground of remission .... and there is none without shedding of blood ... and that by which Christ has made peace; Col 1:20 By this Darby saw that without this substitution man must bear the guilt of his sin and the punishment as well. This is something that brought Darby and the brethren much criticism. Writing in 1897 Rev. Edward Hartley Dewart described the beliefs of the Brethren as “heresies ... {and} contrary to Scripture and reason.” he directly attacks the brethren’s subsititutionary atonement saying “I object to this theory of atonement because Gods claims on us were not of the nature of a debt; and Christ’s work of atonement was not a commercial transaction.” He goes on to say that “this view results from forcing a coarsely literal interpretation on figurative statements.” The accusation of over literal interpretation may have some weight as the Brethren strongly adhere to the concept of the Infallibility of the scriptures and would rather err on the side of literal then exclude any part of scripture.

Thank You

Some time ago after a friend confided in me about his depression I sent out a rather blunt email to far to many people but included in the email was the people I wanted to reach without pointing a finger, those people that had a hand in my friends depression. Since then he has recovered and seems to be progressing well. If anyone treated him with greater respect because of my rather indiscreet email Thank you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I know most of you getting this message will think that I am being overly
particular that what I am about to object to is a normal part of life, the
truth is it shouldn't be, and that is my complaint.
Normally I don't quote the bible. I don't quote it because I am no real
expert on it and I find those that frequently do are generally pompous.
However, this incidence requires it.
In my view the following words of Jesus Christ are very important (Mat 7:1)
"Do not judge lest you be judged." .
I recently had a friend that talked to me about how sad he was (even
suicidal) because the world at large found him too fat, not bright enough,
kind of misshaped ( he has a very visible deformity ).
Of course I told him that all of this didn't matter, that being fat was no
crime, that he was by no means unintelligent, and that his deformity did not
need to be covered up or reduced.
To myself however I knew that a large number of even my closest friends
would not agree.
How often have I heard idiots say hurtful things like "how can a person let
themselves get that fat" and "he's a nice guy, but he isn't very bright?"
and "he should at least do something to minimize that [deformity] of his"
Okay this entire nonsense gets me more than irate.
1. He eats to much because he is depressed. Why is he depressed because he
has to deal with the morons that criticize him, so the more hurtful things
you say to him the more he eats . So what if he dies earlier because he has
heart troubles at least the food gave him some enjoyment he didn't get from
his so-called friends.
Whose fault is it now.
2. He's not unintelligent he is just depressed and that will effect how
bright you appear.
Again who is responsible for his depression (oh yes the self righteous of
you will say that he controls his own emotions, to that I say, bull. If you
say something hurtful and don't expect someone to react negatively then you
are pretty damn stupid)
3. Just because he has a deformity does not mean he has to hide it, just who
has the right to say that his deformity is ugly.
Personally the ugly people to me are those that would criticize his
deformity.
I have had enough. If I hear one more person say something hurtful about him
I am going to say exactly what I think and friendship be damned. I don't
need friends like that.
People you have to be accountable for your words.
If he does commit suicide I am going to remind each person that said
something mean, and I am going to call you up on it. If you think you can
speak without thinking or pass judgement without true self examination,
forget it. Personally I will not let any of my friends get away with judging
others without their own faults being also raised up to scrutiny.
And this applies to anyone else you may pass judgement on to. I want real
friends, not those that are friends because it entertains them.

I love my friends I will not judge them and I will not let them be judged or
ridiculed or bullied or in any way be made to feel of less value than the
rest of you, even in a so-called kind way. If however someone passes
judgement on another of my friends then "lest you be judged" comes into
play.



And I expect no less of myself. If I speak without thinking and say
something critical or mean of some one please for God sake tell me I am
being hurtful, yell at me if you must.

Now so that people do not feel that I am targeting them, I am sending this
to everyone on my mailing list. Even those that do not know my beautiful
intelligent uniquely shaped friend. Pardon my grammar. As you can tell from
my tone, I was not in a rational frame of mind when I typed this.

Unfortunately I have had to leave some people out of this mailing that might
desperately needed to read this, in order to protect my friend from further
ridicule.

Please take this seriously.
Bill Arends

Whales

Just a quick note... (I will post a more complete write-up on the trip later when it is not 1:00 am.

M and I went to Tadoussac for the weekend (July 1 2006). We completed 5 trails, two to the whale watching platform at bay St Marguerite, one at the Dunes where I actually climbed a dune slope steep enough to sand ski on (there used to be a sand skiing club there) and two in Tadoussac.

For every step I took upwards I slid back half a step it took a long time and my heart was pounding at the top aparently it is easier when the sand is wet, which it was. I now know what being a 43 office worker can do to your fitness if you don't work out.

On none of these hikes did we see the whales we hoped to, but on the way out of Tadoussac crossing on the Car Ferry Michelle spotted them passing the boat. I was in the car sorting things and preparing to drive off - impatient man I am.

When we got back on the road we went along the water no more than fifty metres, with back tracking because of an ass on a motorcycle that kept crowding me it was more like 400 metres, then we pulled off and watched as the whales went around point noire and saw two great views of tails splashing out of the water. They were bright white Belugas. The water was likely warm at the river mouth as they seemed to hang around the point.