Sunday, January 25, 2015

Organic faith

Narrowway 2011is an organic body,  in it's nature, we're delighted the movement nation wide has taken place. For the one body  intent of God..
Sees the priest hood of all believers as important. And not to  restrain the spirit in to formula which is allowed to operate in them all not just the  few. We are the ekklesia, the called out ones          here to make a difference in the world, not hide in church buildings. Jesus was all about sharing God's love and ministering to peoples needs to show  his will and love for  world lost in greed and   That, in a nutshell,  is real Christianity.

The additional changes came as the depth of platonic  thinking was realized years back. The real questions years back is what does spirit led look and become when the connection is made so the priesthood of all believers is seen as being able to be used by God any where any time. We do not own anyone their is no my anything it's all the lords and to be used in wisdom, love and discernment.

This Christian duality, exoteric and esoteric, has resulted in a paradox, a double standard. High Stoic ethics are essential to Christ and to the initiated elite to provide a reservoir of good  based faith to be distributed by grace to the mass of believers, who are generally deficient and to whom a life of holiness is at best a desirable option which has  us all  struggling along..

Christ is viewed as assisting the helpless and making up for their unfortunate deficiencies rather than conquering our deliberate rebellion, breaking the power of voluntary sin in our hearts, and giving us victory over sin. Something we all go through,  to break the legal spirit of demand  greed and  humanism, replacing all those negative functions with love and real  care are two very different natures.

Perhaps a few more thinkers of the caliber and persuasion of Tertullian will yet arise to "free Jerusalem from Athens and the   congregation of Christ from the Academy of Plato."

Praise God long over due , a real treat to see  the lord guide us as he has and the other groups. I thank kajos and Barna and Zens and Viola, but  can not for the get the 12 years here researching what took place long ago,  and why what was Spirit led to have fallen to seduction of power and wealth control over others. May what we have be used wisely to advance the  truth and spirit led state over personal control  to allow God clear entrance into lives  seeking his lead, to work freely.

We use the translation  more literal  and reduction in adverbs etc and the  removal of words which were not  in the early copies to the best of our ability,  We listed two I use, Kj3 and the young's literal, and few others including an Aramaic translation. I use and enjoy Green and Strong.  thanks







Saturday, January 24, 2015

Christ through us,

Christ in us;
Christ as us;
Christ through us

A study of the subjective indwelling of Christ in the Christian individual.
©2001 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.
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CHRIST IN US; CHRIST AS US; CHRIST THROUGH US

The history of Christian theology reveals that there has been far more written about the believer's being "in Christ" than has been written about Christ being present and active in, as, and through the Christian. This is to be expected, in part, because there are far more references in the New Testament to our being "in Christ" than there are to Christ being "in us." But the paucity of emphasis and literature on Christ's internal action in the Christian individual can also be attributed to prevailing emphases within the two major subdivisions of the Western Church.

Roman Catholic theology has traditionally taught the infused grace of God in the continuing work of Christ, whereby the empowering energy of God is granted to the Christian in order to live righteously. The primary emphasis of Roman theology has not been on the subjective spiritual reality of Christ in individual Christians, however, but on the collective and corporate realities of Christ's work in the ecclesiastical community of the Roman Church. Those in the church of Rome are regarded to be "in Christ," and there is no salvation apart from the holy Roman Church. To apply Roman Catholic emphases to the phrases of this study: Christ is in us collectively, for He is in His Body, the Church catholic. Christ is expressed as us collectively, for He expresses Himself as the holy Roman Church. Christ is expressed through us collectively whenever the Catholic Church acts. This collective and corporate emphasis of the Roman church has diminished emphasis on the personal and subjective action of Christ in the Christian individual.

In Protestant theology the dearth of emphasis on the subjective presence and activity of Christ in the Christian individual has often not only been the result of an over-collectivized emphasis on Christ's contemporary ecclesiastical action (as in the Roman Catholic Church), but even more so the result of an over-objectified understanding of Christ's work. Reacting against the Roman emphasis on subjectively infused grace, the Reformers reverted to an almost exclusively objectified reference to redemptive realities that are external and outside of the Christian believer. Protestant theology has traditionally taught the historically objectified acts of Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension for us, i.e. on our behalf. In so doing Christ is also said to have died, rose, and ascended as us ­ as our representative substitute, doing so vicariously in our place.

      Christ's historical actions become personally efficacious for us when we respond by faith (sola fide) and Christ assumes our place as us before the heavenly Judge, whereupon the Divine Judge pardons and forgives our sins on the basis of Christ's historically objective actions. In this forensic and juridical framework, God the Judge legally imputes the benefits of Christ's righteousness to the Christian, declares we are in right standing with Him, and promises a full inheritance of benefits in the future in heaven. All of this action of Christ is outside of ­ external to ­ the believer.


D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote: "Justification makes no actual change in us; it is a declaration of God concerning us."1 Louis Berkhof explained that both Luther and Calvin describe justification "as a forensic act which does not change the inner life of man but only the judicial relationship in which he stands to God."2 Anglo-Catholic, E. L. Mascall, notes that "justification has been envisaged as simply an act of God by which man is accounted righteous without any ontological change being made in him."3 Louis Bouyer, a French Reformed theologian who became Roman Catholic, lamented, "It was apparently impossible for Protestant theology to agree that God could put something in man that became in fact his own, and that at the same time the gift remained the possession of the Giver. That amounts to saying that there can be no real relation between God and man."4 These quotations serve to verify that the over-objectification of Protestant theology in general has effectively deterred teaching of the personal and subjective action of Christ in the Christian individual.


A study of the subjective presence and action of the living Lord Jesus in us, as us, and through us is, therefore, outside of the pale of most traditional Western Christian theological teaching, for it runs counter to Protestant over-objectification and Catholic over-collectivization. It is important to acknowledge, though, that there have been individuals and groups throughout Christian history (some affiliated with both Catholic and Protestant communities, while others were independent of either) that have given due emphasis to the internal presence and action of the living Lord Jesus in the Christian individual. They have often been labeled as "mystics" or "heretics", or both, and many of them paid with their lives for non-conformity to the prevailing and acceptable theological opinions. So, beware ­ this study may be dangerous to your health!


Prior to considering the subjective presence and action of Christ in, as, and through the Christian individual, it will serve us well to establish some parameters of historic Christian thought that should serve as safeguards against rampant subjectivism that does not remain grounded in Biblical tradition. Here are seven (7) proposed tenets of Christian teaching that should not be impinged upon by any consideration of the subjective indwelling and function of Christ in the Christian:
(1) The monotheistic distinction of the Creator God and the creation/creature.
(2) The Trinitarian unity of Being and function in the Godhead.
(3) The anthropological responsibility of man to derive spiritually in freedom of choice.
(4) The harmartiological Fall and alienation of man from God in sin.
(5) The historical space and time foundation of the Christian gospel.
(6) The Christological singularity of Christ's person and work as Savior and Lord.
(7) The soteriological restoration of humanity in regeneration and sanctification.


The institutional Church, at large, has been fearful that an emphasis on the subjective relationship of Christ and the Christian would impinge upon the basic foundations of Christian thought. But even more than this concern for ideological preservation has been their concern for ecclesiastical preservation. The tendencies to collectivization and objectification in the Western Church have allowed the ecclesiastical authorities to exercise power, maintain control, and "keep a handle on" the Christian enterprise. To allow the grace of God to function freely and subjectively in Christian individuals has been eschewed as a "risky business," allowing for too much individualism, too much subjectivism, and too much personal freedom.


The "good news" of the Christian gospel is that God in Christ is reinvested and restored in, as, and through the receptive Christian individual. The objective of the gospel is not to formulate an orthodox belief-system, nor to construct and maintain an ecclesiastical organization. The Spirit of Christ is free to express the character of Christ in novel and spontaneous ways in each Christian, and that unto the glory of God. The Holy Spirit must not be imprisoned in church structures, encased in book-interpretations, or relegated only to a judicial courtroom in the heavens. The Spirit of the living Christ is present in the Christian, existing as the identity of the Christian, and functioning to express Himself through the Christian. The documentation of these realities is the objective of this article.
Christ in us

Despite the attempts of Protestantism to objectify the benefits of Christ's work in an almost paranoid aversion to anything other than "alien righteousness," there have been evangelical Christians throughout the ages who have understood that the Person and work of Jesus Christ must not be only extrinsically applied, but that the living Person and activity of Christ indwells the spirit of the Christian. This fundamental reality of Christ's actual and spiritual presence within the Christian individual is so well-attested by direct New Testament references that those who "search the Scriptures" and are receptive to spiritual reality invariably recognize the indwelling presence of the living Christ.
Jesus Himself explained that He would give another Helper, the Spirit of truth, and His disciples would know that they were in Him, and He was in them (John 14:20). In His prayer for unity Jesus explained that He would be in His followers as God the Father was in Him, the Son (John 17:23).
The Apostle Paul clearly noted that the mystery of the gospel is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). He asked the Corinthians, "Do you not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?" (II Cor. 13:5), unless you are not a Christian. The essential reality that constitutes being a Christian is the indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ. "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Rom. 8:9), i.e. is not a Christian. Continuing his explanation to the Romans, Paul wrote, "If Christ is in you,...the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you" (Rom. 8:10,11). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, dwells in the Christian (cf. John 14:17; Rom. 8:9-11; I Cor. 6:19; II Tim. 1:14; James 4:5), and "bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).


The presence of Christ by His Spirit in the Christian is the presence of Himself as spiritual life in the individual. Christ is life. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), He told His disciples. There can be no spiritual life apart from His presence. Any reference to the Christian having "eternal life" must be understood by the presence of the One who is life. "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (I John 5:12). There is no possession of spiritual life apart from the Person who is life. There is no spiritual benefit apart from the presence of the divine Being of God in Christ. There is no salvation apart from the indwelling presence and activity of the risen and living Saviour.


Christian teaching has long referred to "spiritual regeneration," but because of its differing theological biases it has often inadequately indicated what this means. To be regenerated is to be "brought into being again" by the reception of divine life in the spirit of an individual. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Being "born again" or "born from above" (John 3:3,7) in "new birth" necessarily implies that the personified life of the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in the spirit of an individual who is thus constituted as a Christian.

When a person is regenerated a spiritual exchange takes place. The "spirit that works in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2), "the spirit of error" (I John 4:6), "the spirit of this world" (I Cor. 2:12), is exchanged for the "Spirit of truth" (I John 4:6), the "Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:11,12), the personified presence of the Spirit of Christ who works in the Christian (cf. Eph. 3:20; Phil. 2:13; Col. 1:29). The living Lord Jesus explained to Paul at the time of his conversion that this spiritual exchange was a "turning from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18). Regeneration is a spiritual exchange of spiritual personage within the spirit of an individual.

When the New Testament Scriptures refer to "Christ in us," the Greek preposition used is en. The primary meaning of this preposition refers to location or place within something. This locative meaning adequately explains the presence of the Spirit of Christ located in the spirit of an individual. A secondary instrumental meaning of the Greek preposition en expands the meaning of "Christ in us," however. Used in this secondary manner the preposition conveys the meaning of "by means of." Jesus Christ located in us is more than a static deposit in a particular place in the individual. The living Spirit of Christ is always the divine dynamic who acts and functions "by means of" us. Hence, we begin to see that "Christ in us" is foundational to "Christ as us" and "Christ through us." When the phrase "Christ in us" is used in the instrumental or causal sense of "Christ by means of us" it begins to anticipate the other phrases, and to merge or meld into the subsequent phrases of this study.

      This is why "Christ in us" is often employed as a comprehensive phrase to convey Christ's presence and activity in the Christian individual, inclusive of "Christ as us" and "Christ through us", as it can also include "Christ by means of us." The explicit New Testament references to "Christ in us" lend credence to its use as an all-inclusive phrase of Christ's presence and function in the Christian.
That Paul meant more by the phrase "Christ in you" than just locative placement of the presence of Christ becomes apparent when we examine his statement to the Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20. Christ is in us, not merely as a deposit of a commodity called "eternal life," but Christ lives in us as the personified and living function of the dynamic of divine life. If, according to Paul, I am no longer living, and Christ is "living in me," then we begin to understand that Christ is living as us.
Christ as us

For some readers this will be a phrase they have not previously encountered in popular Christian literature. They may have heard of "Christ in us" and Christ through us," but not "Christ as us." Admittedly, there is no explicit use of the phrase "Christ as us" in the New Testament, and this makes the phrase suspect in the minds of some Christians. The absence of a direct use of the phrase does not negate its legitimate expression of a Biblical and spiritual concept, however. If that were the case, we would have to deny the use of the words "trinity" and "rapture," for these are words not used in Scripture, but they most certainly express Biblical concepts and are commonly employed in Christian terminology. In like manner, "Christ as us" is a phrase that conveys an important Biblical theme not fully encompassed in the other phrases.

As noted above, "Christ in us" refers in its primary meaning to the location and placement of the presence of Christ within the spirit of a receptive individual. In its secondary meaning it refers to "Christ by means of us," but still does not carry with it the connotation of what the believer has become because of the presence and function of Jesus Christ within. Are we merely an occupied spirit-space? Or an invaded spirit-being? Or are we something/someone that we were not before we became a Christian? Did the spiritual exchange create a change in us? When we are regeneratively "brought into being again" are we different than we were previously? Or did we just receive an "eternal life" package by the placement of the Spirit of Christ within the location of our spirit?


The Biblical evidence reveals that the Christian becomes something or someone that he/she was not prior to becoming a Christian. Paul explains that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new" (II Cor. 5:17). The unregenerate "old man" (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9), worthy of death by personal accountability for sin, "has been crucified with Christ" (Rom. 6:6). Now by spiritual regeneration Christians have become a "new man" (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10) in Christ. Christians are transformed from being "a natural man" (I Cor. 2:14) into being "spiritual men" (I Cor. 3:1. Whereas they once were "children of the devil" (I John 3:10) and "sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2; 5:6), they are now "children of God" (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16; I John 3:1,2,10) and "sons of God" (Rom. 8:14,17; II Cor. 6:18; Gal. 3:26; 4:6,7; Heb. 2:10). By the presence and function of Jesus Christ within their spirit, believers are identified as "Christians" (Acts 11:26; I Pet. 4:16), indicating that they are Christ-ones.

All of these Biblical expressions and designations evidence the new identity of the one in whom Christ dwells and lives. Regeneration, the indwelling presence of the living Lord Jesus, does have the effect of making a person something that he was not before, a "new creature" with a new identity. Who we are as Christians is based on Who Christ is in us and as us, constituting us as Christ-ones. "Christ as us" is, therefore, a phrase that expresses our new identity in a way that the other phrases cannot convey.

Some might object that the "Christ as us" phrase, dealing as it does with identity, is just addressing a psychological need of modern man to have an individualized sense of self-identity, self-image, self-awareness, self-consciousness, self-concept, self-worth, etc. Not so! The phrase is not used to explain a psychological need or phenomenon, but to explain a spiritual reality of the Christian life that has an abundance of Scriptural statements relating to the fact that the Christian has become something and someone that he/she was not previously. At the very core of our being, in the innermost function of the human spirit, the Christian has become a new person with a new identity.

Psychology deals with the distinctive of our individuality in differing personalities, often referred to as a "perceived sense of identity in the psyche," but the deepest level of identity is always in the spirit of a person, and that in derived association and union with the spiritual being that indwells that person's spirit.
"Christ as us" refers to our identity as Christians by reason of His real spiritual presence and His being who He is in us. "Christ is our life" (Col. 3:4), and Christians "live together with" (I Thess. 5:10) and "through" (I John 4:9) Him. "Christ has become to us righteousness" (I Cor. 1:30). "We become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor. 5:21) when we are "created in righteousness" (Eph. 4:24) as a "new man" and are "made righteous" (Rom. 5:19). As "new creatures in Christ" (II Cor. 5:17), Christians are "created in holiness" (Eph. 4:24) and are "holy and beloved" (Col. 3:12) as "holy ones" or "saints" (cf. Rom. 1:7; 8:27; Eph. 1:18; 4:12). In Christ we are "perfect" (Phil. 3:15) and "sanctified" (Heb. 10:14) as "righteous men made perfect" (Heb. 12:23), for Christ "has become to us wisdom and sanctification" (I Cor. 1:24,30).

Jesus Christ becomes the basis of the spiritual identity of the Christian, but we must always understand that this is a derived identity, a derived life, a derived righteousness, holiness and perfection. These are not realities that we have become essentially or inherently in and by ourselves, but only by His presence within us. We are made righteous only because Christ, the "Righteous One" (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; I John 2:1) dwells and functions in us and as us. Christians are only said to be "holy" and "perfect" because Jesus Christ is the "Holy One" (Acts 3:14; 4:27,30), the One "made perfect forever" (Heb. 7:28), who has become the basis of our derived identity.

"Christ as us" is another way of referring to the Christian's "union with Christ" which has been a part of Christian understanding from the beginning of the Church. Christian thinkers have often struggled, however, to explain and articulate what Paul meant by his statement that "the one being joined to the Lord is one spirit (with Him)" (I Cor. 6:17). Likewise, they have shied away from Peter's assertion that Christians "have become partakers of divine nature" (II Peter 1:4). Clinging to the Greek humanistic idea of an inherent "human nature," Christians have often been blinded to the Scriptural explanation that "we were by nature (Greek phusis) children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3) in our unregenerate spiritual condition, when "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2) was indwelling and operative in us, but we are now "partakers of the divine nature (phusis)" (II Pet. 1:4), by the presence and function of "the Spirit of Christ" (Rom. 8:9) within the spirit of the Christian (cf. Rom. 8:16).

Being "partakers (koinonoi) of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4) and "partakers (metachoi) of Christ" (Heb. 3:14) implies that Christians are participants in Christ, sharing in the commonality of His nature and identity in spiritual union with Him. This participatory fellowship (koinonia) with the living Lord Jesus (I Cor. 1:9), with God the Father (I John 1:3,6), and with the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:1) indicates a spiritual union with the Triune Godhead.

This discussion of the Christian's spiritual identity in "union with Christ" raises a question: Is it legitimate to allow the phrase "Christ as us" to mean "Christ is us"? We have previously noted that Paul wrote "Christ is our life" (Col. 3:4) and "Christ has become to us righteousness" (I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 5:21). Our explanation has been that Christ is the basis of our new identity as a "new creature" (II Cor. 5:17) and as a "new man" (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10) in Him. Christ is the essence of who we are as Christ-ones, as Christians; the essence of our spiritual identity. Does this allow, then, for a legitimate usage of the phrase, "Christ is us"? Our logical syllogisms, grammatical phrases, and spiritual understanding must be carefully stated at this point.

 Though we might say, "Christ is us," in a qualified manner, is this to be interpreted in such a way that the equation can be turned around and stated, "We are Christ" or "I am Christ"? Without qualification such statements would be blasphemous! To claim to be God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit is to claim the essence of deity. This violates the monotheistic premise that Who (and what) God is, only God is. To claim to be Christ impinges upon several of the seven (7) foundational tenets of Christian teaching that we noted in the introduction to this study, particularly the monotheistic distinction of the Creator and the creature, the Trinitarian unity of the Godhead, and the Christological singularity of Christ's person and work.
 References to "Christ as us" and "Christ is us," and statements like "I am Jesus Christ in John Doe form" must be carefully explained so that any implication of the Christian's being equivalent to Christ is avoided. These phrases push the limits of the fine-line of demarcation that allows for a valid expression of the Christian's "union with Christ" wherein Christ is expressed as us, and the recognition, on the other hand, that the human individual is always a receptive, contingent and derivative creature distinguished from the essence of the Creator, God.

Previous mention was made to the two major branches of the Western Church, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, and how they have avoided reference to the subjective indwelling of Christ in the Christian individual by the over-collectivization of ecclesiasticism and the over-objectification of a law-based theology. There is another major segment of the Christian Church at large that has been long neglected by Western Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which includes the Greek, Russian, Cyprian and Serbian national churches, has a sustained history from the commencement of Christianity. This branch of the Church has traditionally cited the statements of the early church fathers concerning the Christian's participation in the divine nature in ways that make the Western Church very uncomfortable. Here are some examples of such statements:
"Our Lord Jesus Christ...became what we are, so that He might bring us to be even what He Himself is." - Irenaeus c. 180 AD 5
"The man of God is consequently divine and is already holy. He is God-bearing and God-borne." - Clement of Alexandria c. 195 AD 6
"You will be a companion of God, and a co-heir with Christ... For you have become divine... God has promised to bestow these upon you, for you have been deified and begotten unto immortality." - Hippolytus c. 225 AD 7
"...from Him there began the union of the divine with the human nature. This was so that the human ­ by communion with the divine ­ might rise to be divine. This not only happened in Jesus, but also in all those who not only believe, but enter upon the life that Jesus taught." - Origen c. 248 AD 8
"What man is, Christ was willing to be ­ so that man may also be what Christ is." - Cyprian c. 250 AD 9
"God became man so that man might become God." - Athanasius c. 325 AD 10
"God has called men 'gods' that are deified of His Grace, not born of His Substance." - Augustine c. 400 AD 11
The Eastern Church refers to this participation of the Christian in the divine nature as Theosis or "deification." This is strange-sounding terminology to most Western Christians. Eastern Orthodox theologians are careful to explain, though, that neither the early church fathers nor they are advocating that the Christian becomes God. They qualify "deification" by indicating that it is participation in the "energies" of God's presence and Being, rather than becoming the "essence" of the Being of God. Though they emphasize the intimacy of the union of the Christian with the "divine nature," they maintain at the same time that the creature always remains essentially distinct from God. They maintain a careful balance of union and distinction.

Protestant evangelicals in the Western Church are reluctantly admitting that the Eastern Orthodox teaching of Theosis or "deification" does not impinge upon the foundational teachings of Christianity, such as the seven (7) basic tenets enumerated in the introduction of this study. Robert M. Bowman, Jr., writing in the Christian Research Journal, states,
"It may surprise some to learn that a monotheistic doctrine of deification was taught by many of the church fathers, and is believed by many Christians today, including the entire Eastern Orthodox church. In keeping with monotheism, the Eastern orthodox do not teach that men will literally become 'gods' (which would be polytheism). Rather, as did many of the church fathers, they teach that men are 'deified' in the sense that the Holy Spirit dwells within Christian believers and transforms them into the image of God in Christ... Thus, it should not be argued that anyone who speaks of deification necessarily holds to a heretical view of man. Such a sweeping judgment would condemn many of the early church's greatest theologians (e.g., Athanasius, Augustine), as well as one of the three main branches of historic orthodox Christianity in existence today." 12
Alan F. Johnson and Robert Webber, theology professors at Wheaton College, write in their book, What Christians Believe:
"The first clearly articulated concept of the application of the work of Christ to the sinful human condition is developed in the East... This view is know as theosis or deification. ...This does not mean, as it may appear on the surface, that humanity shares in the essence of God. Human persons do not become God. Rather, because the work of Christ destroys the powers of evil, we are freed from those powers and able to come into fellowship with God... His redeemed creatures have been given the benefits and privileges of divinity through grace. The state of grace is seen as a state of communion with God, fellowship with the Trinity, a partaking of the divine." 13
F. W. Norris, professor at Emmanuel School of Religion, wrote an article entitled "Deification: Consensual and Cogent" in the Scottish Journal of Theology, indicating,
"...patristic theologians offered a remarkable view of what Protestants refer to as 'restoration' or 'fellowship'. These theologians ground it in a sense of Christian salvation: theosis or deification. ...No universal Christian consensus demands that one view of salvation includes or excludes all others. 14
"Poorly-read Protestants have insisted that the Eastern Orthodox idolatrously make us all little gods or that they think of participation in the divine nature only in physical terms. These charges are false. Orthodox theologians keep deification away from Gnostic or Manichaean speculation, or what we might recognize as the worst aspects of Far Eastern mysticism and now so-called New Age musings." 15
"We Christians have the promise of participating in the divine nature. ...Not only Eastern Orthodox but also Western theologians find solace in a sense of deification. Such restoration does not mean that we become God as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God. Our participation in the divine nature is in God's energies, not the essence, a participation through grace accepted in faith which includes being participants in Christ's sufferings." 16
More than any other in the context of recent Protestant evangelicalism, the British missionary statesman and author, Norman P. Grubb, emphasized the truth of Christ as the basis of the Christian's identity. It was the distinctive of his ministry to compel Christians to recognize their spiritual identity in Christ. The titles of his later books reveal this emphasis: Who Am I?17 and Yes I Am18. Grubb was very careful, however, to emphasize that the Christian's spiritual union with Christ did not mean "a relationship of total absorption."19 "The idea that we can be deified ­ that is blasphemy,"20 Grubb wrote. "The essence of idolatry is to claim to be what only God is..."21 "The creature never becomes the Creator."22 "The container never becomes the contents." "We are the creature, He the Creator, neither one becoming the other."23 "Our oneness with Christ does not alter our two-ness."24 "The human spirit...can be the container of the Divine Spirit...and yet not lose its own individuality in so being."25 "The human is forever the human, and the divine the divine."26 In these, and many other ways, Norman Grubb attempted to balance the union and distinction, unity and diversity, oneness and two-ness of the relationship of Christ and the Christian.

Having considered some Biblical bases for "union with Christ" and some theological background of how others have explained participation in the divine nature, it will now be beneficial to return to the consideration of the phrase "Christ as us" in order to do a brief grammatical study of the English word "as." In the English language the word "as" can be employed as an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, and even as a pronoun. Adverbially, "as" means "equivalent to" or "the same as." Used adverbially, "Christ as us" would mean "Christ is the same as us" or "Christ is as we are (I am)." Used as a conjunction, "as" means "in the same manner" or "to the same degree." The "Christ as us" phrase would then mean "Christ, in like manner as us." Our utilization of the "Christ as us" phrase in this study is primarily considering the word in the prepositional usage, where "as" refers to "function, role or capacity." "Christ serves as the identity of us." "Christ functions as us." "Christ expresses Himself as us." In like manner as the "Christ in us" and "Christ through us" phrases are prepositional, we are using "Christ as us" as a prepositional phrase also.
"Christ as us" means more than "Christ as if He were us" in an unreal and hypothetical fashion. The "Christ as us" phrase also means more than "Christ, as it were, so to speak, us" in a merely figurative and illustrative analogy. If the "Christ as us" phrase is interpreted as "Christ, represented as us," we must beware of any implications that Christ is just a sign or symbol represented in our lives, or that the Christian is "playing the part" or "taking the place of" Christ. On the other hand, there is legitimacy in the interpretation that "Christ is re-presented as us" in a contemporary manifestation of His life.
The meaning of the phrase "Christ as us," as used in this study, can be reduced to two (2) primary prepositional emphases: (1) Christ functioning as us in terms of the identity of our being. (2) Christ functioning as us in terms of the instrumentality of our activity. In other words, (1) Christ expressed ontologically as us. (2) Christ expressed operationally as us. The first of these has to do with the Being of Christ serving as the basis of the Christian's being and identity. The second of these has to do with the activity of Christ serving as the basis of the Christian's expression and behavior. These two aspects of "union with Christ," ontological union and operational union, are integrally united in the unity of God's Being and Action. God's Being is always expressed in His Action, and His Action is always invested with and expressive of His Being. In other words, there can be no detachment or separation in Who God is and what God does. In like manner, our behavior as Christians should be expressive of who we have become in Christ.
Our study of "Christ as us" has (to this point) focused primarily on the ontological sense of identity, so we now turn our attention to the operational sense of Christ's functioning as us in behavioral manifestation. Christ operating as us in the expression of Himself will eventually begin to merge into the meaning of "Christ through us," but in order to differentiate the emphases we will reserve the "Christ through us" phrase for the expression of Christ that extends beyond us to others.
"Christ manifested as us" implies the living reality of the presence of Christ in us, the basis of our new spiritual identity in our union with Christ as us. Christ cannot remain dormant within us as a static deposit of identification. The living Lord Jesus must of necessity express Himself dynamically as who He is in our behavior.

The Christian life is not a self-generated expression of moral and ethical behavior that attempts to conform to the example of Christ, and thereby be Christ-like. Rather, the Christian life is the Christ-life, Christ "living in me" (Gal. 2:20), lived out as us. Despite the misconceptions that abound in the religious thinking of many Christians today, the objective of the Christian life is not an imitation of the life of Jesus, but the manifestation of the very life of Jesus. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "We have this treasure (Christ) in earthen vessels (human bodies), that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; ...that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body, ...manifested in our mortal flesh" (II Cor. 4:7,10,11). The Christian life is not imitation, but manifestation of Jesus as us!

When Christ is expressed as us, manifesting His life and character in our behavior, this creates a unique re-presentation (see above) of Christ's life. Christians are not meant to be carbon copy, cookie-cutter conformists operating in Xerox uniformity. Utilizing our unique individualities and personalities, Christ lives out His life as us. This is accomplished in the spontaneity of allowing Jesus to function and express His character in whatever role or capacity we find ourselves, whether as husband or wife, employer or employee, leader or follower, etc. By faith the Christian allows for the receptivity of His active character expressed as us.


Ever since the writings of the early church fathers, many have referred to the active expression of "Christ as us" as the incarnational reality of Christianity. The historical incarnation of Jesus has often been made analogous to the relationship of Christ and the Christian. It has been noted that God was in the man, Jesus (Matt. 1:23; Jn. 17:21), incarnated as the man, Jesus (Jn. 1:14; Phil. 2:7-11), and acting through the man, Jesus (Jn. 14:10; Acts 2:22). The Christological incarnation of the Son of God is not identical, however, to the expression of "Christ as us." The incarnation of the Word of God involved the hypostatic union of God and man unified in one person, who was the singular mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2:5) as the God-man. Whenever the idea of incarnation is applied to Christians it must be in a generalized sense of the life and activity of the living Lord Jesus embodied "in us" and enfleshed "as us" as we functionally express Christ's life. This does not invalidate references to the contemporary incarnational expression of "Christ as us," but does reveal the necessity of always recognizing the difference between Christ's incarnation and the incarnational expression of Christ's life in our behavior.


The process of allowing for the expression of Christ's life in our behavior is called "sanctification." To be sanctified is not to achieve a sanctimonious piety by particular religious disciplines or by peculiar conformity of dress and behavior. To be sanctified is, rather, to allow Jesus, the Holy One (Acts 3:14; 4:27,30), who lives in us as the basis of our new spiritual identity to express His Holy character in the actions of our behavior. Thus, we are set apart to function as God intended, expressing His Holy character "in spirit and soul and body" (I Thess. 5:23).
A verse often cited to document "Christ's function as us" is found in John's first epistle. In the context of referring to God's love being perfected, i.e. brought to its intended end in expression towards others, John writes, "As He is, so are we in this world" (I Jn. 4:17).

The contextual meaning seems to be that "just as (kathos) Christ is the functional expression of God's love to others (mankind - cf. Jn. 3:16), so also we (Christians) are the functionally expressive agents of God's love within the world of mankind where we live." John's underlying assumption is that "Christ as us" (identity) will express God's divine love "as us" (activity) in consistent expression of the character of God (which is the primary thrust of John's epistle). This verse does refer to "Christ's function as us" in expressing God's love, but should not be wrenched from its context to mean "as Christ is in His essential Being, so we are in our essential being."


Christ functions as us by actually and actively living His life in us (Gal. 2:20). Christians are "saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10), and set free to function as God intended and as God energizes. Controlled and "filled with His Spirit" (Eph. 5:18), Christians manifest the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22,23), "the fruit of righteousness" (Eph. 5:9; Phil. 1:11; Heb. 12:11), which is the character of Christ. Again, this is not a character that Christians generate or actuate from their own energies and "works," but Christian character is only and always derived from Christ. Christians allow for the outworking of Christ's activity to which they are receptive in faith (James 2:17-26), engaging in "good works which were prepared beforehand that they should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10) as God "works in them that which is pleasing in His sight" (Heb. 13:21). Only by "Christ's function as us" do we "live godly in Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 3:12), to the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31; II Cor. 3:18; I Pet. 4:11), which is the purpose for which we were created (cf. Isa. 43:7).
Christ through us

Jesus Christ functionally expressing His life as us necessarily merges into an understanding of "Christ through us." As previously explained, the operational union of Christ as us, expressing His life and character through our behavior, was addressed in the previous section, whereas Christ functioning through us in extension to other persons will be the focus of our explanation here. These concepts are obviously integrated and should not be made into rigid categories or definitions. Much of our explanation of Christ's operational function as us could just as well have been explained as Christ's functional expression through us."
Having noted how the character of Christ is expressed in Christian behavior by "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22,23), we now note that the ministry of Christ is performed through us by the "gifts of the Spirit" (cf. Rom. 12; I Cor. 12; Eph. 4:8-16). The "fruit of the Spirit" has to do with the functional expression of the character of Christ, while the "gifts of the Spirit" have to do with the ministry of Christ to others in the context of the Body of Christ. It is most lamentable that in many portions of the Church today the "gifts of the Spirit" are regarded as marks of spirituality or trophies of spiritual possession, rather than as the means of Christ's ministry through Christians. The "gifts of the Spirit" should not be viewed as separated or detached entities or abilities, but only as the functional grace-expressions by which Christ ministers through any Christian in a given situation of another's need. (cf. Fowler, Charismata: the so-called "Spiritual Gifts")
The ministry activity of Jesus Christ during His historical, earthly ministry was accomplished as "the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5) was the "man attested by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him" (Acts 2:22). Jesus carefully explained that He did nothing of His own initiative (Jn. 5:19,30; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10), but declared, "the Father abiding in Me does His works" (Jn. 14:10). How did Jesus do what He did in His earthly ministry? Even the "miracles and wonders and signs" were what "God performed through Him."

Doctor Luke later writes that "the multitude were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles" (Acts 15:12). In like manner as Jesus ministered by being receptive to God's activity through Him, the apostles ministered in supernatural ways as God functioned through them. Writing to the Romans, Paul explained, "I do not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit" (Rom. 15:18,19). This is obviously a very explicit reference to Christ's function through the Christian.
The Greek word used in these references just cited is the Greek preposition dia which has a primary and direct meaning of procession through an object, place, or person. It often conveys the meaning of extension through that goes beyond and out from the object, place, or person. This idea of extension beyond ourselves unto others is important in the understanding of "Christ through us" as Christians. A secondary, instrumental meaning of dia is "by means of, which allows the word to have the same secondary meaning as the Greek preposition en, revealing that these prepositions tend to overlap one another in meaning and must not be treated with rigid precision.
The presence and function of the living Jesus in, as, and through the Christian is not for the purpose or objective of making us spiritually bloated "knowers," full of pride in our alleged "spirituality" and what we "know" as Gnostic elitists. The only thing, the only One, we know is Him, Jesus Christ, in an ontological knowing of relational intimacy, rather than an epistemological knowledge of data that merely puffs us up in arrogance (I Cor. 8:1). The One we know is Jesus. Jesus is God (John 10:30). God is love (I John 4:8,16). God as love is a Self who has no needs and exists only for others, expressing Himself in grace and love and givingness. Therefore, when Jesus functions in us, and as us, and through us, He is always expressing Himself in grace and love for others.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is written, "Christ always lives to make intercession..." (Heb. 7:25), for His is a permanent priesthood (Heb. 7:24). In that case, He must live in us, and as us, and through us to make intercession for others. Christians have long advocated "intercessory prayer" for others, but seldom have they considered what it means to engage in "intercessory lives" or "intercessory ministry" for others. The intent of God in Christ was to provide for "a kingdom of priests" (Exod. 19:6) who would function as a royal intercessory priesthood (I Peter 2:9) as "priests of the Lord and ministers of God" (Isa. 61:6) for others. Christians are that kingdom of priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10), wherein the sacrificial and intercessory character of God is to function for others.

Without thought for Himself, Jesus "laid down His life" (John 10:17,18; I Jn. 3:16) for others, and as He lives in and through the Christian He will continue to express the same self-sacrifice, self-surrender, and self-giving that is inherent in God's character. As Christians "lay down their lives for the brethren" (I Jn. 3:16), it is not for the same redemptive and propitiatory purpose which was singularly fulfilled by the Person of Christ, but the same willingness to be an expendable investiture for others remains. Christians thereby begin to recognize that participation and fellowship (koinonia) with Christ is not only the commonality of union with Him in an identity that expresses itself as us, but also involves participating in "the fellowship (koinonia) of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). As Paul invested himself in ministry unto others, he indicated that he was "filling up what was lacking in Christ's affliction" (Col. 1:24) because Christ continued to suffer in and as him.

"The sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance" (II Cor. 1:5), but "we suffer with Him that we might be glorified with Him" (Rom. 8:17), Paul wrote in other letters. "Christ through us" involves being willing "to stand in the gap" (Ezek. 22:30) for others, recognizing that our present physical bodies and lives are expendable since we have the spiritual continuity and perpetuity of Christ's eternal life.
"Christ through us" is the extension of Christ's ministry through Christians. The objective of that ministry is not for self-indulgent progression unto knowledge or spirituality, but is always Christ giving Himself to and for others in us, as us, and through us.
Conclusion

The phrases we have considered in this study, "Christ in us," "Christ as us," and "Christ through us," are not necessarily to be understood as progressive, successive or sequential steps or stages of spiritual knowledge or spiritual growth. Though we have differentiated between them, they often meld and merge into an integrated and comprehensive emphasis of "Christ by means of us," as this is a permissible interpretation of all three prepositions. We should avoid analyzing the meaning of these three phrases too precisely or rigidly, allowing the living reality of Christ to express Himself as He will. It is questionable whether the realities that these phrases refer to should be cast into separate theological categories as some have done, attempting to represent them as justification, sanctification, and glorification; or as regeneration, unification, and ministration. Even illustrative analogies such as John's reference to "children, young men, and fathers" (I John 2:12-14) are best avoided, as these are often misleading.


When an individual is regenerated by the receipt of the Spirit of Christ into his/her spirit (Rom. 8:9), Christ is in that person, immanently indwelling them; Christ forms their identity, functioning as them, for Christ cannot help but act as the Being that He is; and Christ is living through them, laying down His life in intercessory ministry for others.
Despite the caution of defining these internal spiritual realities too precisely, the following differentiations may be helpful for general definition. "Christ in us" has to do with indwelling; "Christ as us" has to do with identity; "Christ through us" has to do with intercession. The preposition "in" refers to location; the preposition "as" refers to function; the preposition "through" refers to extension. "Christ in us" points to Presence ­ the real presence of the living Lord Jesus in our spirit; "Christ as us" suggests Identity ­ His presence establishes our new identity as Christ-ones; "Christ through us" implies Expression ­ Christ's presence and function necessitates His expression through us unto others.
In conclusion let us note that Paul wrote of the Corinthians "being manifested as a letter of Christ,...written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God...on tablets of human hearts" (II Cor. 3:3). Christ living by means of us creates a unique living epistle that re-presents Christ to others in the contemporary form of our own lives. Such a presentation of Christ in us, and as us, and through us, may be the only living form of Jesus that another person may ever observe. This adaptation of another's verse seems to capture the point poetically:
"CHRIST is writing a letter in you each day.
The message, that is HIM, must be true.
'Tis the only Jesus that some men may see ­
The life of Christ expressed as and through YOU.

 thanks always a joy to read...

Thursday, January 22, 2015

God seeks to manifest himself to those who do not seek him (Isiah)

The law can be a week old or centuries old; but the leading of the Spirit can never be twenty-four hours old." -- Watchman Nee

 Narrow way been a non institutionalized faith spirit led  is such, the blog was often done on a fly, like faith God does not provide the vision till your at the gate od seeking faith comes by trusting him or having to.

My prayers for the people locked in   darkest  cults and for those hurt in it,,  found or unfound there is a way out, if their is any recollection of family and hope, or your a generational member , the thirst for power and control, will not satisfy over others, and the evil done in any way can be  corrected and for given through JESUS CHRIST.

You've operated largely in impunity in our pragmatic culture, it can not see you because of it's blinding effect of  it's self imposed creation.  And many ways provided a cloak of doubt and materialism,  neither of which have any means of  truly satisfying the inward needs or aid discernment which I know you know. But God sees even if his people do not see,  God will send those who do see and hear. Including himself God seeks to manifest him self to those who are not seeking him, ISIAH kj3 so your not without hope.


I pray for   those who claim faith, and lived in denial of their  responsibilities, or selecting what can only be seen by and for the glory of man.  like I once did, as well.  Because your rapid growth is clear indicator of the condition of  the absence  of faith made it easy to come through. 

 The hand of the Spirit may have been with withdrawn through  steady stream of philosophical doubt by  those whom you mentioned over the years , , God will  do as Isaiah said,  he will go to them, as he has to the Muslim world and convert through dreams with out our version of religion but living a Christ who has power and love.

In the years out my natural man would not have risk so much,  and so intensely for the benefit of the  night.  But the inward man would lay the   ways open,  live without sight,  and sent to the places we met  or spoke by  symbols to see and hear the son of life provide  his blessing to see many set free.

There is freedom for the generational Satanist, as  their is for those captivated in the black hermetic, or any of those places or any other form. 

 Praying for those I met in the 12 years out. And for those afraid to share the things done either way, JESUS  can provide real peace and healing,  in a complete manor. Love is real... praying for those who followed my blog on the topic, have not forgotten those words and the faces, what that life must be lived in I saw  in things you do,,, their is hope , freedom,  I know. JESUS is the only life,

Narrowway 1 Corinthian 1-4. John 13-17 KJ3 just a poem? for you a way out,  like it was for me...













Wednesday, January 21, 2015

A reason to know, more than not knowing

https://www.barna.org/barna-update/faith-spirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exis#.VL_LCxt0wY0

explains the powerless estate !


April 10, 2009 –A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs –
but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent.
The survey explored beliefs about spiritual beings, the influence of faith on their life, views of the Bible, and reactions to faiths other than their own.
Views on Spiritual Beings
The Barna survey asked questions about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Satan, and demons.
All 1,871 self-described Christians were asked about their perception of God. In total, three-quarters (78%) said he is the “all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe who rules the world today.” The remaining one-quarter chose other descriptions of God – depictions that are not consistent with biblical teaching (e.g., everyone is god, god refers to the realization of human potential, etc.).
For the other survey items a four-point opinion scale was used to measure people’s reactions to statements about each spiritual entity.

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan.
Although a core teaching of the Christian faith is the divinity and perfection of Jesus Christ, tens of millions of Christians do not accept that teaching. More than one-fifth (22%) strongly agreed that Jesus Christ sinned when He lived on earth, with an additional 17% agreeing somewhat. Holding the opposing view were 9% who disagreed somewhat and 46% who disagreed strongly. Six percent did not have an opinion on this matter.

Much like their perceptions of Satan, most Christians do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a living force, either. Overall, 38% strongly agreed and 20% agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” Just one-third of Christians disagreed that the Holy Spirit is not a living force (9% disagreed somewhat, 25% disagreed strongly) while 9% were not sure.
A majority of Christians believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces, such as demons or evil spirits. Two out of three Christians agreed that such influence is real (39% agreed strongly, 25% agreed somewhat), while just three out of ten rejected the influence of supernatural forces (18% disagreed strongly, 10% disagreed somewhat). The remaining 8% were undecided on this matter.
 
Influence of Faith
Most self-described Christians contend that their religious faith has significantly impacted their life. Almost six out of ten adults (59%) said their faith had “greatly transformed” their life, while 29% said their faith “has been helpful but has not greatly transformed” their life and 9% stated that their religious faith “has not made much of a difference” in who they are and how they live.
Christians were asked if they believed that a person must either side with God or with the devil – that there is no in-between position. A large majority strongly agreed with the notion (61%) while an additional 15% agreed somewhat. Just one out of ten adults disagreed somewhat (10%) and a similar proportion (11%) disagreed strongly. Surprisingly few adults (3%) did not have an opinion on this matter.
A large majority of Christians also proclaimed that the most important purpose in their life is to “love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul,” a notion drawn directly from the Bible (Mark 12:29-30). In total, three out of four self-described Christians (74%) strongly affirmed that idea, while 15% more agreed somewhat with the statement. Just 4% strongly disagreed and 7% somewhat disagreed with the statement. Three percent said they were not sure.

Thoughts on Other Faiths
Among self-identified Christians, few held a positive opinion of Wicca. Overall, just 5% had a positive opinion while 55% had a negative opinion of Wicca. However, a huge segment (40%) did not know enough about Wicca to have formed an opinion of it, despite it being described to them as “an organized form of witchcraft.”
Survey respondents were asked whether they believed that Mormons are Christians. Mormons themselves claim to be Christian, but most evangelical leaders say that they are not. There was no clear-cut perspective among the self-described Christians: four out of ten felt Mormons were Christian (18% strongly agreed, 21% somewhat agreed), three out of ten disagreed (17% strongly, 12% somewhat), and three out of ten were not sure what to think.
When asked whether it was important to them to have “active, healthy relationships with people who belong to religious faiths that do not accept the central beliefs of your faith,” about two-thirds of the self-professed Christians claimed it was important. Thirty-six percent agreed strongly with the notion, and 29% agreed somewhat, while 11% disagreed strongly and 16% disagreed somewhat. The other 8% did not have an opinion.
 
Views on the Bible
A slight majority of Christians (55%) strongly agree that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches, with another 18% agreeing somewhat. About one out of five either disagree strongly (9%) or somewhat (13%) with this statement, and 5% aren’t sure what to believe.
There is no similar clarity among self-defined Christians regarding how the Bible compares to other holy books. When faced with the statement that “the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths,” the group was evenly split between those who accepted the idea (19% agreed strongly, 22% agreed somewhat) and those who rejected it (28% disagreed strongly, 12% disagreed somewhat), while leaving a sizeable portion (20%) undecided.
 
Inconsistencies Noted
The study also identified a number of instances in which people’s beliefs seemed inconsistent. Among those were the following:
  • About half (47%) of the Christians who believed that Satan is merely a symbol of evil nevertheless agreed that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons.
  • About half (49%) of those who agreed that the Holy Spirit is only a symbol but not a living entity also agreed that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches, even though the Bible clearly describes the Holy Spirit as more than a symbolic reference to God’s power or presence.
  • About one-third (33%) of the self-defined Christians who agree that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon all teach the same truths simultaneously contend that the Bible is totally accurate in its principles, even though the three sacred books have very different ideas about truth, salvation, and the nature of God.
 
How Born Agains Differ
The study examined how one segment of the Christian population – those whose beliefs about salvation categorize them as “born again” – differ from the beliefs of people who describe themselves as Christian but do not base their view of salvation solely on confession of sin and God’s grace received through Jesus Christ. (The Barna Group has labeled the latter group “notional Christians.”) For each of the 13 questions examined in the study, there were statistically significant differences between these two segments of the Christian population. Among the most significant gaps in belief were the following:
  • Born again adults are at least twice as likely as nationals to strongly agree that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches; that their life has been greatly transformed by their faith; that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons; and to hold an unfavorable opinion of Wicca.
  • Born again adults are more than twice as likely as notional to strongly disagree that Satan is just a symbol of evil, and that Jesus sinned while He lived on earth.
  • Born again adults are more than three times as likely as notional's to strongly disagree that the Holy Spirit is merely a symbol of God’s power or presence; that Mormons are Christians; and that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon teach the same truths.
  • Born again adults are one-third more likely than notional's to possess a definition of God as the omniscient, omnipotent creator and ruler of the world; nearly 60% more likely to believe that you either side with God or Satan because there is no in-between position; and slightly more than 50% more likely to say their chief purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul.
  • The smallest difference between the two segments related to the importance of having active relationships with people who reject the central tenets of the person’s faith. Born again adults were slightly more likely to strongly agree that such relationships were important to them (39% versus 31%).
 
Americans Are Struggling to Make Sense of Their Faith
George Barna, the author of nearly four dozen books analyzing research concerning America’s faith, suggested that Americans are constantly trying to figure out how to make sense of biblical teachings in light of their daily experiences.
“Most Americans, even those who say they are Christian, have doubts about the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world. Hollywood has made evil accessible and tame, making Satan and demons less worrisome than the Bible suggests they really are. It’s hard for achievement-driven, self-reliant, independent people to believe that their lives can be impacted by unseen forces. At the same time, through sheer force of repetition, many Americans intellectually accept some ideas – such as the fact that you either side with God or Satan, there’s no in-between – that do not get translated into practice.”
Barna also noted that Christians tend to be open to co-existence with other faiths. “Most people understand that America’s religious life is diverse,” explained the author of a forthcoming book about the nation’s faith segments, The Seven Faith Tribes. “A majority of Christians are generally open to maintaining relationships with people of other faiths, and most are not predisposed to judging people of different faiths, such as Mormons or Wiccans. But that open-mindedness is sometimes due to their limited knowledge about the principles of their own faith and ignorance about other faiths as it is to a purposeful acceptance of other faiths.”
 
About the Research
This report is based upon telephone interviews conducted by The Barna Group for two surveys among people who described themselves as “Christian.” A total of 1,871 adults were randomly selected from across the 48 continental states, with the first 873 interviews conducted in January and February, 2008, and the remaining 998 interviews conducted in November 2008. The aggregate sample The range of sampling error associated with a sample of 1,871 people is between ±1.0 and ±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The range of sampling error associated with the sub-sample of 873 adults is between ±1.5 and ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The range of sampling error associated with the sub-sample of 998 adults is between ±1.4 and ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Minimal statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages in relation to several key demographic variables.
“Born again Christians” were defined as people who said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that was still important in their life today and who also indicated they believed that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”


The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research on a wide range of issues and products, produces resources pertaining to cultural change, leadership and spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based resources, both free and at discounted prices, are also available through that website.
© The Barna Group, Ltd, 2009.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

escaping into faith.


Religion", say the theologians, "lies in the will." What our will is set to do is what really matters at last. Aridity has nothing to do with the will.

  "If any man will," said Jesus; He did not say "If any man feel." Feeling is the play of emotion over the will, a kind of musical accompaniment to the business of living, and while it is indeed most enjoyable to have the band play as we march to Zion it is by no means indispensable. We can work and walk without music, and if we have true faith we can walk with God without feeling.
Tozar

Monday, January 12, 2015

Digging deeper than guessing

Our faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" 1Corinth 2;5.The truth is not in twisting them  for false dichotomy's.


JESUS ONLY

NW

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Reality over pragamatic religion

We Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood "Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days" (Dan. 10:12, 13).

We have wonderful teaching here on prayer, and we are shown the direct hindrance from Satan.

Daniel had fasted and prayed twenty-one days, and had a very hard time in prayer. As far as we read the narrative, it was not because Daniel was not a good man, nor because his prayer was not right; but it was because of a special attack of Satan.

The Lord started a messenger to tell Daniel that his prayer was answered the moment Daniel began to pray; but an evil angel met the good angel and wrestled with him, hindering him. There was a conflict in the heavens; and Daniel seemed to go through an agony on earth the same as that which was going on in the heavens.

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers? against wicked spirits in high places" (Eph. 6:12), margin..

Satan delayed the answer three full weeks. Daniel nearly succumbed, and Satan would have been glad to kill him; but God will not suffer anything to come above that we "are able to bear."

Many a Christian's prayer is hindered by Satan; but you need not fear when your prayers and faith pile up; for after a while they will be like a flood, and will not only sweep the answer through, but will also bring some new accompanying blessing. --Sermon

Hell does its worst with the saints. The rarest souls have been tested with high pressures and temperatures, but Heaven will not desert them. --W. L. Watkinson

Seeing another way

Sorrow, God's Plowshare

"Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better" (Eccles. 7:3).

When sorrow comes under the power of Divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience and service. Gay, trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the little meannesses in their nature. Sorrow is God's plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never fallen, or were in a glorified state, then the strong torrents of Divine joy would be the normal force to open up all our souls' capacities; but in a fallen world, sorrow, with despair taken out of it, is the chosen power to reveal ourselves to ourselves. Hence it is sorrow that makes us think deeply, long, and soberly.

Sorrow makes us go slower and more considerately, and introspect our motives and dispositions. It is sorrow that opens up within us the capacities of the heavenly life, and it is sorrow that makes us willing to launch our capacities on a boundless sea of service for God and our fellows.

We may suppose a class of indolent people living at the base of a great mountain range, who had never ventured to explore the valleys and canyons back in the mountains; and some day, when a great thunderstorm goes careening through the mountains, it turns the hidden glens into echoing trumpets, and reveals the inner recesses of the valley, like the convolutions of a monster shell, and then the dwellers at the foot of the hills are astonished at the labyrinths and unexplored recesses of a region so near by, and yet so little known. So it is with many souls who indolently live on the outer edge of their own natures until great thunderstorms of sorrow reveal hidden depths within that were never hitherto suspected.

God never uses anybody to a large degree, until after He breaks that one all to pieces. Joseph had more sorrow than all the other sons of Jacob, and it led him out into a ministry of bread for all nations. For this reason, the Holy Spirit said of him, "Joseph is a fruitful bough?by a well, whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22). It takes sorrow to widen the soul. --The Heavenly Life

The dark brown mould's upturned
By the sharp-pointed plow;
And I've a lesson learned.

My life is but a field,
Stretched out beneath God's sky,
Some harvest rich to yield.

Where grows the golden grain?
Where faith? Where sympathy?
In a furrow cut by pain.
--Afaltbie D. Babcock

Every person and every nation must take lessons in God's school of adversity. "We can say, 'Blessed is night, for it reveals to us the stars.' In the same way we can say, 'Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort.' The floods washed away home and mill, all the poor man had in the world. But as he stood on the scene of his loss, after the water had subsided, broken-hearted and discouraged, he saw something shining in the bank which the waters had washed bare. 'It looks like gold,' he said. It was gold. The flood which had beggared him made him rich. So it is ofttimes in life." --H. C. Trumbull

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Step by Step

Step-By-Step Grace 




    "When thou passest through the waters...they shall not overflow thee" (Isa. 43:2).

God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out.

Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise.
Many people dread death, and lament that they have not "dying grace." Of course, they will not have dying grace when they are in good health, in the midst of life's duties, with death far in advance. Why should they have it then? Grace for duty is what they need then, living grace; then dying grace when they come to die. --J. R. M.

"When thou passest through the waters"
Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge,
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He, the faithful God and true:
"When thou comest to the waters

Thou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH."

Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation
Sweeping over heart and brain
They shall never overflow us
For we know His word is true;
All His waves and all His billows
He will lead us safely through.

Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt's insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!
We shall not go down, or under,
For He saith, "Thou passest THROUGH."
--Annie Johnson Flint

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

BAD COOL-AIDE

Steps toward Global Mind Control
under the banner of "Mental Health" and Education
 
 Three references to "EUGENICS" are highlighted
1909. Five years after his release from a primitive "insane asylum," Clifford Beers, formed the U.S. National Committee for Mental Hygiene" and called for a network of mental hygiene societies throughout the world."1
1910. The Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor in New York was funded by the Carnegie Institute, and would receive funding from the Rockefeller Foundation three years later. "The Rockefeller Foundation also will fund Nazi Dr. Ernst Rudin's eugenics research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Brain Research Institute in Berlin. [See 1932]" [Dr. Dennis L.Cuddy]
1916. In Democracy and Education, John Dewy wrote, "There is always the danger that increased personal independence will decrease the social capacity of an individual. In making him more self-reliant, it may make him more self-sufficient.... It often makes an individual so insensitive in his relations to others as to develop an illusion of being really able to stand and act alone -- an unnamed form of insanity which is responsible for a large part of the remedial suffering of the world."2, Cuddy page 13.
 
1918. In The Science of Power, Benjamin Kidd wrote, "The main cause of those deep diving differences which separate peoples and nationalities and classes from each other and which prevent or stultify collective effort in all its most powerful forms... could all be swept away if civilization put before itself the will to impose on the young the ideal of subordination to the common aims of organized humanity... So to impose it has become the chief end of education in the future. ... Give us the Young and we will create a new mind and new earth in a single generation."
    Kidd goes onto quote Masonic Carbonari leader Guiseppe Mazzini (1805-1872): "Your task is to form the universal family.... Education, this is the great word which sums up our whole doctrine. [From Mazzini's On the Duties of Man].  According to Dennis Cuddy, Kidd emphasizes Mazzini message that "education is addressed through emotion to the moral faculties in the young and instruction to the intellectual (faculties)." "Power centres in emotion."2 Cuddy, page 14
 
1919. With funding from the Commonwealth Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation, Clifford Beers "formed the predecessor of WFMH [World Federation for Mental Health], the International Committee for Mental Hygiene (ICMH). Other supporters were Clarence Hincks, M.D., of the Canadian Medical Association, Adolph Meyer, M.D. of Johns Hopkins Hospital; and psychologist William James of Harvard.  William James, John Dewey and other socialist visionaries spread the philosophy of pragmatism, which denies Biblical truth, sees truth as relative, and tests its validity by its practical and measurable effects.
    Note: Remember, almost every public step in this social revolution won public sympathy and acceptance by focusing on a real crisis. But in the hands of socialist change agents, the nice-sounding "solution" became a stepping stone to an ever expanding web of control.1
 
1920. Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology (TIMP) pioneered research into psychological warfare under the direction of Brigadier-General John Rawlings Rees.1 Here, the British Army Bureau of Psychological Warfare would study the effects of severe stress and shellshock on British soldiers and research the human "breaking point" in order to learn how conflict and psychological shock could be used to manipulate and manage large human populations. 3?
1920s. The eugenics movement (quest for racial purity) spread through Western nations.
1925. The Rockefeller Foundation funded the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Psychiatry in Munick, directed by Dr. Ernst Rudin. Additional funding was provided by the Harrimans, Warburg and the British Crown. It continued to sponsor the Institute and its Nazi leader throughout the devastating holocaust of World Ward II. 4?
1925. A  Rockefeller Foundation's grant gives birth to the International Bureau of Education.2 Cuddy 15
1930.  The ICMH’s First International Congress on Mental Hygiene, held in Washington, D.C., founded the International Committee for Mental Hygiene. The Congress drew more than 4,000 participants.1
1932. Rockefeller Foundation president Max Mason tells trustees that "The Social Sciences will concern themselves with the rationalization of social control... the control of human behavior." 2 Cuddy 18
1932. Dr. Ernst Rudin, the Nazi director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Psychiatry (funded by "Rockefeller) was appointed president of the global Eugenics Federation.
1934 (February). A Rockefeller "progress report" (by one of the division heads) asks, "Can we develop so sound and extensive a genetics that we can hope to breed, in the future, superior men?"2 Cuddy, 18.
1930-33. Hitler came to power and delegated Rudin to direct the Racial Hygiene Society, which called for sterilization or death of people considered "racially impure." The Rockefeller Foundation funded an anthropological survey of the eugenically correct population by Nazi eugenicists Rudin and others. 4?
1933. British Columbia's Sexual Sterilization Act of 1933. In the 1970s, former health minister Dennis Cocke helped strike down that law. He said, "Many people thought, like I did, that it was disgusting that somehow or another a profession could deem a person other than a human being."5
1937. The ICMH’s Second International Congress on Mental Hygiene. 1
1937. "In Wadenberg, Germany, a court has taken parents away from their children because they refused to teach them Nazi ideology. The parents are pacifists, members of a Christian sect called International Bible Researchers. The court accused them of creating an environment where the children would grow up 'enemies of the state.' The children were delivered into the state's care. The judge delivered a lengthy statement reading in part, 'The law as a racial and national instrument entrusts German parents with the education of their children only under certain conditions, namely, that they educate them in the fashion that the nation and state expect.'" (Clifton Daniel, Ed., Chronicle of the 20th Century, cites a news article published Nov. 29, 1937)
1939. Rockefeller Foundation helps launch the School-Health Coordinating Service.2 Cuddy 22
1940s. "Otmar Verschuer and his assistant Dr. Joseph Mengele together wrote reports for special courts, which enforced Rudin's racial purity law against the illegal cohabitation of Aryans and non-Aryans. In the early 1940s, a large factory was built "at Auschwitz... to utilize the Standard Oil IG Farbin patents with concentration camp slave labor to make gasoline from coal.  The SS guarded the Jewish and other inmates and selected for killing those who were unfit for IG Farbin slave labor.... Standard Oil and German President Emil Heilfeck testified after the war at the Nuremberg Trial that Standard Oil funds helped pay for the SS guards at Auschwitz.  The Rockefeller Foundation defends its record by claiming that its funding of Nazi Germany programs during World War II was limited to psychiatric research.4
1941 (fall): "The resurgence of an international mental hygiene movement [eugenics] was foreshadowed by the Canadian army’s creation... of the Directorate of Personnel Selection, led by psychiatrist G. Rudin,  G. Brock Chisholm, M.D. In that role he became a friend and confidant of American psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan, M.D., then a consultant to the U.S. Selective Service. Both were concerned with how to select a civilian army and what public mental health resources would be necessary after the war. 1  Origins of the World Federation for Mental Health
1943: The Rockefeller Foundation helped fund the Allen Memorial Institute at McGill University in Montreal. Working with the Canadian military and the Office of Strategic Services (The OSS became the CIA in 1947), Dr. Cameron conducted torturous experiments on human guinea pigs in order to perfect the various mind control techniques. These brainwashing tactics included coercive interrogation, psychosurgery, drugs, hypnosis and "between 30 to 60 electroshocks over a short period" along with powerful tranquilizers to control anxiety. Cameron's justification: his patients, "like prisoners of Communists, tended to resist and had to be broken down." This is described in the 1989 book, Journey Into Madness: The True Story of Secret CIA Mind Control and Medical Abuse
1945. Immediately after the bombing of Hiroshima..., Dr. Sullivan invited Chisholm, then director of medical services for the Canadian army, to lecture at the William Alanson White Foundation. In two addresses, titled 'The Psychiatry of Enduring Peace and Social Progress,' he articulated his view of psychiatry and psychology as the disciplines that could make it possible for human beings to abandon war and become 'citizens of the world.' He and Sullivan were already thinking in terms of 'a psychiatry of peoples.'" 1 Origins of the World Federation for Mental Health
1946. The United States joined UNESCO. According to Charlotte Iserbyt, "this legislation was accompanied by President Harry Truman's remarkable statement: 'Education must establish the moral unity of mankind.' Truman's recommendation was bolstered by General Brock Chisholm, a... friend of Soviet agent Alger Hiss. Chisholm... presented a paper entitled The Psychiatry of Enduring Peace and Social Progress.  [Charlotte Iserbyt]
    Ponder Chisholm's words:
 "The responsibility for charting the necessary changes in human behavior rests clearly on the sciences working in that field. Psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, economists, and politicians must face this responsibility....
     "Can we identify the reasons why we fight wars...? Many of them are easy to list --prejudice, isolationism, the ability to emotionally and uncritically to believe unreasonable things....

     "The only psychological force capable of producing these perversions is morality, the concept of right and wrong...   For many generations we have bowed our necks to the yoke of the conviction of sin. We have swallowed all manner of poisonous certainties fed us by our parents, our Sunday and day school teachers.... 
      "...it has long been generally accepted that parents have perfect right to impose any points of view, any lies or fears, superstitions, prejudices, hates, or faith on their defenseless children. It is, however, only recently that it has become a matter of certain knowledge that these things cause neuroses, behavior disorders, emotional disabilities, and failure to develop to a state of emotional maturity which fits one to be a citizen of a democracy....
     "Surely the training of children in home and schools should be of at least as great public concern as their vaccination for their own protection.... Individuals who have emotional disabilities of their own, guilts, fears, inferiorities, are certain to project their hates on to others... They are a very real menace... Whatever the cost, we must learn to live in friendliness and peace with... all the people in the world...."
      "There is something to be said... for gently putting aside the mistaken old ways of our elders if that is possible. If it cannot be done gently, it may have to be done roughly or even violently....
     "Can such a program of re-education... be charted?"8
1946. Dr. Sullivan, US psychiatrist and army major, published the above message by Brock Chisholm in his journal, Psychiatry:
    "Alger Hiss, a Communist spy and the publisher of International Conciliation published the same paper by his friend, Dr. Chisholm, in his own journal. Hiss, then president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote the Preface to Chisholm's paper. [Charlotte Iserbyt]

1946 or 1947. (Both dates have been cited)
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is formed as an independent not-for-profit organization -- with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, which "was interested in seeing if the kind of social psychiatry that had been developed during World War II could be relevant for the civilian society."
    It would own the journal Human Relations. "Canadian-born psychologist and social analyst Elliott Jacques.... was the man who first identified the midlife crisis... Jaques was... a founder member of the Tavistock Institute." 9 http://education.guardian.co.uk/obituary/story/0,12212,934548,00.html

1947. Articles of Association for the World Federation for Mental Health were written. Rees (Tavistock) had already established preparatory groups in many countries. US participants included members of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) led by recent Brigadier General William Menninger. They were sensitive to the new organization’s definition of purpose: "To promote among all peoples and nations the highest possible level of mental health....in its broadest biological, medical, educational, and social aspects."1
     The official  WFMH website website describes its vision: "a world in which mental health is a priority for all people. Public policies and programs reflect the crucial importance of mental health in the lives of individuals, families and communities, and in the political and economic stability of the world."
1948 (July/August) "Canadian social psychologist Otto Klineberg, M.D., Ph.D. and others... were joined by Chisholm, social scientists such as Margaret Mead (the federation’s second U.S. president) ...in an international commission convened at Sullivan’s suggestion. It produced the new federation’s founding document, Mental Health and World Citizenship." 1
1948. (August 21) The Third International Congress of Mental Hygiene met in London. Here, the International Committee for Mental Hygiene is replaced by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH).  It would "enjoy consultative relationship with several UN agencies and... national groups."10  Its founding document, Mental Health and World Citizenship, was adopted. It stated, “Principles of mental health cannot be successfully furthered in any society unless there is progressive acceptance of the concept of world citizenship." The ultimate goal of mental health is to help people "live with their fellows in one world." See also "The UN Plan for Your Mental Health"
1948. The World Health Organization is founded with Brock Chisholm as its first Director-General.
 
1948. "Professors B. F. Skinner and Alfred C. Kinsey published their books, Walden Two and Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, respectively. Skinner's novel, Walden Two, recommended - amongst other radical things - that 'children be reared by the state, to be trained from birth to demonstrate only desirable characteristics and behavior.'
      "Kinsey, as a taxonomic scientist, wrested human sexuality from the constraints of love and marriage in order to advance the grand scheme to move America and the world toward the eugenic future envisioned by the elite scientists of the 'New Biology,'...
      "In 1953 Professor Skinner published Science and Human Behavior in which he said, "Operant conditioning shapes behavior as a sculptor shapes a lump of clay.'...
      "Kinsey and Bloom, as scientists, were involved in the breaking down of man (taxonomizing) into units of behavior which Skinner, as a behaviorist, could identify, measure and change. This breaking down or 'deconstructing of Man' was intended to separate man from his God-given, freedom-providing identity. This opened the door to the study of methods to control man and society."
[Charlotte Iserbyt]
 
1948. The National Institutes of Mental Health was founded under the leadership of Psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Felix. Dr Felix "was also the Director of a Lexington, Kentucky drug addiction center, which carried out LSD experiments on African American inmates who were drug addicted. The experiments involved LSD and a variety of other hallucinogens, marijuana and poisons."4 Null?
 
1950. (September): "God's plan in America" by C. William Smith is published in the Masonic magazine, New Age, includes this statement: "Great God our King has chosen the great American Public Schools to pave the way for the new race, the new region and the new civilization that is taking place in America. Any mother, father or guardian who is responsible for the taking away of the freedom of mind, freedom of will or freedom of spirit is the lowest criminal on earth, because they take away from that child the God-given right to become a part of God's great plan in America for the dawn of the new Age of the world."2 Cuddy, 26
 
1953Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society: "...the subject which will be of most importance politically is Mass Psychology.... The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen. As yet there is only one country which has succeeded in creating this politician’s paradise.”11
 
1955. "Congress passed the Mental Health Study Act mandating the appointment of a commission to make recommendations for combating the scourge of mental illness in the United States.  It is impossible to exaggerate the enthusiasm with which psychiatrists created this legislation. Their euphoria was justified.  In effect the act ratified the recasting of the very nature of the American government changing its primary duty from protecting and promoting personal liberty and property to protecting and promoting the mental health of citizens and the community as a whole."4 Nul ?
 
1959. (March): An article by Dr. James D. Carter, "Why stand ye here idle?," published in the Masonic magazine, New Age, stated that "Masonic philosophy" which brought about "a new order" became a reality by "the establishment of the public school system, financed by the State, for the combined purpose of technological and sociological education of the mass of humanity, beginning at an early age in childhood."2Cuddy 33
 
1960. Dr. Lewis Alesen, former surgeon and president of California Medical Association: "The proponents of the mental health program have been quick to elaborate a series of legislative proposals.... This is the age-old subterfuge of the collectivist, whose only solution for any problem, be it economic, social or political, is the passage of another law, the imposition of another tax, and the establishment of another bureau." 12

1963. Community Mental Health Centers Program established

1977. Futures We Are In by Fred Emery, a senior staff member at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, is published. According to Dr. Dennis Cuddy, Emery had "developed a theory of 'social turbulence' which indicates that faced with a series of crises, many individuals will attempt to reduce the tension by adaptation and eventually psychological retreat. This can lead to social disintegration."
       "In an earlier book, "Children of Change," Emery showed how television effects children. Since children tend to absorb rather than analyze information, "conscious functioning is impaired" and they become indifferent -- "more like 'sheep' than 'people'." He wrote, "In other words, television can be seen partly as a technological analogue of the hypnotist." Writing in Human Relations (August 1959), he said, "The psychological after-effects of television are of considerable interest to the would-be social engineer."2 Cuddy 61. 
 
1979. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Institute of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, Schooling for  A Global Age is published. In the Preface, John Goodlad wrote: "Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now. Education is a long-term solution.... Parents and the general public must be reached also... Otherwise, children and youth enrolled in globally oriented programs may find themselves in conflict with values assumed in the home. And then the educational institution frequently comes under scrutiny and must pull back."2 Cuddy 65.
 
1987. Among the notable members of the Study Commission on Global Education were (then) Governor Bill Clinton, AFT president Albert Shanker, Professor John Goodlad, CFAT (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) president Ernest Boyer, and Frank Newman, president of the Education Commission of the States. Together, they prepared a report titled The United States Prepares for Its Future: Global Perspectives in Education. The Rockefeller, Ford and Exxon Foundations helped fund this report. In the Foreword, New Ager Harlan Cleveland, author of The Third Try at World Order, wrote:
"A dozen years ago... teaching and learning 'in global perspective' was still exotic doctrine, threatening the orthodoxies of those who still thought of American citizenship as an amalgam of American history, American geography, American lifestyles and American ideas.... It now seems almost conventional to speak of American citizenship in the same breath with international interdependence and the planetary environment."13
 
1998. Surgeon-General David Satcher, speaking at the National Healthy People Consortium: "We have a clear blueprint in place. ... Currently, 47 states are actively involved in Healthy People 2000 and 'Healthy City and Healthy Community' initiatives are being pursued throughout the country. Hundreds of national organizations have reviewed the Year 2000 objectives and have adopted them as their own. ...
    "No priority yet has generated as much interest and enthusiasm as this one on mental health..."
    "...our efforts will be focused on maintaining a system of global health surveillance," he continued. "Healthy People 2010 is the United States' contribution to the World Health Organization's call to the nations of the world to renew their commitment to health for all." 14

1999. (No date on page) "Nations for Mental Health:  "Governments will be assisted to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate mental health policies...." These “policies should enable all individuals whose mental health is disturbed or whose psychological balance may be compromised to obtain services adapted to their needs, and to promote the optimal development of the mental health of the population."15
2001  World Mental Health: "...the World Health Organization has proclaimed that World Health Day, April 7, will be a day of advocacy dedicated to mental health issues."16
2001 (July 22-27). World Congress for Mental Health convened together with the 26th Conference of the World Federation for Mental Health in Vancouver, July 22-27. Pirkko Lahti was appointed the Secretary General/CEO of the WFMH  & manager of the Secretariat (until Preston Garrison would be appointed in September 2002).
     Allan Rock, Canada's Minister of Health, said, "...the World Health Organization has devoted both World Health Day 2001 and its Annual Report to mental health....There's the immeasurable toll of social exclusion, creating barriers and limiting us all....
     "...one of the recurring themes in our approach to mental health is a commitment to the principles of population health – to looking at the broad range of factors to nurture healthy citizens. Mental health, in particular, is multi-faceted, its determinants so diverse and its promotion so dependent on variables beyond the traditional health care system, that dialogue across disciplines is essential. ...And sometimes the greatest obstacles before us are the attitudes we face. Education is key to changing those attitudes. But so too is a full appreciation of the factors that contribute to mental health."17
 
2001. (September) Secretary General Pirkko Lahti, speaking at the WFMH conference in Beirut, says, "...mental health is not only psychiatry; it includes also economic, social, psychological, medical and environmental elements....The World Federation for Mental Health, where I act as president at the moment, is represented in about 130 countries. We have nine regions, each of them having a vice president or a regional president. The World Federation for Mental Health works in co-operation with the United Nations, the World Health Organization WHO, Unesco and the labour organization ILO."18
 
2002 (April 29): President George W. Bush added his support to this massive network by signing an Executive Order titled, "President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health."  It established a commission which bound the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor together in a common quest for "the desired outcomes of mental health care, which are to attain each individual's maximum level of employment, self-care, interpersonal relationships, and community participation."19 See Legalizing Mind Control
2002 (March 1) France Passes Controversial Anti-Cult Law: "Passing a controversial anti-cult law, France embarked on what some feared was a trend to restrict and oversee religious movements. And several other European governments may follow suit."
2002 (October 21) The Bible as 'hate literature'? "A prison sentence for quoting the Bible in Canada? Holy Scriptures treated as 'hate literature'?' ...Canadians advance bill that chills speech about homosexuality."
2002 (10 October) World Mental Health Day. Focus on the "identification, treatment and prevention of emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents."
     The goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the “attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”.
     Health as defined in WHO’s constitution is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”. As the premier specialized agency of the United Nations for health, WHO promotes technical cooperation for health among nations, implements programs to control and eradicate disease and strives to improve the quality of human life."World Mental Health Day 2002 - What you can do?"
2003 (March): From the Chief Executive, New Zealand: "... the Foundation hosted Michael Murray, CEO of the Clifford Beers Foundation and Editor of the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion. Michael was the keynote speaker at our one-day forum on Mentally Healthy Workplaces in Auckland, NZ. He has been involved in workplace health programmes in Canada and the UK and offered valuable information on this important mental health promotion setting.... Organised by the World Federation for Mental Health, the Clifford Beers Foundation, the Carter Center and the Mental Health Foundation, this will be the first time the conference has been held in Oceania." 20
2003 (June 10): "Sweden Moves to Criminalize Opposition to Homosexuality." "The Swedish government is moving toward prohibiting Christians from voicing biblical positions on issues.... The Swedish Parliament has moved to within one step of changing the nation’s constitution to ban speech or materials opposing homosexuality and any other alternate lifestyles. If the amendment becomes reality, violators could be subject to prison sentences."
2003 (June 12-14) WFMH Collaborating Center -- The Society for Prevention Research -- holds annual meeting. in Wash. DC.
2003 (August 8) U.N. group in 'showdown with religion': ""Buoyed by growing political acceptance of homosexuals worldwide, a United Nations group promoting 'gay' and lesbian rights met in New York to sharpen a multi-pronged strategy that includes a 'showdown with religion.' The meeting was sponsored by the U.N. Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees, known as UNGLOBE, a group officially recognized by the worldwide body in 1996..... At a forum Monday, attended briefly by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, panel members singled out Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants as opponents.... Princeton University professor Anthony Appiah, wondered whether or not religion should be limited, as it poses a 'challenge' to the homosexual agenda...."

Endnotes: Sources followed by a question mark (?) still need verification
2. Dennis Laurence Cuddy,Ph.D., Chronology of Education with Quotable Quotes (Pro Family Forum, Highland City, FL 33846, 1994); page 13.
3.Byron Weeks Tavistock - The Best Kept Secret In America at http://www.rense.com/general12/twaa.htm. Since we know little about Dr. Weeks, we include this bio from NewsMax: "Dr. Weeks is no alarmist. He has been practicing medicine for five decades and has had a distinguished military career that includes holding several senior medical military posts, including serving as hospital commander at several NATO hospitals.Most importantly, he has over two decades of experience with biological and chemical warfare. He doesn't rush to conclusions, nor does he "sugar-coat" his remarks. He simply tells it like it is." "A bio-warfare expert tells," Special Alert for NewsMax Readers, October 29, 2001.
6. This reference and its corresponding items have been deleted, since they could not be verified.
CIA & Dr. Cameron. For more information, go to http://www.constitution.org/ocbpt/ocbpt_02.htm and do a search on this long page for the name, Cameron.
 Charlotte Iserbyt, "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America (Ravenna OH: Conscience Press, 1999), pages 18, 42.
8.G. Brock Chisholm, "The Re-Establishment of Peacetime Society," Psychiatry, February 1946. http://education.guardian.co.uk/obituary/story/0,12212,934548,00.html
10. Brittanica-15-172
11. Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1953); page 30.) Cited by Lewis Albert Alesen, Mental Robots (Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1960); page 26.
12. Lewis Albert Alesen, Mental Robots (Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1960); page 23.
13. The United States Prepares for Its Future: Global Perspectives in Education, Report of the Study Commission on Global Education," 1987. The report is financed by the Rockefeller, Ford and Exxon Foundations. Cuddy, 80.
14. David Satcher, MD, National Healthy People Consortium Meeting, November 12, 1998. http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/pubs/HP2000/satchconsor.htm
15. .Found at the "Nations for Mental Health" website at http://www.who.int/msa/nam/nam6.htm (link now obsolete). We have a copy of the page and will provide more details about this program in Part 3 of this series.
20. Dr Mason Durie, British Medical Journal, March 2003. http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/news/news.asp?newsID=157