God energy verses human energy
In recent years there has been a trend to the belief that “God helps those
who help themselves.” This is not in the Torah, the Bible, any of the Gospels, the Quran, or any other verse from God,
or spoken by Jesus. The idea is tempting. If enough Humans got together and wished for something it will happen. Sadly the
Liar deals in half truths.
Have you ever wondered why we are told to go to a private place to pray? Have you
ever wondered why when we pray the only prayer recommended by Jesus has the statement, “Thy will be done”?
I can not go in to all the different deviations from these instructions in one sermon
so I will try to give an overview.
All living things have energy. When a person is in balance they have a glow around
them. When an animal is in good health they exude vitality. When plants are not distressed they are beautiful. Eco-systems
that are healthy and working can strike the senses with the strong impression of “Rightness”. The difference between
this appearance of vitality and “ugliness” is energy.
In ancient times a hunter would breath the last breath from a prey to gain it’s
spiritual energy. They believed that it would give them insight into the prey when the next hunt happened.
Later animals were used in sacrifice to a god. Killing an animal released that “life
energy” to the killer. This is still going on in sorcery practiced today. These are practiced today by people who want
to collect energy that does not come from God. If these are practicers of Demon calling they have the illusion that they control
what they call. This is untrue. What is happening is that some hungry Demon feels someone giving away energy. As long as the
energy is coming they stay.
There are other kinds of energy that come from living things. They are life force,
prayer, and sexual energy. Each of these was given by God. Each of these have been tapped, rerouted, stolen, and misused.
Sometimes the misuse is by consent of the giver. All of these are wrong in the eyes of God. All of them are the first steps
to doing sorcery.
I’ll give some examples. A wife is abused, each time this happens some of her
energy is taken by the abuser. The same goes for bullies of any age. It is one reason that a child tearing wings off flies
should be retrain quickly. The taste for energy from the pain and fear of others is an escalating self feeding desire. That
is why a wing tearing youngster might become a dog kicking adolescent. A dog kicker might then mature into a cat dismembering
teen, and then a potential mass murderer of people. It is not a trend I relish.
The difference between one incident and a chain leading to a mass murderer is Empathy.
If a small child can feel the pain of what they did, they never do it again. If the person can be lead to understand and feel
the pain of others, abuse of all kinds will stop. This Empathy helps armor us from the temptation that this world provides.
Think about it. If you would feel the pain caused by stealing, bulling, and abuse; you would help someone if that is happening
to them. This is the first part of the Golden Rule.
Sexual energy is interesting. It was given to us to help us bond with each other.
It is a gift that is abused when we do not truly care about the person we share it with. It is an energy that is ripped from
a person when the person is cohersed, or forced into sex. There was also an abuse of sexual energy that was a key energy source
for some religions.
The idea was to create a mass of sexual energy that would then be wielded by a priest
or priestess. These were an off shot of nature worship. In and of it self it is not horrible. But I will repeat this as many
times as needed; Sexual energy is not GOD Energy. It is human energy for human purpose, wielded for humans benefit. It is
a pale sickly shadow of the power given by God, for God’s purposes, wielded by God.
Prayer energy is last but not least. It is also a form of human energy. In the old
days, having more than a couple of hundred people praying at the same time, purportedly for the same thing, would have been
unheard of. Most churches were more in the range of 30 to 70 people. That has changed greatly in the recent past. Now there
are massive mega churches. The membership can top thousands.
If you follow the rules about praying with God’s will in mind it is not a danger.
The problem is that Ministers, Priests, Elders, etc, are human. Not all of them are ethical. Some are tempted to do personal
things with all this energy being created in their churches. Ironically even good Ministers can be misguided.
For example, there is a good candidate for running for office. This Minister knows
that it will be a close race. It is for the “good” of his flock right? This Minister asks everyone to pray for
the victory of this candidate. As a result everyone in the congregation prays for this candidates election. They have not
prayed that God’s will be done. They have not prayed their own conscience. If this collected energy coheres a single
different vote from some undecided voter; what is the harm. I say that it is a tainted vote. Anything won by abuse of power
is playing into the Liar’s hands.
I guarantee that this Minister will find excuses to collect what belongs to God,
prayer energy, and use it again. Like all abuse of power it will escalate and die as a one time event. What may start as an
innocent “use” of power can become a tool in the hands for the Liar in the hands of someone who does not follow
Christ anymore.
The Shepherd never uses God’s energy, they protect it from theft. A Shepherd
knows that the wealfare of people of God is already in God’s hands. The role of a Shepherd is to inspire a congregation
to do good in God’s name. It is also to console and help mend the hearts of those in need.
The answers to the original questions I posed follows. Prayer is done in private
not just to keep from applause for praying so fervently. It is to keep the conversation between you and God. It is to keep
the Love you are sending to God from being rerouted by anyone, no matter how well meaning. The statement, “Thee will
be done” is like a password protection on your prayer. Your intent in the prayer is not ambiguous. It is saying, “this
is what I would like to happen, but God you know best, do what is in your plan not mine“. For all we know something
wonderful could come out of what we would will not to be.
Peace Everyone, God Bless the whole World, no exceptions.
Angel Eliza
Comparative Religion Sermon 5-12-07
All religions today developed from our need to name, characterize, and put a face on the controlling
force around us. The Church of Thomas does not think the world is only a few thousand years old. We were given brains to think.
When new information is discovered people need to rethink “Dogma”. Since God is constantly giving us more as we
are able to understand it, we do not write things in stone. The understanding of the first people was not as advanced
as Biblical times. And Biblical times people would think an airplane was a Demon. It does not change our wonder and awe at
what Go provides to us.
In the beginning of the first people the struggle to survive was immense. Everything was out to
get them. Everything from the weather to disease, starvation to becoming something else’s dinner.
First was the idea of a god for everything. If it mattered to you there was a god for it. People
love to embellish so rituals were developed to placate these forces.
The Miracle of women carrying children became a symbol for god. After all that was creation. Animals,
and weather elements started to be credited to this deity. In some parts of the world today that way of thinking is still
practiced.
With the advent of herding animals a shift in power happened. People started to notice that male
creatures seemed to be necessary to get babies. Male people became more than supernumeraries. They gained importance. Some
diverged from Female god worship to include a male consort, or seasonal king. This was just the beginning of the shift to
pantheons or whole families of gods. It is what people saw in their lives. We are most comfortable with gods that look and
act like us.
The next shift in worship was to totally displace the female god with a male god. Zeus having
Athena come fully formed from his head was a good example.
So now we have a couple of million years of images for god/ gods.
The next step was dramatic. You get a god with no name, no claimed gender, who is claiming to
be the only deity. This of course was the God of Abraham. It was unheard of for these elements to be missing. All gods had
names. All gods had an image you could hold in your sight while praying. And lastly, no god had ever claimed that there were
no other gods. They might be enemies, or family members, or rivals, but never did a deity claim to be the only one.
So began the religion started by “The God With No Name”. This God told Abraham how
to behave, how to worship. This God promised an end to division and strife. Through Miracles God showed that the people coming
from Abraham would become leaders of a new way of seeing God.
The idea of a lone deity was really hard to swallow. How could one control everything. Even among
the descendants of Abraham there was dissent. They were surrounded by people who still saw God as divided.
Unfortunately Miracles rarely impress any one who did not see them. Each generation wanted proof,
over and over again that they were on the right track. Because of the background of Abraham, God became a He, and got a name.
These were not God’s intent. All change is incremental. That was the best that the people of the time could do.
After the invasion of Canaan and the 10 Commandments were given, the Jewish people became as blood
thirsty as any desert tribe they had fought after leaving Egypt. Even with these purges of other religions many could not
stay true to the concept of One God.
All religions up to this point required sacrifices. It differed by religion, and by the law that
was broken. In the Jewish Tradition there were two highly prized animals for sacrifices. They were to be male, and unblemished.
They were goats and rams. Individual sins could be dealt with by sacrificing a ram. The transgressions of a whole community
was dealt with by sacrifice of a goat. These were called Scape Goats. The Priests never had a portion of it’s flesh.
The death was seen to be done by the hand of God not the knife of a Priest.
A Scape Goat was covered with the pinned on written confessions of the community. It could often
barely move by the time the pieces of paper were attached. When the prayers were said, it was driven out in to the desert
to die with all the sins carried with it. Some people have seen a sheep/ lamb as the sacrifice for the world. In keeping with
the teachings of the Church of Thomas, we see Jesus the Christ as the Perfect Scape Goat.
The symbol of the goat became linked to fallen Angels, by one faction of the new Christian Movement
called the Trinitarians. Goats had always been a symbol for Angels who worked for God.
Trinitarian groups were trying to explain who Jesus was in a way that would be familiar to the
people they were trying to convert. The handiest model that they could use was from the Jewish tradition itself. It is not
well known that most followers of Y---H was a trinity. The trinity included Y---H as Father figure, Mother “Aspect”
was Sophia (Wisdom), and a Son to come save everyone called the Christ. When the Trinitarians embraced this family pantheon
grouping, the only change was to Sophia, who became male and called the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospels Jesus talked to God. Jesus did not claim to be God. Jesus did claim to be the son
of God. At this time in history every leader claimed descent from their god. It was familiar. We see all people to be the
Children of God. We see Jesus as a willing sacrifice; to do away with the blood sacrifices given up to then; for the forgiveness
of sins. We see Jesus as the highest Angel, who working with the Holy Spirit who is also an Angel, are in charge of all people.
Ironically when the Trinitarians drove Church of Thomas and others of a like beliefs underground
there was a backlash. The creation of the Quran was the result. They saw the Jews and Trinitarian Christians as backing away
from only One God. They saw a return to the pantheon of all the other religions. They acknowledge Jesus as a great Prophet.
They over shot, though they meant well. Violence is richly mixed with the giving to the poor,
care for the less fortunate, etc. The truly Revolutionary idea of conquering you foes through Love was lost. The idea of Loving
the Whole World was lost. In Islam it is stated that “you should not count any not a Believer among your friends“.
If God wants them saved he will make them a Believer. This does not correlate to the way Jesus reached out to Samaritans,
etc. Jesus did this and that is what Christians are called to do.
In the Church of Thomas, God has no name or gender. God does not have any parts or aspects represented
by Jesus or the Holy Spirit. The highest Commandment is to “Love each other, as I have Loved you”. This added
to only the 10 Commandments are the total of the rules.
There are no dietary rules, rituals, or “Laws” added in. We feel that any additions
are of Human Origin, and not the intent of The One With No Name. They muddy the waters of understanding God’s desire
for us to keep getting better.
Peace, God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions.
Angel Eliza
Tainted Love Sermon 5-20-07
Now there is a catchy title if I ever heard one. The title elicits thoughts of betrayal,
lust, and unfaithfulness. That is the way God feels when things are just not right. God asked you to give without thinking
of the cost. What does that make you think of?
Some people think that the only good gift is one where you should get the same value
back from the recipient. A Gift giving “quid pro quo” if you like. If I’m nice to you today, you should
be nice to me sometime in the near future.
Some people want their “Re-Payment” in the currency of applause. I know of at least one
Denomination that makes a big deal of everyone who does a Jesus like action. They are asked to stand up and get an applause.
Everyone present just cheers and claps at this wonderful altruistic person’s actions.
Some people give money because they have been made to feel guilty by the rantings of
a Minister. It is usually presented as a gift for God. How can the church pay for all the good it does if people don’t
give. They generally don’t say, “ Most of this money will not go to the poor, the needy, or the ill.” They
generally don’t say that the money is for a raise for them. The extension of this is asking for a percentage of your
pay, as a monthly tithing. The last statement is often that if you “Love God” you will give until it hurts.
Let us look at what God says about Love. From the Bible we take, Love is patient, Love
is kind, Love does not count the cost, Love forgives all and bears all.
We hear from Jesus to not let the one hand know what is other is doing. It seems to me that selfless
giving and Love are connected.
The first group of folks want their giving to be a loan, maybe with interest. If God
gave Love in this way you could expect to be indebted to God. Not a good way to feel about your Creator. If we model Jesus,
we would heal people then tell them not to tell anyone about it. We would feed people without making them feel less because
you stooped to help them. If you only give expecting something back, it is Tainted Love.
Some folks do good works so that they look good, righteous, Jesus like in the eyes of
others. This was frowned on by Jesus as well. He said that only the Pharisees, Pagans and Scribes carried on for the public
to see. This is Tainted Love. In the Gospels it says such actions are already rewarded by the Applause they received. That
a gift in private is blessed by God, who is the only one who sees it.
The last group is a group I have counseled often. When I worked in another Congregation people talked
to me about giving. One woman asked me if she should give a Love Offering to the Minister for counseling her. I was appalled.
This woman told me that the “gift was solicited by the Minister.
You have to understand this Minister worked at most 20 hours a week. This Minister salary
was more than most of the Congregation made in a month of full time work. This Minister rarely did anything without shouting
it from the nearest roof top what good she just did. She ’forgot to bring her Sermon’ on a regular basis, but
never failed to criticize anyone who did not go above and beyond the call of duty. At this point she had managed to drive
off most of the “Worker Bees” of the Church.
I asked the woman if she wanted to give this “Love Offering”. I thought
I already knew the answer but I needed to hear it from the woman’ own lips. She told me that she felt that it was an
expected thing to do. She felt guilty about not being able to afford it. She had been helped little by the counseling, she
definitely had not been Inspired.
I took this poor woman in my arms. I told her that it was wrong for the Minister to
have solicited any money. I told her that if she had not been inspired by the counseling, what was she “Paying for”.
I told her that she should only give if her heart told her to give. I told her that to give feeling like she did would be
Tainted Love.
As for tithing, Jesus did not intend to start a duplicate of the Temple/ Priest System.
He never once said build me a pretty building. He worshiped in homes. He healed on the road. And he preached on hillsides.
Jesus told us to feed the hungry. Jesus told us to heal the sick. Jesus showed us how to do all of this with his life. He
lived it the way he preached it.
Tithing is a duplicate financial foundation of the very System Jesus preach against.
Those Priests used a lot of money on robes. They used a lot of money in building greater buildings. Jesus felt that this money
would be better used helping people directly. It is Tainted Love.
As for the often used exhortation to “Give until it Hurts”, Jesus never said that. If
giving hurts you in anyway it is wrong. If it hurts your mind, body or spirit, it is wrong. It is Tainted Love.
I am not saying that you can not give if you choose to do so. It is the free will choice
that makes it different. Sometimes the greatest gifts are given with no thought of self. Those are gifts given without ulterior
motives, often without thought at all. You just seem called to do it.
I call on all of you to think about your giving in a new light. Expect nothing, and
you will receive everything. Give what feels right to you, and it will resonate in the heart of God. Do these things because
you love giving, and cultivate a love of giving. Give as though you were giving a little flower to your Mom when you were
a little kid. If you can do these things your Love mirror the Love God has for us, it will shine as an example for others.
God is Love. Anything done without Love is Tainted.
Peace,
Angel
Golden Rule Sermon 5-27-07
I have heard a few Ministers talk about the Golden Rule. Many do
not go into it because it is considered passé by some. After all everybody knows about it. Most children when I was growing
up could tell you that it was the way to behave. I have noticed fewer children and adults for that matter keeping it in mind
in their everyday activities. Maybe it is time to talk about it again in a new light.
Most people do not know that there is a version of the statement
in all major religions. “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” is often in the negative. “Don’t
do to others what you do not want done to you.” It may seem like a small difference but it makes it an active attitude
instead of a defensive posture.
It often has a similar result so it is considered the same. Some
New Age Ministers are using this similarity as a sign that all religions are equivalent. There are even ’Christian ’
Ministers that are trying to be politically correct that are saying that the statement makes religious differences just a
matter of rituals performed.
Jesus was relaying an active reaching out to others message. He did
not say just love your friends and family. It is even derided as the easy way out. That was brought out by the phrase, “
Even the Pagans love their family and friends.” What was called for was more.
I have often thought about how the Golden Rule is practiced. It is
a good rule. I have noticed that Evil has a really good handle on it as well. It has been used to persecute Christians. The
first way is to tell someone who you want to abuse that They are not acting very Christian. The second way is for Evil to
practice a letter of the Law kind of Golden Rule.
In Jesus’ charge to the disciples he sent out on their first
mission he explained. Jesus told them to first look for open minds. Stay with people who invited the disciples to stay. He
did not say go up to the most belligerent inhospitable place they could find. So to me Jesus may have wanted everyone to hear,
but recognized that some people were not ready to listen, yet.
He told them to bring nothing extra with them. This was meant as
a show of faith both to the disciples but also to the people they shared the message with. One way or the other they would
have what they needed.
Jesus went on to say be as innocent as doves. This would be the Golden
Rule side of his instructions. They were to be peaceful, non confrontational, healing, and caring for the people they stayed
with and Ministered to. They acted in a gentle manner to help people open up to them.
Then Jesus warned them about hostility. He said be as wise as a serpent.
This was in reference to the Garden of Eden serpent, who led the way to ‘ultimate’ knowledge. This would be a
departure from the idea of the Golden Rule. To be wary, is by it’s nature to have your guard up. It is to block out
potentially harmful words and actions.
I could not articulate this idea until recently. I read an article
about a Researcher who did a study on “Game Theory”. The Researcher did behavior experiments with college students.
The first version of the Game they played was cut throat, winner takes all. The more aggressive you played the more you win.
The second version was a Reciprocal type game. Part of your
winnings would be tied to the others persons success. If you were not too greedy you both could get some of the pot of money.They had a version where altruism netted you the most money.
The strategies that were successful were named for the metals. Altruism was named the Golden
Rule. The Reciprocity rule was called the Bronze rule. And the cut throat strategy was named the Iron Rule.
The results were interesting. In Iron Rule aggression escalated.
Only the most aggressive survived to win the competitions. This could be equated to War. The Bronze Rule was the most successful.
It basically was started with the idea that someone was going to cooperate with you to help you win the prize as well. Literally
in this game if you always won you got less and less prize. The Golden Rule did fine until there was a defection to take advantage
of the Altruistic playing partner.
The Bronze Rule seemed to go like this. You started with friendly
and stayed that way until the other person tried to cheat you. Then you withdrew your cooperation. If they redeemed themselves
with 2x as much atonement as they caused you harm, you returned to friendly play again. It was not bashing them, but it allowed
them to be forgiven.
I see a place for the spiritual equivalent of the Bronze Rule. It
is the way to protect yourself against the Evil influences of the World without giving up your ability to forgive. Literally
it is not “Cost Effective” for Evil to use this Rule to hurt you. I think this is what Jesus meant about being
as wise as a serpent.
I was also taught a different way of looking at the Golden Rule. This view takes the Golden
Rule to it’s full potential. It might be phrased differently. Remember what I said about Evil using the
Letter Of The Law to pervert the Golden Rule.
An example might be the idea that you give something you dearly enjoy,
but it is bad for them. You would follow the letter but not the spirit of the Golden Rule.
For instance, you would be overjoyed to get a peanut butter sandwich,
it is your favorite. What if the person you want to give it to is allergic. You could easily be the cause of their death.
What about a proud Papa who’s own father had bought him a prostitute
on his 18 birthday. The Papa fondly remembers it even to this day. Aside from the obvious ethical problems, what if this young
man was Gay. Would this be great or the most embarrassing memory of their life.
The Golden Rule that I was taught was worded differently. It stated
that “You should find a person’s needs, and then help them to get it.” It is the next step in the evolution
of this rule. It was turned from passive/ defensive, to active but misused, to active and compassionate.
Let us recap the ideas talked about here. Most religions have the
Golden Rule as a Key Stone of ethical behavior. Christianity was the first to change the wording from a defensive way to live.
It taught us to use it in an active way. In addition Jesus taught us that this Rule was meant as an outreach. The Rule that
Jesus taught us to use was not just Christians but everyone.
Golden Rule as the Bible states it is not compassionate and open
to abuse by Evil. If you find this happening start protecting yourself with the Bronze Rule.
The Golden Rule reaches it’s full potential by being loving
and open as much as you can. It then encourages you to look beyond what you would like to give to the real need that you can
meet. In separating your ego from the gift it can truly be a customized outreach to the other person. Evil can not use you
to give harm instead of help.
God Bless the whole World No Exceptions.
Angel Eliza
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