Bible Lesson 4/30/17

BIBLE, PUNISHMENT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Everlasting Punishment:

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves:  For our trasgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us (Isaiah 59).

knowledge--Search me, O God, and know my heart: . . .  and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalms 139).

reformation--Fear not:  ye have done all this wickedness:  yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart (I Samuel 12).

deliverance--Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak (Psalms 6).

salvation--Save me, O God (Psalms 69).

conversion--Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9).

lovingkindness--Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:  therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31).

References

Eddy, M. B.  (1906).  Science and health with key to the scriptures.  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Board of Directors.

Holy bible (King James version).  (n. d.).  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Publishing Society.

Bible Lesson 4/24/17

BIBLE, PROBATION, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Probation After Death:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalms 119).

change--Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart (Psalms 26).

heaven--Behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17).

faith--Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses (I Timothy 6).

live--Open to me the gates of righteousness:  I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:  This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter (Psalms 118).

rise--God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power: . . .  Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly (Acts 10).

today--Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (II Corinthians 6).

References

Holy bible (King James version).  (n. d.).  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Publishing Society.

Bible Lesson 4/16/17

BIBLE, ATONEMENT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Doctrine of Atonement:

Though ye believe not me, believe the works:  that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him (John 10).

unity--I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16).

crucifixion--And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:  Where they crucified him (John 19).

burial--If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me (Psalms 139).

resurrection--Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? (Acts 26).

ascension--And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24).

revelation--He to whom "the arm of the Lord" is revealed will believe our report, and rise into newness of life with regeneration (Eddy, 1906, p. 24).

References

Eddy, M. B.  (1906).  Science and health with key to the scriptures.  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Board of Directors.

Holy bible (King James version).  (n. d.).  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Publishing Society.

Bible Lesson 4/9/17

BIBLE, CALAMITY, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?

Hope thou in God:  for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God (Psalms 42).

God--The Christian Science God is universal, eternal, divine Love, which changeth not and causeth no evil, disease, nor death (Eddy, 1906, p. 140).

man--Is it sacriligious to assume that God's likeness is not found in matter, sin, sickness, and death? (Eddy, 1906, p. 344).

sin--And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (John 2).

disease--Citizens of the world, accept the "glorious liberty of the children of God," and be free! (Eddy, 1906, p. 227).

death--The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8).

authority--Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal.  When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by divine authority (Eddy, 1906, p. 76).

References

Eddy, M. B.  (1906).  Science and health with key to the scriptures.  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Board of Directors.

Holy bible (King James version).  (n. d.).  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Publishing Society.

Rumination #1

MONEY, SEX, FAMILY, FRIENDS, COMMERCE

I have my mom and I love her and want to do the best I can for her health and happiness. I love my Bonnie and I’m grateful for help, energy, and happiness. Bonnie is a strong, generous, loving woman. I am a little man. I don’t have much to offer, but I’ll give you what I’ve got. I’ll offer up what I’ve got. It’s not much. There’s not a lot of interest in it. But, it’s yours if you want it. The trick with the world is to give it something that it wants. It’s good to live for yourself and your vision of things. It’s good to be true to your own vision, but the world wants what it wants, and worldly success has to do with giving it something that it wants. The world doesn’t care about me. The world isn’t looking to reward me or anybody else for being a nice guy. The world rewards confirmation of itself. I’m a homosexual. I don’t have a lot of time to spend being a homosexual, being sexual, pursuing sex. I don’t have a lot of time and energy left over after working my full time job, doing for mom, and meeting my own rudimentary needs. A lot of things in my life get left undone. It’s not a pretty picture. My house is a mess. I have cleanliness and clutter issues. I don’t do a bang up job of taking care of myself and my home. Believe me, I would like to do better. If I knew how to do better, I would. Write, write, write. I love to write. It’s good for me, and I like doing it. It’s not always easy to do. Writing doesn’t always come easily to me, but I like it. It would be nice to get it all together. It would be nice to be a together kind of person. Home wise. Friend wise. Lover wise. Sex wise. Family wise. Art wise. Money wise. Work wise. It would be so cool to be a together kind of guy. One of the cardinal rules of life is to work with what you’ve got. Most people want more from their lives, but we all have to work with what we’ve got, even while we endeavor to get more. It’s not a matter of convincing the world that I’m a nice guy. I’m not that nice. I can be a real prick. Not as bad a prick as Barack Obama or Scott Pelley, but a prick nonetheless. The world doesn’t reward the people in it just for being nice. Steve Jobs was not a particularly nice guy. He was a prick, and didn’t really mind being a prick to get what he wanted, to fulfill his vision. Visionary. Visionary man. Man with values. Insight. Drive. Motivation. Edgy. Prick. It’s nice to have a vision. It’s nice to have convictions. It’s nice to feel strongly about stuff. It’s nice to do what you believe in, to live the way you want to live. We all want to follow our bliss, and we all do to some extent. But, we also want and need to earn a living. Give us this day our daily bread. We have to give the world something it wants, so that it will give us some of the things that we want and need. We all spend a lot of our lifetime trying to cajole the world into giving us more of what we want and need. And, the world isn’t always sympathetic with what the poor, lonely soul longs for. The trick of commerce is to give the world something that it wants and will pay for. It isn’t always easy to know what the world wants. One doesn’t necessarily have the knowledge, skills, and resources to meet the world’s demands. Supply and demand. I have something you want. If you compensate me fairly, I will share it with you. If I don’t receive fair compensation, I will withhold my goods and services from you. If you want to consume what I have to offer, you must compensate me fairly for it. Economics 101. The trick is not to make the world love me. The trick is to figure out what the world wants, and what I have the desire and ability to provide for compensation. The way of the world. The way of life. The way of living in the world. I might not be of the world, but I’m living in it and I’d better learn how. For my own good. Learning how to live for one’s own good and the good of family and friends. One’s own good. Living for oneself and one’s own people. It’s enough to live successfully for oneself and one’s own people, never mind living for the planet. Fuck the planet. The planet will take care of itself, just like I have to take care of myself.

Bible Lesson 4/2/17

BIBLE, UNREALITY, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Unreality:

Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God (Joel 2).

error--Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness (Jeremiah 23).

truth--A true witness delivereth souls (Proverbs 14).

help--I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee (Isaiah 41).

Christ--Awake up, my glory (Psalms 57).

safety--When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up (Psalms 94).  Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered (Eddy, 1906, p. 425).

understanding--Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned (Lamentations 5).

References

Eddy, M. B.  (1906).  Science and health with key to the scriptures.  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Board of Directors.

Holy bible (King James version).  (n. d.).  Boston, MA:  The Christian Science Publishing Society.