Jeremiah 3:15-17 - The blog of pastor.ctj

A Facebook friend wondered aloud how Pope Francis got to be Pope in light of comments like this: "We have created New idols. worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings."   - Pope Francis I responded thus: "He became Pope the same way that Barack Obama became President. He's ethnically 'new', with clever words and expressed sentiments, that sound like a breath of fresh air, but underneath the same old gears are operating the same old machine. In a few years, the Hope and Change Pope will have the same level of disappointment among those who really care as the Hope and Change President. Mark my words. He will do nothing doctrinally or otherwise to move the Lying Behemoth ...

(note: This piece was written a while ago, I just never got around to posting it.)  I have had a very interesting time reading the commentaries, blog posts, articles, tweets and more that have risen up as a result of the 'Strange Fire' Conference. Full disclosure. I am a former charismatic. Yes, former . As in I   ‘used to be’ I do not believe in 'speaking in tongues' any longer, (yes I used to do it) at least as practiced by the Pentecostals and charismatics that I know and Love. I no longer believe in what they will define as 'The baptism of the Holy Ghost' (aka the second blessing, doctrine of subsequence, which differs significantly from the Biblical definition) Am I still saved? Yes , Sanctified? Yes . Holy Ghost Filled? Yes. Am I a cessationist, then? No, rather, not quite... (I will explain that in a later piece.) It is not for lack of experiences, mind you. Rather it is because I believe that my experiences/feelings are not evidence ...

'Intentionality' - "The state of having or being formed by an intention." The intentions (will) of the LORD are never thwarted. He makes His Will known to us via His Word, and we are bound, as His Slaves, to obey. We are His adopted children, and as such, via His Spirit, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and being conformed to the image of His Son. Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love,   He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us...

A 2013 update to my original 2008 blogpost ... So, what exactly is this ‘Holiday’ known as Kwanzaa? This post seeks to uncover/reveal that, and take a look  at it in light of the scripture Who is its founder? Who made it up? Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett on July 14, 1941) is the creator of Kwanzaa. In the late 1960’s he started and led an organization (a black nationalist cult) known as the ‘United Slaves’. Interestingly, as Kwanzaa caught on, Mr. Karenga was sitting in a California prison for torturing two black women who were members of the United Slaves. Originally known as Ron N. Everett, he went by (and eventually legally took on)  the name Karenga and in the 60's took upon himself the title "maulana," which means "master teacher" in Swahili. He was born on a poultry farm in Maryland, the fourteenth child of a Baptist minister. Mr. Karenga was convicted of two counts of felonious assault and one count of false im...

The funny thing about orbits is that the further away from 'The Sun' a planet gets, the more inclined away from the ecliptic (the plane in which the orbits of the planets lie), and the more eccentric (far from circular) it becomes, until it looks more like a tilted oval than a circle... After a while, some no longer consider the celestial body whose orbit has become 'warped' as it were, even a planet... Funny thing... Additionally, faults in a planet’s crust, (usually caused by disruption/flux in its core) cause earthquakes which when powerful enough, can actually change the distribution of the planet’s mass, shift its axis, and shorten its days… I tell you, it's a Funny thing... What am I talking about? Read This: United Methodist Judicial Council to Decide Whether Denomination May Advocate Homosexuality

By the way, for those who don't understand why I don't have 'Cable' or any TV service for that matter: Who needs it when I can just look at what 'Chuch (purposely spelled) Folk' do, for all the real life drama that I could possibly want and then some... Since for the most part, dudes want power, they act like ' Mad Men’ , and it's always some ‘Game of Thrones’ type thing, when you watch these pastors on their money grab, and since they've got ‘Criminal Minds’ someone’s always ‘Breaking Bad’ with somebody who they shouldn't be with, resulting in some ‘Scandal’ or the other. The people who go to these places get trapped ‘Under the Dome’ and the Pastor becomes their ‘Person of Interest’ or their ‘American Idol’ , and the Pastor takes the place of God. The Preaching stays ‘Elementary’ so that they can entertain and grow ‘The Following’ , putting up ‘Pretty Little Liars’ who tell the folk just what their itching ears want to hear, since th...

Granted this is an 'old' piece, but should be posted nonetheless...  A brother of mine asked me to listen to Mark Levin's podcast offering his thoughts on President Obama's response to the George Zimmerman verdict. As my dear brother is white, he wanted to know what I thought about it. After I listened, this is what I wrote to him... Ok brother, since you want me to listen and opine. I am not going to deal with the specifics of the Zimmerman case if I can help it, I am going to listen and opine on this statement. I will not edit before I send it either… Let me be clear, I despise pundits and punditry, they are hired killers, their purpose to divide and go as far to the extreme that they can, while hurling their turds at the other side, much as Gorillas do... 1) I am always put off by people who do not address the President by anything other than ‘President Obama’, or ‘The President’. It is disrespectful and done purposely. It is a common thing done on both...