Prometheus: exploring the movies symbolic keys

Prometheus: exploring some of the movie's symbolic keys
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Wednesday, 13 June 2012 00:35


By Aaron Franz
TheAgeofTransitions.com

Prometheus, the much anticipated prequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 classic film Alien has been anxiously anticipated for some time. Because the movie is a prequel the audience came to the theater expecting to find answers to the many questions evoked by the entire Alien franchise. Questions like: what are those horrific bug-like creatures? Why do they reproduce in such a grotesque way? How did they get on that strange planet with the shipwrecked spacecraft? Who or what is the space jockey?






Instead of plainly answering these questions, Prometheus goes about adding even more queries to an already long list. One thing that has bothered many moviegoers and fans of the original Alienis that Prometheus doesn't reveal enough. Its mystery extends so far as to make a full explanation of the actual story line impossible. It lends itself to infinite interpretations, but here I will present my personal take on the film. Although enigmatic, Prometheus does present some definitemessages.

Main themes and concepts within Prometheus
genetic engineering
both questioning and reinterpreting concepts of god/creation
the "ancient astronauts" theory of human genesis
the mystery and power of the primordial creative force itself (symbolized by the black liquid)
creation out of destruction



The very title of this film is taken directly from Greek mythology. Prometheus being the Titan who brought fire to Man. The very idea of the Titans, the gods that held power over the world in an ancient time, is one that must be noted in order to understand what is going on in this film. The Titans were a set of gods that existed before the later Olympians who overthrew them. Their story denotes a distant golden age, the memory of which has been lost as the sands of Time have eventually worn it away leaving behind only the myth itself. This film depicts such concepts directly as it follows the trail of the lost gods all the way from Earth, out into distant space.







In this movie Prometheus is the name of the spacecraft that journeys out in search of the creator gods themselves. These gods are explained by Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) to be an ancient race of space travelers. Shaw and her partner Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are archaeologists who travel the world comparing the art of ancient peoples. Their discovery of the repeated motif of human figures pointing up to a set of six stars leads them to the conclusion that humans were created by beings from another world. This mirrors the "ancient astronauts" theory of Erich Von Däniken, which subsequently became famous due to its repeated presentation on cable television programs and in the pages of grocery store magazines. It is the idea that humanity's existence is the result of a genetic engineering experiment conducted by a race of technologically advanced aliens.

So the gods in this film are actually humanoid beings, a race of giants with impressive physiques and highly advanced technology. Shaw and Holloway refer to these beings as the "engineers." Their very human traits and characteristics mirror those of Greek gods. Both the Titans and Olympians had incredibly volatile temperaments. They were cruel, vindictive, and ruthless. Many people have wondered what this means, and what the myths may be hinting at. Are they saying that the Gods themselves are more a part of Man than most would assume? In the film this is certainly the case.

As Prometheus was severely punished by the gods so too are the crew of the spaceship Prometheus punished by the sole surviving engineer. They wake him from his cryostasis in the hope of asking him questions only to have him kill them all on sight immediately after regaining his consciousness. Again, this sort of violent behavior echoes that of the Greek gods. The concept that the engineers are imperfect and violent themselves is important. What kind of creation is made by an imperfect god?

The opening sequence of the film is highly symbolic. It consists of a series of sweeping aerial shots of a harsh tundra-like landscape devoid of any visible life. Harsh though it may be, it is also beautiful and rich in flowing water. This is a key point to note, as it is water which holds within itself the capacity to generate and sustain life. A shadow on the ground tells us that someone has come down from above to interact with the landscape. We then see an engineer dressed in a druidic robe walking up to the edge of a waterfall. He disrobes and pulls out a small bowl filled with a strange black liquid. It is clear that he is performing some sort of ritual, but things go terribly wrong for him after he drinks the black liquid. He appears to be caught by surprise as his body begins to contort and fall apart. We are shown a visual of his very DNA floating in the middle of this chaos. As the engineer's body falls to pieces it also falls down the waterfall and his DNA, tainted with the black liquid, is mixed into the flowing river. So what does this mean?

The meaning of the opening scene
The landscape, in particular the flowing water represents the female creative aspect in its pure receptive state. This equates to the Abyss of various creation myths.
The engineer represents the male creative aspect. The seed which impregnates matter.
This landscape is actually Earth (this is assumed, but it makes sense within the context of the entire film). The engineer has come to create life where none is yet present. This is the cause for his ritual.
The engineer's death is actually the event which leads to the appearance of life on Earth, culminating in the eventual arrival of the human being. The engineer's destruction leads to the the creation of an entire world.
Life on Earth is thus an accident on the part of the engineers. Somehow the power of the black liquid is beyond their control.


So the beginning of the film clearly depicts creation out of destruction. It frames the genesis of man as the literal fall of his god into matter (water). In the Mystery Tradition there is a concept that life in the physical world equates to spiritual death. This concept is being referenced inPrometheus as the god of humanity literally dies to sow the seed of the human race. The engineer symbolizes the spiritual male principle. We see here the fall of spirit into matter, matter being the female principle. It is a death and rebirth ritual, and also a reference to another ancient creation myth. This particular myth holds that the gods experimented with metals and created a race that once existed in a pure and impeccable state. Their further experimentation resulted in a degradation of this race in a reverse alchemical fashion. The very first was a pure golden race, and the last (and current race) was one of iron. The god's experiments with metals caused only destruction and pain in this myth, and it is the very same with the engineers attempts to genetically engineer life.







Immediately upon their arrival the crew of the Prometheus venture out to explore the world of the engineers. The crew enters a large domed structure. Within its hallways are found many corpses of engineers, dead for thousands of years. Upon entering a special room, the crew discovers something very important. At the center of this room is a large sculpture in the likeness of a human head and all around it are many vases containing the black liquid. The room has a tall ceiling with paintings and relief sculptures on its walls. It is clearly a temple of some sort.

What is the significance of the room containing the giant head and many vases?
It is a temple created by the engineers to celebrate their own creative power. The black liquid was produced by them in a scientific fashion, but it also held very serious spiritual significance. It has the power to create/alter life. An altar, is a place where transmutation occurs.
The giant head symbolizes the source from which the black liquid was produced. The head holds the brain, and this is why the head is a temple unto itself. With advanced brain power the engineers created the black liquid.
The temple was created to celebrate the intelligence and creative power of the engineers themselves. This act of hubris led to their own demise.
The black liquid represents the primordial creative essence itself. Beyond male and female this imperishable thing is harnessed by the engineers and placed within an actual physical substance.



We can see that Prometheus is primarily about genetic engineering. This topic invariably brings with it an exploration of the mystery underlying creation itself. What is the primordial creative force? What is that black liquid? The engineers hoped to contain the very essence of creation in order to use it to their own ends. Within the film it is never revealed whether the engineers intended to use the liquid to create or to destroy, but we witness it doing both on multiple occasions.

Prometheus desanctifies the concept of a loving creator god. It is saying, hey look, we know that genetic engineering is possible, so what if life as we know it was originally the product of a science experiment gone wrong? In the movie, all life on Earth is apparently the result of a terrible mistake. This is certainly a dark concept, and one that seems to echo some of the popular sentiments of our day. Many big names are presenting the concept that humanity is in no way special, and in fact a parasitic presence upon the Earth. If there is any sort of god at all, it likely hates us. Were these ideas being put forth in Prometheus as part of an ideological agenda? Could there be purpose in presenting such concepts to a global audience? Was the film exploring such dark ideas in some sort of attempt to actually work them out? Is the ancient astronauts theory given increased or decreased credibility by this work of fiction? Why do we still know next to nothing about the original xenomorph alien?

It is clear that Prometheus has set itself up for a sequel, Epimetheus perhaps? What is not so clear is the overall intent of the film. Hopefully this exploration of its themes will help you form your own ideas about it. One thing to remember is that this was a massive Hollywood production, and that it will be viewed worldwide. Any ideas that the film contains will have a lasting effect on the audience.

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James Corbett
BoilingFrogsPost.com
14 October, 2011

The cultivation of what we know today as the opium poppy goes back to the beginnings of recorded history, when the Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia cultivated what they referred to as Hul Gil, or the “joy plant.” The practice was passed down through the Assyrians to the Babylonians and from there to the Egyptians, by which time the opium trade had begun to to fluorish and was fast becoming the lynchpin of international trade across the Mediterranean into Europe.

Indeed, as far back as one cares to go, control of the international opium trade has been a key factor in the rise and fall of empires.

During the 18th century, the British monopolized the opium trade in India and shipped thousands of chests of opium per year to China as a way of financing their huge trade deficit with that nation. When the Chinese cracked down on opium trafficking in the mid-19th century, the British fought two wars to ensure their Chinese opium market.

By the 1830s, American traders were already getting in on the act, with Samuel Russell’s “Russell & Company” becoming the largest American trading house in China. Russell’s cousin, William Huntington Russell, founded Skull & Bones, a secret society at Yale that has formed the core of the American intelligence establishment, a set of documentable facts that the establishment media seems eager to avoid.

The association between Skull and Bones and the American intelligence establishment from the OSS to the CIA is well-established by now, with a litany of agents, directors, and of course Director of Central Intelligence, George “Poppy” Bush himself, having been Bonesmen before being recruited for the agency. But the connection between the CIA and the international drug trade is not simply a historical one about 19th century opium traders.

Just as the British empire was in part financed by their control of the opium trade through the British East India Company, so too has the CIA been found time after time to be at the heart of the modern international drug trade.

From its very inception, the CIA has been embroiled in the murky underworld of drug trafficking.

In the late 1940s, the CIA funneled arms and funds to the Corsican Mafia in return for their assistance in breaking up widespread labour strikes in France that were threatening to establish communist control over the Old Port of Marseille. The Corsican crime syndicate, in turn, used the CIA support to set up the trafficking network known as “The French Connection” which saw heroin smuggled from Turkey to France, and shipped to the US, feeding an American heroin epidemic.

In Burma in 1950, the CIA regrouped the remnants of the defeated Nationalist Chinese Army, or KMT, to start an invasion of Southern China and draw Chinese troops away from the Korean front. Easily beaten back by Mao’s forces, the KMT instead turned their attention to occupying Burma, imposing an opium tax on all farmers in the opium-rich Shan highlands. Members of the Burmese military claimed that the KMT opium was flown out to Thailand and Taiwan on the same unmarked C-47s that the CIA had used to supply the group in the first place.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the CIA recruited the Laotian Hmong tribe to fight communist forces in the region. The CIA encouraged the Hmong to grow opium instead of rice to make them dependent on CIA air drops of food. The agency could then force their compliance by threatening to withdraw the food aid. To make the deal even sweeter, they even located a heroin refinery at CIA headquarters in northern Loas and used Air America, a passenger and cargo airline that was covertly owned and operated by the CIA, to export the Laotian opium and heroin. Much of it ended up in Vietnam, causing an epidemic of heroin addiction in US soldiers.

In the 1980s, the locus of opium production shifted from the Golden Triangle, where the CIA was disengaging, to the Golden Crescent, where it was engaging with the Afghan mujahedeen in their CIA-funded struggle against the Soviets. Opium became a key funding mechanism for the insurgency, and as Peter Dale Scott explained on The Eyeopener earlier this year, the correlation between CIA involvement in the region and increasing opium production was not coincidental.

Also in the 1980s, the US supported the Contras in their fight against the Sandanista government in Nicaragua. Officially barred from arming and funding the Contras by congress, the CIA came up with a scheme to sell arms to Iran and use the funds to illegally arm and supply the Contras. CIA-protected drug smugglers flew down to Nicaragua loaded with arms to supply the Contras and flew back loaded with Columbian cocaine. A decade later, investigative reporter Gary Webb used official government documents to prove that the CIA had sheltered these drug smuggling operatives and followed the trail of this cheap Columbian cocaine to the beginning of the crack epidemic in South-Central LA.

Despite the numerous, documented and fully admitted examples of CIA involvement in drug dealing in the past, the idea that the agency is still tied in with international drug traffickers is largely dismissed as the stuff of conspiracy theory.

Over the last several years, however, some sensational but under-reported stories of plane crashes in Mexico have served to focus attention once again on the issue of agency complicity in drug dealing.

In 2004, a Beech 200 was apprehended in Nicaragua with 1100 kilos of cocaine. It was bearing a false tail number for a CIA aircraft owned by a CIA shell company.

In 2006, a DC9 was seized on a jungle airstrip in the Yucatan carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine packed into 126 identical black suitcases. The plane’s owner was linked to a company called Skyway Communications, whose CEO, James Kent, had previously held contract positions supporting intelligence projects for the DoD.

In 2007, a Grumman Gulfstream II jet crashed in Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of Columbian cocaine linked to the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. Later it was revealed that the plane had previously been used by the CIA to carry out rendition flights to Guantanamo Bay.

In 2008, a Cessna 402c aircraft was seized in Columbia with 850 kilos of cocaine bound for the United States. The plane’s purchase history links it to a company that one ex-CIA asset has fingered as a company that has a history of being involved in US government operations.

Now, the issue of intelligence agency drug dealing has once again raised its head in spectacular fashion in a rather unlikely place: a Chicago federal courtroom.

The case revolves around the prosecution of an accused Mexican drug trafficker, Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla. Zambada Niebla is part of the famed Sinaloa drug cartel, an organization that has risen in Calderon’s Mexico to become one of the most powerful international drug trafficking cartels in the region, if not on the globe.

His case revolves around “Fast and Furious,” an offshoot of the ATF’s Project Gunrunner which was ostensibly set up to stop the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico but has in fact allowed over 2000 guns to be smuggled under the ATF’s nose into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.

Zambada Niebla is in court on charges of serving as the logistical coordinator for the Sinaloa cartel, helping to import tons of cocaine into the us by land, rail, and air.

The only problem is that Zambada Niebla is now claiming to to be an asset of the US government. In response to this claim, US government prosecutors are attempting to invoke the “Classified Information Procedures Act” to keep classified material relation to national security out of public court proceedings.

According to a former federal agent contacted for comment on the case by Bill Conroy of NarcoNews, the invocation of CIPA means that CIA involvement in the case “is a very reasonable conclusion” and that “there is hot stuff to hide.”

Earlier this week, I had the chance to talk to Bill Conroy about the case, and about the possible relationship between the CIA and the Mexican drug cartels.

Despite the startling nature of the case, and the likelihood of agency complicity in drug trafficking into the United States yet again, the establishment media has been almost completely silent on this aspect of the Fast and Furious scandal, with Bill Conroy at NarcoNews being one of the only reporters on the beat at the moment.

Perhaps this is not surprising, given the shameful history of the American media in their coverage of CIA-drug connections in the past.

After the publication of Gary Webb’s expose on the CIA-Contra drug connections in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996, he was subjected to a fierce critique from the Washington Post, the LA Times and the New York Times. The backlash eventually forced Webb’s editors at the Mercury News to back away from the story. The CIA’s own internal investigation by Inspector General Frederick Hitz vindicated much of Webb’s reporting, but Webb remained a journalistic outcast and the story was commonly believed to be discredited.

In 2004, Gary Webb was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head. The death was ruled a suicide.

In the end, perhaps it is a simple matter of economics. There are billions of dollars per year to be made in keeping the drug trade going, and it has long been established that Wall Street and the major American banks rely on drug money as a ready source of liquid capital.

In late 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, even went on record to say that it was primarily drug money that kept the American financial system afloat during the 2008 crisis, estimating that some $352 billion dollars of drug profits had been laundered via the major US banks during that time.

With those kinds of funds at stake, it is unsurprising to see a media-government-banking nexus develop around the status quo of a never-ending war on drugs, aided, abetted and facilitated by the modern-day British East India Company, the CIA.

As Presidential candidate Ron Paul pointed out during his 1988 run for the White House, it is not until the people take back their government and repeal the drug laws that help to maintain this phony drug war and artificially inflate the prices of this age-old scourge that we can begin to actually deal with the root of the drug problem, and at the same time remove one of the key funding sources for the CIA’s illegal operations

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Letter to an Atheist!

Letter to Eddie Tabash: Atheist apologetic. By Dennis Edwards:

File: Apologetics, the Love of God, God´s Goodness, Salvation, Hell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C8xZSyvaZA (Debate between Eddie and Greg)

Eddie, I recently listened to you in debate with Greg Bahnsen. I agree with his logical reasoning and conclusions. But, I believe his argument would have been more convincing to the audience and you, and more persuasive, if he would have addressed some of the questions you brought up. I did not agree with the picture of God you created and then easily enough demolished, the typical “straw-man” device. Nevertheless, you did a good job in that you were persuasive. But, I think your conclusions are erroneous.

I do not know why you are so aggressively atheistic. Having a father as a Rabbi could have affected you negatively against God, especially, if his treatment of you as a child or teenager growing up was harsh, cruel or hypocritical. My anger at God started when I lost my high school sweetheart to another guy. I refused to have sex before marriage, believing it was a mortal sin. She finally confessed to me that she was leaving me for someone else, whom she was already having relations with. My heart broke and I was thrown into a great depression. I was a college student at the time. Soon after my first year geology course, I ended up an atheist. I started actively trying to confront Christians with the stupidity of their faith, after all, evolution or science had proven the Bible false, or so I thought, at the time.

Anyway, Eddie, to make a long story shorter, what I found out is that God has very little to do with the present day religious system or the past religious system you seem to be attacking. In fact, much of the time, the religious system fits perfectly into the description of the scribes and Pharisees which Jesus so vehemently attacked (Matthew 23) and which ultimately cost him his life. My experience goes like this, Eddie. After having smoked some hash with a friend at college, I had a God experience, an epiphany experience that changed me from a confused, withdrawn negative depressed person into one who believed in love and just wanted to love everyone. I had been touched by "God" and had experienced an unexplainable spiritual orgasm. (I am not promoting taking drugs to find God. I am just relating my own personal search and what happened to me.)

For the next few years, I searched through different religions trying to find out which one really could lead me to this "God" I had experienced. In the end, much to my dismay, it led me to Jesus and the God of the Bible. But you know Eddie, when I read the Bible, I do not find that horrible God you describe. I find a God of love “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:7&8) I find a God of infinite mercy. “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,…” (Exodus 34:6&7) Yet, God is also a God of justice and judgment. “… And that will by no mean clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children, unto the third and to the fourth generation ´of them that hate me.´”( Exodus 34:7 & Exodus 20:5b).

In the New Testament it says that, "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man (Jesus), it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost; it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matthew 12:31-32). You can rant and rage against God, and speak against Jesus, yet God will forgive you, if you have not been witnessed to by the power of the Holy Ghost.

How I understand this principle, goes like this. At one point, God´s spirit is going to come upon you and show you that He is indeed real and that Jesus is indeed His son. If at that point, you reject His truth, then He will be justified in condemning you. Really, you will have condemned yourself. Jesus said, “And if any man hear my words, and believe them not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:47&48). And James went on to say, “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) So God is not an unjust God and will not condemn us unjustifiably.

The New Testament even states that Jesus, when He died, went to the spirits who were imprisoned in the afterlife and preached the truth of the gospel to them. “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;…For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:19 & 4:6) Why did he bother to preach to them, if they did not have a possibility to receive it?

This seems to indicate that there could be some type of salvation after death, much to the shock of some very conservative religionists. Surely, a merciful God would not condemn souls to hell who had not had ample understanding and proof of the gospel. When we put people in prison, we do so for their crimes and with the hope that they will change. I believe "hell" is a similar place in the spiritual plane, where those who refuse to accept Christ will go, until they have learned their lessons and come to the true knowledge of God through Jesus.

The Bible even says that those who do not accept Christ, if they have not rejected the Holy Ghost, will be judged by their works, whether they were good, or whether they were evil. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,….And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and were judged every man according to their works.” (Revelation 20:11-13).

Jesus also said that those believers who knew God´s will and did it not would be beaten or punished or suffer some period of retraining in the afterlife. “And that servant, which knew his Lord´s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” (Luke 12:47-48) They do not get off scot-free because they believed in Jesus. God is merciful, but He is also just. But God, being perfect, cannot accept us in our imperfect state. But, if we are willing to accept the truth spoken by the sacrificial Lamb of God, He will accept us and forgive our sins and faults. As we accept Jesus, God accepts us. We will not be perfect, but will continue to learn and live and love in the life to come.

I am hoping Eddie, you will get the point. God is nothing like the religious system that you are attacking and their false doctrines, inconsistencies, and hypocrisy. He loves you Eddie, and is trying to bring you to Himself. Paul was much like you and look what happened to him. He had a God experience, which he could not deny. (Acts 9:1-23). He became God´s man for the hour. Much of Christianity today is the fruit of his efforts. The Bible says, “Call upon me and I will answer you!”(Jeremiah 33:3) Eddie, if you seek for Him with all your heart, you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13). Have you really given Him a chance? I am not talking about religion, Eddie. Have you been so frustrated and angry with false religion and religionists that you have missed His “still small voice” to your heart telling you He loves you? (1 Kings 19:12).

Another point you make is about God casting the souls into hell unjustly. You mention the Tsunami and how so many innocent children died and then because they had never prayed the sinner´s prayer were cast into hell forever. Again, Eddie, I do not know where you are getting your doctrines from, but that harsh and cruel God you are talking about is not the God of the Bible. We are going to live for eternity with God and each man, woman and child will be given ample proof of his existence and a chance to accept Jesus as their Lord of Lords, either in this life or the life to come.

In Psalm 19, David says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky shows his handiwork. The heavens speak to us throughout the day and throughout the night in every land and language. (Psalm 19: 1-3) Paul goes on to say that just by looking at nature we will find God, so therefore we are without excuse. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”(Romans 1: 20). But it is one thing to be ignorant of God´s love for us, but it is another thing to turn our back on Him and refuse to let His spirit melt and break our hearts. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”(Romans 1:21)

Each man will give an account of his life, for good or for evil. As Paul said, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12). He also wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10). But not all men that talk of God will be able to come into His presence in the afterlife, because they never knew and loved God. Jesus when talking to the self-righteous religious hypocrites said, “Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devil? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.”(Matthew 7:21-23). So, it has a lot to do with the heart and motivation and not just the lip service many offer to God. Like Jesus said, “This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”(Matthew 15:8) “For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

As far as your mother is concerned and her suffering in the Nazi concentration camps and then dying and going to hell for eternity, yes, that would seem to be too much. But God in His mercy would have given her some kind of a chance to know that Jesus was really His Son. Maybe she met Corrie Tem Boon and had the Gospel shared with her by Corrie, and found Jesus. Obviously, those that accept Jesus by faith, without the physical proof, would seem to merit more reward, than those who need the proof of a sign. The assurance that we have is the fact that God is just. God loves. Yet, God needs to correct us like a loving parent would when we do wrong willingly. “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son which he receives.”(Hebrews12:6). If your mother did not receive sufficient witness of Christ while here on earth and she was a good person, God will judge and reward her according to her works, whether they were good, or whether they were evil. (Revelation 20:12) It seems you tend to give only black or white alternatives, when the Bible has a more comprehensive and compassionate plan.

As far as Mahatma Gandhi is concerned, God again is the judge. If Gandhi refused to accept Christ because, as he said, he had yet to find a “real Christian,” God may have indeed been merciful to him. He did try to practice the words of Jesus and acted more like a Christian than most Christians do. So, how do we know he went to hell? Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciple in deed.” (John 8:31). He also said, “He that has my commandments, and keeps them he it is that loves me.”(John 14:21) “If a man loves me, he will keep my words.” (John 14:23). So, if Gandhi was following the words of Jesus and obeying them, he actually loved Jesus. Again, it is not as black and white as you try to make it seem.

And who knows, he might have been a secret believer who did not openly confess Christ for fear of the political & religious reaction. The same thing happened in the days of Jesus. “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” (John 12:42). And after Jesus´ death we see two other members of the Sanhedrin, “And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,…” (John 19:38) “and there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night,…” So these two top religious and political figures were quite cautious about letting their religious beliefs known, for fear of the negative repercussions.

I hope these answers have helped you to understand more clearly the love God has for you, your loved ones and for each and every man, woman and child in this great big world. He loves each one and each one is precious in His sight. He has made us in His image. “And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness:…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”(Genesis 1:26-27) He has made us with a part of His spiritually within our hearts seeking to be reunited with the Him. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6) That spiritual void within our hearts is made for Him alone and cannot be filled with other loves, be they what they are. “For the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:63) Eddie, let Him in, don´t fight against Him. There is big world out there that needs His love. He needs people like you to be His representative and to use that God given energy He has given you for good, to help and to encourage others and to change the world with love, His love. Will you hear the call? He needs you! Come on! There is still plenty of work to do.

Please watch this slideshow made for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOJeNKGEbFg Yours sincerely, Dennis Edwards

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The Test and the Reward!

By Dennis Edwards:

Chapter 6 - A Visit from Family & Friends

Upon finally having word from me, my parents came to see me at the "Bible Institute" in Ellenville. The conditions at the Community College were very basic. I remember sleeping on the floor at night in a thinly-walled cabin. But I was learning to be a “revolutionary” for Jesus. Whatever physical sacrifice was hardly important. My parents wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing. They were quite reluctant to let me stay at the community. If I wanted to serve God, why could I not become a Priest or find some other way. But seeing I was twenty-two at the time, and they could not convince me otherwise, they left hoping it was a passing phase. My father later told me something when he was near to the end of his life. He had found Jesus through some woman he had met at the nursing home. He said, “Dennis, you found Jesus when you were young and dedicated your whole life to Him, which I could never understand. I lived almost my whole life without that personal relationship with Jesus. I do not know how I did it, but now that I have found Jesus, I understand your decision and life choices.”

A few days afterward my parent’s visit, a close friend from childhood named Chris came for an afternoon. He was going to bring me home “one way or the other.” That´s what he told me when we went for ride in his car. But seeing the conviction and happiness I had, and that I was staying at the Community College under my free will, he also left, though somewhat disappointed.

Finally, some of my college friends and my brother came from Ohio to convince me I was making a bad decision and bring me to my senses. But again, it was fruitless. My will was sure and I could not be moved. I must apologize here to my brother for the way he found his car. All his music tapes were missing. The tires of his car were flat and no compensation was given, though he did recover some money from my bank account back in Marietta. With close to two hundred young people, many coming off drugs and out of hippy lifestyles, not everyone was as “Christian” as everyone else.

I remember thinking during my first days at the Community College that maybe it was all a communist plot to subvert American young people against the war using the Bible. But the Word of God I was learning in the classes could not be refuted. The Word had become a light unto my path & a lamp upon my feet.[1] I was building my foundation of faith based on God´s Word, & it was refreshing. It was like taking a bath and getting cleansed from all the filth of my life! I was being born again.[2] But, like in the movie The Matrix, it was not easy. I had to let go of old, false mindsets, and accept new ones. As Jesus said, “If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed, & you shall know the truth & the truth shall set you free.”[3] Paul also said, “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.”[4] I was becoming that new man in Christ.

In December, there was a heavy downfall of snow. I was responsible for bringing the food to the director’s office in the evenings. One evening I overheard the directors talking about testing some of the new students to see if they were really there for the right motives. The following morning a group of us were taken on a job to move a broken-down vehicle to a more accessible location at the camp. Besides the snow, it started sleeting, and I remember I did not have adequate winter clothing, as I had never gone back to Marietta to pick up my things, seeing it was so far away. It was freezing cold and I ended up fainting as we tried to push the vehicle, I had not been eating properly, also. The group carried me back to one of the cabins. Someone tried to light a fire in the wood stove to warm us up. However, the chimney was blocked and all the smoke filled the room. Here we were freezing cold, wet, choking from the smoke. But I was happy. My heart was with God and I had found His peace & truth. Love was indeed the answer. “Peace I leave with you,” Jesus said, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”[5] I was not worried or afraid anymore. God was real and He was going to take care of me somehow.

The time at Ellenville was like being at a boot camp or in the war together. Great bonds of friendship were formed, some of which I have until this day.

Footnotes:

[1] Psalm 119:105

[2] John 3:3

[3] John 8:31

[4] 2Corinthians 5:17

[5] John 14:27

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Eyewitness account: Media lies about Syria!

Natalia Mihailova, gbtimes, June 5, 2012

Independent journalist Anhar Kochneva has been living and working in Syria for more than ten years. She says that the situation in Syria is not at all similar to how it has been presented in the mass media.

She is Russian, speaks fluent Arabic and her friends and neighbors are ordinary Syrians. She walks along the same streets of Damascus and goes shopping in the same stores as any other resident of the Syrian capital. We recently spoke with her to ask about some of the causes for the long-term disorder in Syria.

Were there any prerequisites for the Syrian crisis?
First of all, there were no signs of any crisis a year ago. Nothing extraordinary happened in March 2011. The whole thing started out as a case of criminal activity. I always got furious when journalists wrote that ‘mass riots and demonstrations had been taking place in Syria during recent months’. It is not true.

I’ve been living permanently in Syria for the last seven months, and I saw only three ‘so-called demonstrations’. So-called, because there were very few people and they were clearly staged as a performance for journalists. “Protests” were shot on video for five or ten minutes before people quickly dispersed. In some cities, where bandits took control temporarily, they forced people to go to demonstrations.

I came to Syria in the late-90s. To tell the truth, I didn’t like the country. Now I’ve been living in this country for quite a while, the country has changed. Life has changed; people have changed. People have started their own businesses; they have their own property.

Therefore, people would maybe have supported a protest movement 10 years ago, but now they wouldn’t. Now people want stability. There is unnecessary chaos, some disorders. They used to live in a peaceful country. Syria was one of the safest countries in the region. Here you could leave a bag with money in the street, return two days later and find it in the same place. Now, unfortunately, it’s not like that anymore. People are afraid. Something they were proud of was stolen from them.

Who is planning the explosions, shooting at people and destroying buildings?
Some weeks ago I was in Homs. I was in the sadly known Baba Amr district of Homs. Most of the residents have left their homes. My friends live 800 meters from Baba Amr. They told me that bandits fired at their houses. Not the Army. The Syrian army does not kill people. They only answer when the situation is extreme.

Most of the last months’ casualties were soldiers of the Syrian Army. The so-called rebels fight in the streets, shoot videos and burn tires. If you see black smoke on a video “made by mobile phone”, it’s not the result of artillery fire by the army, it is smoke from burning tires.

A month ago I was in Zabadani in southwest Syria. The bandits kept the whole city in fear. We often hear and read in media about the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria. A humanitarian catastrophe begins when a city is in the hands of bandits.

In Zabadani, my colleagues and I were captured by bandits. They showed us a rusty tank and said the tank fired at the town. But the two ruined houses were in the middle of the district. I do not think that the tank could shoot from the air or from behind the corner. They gathered a dozen people and organized a demonstration especially for us. At this moment I looked at the people’s faces. I saw only fear and hatred on the faces. They were afraid of the bandits and hated them.

You always use word ‘bandits’: aren’t they rebels or the opposition?
There are a lot of soldiers of fortune among the bandits. They are Chechens, Romanians, French, Libyans, and Afghans. Moreover, there was a very funny accident with Afghan soldiers. A few Afghans were caught and asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ They replied, ‘We were told that we came to Israel, and at night we are shooting at Israeli buses. We are fighting with the enemy to liberate Palestine.’ It might be funny, but it is true. The guys were really surprised, ‘Are we in Syria? We thought we were in Israel!’

Syria’s own criminals are also in armed gangs. These are real criminals who should be in prison. Such people can be found in any country. It is very typical that when they take control of a city they immediately burn criminal archives.

There are these types of people in any society… the people who like to enjoy the power, who do not want to work but want to have money. We have more and more cases of robbery. Their number is not great. On the other hand, one does not need a large number of people to terrorize the city. Two armed snipers can paralyze life on the streets.

The parliamentary elections took place on May 7, 2012. Did the opposition participate in the elections?
Yes, the campaign was very active. All the walls of the main streets of Damascus were covered with candidates’ posters. They said 7,200 candidates were competing for 250 seats. Why are you sure that the vote was not democratic? Who says so? The leaders of the Syrian opposition? They have been living abroad, in Europe, for decades. What do they know about the real Syria? What do they know about our needs? Let Syrian people decide their future.

The major opposition parties acting in Syria participated in the parliamentary elections. By the way, one more detail to the situation. Three days ago the son of the head of the Syrian National Party was killed. The party got threats that they should not go to the elections, but the party refused and then the guy was just killed. Who is responsible for this? The government or the ones who do not want any positive changes in Syria? The bandits do not need any reform; they only need destabilization and chaos in the country.

Who is the conflict in Syria between?
Tragically, Syria is an obstacle for the US to change the political balance in the Middle East. Read the bookWhere to Invade Next, edited by Stephen Elliott, and you will understand a lot about the Arab Spring.

Thanks to the global media, we all live in the alternative media reality. The whole world is watching a movie about something which does not in fact exist; it’s fiction in the guise of real events. This is a manipulation of public opinion.

Finally, do you support the Government of Syria?
Me? I don’t know anybody from the government. I support the people of Syria. Nobody else.

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Ancorado em Mim!

Jesus, falando em profecia

Não importa a condição econômica do mundo e a confusão financeira, as Minhas promessas permanecem verdadeiras e tão boas quanto dinheiro na conta.

Cuide dos Meus negócios e Eu cuidarei de você. É simples assim. “Buscai primeiro o Reino de Deus e a Sua justiça e todas estas coisas lhe serão acrescentadas”.[1]

*

Eu lhe fiz muitas promessas de provisão que continuam tão válidas como sempre. O futuro pode estar anuviado e você talvez não saiba aonde o levarei ou por que meios suprirei. Mas isso não faz diferença, pois as Minhas promessas continuam valendo ouro.

Muitos empresários fazem investimentos de risco quando abrem um negócio – sem garantias de que vai dar certo. Mas Eu garanto que, se fizer o melhor que pode, obedecer e Me seguir, Eu suprirei, o prosperarei, cuidarei de você e lhe darei sucesso.

*

Criei o mundo. Criei você. Conheço o seu passado e o seu futuro. Tudo o que enfrentar na sua vida Eu já previ e posso lidar com a situação. Às vezes a vida pode parecer fortuita, mas não é. Todo fator na sua vida está sob o Meu controle, e você não enfrentará nada que não possa superar com a Minha ajuda. Estou no controle não apenas da eternidade, mas também do seu futuro.

*

Não exijo perfeição para intervir para o bem na sua vida. Você não precisa ser perfeito. A nossa relação é como a de uma criança fraca, com tendência a errar, e o seu pai, forte e capaz. Tudo o que Me entregar em fé, dizendo, “Jesus, não consigo cuidar dessa situação. Preciso demais da Sua ajuda”, Eu cuidarei. Não resisto ao clamor de fé do seu coração infantil. Fraco, imperfeito, confuso e muitas vezes errado, isso torna a Minha perfeição muito mais necessária. Sei que não tem no que se apoiar, então apoie-se em Mim, e Eu o salvarei.

*

Não existe jamais um momento certo para deixar de acreditar em Mim e nas Minhas promessas. Não existe nada, obstáculos, problemas, dificuldades de adequação, batalhas pessoais ou dúvidas que justifiquem você abandonar a sua convicção e fé de que resolverei tudo. Vai dar tudo certo; confie em Mim quanto aos obstáculos que enfrentará no caminho. Concentre-se no caminho à sua frente, sabendo que fui diante de você preparar o caminho e lhe mostrar exatamente como chegar ao seu destino.

*

Caso sinta-se tentado a achar que não vou cuidar de você, lembre-se que até faço o sol brilhar sobre os ímpios e a chuva cair sobre os injustos.[2] Imagine então o que posso fazer por você que tem dedicado a vida fielmente a Me servir, que ama a Mim e aos outros e faz o melhor que pode para seguir aonde Eu guiar!

*

Quero retirar dos seus ombros o peso da incerteza e pedir-lhe que agarre-se à sua fé, confiando nas Minhas promessas. Quero que agarre-se ao fato de que, por mais escura ou impossível que a situação pareça, Eu nunca falhei aos Meus filhos. Estou no controle,essas coisas nunca vão mudar. Não importa a prova, dificuldade ou impossibilidade que você ou outros enfrentem, estou ao seu lado e lhe dou a Minha canção de vitória, Minhas promessas de graça suficiente, Meu poder infalível para superar todos os obstáculos. Eu o capacitarei a seguir adiante com a paz de espírito que dou e a certeza de que faço todas as coisas bem.

*

Mesmo que tudo e todos aparentemente o ignorem, que o mundo falhe, que não lhe reste nada ao que se apegar, ainda assim terá a Mim, e isso é tudo o que precisa. Mesmo que as pessoas que lhe são importantes e queridas perdessem tudo o que é visível, ainda teriam a Mim, e Eu sou tudo. Não existe perda permanente para os Meus filhos, porque Eu sou tudo.

Sou o que cura e restaura corações quebrados, esperanças e sonhos despedaçados, e vidas destruídas. Eu nunca abandono os Meus filhos nem os deixo passar privação. Supro todas as suas necessidades. É verdade, às vezes as respostas e a provisão vêm de meios inesperados, ou diferentes, ou demoram mais do que se esperava ou a pessoa tinha orado, mas sempre respondo. Eu não deixo os Meus filhos passar falta.

*

Não importa o que aconteça ou pareça dar errado ou falhar, não importa quem pareça ter falhado, Eu jamais falho. Estou sempre disponível. Não deixarei os Meus filhos para trás, Eu os carregarei e cuidarei deles como faz um Pai amoroso e paciente. Respostas, milagres e promessas existem em abundância, pois amo conceder boas coisas aos Meus filhos fieis.

*

É difícil passar pelas provas e dificuldades. Às vezes se pergunta como vai conseguir atravessar tudo isso ou como vai lidar com tudo. Parece que está no meio de uma inundação, de um incêndio e de uma grande provação tudo ao mesmo tempo. Mas estou ao seu lado. Você vai superar e se elevar triunfante no espírito.

Até mesmo agora, já está triunfante, porque está segurando a Minha mão. Sente-se pequeno e fraco, mas Eu o levanto e carrego. Você vai conseguir chegar lá.

*

Você tem um futuro brilhante e glorioso pela frente, por isso peço que persevere. Na verdade, confio que vai continuar se agarrando a Mim, ou seja, à sua fé nas Minhas promessas e na Minha habilidade suprema de ajudá-lo não importa o quê, de estar sempre ao seu dispor, mesmo que as coisas pareçam desmoronar ou desvanecer.

Mesmo que chegasse ao final desta etapa da corrida e sentisse que nada mais tinha, ainda não estaria perdendo como acontece com os que não têm esperança, porque continuaria tendo a Mim. Você nunca vai Me perder. Essa é a verdade que muitos grandes santos antigos e fieis homens e mulheres de Deus, bem como fortes e desconhecidos herois da fé aprenderam em suas vidas: Não importa o que enfrentassem, recebessem ou perdessem, mesmo que fossem as coisas mais preciosas em suas vidas, Eu bastava. Tinham a Mim, então estavam em paz.

Não estou dizendo que vão sofrer uma perda extrema como algumas dessas queridas pessoas sofreram, mas durante o período de mudanças e incertezas, ainda poderão entender o valor e a força do princípio de “Jesus basta”. É possível chegar às mesmas conclusões que essas pessoas e receber força sobrenatural, paz e plenitude de espírito como elas receberam quando não lhes restava mais força própria ou conhecimento, amor e o que lhes era importante, e só tinham a Mim, no entanto tinham tudo.

*

Estou ao seu lado a todo momento. Cumprirei Minhas promessas de lhe dar graça suficiente, paz de espírito, a paz de Deus que sobrepassa todo o entendimento. Não importa o que aconteça ao seu redor, pode estar em paz se estiver ancorado profundamente em Mim. – Lá no fundo, bem abaixo das ondas e da turbulência, onde as águas são tranquilas e serenas. Como diz a canção, “As águas tranquilas correm no fundo”. Conforme se aprofundar na relação Comigo, encontrará a quietude de espírito, a tranquilidade, o descanso, a verdade, confiança, fé, entendimento e força que precisa.

Publicado originalmente em fevereiro de 2010. Atualizado e republicado em junho de 2012. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão.


[1] Mateus 6:33.

[2] Mateus 5:45.

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