Category Archives: Christianity

by | May 20, 2013 · 5:56 am

An extraordinary God-incidence – Divine Mercy Sunday & Yom HaShoah

Divine Mercy Devotion – Poland 1930s

From 1931 until 1938, Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to an uneducated Polish nun named Faustina Kawolska, bringing with Him a wonderful message of Mercy for all mankind. In obedience to her spiritual director, Saint Faustina recorded the revelations she received in a diary that grew to be about 600 pages long.

Divine Mercy Devotion

From Saint Faustina’s diary:

“In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, ‘paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.’

“The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. … Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.”

Jesus asked this image and devotion to the Divine Mercy be spread throughout the world. It proved to be of particular importance in strengthening Poles during the horrors of Nazi occupation.

Saint Faustina’s diary records that Jesus asked numerous times that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Divine Mercy Sunday was officially decreed a Catholic Solemnity by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the canonization of Saint Faustina on April 30, 2000.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – Poland 1943

The largest single revolt by Jews in World War II occurred April 19 through May 16, 1943 in Warsaw, Poland. The Nazis crushed the resistance after thirty days and completed their plan to send all the Warsaw Jews to Treblinka for extermination.

In 1950, the Jewish community set Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, on Nissan 27. This date was chosen because it falls after Passover is over, but before the last day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It is also eight days before Yom Ha’atzma’ut, or Israeli Independence Day. It was legally inaugurated in in Israel in 1953.

The Jewish community decided Yom HaShoah should not interfere with  Shabbat (Sabbath), so if Nissan 27 falls on a Friday or Saturday, Yom HaShoah is moved to the previous Thursday; if it falls on Sunday, it is moved to the following Monday.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

On Yom HaShoah, all across Israel a siren blares and everyone comes to a halt to remember for 2 minutes. This video makes me weep.

Yom Hashoah in Tel Aviv 8/04/2013

On the face of it, the Catholic celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday and the Jewish commemoration of Yom HaShoah are totally unrelated. Yet they actually have roots in the most devout religious communities inside the nation that suffered the worst extremes of Nazi oppression.

We often hear about the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Few know that the genocidal policies of the Nazis also resulted in the deaths of nine million Gentiles. Three million of the Nazi victims were Polish. Half of these were Jews; half were Gentiles.

  • Saint Faustina died on October 5, 1938, in Kraków, Poland.
  • The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising started just 4½ years later on April 19, 1943 in Warsaw, Poland.
  • Kraków and Warsaw are only 157 miles apart.

Saint Faustina’s death date was Yom Kippur (Tishri 10, 5699) for the Jewish community. Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on Nisan 14, 5703, or Preparation Day in the Jewish calendar. This is the day when Jews prepare their Passover feast, or Seder, which they will celebrate after sundown when Passover begins. Nisan 14 is also the day when Jesus was crucified.

Jesus picked the date for Divine Mercy Sunday; the Jewish community picked the date for Yom HaShoah. Clearly, men had nothing to do with the fact that these two holidays, which are so closely related in the history and suffering of God’s people, also overlap frequently, despite our two different calendars.

I only went back to 2000, but found coincident holidays in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013 and, in the near future, 2014 and 2017.

When Nisan 27 is a Sunday, Yom HaShoah is moved to Monday. But because Jewish holidays begin at sundown, whenever Yom HaShoah is on the Monday after Divine Mercy Sunday, the two Jewish and Catholic communities are actually celebrating both holidays together between sundown and midnight.  I can’t help thinking God intended that the overlap would occur only during hours of darkness.

The Divine Mercy: No Escape [46:14] Hosted by Helen Hayes

This movie is worth watching just to see the beauty of the soul of Ms. Hayes. After watching it, I became fascinated with her and from what I learned, it seems she truly was a very devout and beautiful person.

Sources:

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by | May 18, 2013 · 8:09 am

Do not be part time Christians

Pope Francis - Do not be part time Christians

Have you prayed

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by | May 18, 2013 · 7:07 am

The last SEVEN years of time

A vital part of End Times predictions is that there is still “one week” (7 years) left for Jerusalem and the Jews. This is based on Daniel 9:24-27

Sixty-nine “weeks” (69 x 7 = 483 years) have passed.

These 483 years ended at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, when the “Time of the Jews” gave way to the “Time of the Gentiles.” The 70th week will be the last seven years of time.

Daniel says, “For one week he shall make a firm covenant with the many. Half the week he shall abolish sacrifice and offering. In their place shall be the desolating abomination until the ruin that is decreed is poured out upon the desolator.”

  1. The last seven years will begin with a treaty between “the desolator” (the Anti-Christ) and “the many” (maybe the United Nations) to leave Israel in peace for seven years.
  2. The Anti-Christ will violate that treaty half-way through, putting an end to the Jewish Old Testament sacrifice and offering at the Temple. Thus, we can conclude that the Jews will somehow be allowed to rebuild their ancient temple in Jerusalem.
  3. Inside the temple, the Anti-Christ will set up an altar to himself. There will be a terrible war, then he will end “in a flood” (suddenly?).

These prophecies are confirmed in the New Testament. (I’ve altered these two for clarity only. By all means, go read the originals for yourself!)

The apostasy will come first and the lawless one who is doomed to perdition will be revealed. He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god and object of worship and seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god. (2 Thess 2:3-4)

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight Jesus and his army. The beast (who is the Anti-Christ who has been given the power of Satan) was caught and with it the false prophet; they were thrown alive into the fiery pool burning with sulfur. The rest were killed. (Rev 19:19-21)

01 End Times timeline - Treaty Violated Destruction

More about the first 69 weeks

Daniel says, “From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt until there is an anointed ruler, there shall be seven weeks. In the course of sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, with squares and trenches, in time of affliction.”

“The utterance” = About 445 BC, the Persian King Artaxerxes I ordered his keeper of the royal forests to make beams to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

“Seven weeks” = 7 x 7 = 49 years. Artaxerxes II, son of Darius II, defeated his brother Cyrus the Younger and became king of Persia about 404 BC. A number of ancient sources identify him as the Persian King Ahasueras who married Esther. The Old Testament Book of Esther tells how a Jewish girl named Esther became queen of Persia and thwarted a plan to commit genocide against her people.

“Sixty-two weeks” = 62 x 7 = 434 years “of affliction”

  • The Jews were not permitted to rule themselves. The primary Jewish civil authority was the Temple high priest who answered to whatever governor was sent.
  • In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered the Persians, after which Israel fell under the jurisdiction of a series of his generals and their descendants, known collectively as the Hellenistic kings of the Ptolemaic (Egyptian) and Seleucid (Syrian) dynasties. These rulers tried to force Jews to abandon Torah and adopt Hellenistic values. When the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, outlawed Jewish practices, the Maccabees revolted (167–164 BC).
  • In 63 BC, Rome conquered the area and continued the uneasy foreign rule of the contentious Jewish people.
  • In 70 AD, Roman troops destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple, fulfilling Daniel’s prediction: “the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

Daniel says, “After the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut down with no one to help him.”

Current calendars do not depict the times quite right, but they are pretty darn close.

7 x 7 = 49: Utterance by Artaxerxes I (445 BC) to anointing of Artaxerxes II (404 BC): -445 + 49 = –396.
62 x 7 = 434: Anointing (404 BC) to Jesus’ death (33 AD): -404 + 434 = 30 – 1 = 29.
62 + 7 = 69 x 7 = 483 = 49 + 434 = 483: Utterance (445 BC) to Jesus’ death (33 AD): -445 + 483 – 1 = 37.
(Calculating times from BC to AD requires a minus one, because there was no year zero. E.g., from 10 BC to 10 AD looks like it should have been 20 years, but it was actually only 19 years.)

These discrepancies do not bother me in the least.

Leap years and times when various calendars were adjusted by large amounts make conversion to ancient calendars enormously complex and certainly way above my pay grade.

The actual solar year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and some seconds long, so every calendar gets off by some amount of time each year and needs adjusting. To keep our calendars from drifting through the seasons, we add an extra day every four years; Jews add a 13th lunar month seven times every 19 years.

But even these adjustments allow the calendar year and solar cycle to get skewed, so sometimes more time is thrown in. For example, in 1752, the British Empire (which included us at the time) decided to correct its calendar by 11 days. Wednesday, September 2, 1752 was followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752.

Never mind that BC thing! Criminetly, negative numbers confuse me on a good day! Let’s just say I’m fine with accepting the idea that Daniel’s prophecy has been spot on so far and that the Jews and Jerusalem will have one more “week” (seven year period) that will begin when Anti-Christ makes a 7-year treaty and end when Jesus kicks Satan’s butt at Armageddon.

Sources:

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by | May 17, 2013 · 3:54 am

Most Racist Nations don’t fit the Leftist Meme

Most racist nations vs. Least racist nations

Religious makeup of the 30% or more racist nations:

  • Bangladesh – Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9%
  • Egypt – Muslim 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%
  • India – Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Other 3.8%
  • Indonesia – Muslim 86.1%, Protestant 5.7%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 1.8%, Other 3.4%
  • Iran – Muslim 98%, Other 2%
  • Jordan – Muslim 92%, Christian 6%, Other 2%
  • Korea, South – None 43.3%, Christian 31.6%, Buddhist 24.2%, Other 0.9%
  • Nigeria – Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
  • Saudi Arabia – Muslim 100%
  • Vietnam – None 80.8%, Buddhist 9.3%, Christian 7.2%, Other 2.6%, Muslim 0.1%

Look for yourself how many of the Not-Racist BLUE nations on the map are on this list.

Nations of the world that are more than 50% Christian

Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Congo (Republic of the), Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands (The), New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Sources:

H/t itooktheredpill

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by | May 11, 2013 · 9:29 pm

The latest assault on our freedoms

  • Catholics being forced to pay for birth control.
  • Pro-Lifers being forced to fund abortion.
  • Tea Partiers being targeted by the IRS for special audits.

These and more have already happened.

Now, the Obama Administration is demanding that military personnel keep their faith to themselves.

I am not making this up.

It’s okay for military personnel to tell everyone about their sexual preferences. Anyone who is uncomfortable and feels this is TMI is supposed to just shut up about it.

But if one soldier says out loud, “I believe in God,” and another soldier reports to his CO that this made him “uncomfortable”, then the soldier who shared can be court martialed.

  • Veteran suicide rate is 300% that of the overall population.
  • Once every hour, a man or woman who volunteered to serve becomes despondent enough to die.
  • You might think that messages of HOPE and FORGIVENESS would be encouraged.
  • You would be wrong.

Rear Admiral Lee Addresses Restrictive Regulations on Religious Liberty [14:25]

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by | May 1, 2013 · 7:09 pm

Why I think the Millennium is now

There are a number of different interpretations of Revelation 20:1-10. The one I want to discuss today is the one that says that the Millennium began during Jesus’ lifetime on Earth and is still going on now.

My church (Roman Catholic) has pronounced only briefly on this subject and only to state that the Second Coming will be followed closely by the Final Judgment.  If you believe the Millennium will occur between the Great Tribulation and Final Judgment, God bless you. I don’t and I’m going to explain here why I don’t. If that will offend you, I hope you will do us both a favor and move on to more congenial blogs. Thank you.

Revelation 20:1-10 can be read on-line:

In my Bible studies, I have found strong evidence that the Millennium began before Jesus ascended and will continue most likely until the 5th Trumpet and Bowl events. Below is the timeline I made. I will expand on each of the ten items individually below.

15 Traditional Millennium timeline

As I understand it, the Post-Tribulation/Pre-Final Judgment Millennium interpretation is based largely on the assumption that the Revelation visions are chronologically consecutive. I can’t agree. Revelation 12:1-9 seems to make it obvious that we ought not to expect a consecutive chronology in John’s visions.

  1. Sign in the sky announcing the birth of Jesus.
  2. War in Heaven; Satan and his followers fall to Earth.
  3. Satan tries to destroy Jesus as a baby.
  4. Jesus is born.
  5. Jesus ascends.
  6. Woman changes from being Mary, Mother of Jesus, to being the Church.
  7. Persecution of early Christians is conflated with End Times flight from Jerusalem.
  8. War in Heaven.

N.b., We know 2 and 8 happened long before Jesus’ birth, because Satan was on Earth to tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

15a War in Heaven

15b Temptation by snake

Apart from chronology, I can find only one other justification for a Post-Tribulation Millennium interpretation, which is that the forehead/hand marks are part of the Tribulation prophecies.

Revelation 20:4 “I saw the souls of those … who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Evidence supporting a “Millennium is now” interpretation

1. Revelation 20:1-10 never says Jesus will reign on Earth.

  • The thrones in the Millennial passage could be those of the 24 elders [Rev 4:4].
  • The martyrs of Revelation 20:4 could be the fifth seal souls [Rev 6:9].

2. Satan appears to have had free reign on Earth from the time he was thrown out of Heaven until some time after he tempted Jesus.

15c Temptation of Jesus

But once Jesus began his ministry, He spent quite a lot of time casting demons out of people, something He specifically said was proof that “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Right after, He adds, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” [Matt 12:28-29]

3. Very soon after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said, “Now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” [John 12:31]

4. During the Last Supper, He said He would not drink wine again until the kingdom of God had come. He drank wine right before He died.

15d The Kingdom Comes

5. The grammar in the Millennium passage itself suggests that, at the time John had this vision (ca 90 AD), Satan had already been locked in the abyss.

  • John saw that an angel had seized, had tied up, had thrown, had locked over and had sealed Satan into the abyss.
  • Then, John learned that, after the thousand years was completed, Satan would be released.

15e Satan Locked

6. It seems fairly clear to me that the main reason for “binding the strongman” was to allow Christianity to spread.

  • Jesus told his disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” [Matt 24:14]
  • The reason cited for locking Satan in the abyss is, “So that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed.” [Rev 20:3]

15f The Millennium

If you’ve been reading my Bible studies right along, you’ll know that I believe the Rapture will be the Second Coming, the “Jesus in the clouds” event, and that it will occur on the day of the Sixth Seal. This has nothing to do with today’s discussion, but I need to stick it in here so my timeline thing is complete.

15g The Rapture

7. It appears that Satan will be released as part of the fifth Trumpet/Bowl events. I noticed something really interesting here: It says the passage to the abyss will be opened, which would allow Satan to come out on to Earth. But it never says Satan will be unchained. This fits with my interpretation that it was Jesus’ death that put the chains on Satan. That was a once for all event; the chaining would not be undo-able.

15h Satan unlocked

8. In Medieval History, I learned that a lot of Christians expected the Second Coming at the end of Y1K. This would make sense only if they interpreted the chaining and locking of Satan to have been accomplished by Jesus during His lifetime. As for “a thousand years” clearly not having meant a thousand literal revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, I have no problem with it. Elsewhere in the Bible, one thousand is used to symbolize a large, but indefinite quantity. We don’t insist that Psalm 50:10 must mean that God owns the cattle on no more and no less than one thousand hills, do we?

15i Armageddon

9. In Revelation 17:7-11, an angel says THREE times that the beast of the abyss existed once, but now exists no longer, and yet it will come again. Since the angel was speaking to John in his own present time, it seems patently obvious to me that Satan had already been locked into the abyss before 90 AD and would not be released until the Great Tribulation events the angel was describing.

15j Final Judgment

10. This interesting graphic further strengthens my case that the Millennium is now.

15 Parallel between Israel and Christian Church

Sources:

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by | May 1, 2013 · 3:03 pm

FORWARD to Atheism!

FORWARD to atheism

No religious freedom in military

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by | May 1, 2013 · 1:07 pm

Values

Tim Tebow

Values

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by | April 27, 2013 · 3:05 pm

Textual analysis of Revelation 17:1 – 22:9

Since the Bible’s chapter and verse numbers are not original to the text, I’ve been trying to ignore the numbers and just look at the structure and words. I’ve identified TWO “Angel Don’t” sections that bracket FOUR “Pool of Fire” sections. You’ll recall that TWO is a pair of things that are both similar and contrasting, while FOUR is about all that God created.

Angel Donts and Pools of Fire graphic

BRACKETS: TWO things that are similar and contrasting

PARALLEL BEGINNINGS: Angel Don’t

  • FIRST Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who were holding the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the judgment on the great harlot* who lives near the many waters.
  • SECOND Rev 21:9 One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

PARALLEL MIDDLES: Angel Don’t

  • FIRST The angel carried John away in spirit to a deserted place where he saw Satan’s city.*
  • SECOND The angel carried John away in spirit to a great, high mountain where he saw God’s city.
    • FIRST Satan’s city will be a place of immense wealth and depravity.
    • SECOND God’s city will be a place of immense wealth and holiness.
      • FIRST God will destroy Satan’s city in one day and no light from a lamp will ever be seen in her again.
      • SECOND God’s city will last forever and His glory will be its light.

PARALLEL ENDINGS: Angel Don’t

  • FIRST Rev 19:9-10 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God. Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
  • SECOND Rev 22:8-9 it is I, John, who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God.”

*For my take on:

Why “The Great Harlot” and “Babylon, the Mother of Harlots” are two different cities, see https://polination.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/the-great-harlot-vs-babylon-the-mother-of-harlots/

Why neither the Vatican nor the Roman Catholic Church are the harlot(s) of Revelation, see https://polination.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/the-seven-churches-of-revelation-part-ten/

BRACKETED: FOUR things about God’s creation

PARALLEL ENDINGS MARK OUT THESE SECTIONS

FIRST POOL OF FIRE = Rev 19:11 through Rev 19:21
Rev 19:20-21 The Anti-Christ and the False Prophet “were thrown alive into the fiery pool burning with sulfur.”

SECOND POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:1-10
Rev 20:10 “The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

THIRD POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:11 through Rev 20:15
Rev 20:14-15 “Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.”

FOURTH POOL OF FIRE = Rev 21:1 through Rev 21:8
Rev 21:8 “But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

THE STORY LINES

FIRST POOL OF FIRE = Rev 19:11 through Rev 19:21
The Final Battle at Armageddon: Jesus will fulfill the Jews’ expectation for a warrior Messiah by vanquishing all Israel’s enemies and establishing her reign forever. Note: He will have already fulfilled the Christians’ expectation for a Second Coming in the clouds at the Rapture. For my take on the Rapture, see https://polination.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/the-olivet-discourse-seal-six-and-the-rapture/

SECOND POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:1-10
The Millennium: Satan has been chained for a thousand years. When this time is completed, he will be released to deceive the nations and fight the Final Battle at Armageddon, after which God will send him and all who serve him into the pit forever.

THIRD POOL OF FIRE = Rev 20:11 through Rev 20:15
Final Judgment: Fate of the Damned = Compare white throne here with white horse in FIRST Pool of Fire.

FOURTH POOL OF FIRE = Rev 21:1 through Rev 21:8
Final Judgment: Fate of the Victors = Characteristics of Damned: The cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort.

I encourage you to read these passages in full for yourselves, keeping this structure in mind. It adds even more richness to the imagery. For example, consider how Satan’s city is described in the first Angel Don’t as the “Mother of Harlots” while God’s city is described in the second Angel Don’t as “a bride adorned for her husband.”

NOTE: In my next Bible study blog, I will be discussing why I believe the Millennium began before Jesus ascended. If that is going to make you mad, please skip that blog. I’ve had my fill of people being pissed at me for explaining what my beliefs are and why I hold them.

Sources:

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by | April 23, 2013 · 5:53 am

Repentance and penance

This is today’s email in the “Catechism in a Year” service I signed up to receive.

  • Part Two: How We Celebrate the Christian Mysteries
  • – Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church
  • — Chapter One: The Sacraments of Healing — PENANCE and RECONCILIATION

Question 229: What prepares a person for repentance?

The insight into one’s personal guilt produces a longing to better oneself; this is called contrition. We arrive at contrition when we see the contradiction between God’s love and our sin. Then we are full of sorrow for our sins; we resolve to change our life and place all our hope in God’s help.

The reality of sin is often repressed. Some people even think that guilt feelings should be dealt with in a merely psychological way. But genuine guilt feelings are important. It is like driving an automobile: When the speedometer indicates that the speed limit has been exceeded, the speedometer is not responsible, but the driver is. The closer we come to God, who is all light, the clearer our dark sides come to light also. Yet God is not a light that burns but, rather, a light that heals. That is why repentance impels us to go into the Light in which we will be completely healed.

Question 230: What is penance?

Penance is making restitution or satisfaction for a wrong that has been committed. Penance must not take place exclusively in my head; I must express it in acts of charity and in solidarity with others. One does penance also by praying, fasting, and supporting the poor spiritually and materially.

Penance is often misunderstood. It has nothing to do with low self-esteem or scrupulosity. Penance is not brooding over what a bad person I am. Penance frees and encourages us to make a new start.

Dig Deeper:

Corresponding CCC section (1430-1439) and other references @ http://www.catholiccrossreference.com/catechism/#!/search/1430-1439

Recommended Reading:

A Map of Life by Frank Sheed

Considered one of Frank Sheed’s best books, A Map of Life is also regarded as one of the best and most popular short summaries of the Catholic faith ever written. Focusing on the major truths of our existence and purpose in life, Sheed draws on God’s revelation to show what the divine master plan is for us and how each part of the plan is related.

Beginning with “The Problem of Life’s Purpose” and “The Problem of Life’s Laws”, he covers such important parts of the map of life as “The Creation and Fall”, “The Incarnation”, “The Mystical Body”, “The Trinity, “Law and Sin”, “The Supernatural Life”, and “Heaven, Purgatory, Hell”.

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