A Tale of Three Cities, Part One
My Grandfather was a Mason, meeting in a small nondescript hall (Waihenga St John’s Masonic Lodge) in the town of Martinborough. Supposedly he had a high rank.
My dad got invited by my grandfather to become a Freemason but turned my grandfather down.
Why?
My dad said it was because he did not like the idea of secret societies. I got from my dad that he did not think truth and secrecy were compatible.
Our world is full of secret societies, some more formal and arranged than others, but they all say the same thing. “Do you really think you know the truth? You don’t, you only have a part, join us in our secrets and we will set you free.”
Quite different from what Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
We are truth-seekers. This is an attribute that our Creator has put in us.
We also live in a world of competing ideas, from media competing for our money with ads to ideologies competing for our allegiance and votes. How do we find the truth in a thing? How do you navigate the information overload without going mad? That unfortunately, the noise, is part of their game. They want you to go mad. A citizenry that is frustrated, overwhelmed, and unsure of reality is a prime target for a psyop, to be manipulated into reacting. Black lives do matter and Black Lives Matter was a very effective psyop to get people reacting, the conflict and drama got us right away from Covid. When we do react we are easily herded by the media, the deep state, politicians, religions and bad actors for their ends and not the original issue.
From a ‘following the teachings of Jesus’ point of view, consider this…
Jesus never reacted.
From being called a bastard by religious leaders (John 8:41-44), to Mary and Martha crying over Lazareth (John 11:20-44). From clearing the temple with a whip (John 2:13-15) to talking from a cross with a beaten body (Luke 23). Jesus was proactive, he always acted in the face of the circumstances before him. We need to learn this attribute and gain this capacity. It only comes from spending time with Jesus, (and in Jesus’ case he spent time with Father.) We need to read His words, imitate His life, understand the nature of our existence, and be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
- Do read the bible.
- Do memieize scripture.
- Do meditation on that scripture.
- Do wrestle with others on the teachings of Jesus and the Words of God.
- You are going to get fit in this battle by exercising your brain.
Some things to think on.
- Everyone dies of their last disease.
- Ideas are infectious.
- God is not capricious.
- The devil is no omnipresent.
- Death is not the end, it is merely the end of the beginning.
- How many people will there be in eternity that never got past the age of five?
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a whip of [e]cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house a [f]place of business!”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came forth from God and am here; for I have not even come [n]on My own, but [o]He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand [p]what I am saying? It is because you cannot listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells [q]a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of [r]lies. 45 But because I say the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
20 So then Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary [a]stayed in the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” 24 Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are the [b]Christ, the Son of God, and [c]He who comes into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and [d]was troubled, 34 and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could this man, who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also [e]kept this man from dying?”
38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [f]there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the [g]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
33 And when they came to the place called [n]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 [[o]But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. 35 And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the [p]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was [q]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the [r]Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving [s]what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”