Glenn’s “personal”
Introduction
Intro:
I’ve had a few weeks since Clay placed some of our work on an
“official” website that he has apparently purchased in order to share with the
world and therefore the wider community what our research into prophecy together
as a team has indeed uncovered and I’ve only devoted some small amount of time
to give thought to what I might write by way of a blog because I’ve been busily
writing the Isaiah essay for several weeks now.
It would be a little lopsided of our website to
contain only Clay’s blog and no input from me.
I’m not able to write continuously as some authors
can, but only part-time and so I hope our readers will be patient now that we
are on this website to a wider audience if there are possible long delays in
articles that are more than one installment long in the case of my writing.
It came as a complete surprise that Clay had
actually gone ahead and has now done what we have discussed several times. We actually have quite a considerable body of
work in the pipeline, already written but as yet not fully edited and collated
to place at this ‘official’ website.
Previously we had only a private ‘test’ website
where we posted only the Baigent article about the Jesus Papers that was our
first attempt at collaborative writing and then followed that up with “the hand
of God” article mostly written by Clay.
Although it was always our intention to eventually
go “public” with our research and our findings --- somehow our Baigent Rebuttal
got listed ahead of time on the wider web and I think that listing came as a surprise to both of us and
if our readers were to do a Google search for “Rebuttal: the Jesus Papers” they
would find that article now nestled among a few other thinking Christians’ work
that have since also seen the value apparently of speaking out on the attack
against our wider Christian community by scholars and some other
researchers who are decidedly anti-bible --- that attack being clearly
and blatantly anti-God and very definitely anti-Christ.
Ours was seemingly first though and it was
something of a milestone for us in producing a paper/article of this nature
considering only one of us is a scholar and accomplished writer of long
standing.
To put things into clear perspective, Clay, an
accomplished and professional writer and I, technically an amateur, in terms of
length of service to our Saviour in a “public” capacity are after all, to all
intents and purposes --- late comers in that respect, but have both had a long
relationship to our creator from our respective youth.
We will state from the outset though that we have
no intention of ever starting up yet another church that would eventually
devolve into just another sect or group that would lose the prophetic plot and
begin to teach error because most often churches are run like big businesses
these days and apparently bums on seats and church attendance is what drives
many church leaders because after all that’s their bread and butter occupation.
Truth in many churches takes a back seat to
economic concerns and making money and/ or acquiring prestige or power to
influence the views and beliefs of others.
All too often a number of Christian religious
leaders use fear tactics to keep their congregations in line and eating out of
the leader’s hands and filling their bank accounts --- corporate and/or private
and there are far too many in that “charlatan” category. Smaller community based churches are
usually the ones who are genuinely trying to make a real difference and genuinely
trying to help other human beings in a meaningful way out of real concern for
their fellowman --- but often they are poor and struggling due to lack of the
popularity and power the bigger corporate [ larger and popular] churches enjoy.
Privately speaking though Clay and I are both long
term Christians that are now both completely “non-denominational” in that we
owe no allegiance to any man-made organization of religious bodies whatsoever.
This was not a conscious decision on our part but
something that just happened through different circumstances occurring to each
of us that left us ‘stranded’ by the religious communities that we would have
belonged to --- given the choice.
Our hearts go out to all those who have ever been, marked,
disfellowshipped, excommunicated or otherwise rejected and subsequently ejected
from association with their friends and
acquaintances in the religious communities to which they belonged.
Many who have been so rejected have done nothing
more than observed that what their churches have been teaching does not quite
gel with what the bible teaches and in most cases have in all innocence made
the attempt to point out some discrepancies in those teachings.
Sheer observation and in our case practical experience
teaches us that to question “traditional” religion or put forward anything
different to its leaders is more than just a no-no it is in their eyes an
offence and denotes “a trouble maker” and rejection seems to be their answer to
actually listening to others views either within their churches or outside of
them. It equates to ‘tunnel vision’ or
‘myopia’ pretty well overall.
We both know from practical experience ourselves
exactly what that rejection is like having gone through the process in slightly
differing circumstances.
The good news for all those that have been so
rejected from the wider religious community WITHOUT JUST CAUSE is that the
rejection of man does not equate with rejection from God the Father or Jesus
Christ.
When all is said and done --- salvation is a
personal matter between a man or a woman and his or her God. There is no earthly authority under heaven
that can separate any true believer from the Love of God. The word of God attests to this unalterable
fact.
No minister, no priest, no church on earth can save
anyone --- only our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, the true and righteous judge,
has the right to say who will and who will not be in His and His Father’s
kingdom.
That too is an uncontestable fact --- any minister of
religion who claims otherwise is an out and out liar and consequently not a
true servant of the living God in any way, shape or form and we can know who
are God’s true servants by “their fruits” as the scriptures indeed outline and
convey in clear and understandable terms.
Dedication:
Before I write another word in this blog I would
like to dedicate what I’m about to write to the one human being who was mostly
responsible for my recently renewed faith and although Clay can share in a good
part of that renewal and I love this man as a brother [though we’ve never met
in the flesh and Clay has no idea what I look like] the real accolade goes to
my wife of 23 years.
I know this is going to sound strange coming from a
male as it does --- but my wife Lesley was actually in a way my role model in a
number of ways.
Without the love we shared for those 23 years I
would not be who I am today because that love has sustained me during the dark
years when I blamed my God for taking my ‘soul-mate’ and the mother of my two
boys from my life.
To say my life has never been the same since her
death in February 1994 would be a gross understatement. The ‘happy years’ ended
then and there in no uncertain terms.
I managed to survive the trauma of her loss but
only just --- and only because I had two boys aged 9 and 14 at the time to
raise on my own as both my own parent’s health began to fade and decline during
that time also and I was already unemployed and I fell into the duel role of
carer for them and my boys.
Fortunately for me and mine we have a welfare
system in
I confess before my God and man that I am and have
been a total failure as a substitute mum. [Mom, for our American readers]
I learned the hard way that there is simply no
substitute for a real mum and I only managed to continue [in a sort of fog ---
due to my own emotional upheaval] to carry on the very basics and only a
fraction of support that a real mother and nurturer can supply and are the only
ones capable of giving children the emotional upbringing that children need in
a balanced family relationship. [With a dad’s assistance of course, but it is
the mother nevertheless who normally spends the most time with offspring]
I therefore concur to a great degree with Clay’s
essay about men and women’s natural roles and inclinations in life but would
add that the balance that fathers and mothers provide in their natural God
given roles as providers, nurturers and protectors of the next generation in
their formative years is of paramount importance in a stable family at least
and this balance may indeed extend to and be necessary for a balanced society
overall.
So a woman’s role for shaping the future of men
should never be underestimated --- it is undeniably as far as I’m concerned and
have learned through rough practical experience under very trying circumstances
“extremely” influential. Conversely the
loss of that influence that only a wife and mother can bring is staggeringly
felt and shown without doubt to be a civilizing and mellowing influence on the
next generation.
If a mother’s [crucial] input is not there to teach
boys, especially, --- how to relate to women in a tender and loving way when the
father is less than an ideal role model --- then the end result would indeed be
a society that slips further into decay with each succeeding generation.
If there is such a thing as a “natural” Christian
then my wife was an outstanding example --- in spades.
A one in a million example in fact and my boys
despite great upheavals in their lives turned out ok, probably due to her early
example to a great degree though they don’t necessarily share my beliefs or
follow in their father’s footsteps, because lacking their mum, I admit to being
too ‘soft’ on them in many ways.
Without being baptized, without any real
understanding of the bible [though I confess to trying to teach her] without
any formal belief whatsoever, my wife constantly put her “believing” husband to shame [though
she never knew it] in praying
constantly for world peace, for her neighbour’s welfare, her children’s
welfare, my parents and her parents welfare et al.
Always putting others first and foremost and
without any complaint whatsoever, Les
worked hard at making a neat and tidy and always welcoming home to home to, but
not only that, helped me whenever it was needed in any way as a truly loving
partner and much missed friend --- even to mixing cement when I was doing some
amateur bricklaying.
Her courage, her example, her fortitude and her
inexplicable faith under the onslaught of a rapidly spreading cancer, a faith
that kept her alive for four years more than the medico’s believed she had to
live are/were more than any man could wish for --- her lips were constantly,
silently, engaged in prayer for others --- never herself.
My God loved me indeed to have blessed me with such
a woman that I truly didn’t deserve and still admire for her courage even
today.
As I write this it still hurts to be without her
presence and so great a love in my life that we shared and I know my boys have
suffered great loss too as I went through the aftermath of their loss
also. So I have great empathy for all
those who have lost a loved one --- time doesn’t really heal all wounds --- in
spite of the clichés --- at best it can only dull the pain.
The only thing in fact that really dulls the pain
and makes it at all bearable is the sure and certain hope of a resurrection
that I hold dear.
So in dedication of this my first and probably only
blog I’ll simply say thanks Les. I am what I am because of the love of a woman
and the love of my God who blessed me with such a magnificent example of
womanhood and I have and never will have any regrets for loving both.
I have no shame now, though on balance, I still
pray far less than Lesley did, the difference now being they are quality
oriented rather than quantity oriented.
I have no pride either and write unashamedly about whatever
comes to mind quite openly and I can’t
help but wonder if the honesty I now have may well be partly due to the
heritage a good woman left me --- in addition to the poor memory I’ve been
plagued with since my youth.
You do indeed need a good memory to be a good liar
and so giving up lying was an easy thing for me --- but poor memory or not one
of the most endearing memories I have of Les is that often late at night when
she finally rested from her labours of love she would ask if I thought she nagged
God too much.
Why wouldn’t you ask a husband who was supposed to
know his God? --- But probably didn’t at that time.
What can you really say to that? Can we ever ask God for too much if what we
ask is always for others and never ourselves?
My answer was always the same every time she asked
--- not at all my love.
If any might say that this is sentimental crap,
then those individuals are free to go read something else because this indeed
my personal blog and I can say whatever
I want from the heart and that is in essence what separates us from the
animal kingdom.
Passion, love, feelings, aspirations, hopes,
dreams, honour, decency, loyalty, faithfulness et al and of course the baser
half of our nature’s that tries to drag us down into hopelessness, despair etc
i.e. everything that makes us different to and from the animals and everything
that makes us human --- subject to error and all too often insensitivity toward
one another in this journey we call life.
How and what I also write about the word of my Lord
and God is between Him and me…. and I’m not exactly backward in coming forward
in that area either and will always write what I see in the scriptures.
What you see is what you get and I make no
apologies for being human because in being human I’m mindful that I’m made in
the image of God and all of us have the potential to become the sons of God.
I believe I’ve been given a gift to discern the
truth in prophecy and I intend to use it to both acknowledge my God and extol
His name in whatever way and with whatever praise He might require to the end
that all might come to know the truth and joy of being ‘truly free’ and, being set
free by the hand of God.
Political affiliations:
None at all, whatsoever, never have, never will.
General political commentary:
Having said that in the above heading, I do however
vote and for whomever I think might actually do a good job --- but why --- If I
have no real political affiliations?
Simply, because in my country it is compulsory to vote with no option
not to --- pure and simple.
Our Saviour tells us in the Gospels to render to
Caesar that which is Caesar’s ---so therefore my understanding there is that if
Caesar wants us to vote, then we vote, because Jesus and/or His disciples/apostles
also say to live peaceably with all men.
A life or death matter is another issue however.
I would prefer the American option of
non-compulsory voting though because although many might condemn those who
don’t vote --- it is actually a much smarter option --- less stress if you
can’t decide who among all the candidates would do a good Job of governing
especially when there’s not much to choose from if they’re all mediocre and
much the same as each other.
So the non voter may actually be smarter than the
voter in this case because why go through all the motions and stress in America
for example in waiting in long lines just to lodge a vote that will in all
probability change nothing under normal circumstances with just average candidates
where one party is as good or bad as the other and there’s no real viable
alternative looming on the horizon that looks like they might actually know
what they are doing and offer any real hope of change for the better?
The rise to power of president Obama is not exactly
a normal case scenario however --- having said that --- and all humour aside in
this semi-humorous, tongue in cheek, commentary, does bear commenting on in
view of Clay’s “King of America” commentary in his essay with that title on his
side of the blog s.
I actually like Obama. But then again, I’m a “swinging” voter and I
would have voted exactly the way the majority of Americans have indeed voted
--- in the hope of a real possibility of something positive being accomplished
in the future.
Our older readers may be familiar with the old
saying “hope springs eternal” and that’s basically my motto overall ---
unrealistic though it might seem at times.
We aren’t always creatures of “perfect” rationality after all are we?
I also understand Clay’s concerns about ‘socialism’
creeping into democracy but the reality with the unique office of an American
president is that they are already in effect, royalty. All the same preferential treatment and honour
given to a monarch, is already afforded the highest office in the American
political structure.
An American president is already a “king” --- for
at least the length of time he holds office, no matter what party he belongs
to, in some ways, in some cases, enjoying more ‘actual power’ than does the
queen of England.
The only real differences as far as I can see in
office is one is ‘elected’ and the other is ‘handed down’ by birthright. At least, in a pinch, a difficult or
contrary American ‘King’ can be removed as easily by popular vote as ensconced
with one. My belief is that in the long
run it is indeed God who makes or breaks kings/leaders in any case if that
nation is truly under God.
Religion --- Former and current: *** under construction when time permits.
Views to other Religions: *** Ditto. When time and circumstance permits.
Miscellaneous: This category is open ended and also may have sub
categories from time to time as time permits also.