Sex.

When we are young we can have problems related to sex that stem from viewing the beloved as a sex object.

This is not recognizing that the object of our desire is in fact a human being.

But with desire comes love.

And with love comes respect.

So if we always respect the loved one's wishes, and right, and vows.....then we will have no further problems with sex.

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Life!

When I was young I thought that God was far away in Heaven.

My scientific education presented me with a world devoid of God.

But now I know that God is everywhere.

He is the sap in the trees, the pollen in the flowers, the oxygen in the air, the life of the waters, the warmth of the Sun, the fertility of the earth, the healing of the body, and much more,,,,,

He resides in all the animals that surround us.

And He is in all the peoples of the Earth.

But the inmost nature of God is love.

And the Divine Spark, out soul, is in our hearts.

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Counterpoint.

And so to counter the influence of Satanism in our popular culture we can orient ourselves to the good by practising:

Mercy, forgiveness, compassion, charity, honesty, altruism, generosity, benevolence, tolerance, truthfulness, care, and unconditional love.....

We can endorse: Light, Life, and Love!

And open our hearts to others.

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Astray.

The truth is that Satanism hidden in our popular culture is leading everyone astray.

They tell you to indulge in bodily pleasures, to endorse obsession and addiction, to hate, to chase after fame and fortune, to think of the devil as lucky and successful, to worship money, and to rely on materialism..... 

These things will not lead to the happiness they promise.

They lead to emptiness, burn-out, alienation, delusion, and suicide.

They are malicious lies and falsehoods.

And they display the flames of hell.

Those who push these things are betraying you.

They want your soul in hell.

And they think that the sins they sell will get you there.

They think that the devil will reward them with fame, fortune, and a rock star reception.

But there is no devil in reality.

So their hope is a delusion.

But the damage they do remains.

And we suffer for it.

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Jonah.

In church we have been studying the Book of Jonah.

Jonah was sent to prophesy to the wicked city of Nineveh via a boat trip in the opposite direction and three days in the belly of a whale.

I wondered what the wickedness of Nineveh was.

And I found later in the text: "All shall turn from their evil ways and the violence that is in their hands."  Jonah 3:8 (NRSV)

And: "people who do not know their right hand from their left."  Jonah 4:11 (NRSV)

So the sins of Nineveh were violence and ignorance.

And these are problems in our world today.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Educaion of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Love.

There is a part of you that cannot be touched by what you have thought or what you have done.

This is your inner child, your soul, that is the Divine Spark within you.

And because this soul is in essence Divine it is entirely good because God is entirely good.

This is your true self, and it is good.

It is descended from God, and it is immortal.

It is the part of you that loves, and that love is infinite.

For love is the inmost nature of God.

And love is the universal panacea.

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Money.

Jesus said: "'No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money (sic).'"  Matthew 6:24 (NRSV)

Many Christians rationalize their love of money by practising what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "Cheap Grace".

That is accepting the blessings of God and Jesus but not making any changes to their behavior.

They merely behave as everyone around them behaves - and that is to accumulate money and possessions.

This is their security; not the security of trust in the Love of God.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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