And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of Heaven will be shaken. - Luke 21:25-26
When ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified. - Luke 21:9
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. - Isaiah 26:20
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors. - 1 Samuel 5:6
Do everything in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. - Proverbs 3:3-4
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love. - Ephesians 3:16-17
My son, do not lose sight of this: preserve sound judgment and discernment. - Proverbs 3:21
Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. - Proverbs 22:17
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts. - Malachi 2:7
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty. - Psalm 65:11
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. - Isaiah 26:3
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. - Psalm 16:6
True love for God is completed when there is no more searching for him, for the sake of nobility, goodness, wisdom, holiness, and perfection; he is the God. - Albertus Magnus “Paradisus animae, sive Tractatus de virtutibus” (“Paradise of the Soul”) (13th century)
It is fit that they who desire for the good of mankind, to commit to memory things most profitable, well weighed and approved, should make trial of all things. - Cicero
That inner ecstasy of the mind is the secret fountain of perpetual youth and strength in any man. He who finds it finds omnipotence and omniscience. - Walter Russell
In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind. - Edmund Burke
Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you will always long to return. - John H. Secondari
It is the unemotional, reserved, calm, detached warrior who wins, not the hothead seeking vengeance and not the ambitious seeker of fortune. - Sun Tzu
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.“ - Psalm 91: 1-2
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. - Isaiah 26:3
Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. - Matthew 17:20
The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. - Proverbs 18:10
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. - Psalm 1:1-3
If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you. - Exodus 15:26
Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you. - Exodus 23:25
Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. - Deuteronomy 8:18
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. - John 14:18
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? - 1 Corinthians 3:16
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. - Ephesians 4:29
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. - Galatians 5:22
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. - Hebrews 2:1
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. - Isaiah 5:20
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. - James 1:19
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. - John 3:6
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. - Jude 1:2
“Our Faith Can Move Mountains!”-Matthew 17:20 St. Joan of Arc’s inspiring life was a testament to this verse, putting all her faith in God and freeing the French People! Dollsfromheaven.com
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise? 3 Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, 5 That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, We have done wickedly. 7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, That He might make His mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; So He led them through the depths, As through the wilderness. 10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 11 The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left. 12 Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.
13 They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, 14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. 15 And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.
16 When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the Lord, 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. 18 A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image. 20 Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass. 21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea. 23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, 25 But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord. 26 Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness, 27 To overthrow their descendants among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead. 29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped. 31 And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore.
32 They angered Him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses on account of them; 33 Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, 35 But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works; 36 They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. 37 They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons, 38 And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they were defiled by their own works, And played the harlot by their own deeds.
40 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people, So that He abhorred His own inheritance. 41 And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, And those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand. 43 Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, When He heard their cry; 45 And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies. 46 He also made them to be pitied By all those who carried them away captive.
47 Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!”
1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.”
9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.
10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 11The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.
The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal
30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.
Passion of Christ-Ascent to Golgotha by Bernat Martorell- Altarpiece of Saint Vincent(c.1438-1440) Located @ National Art Museum of Catalonia, Spain. possibly comes from the parish church of Sant Vicenc de Menarguens (Noguera)
Don’t come at me about the Bible and homosexuality if you’re using it to justify your homophobia. I will demolishyou.
Also, for some cultures including early Christianity, sodomite could very well have ment someone gravely inhospitable, as the sin of Sodom was inhospitality and not anal sex.
I wanted to talk about that too but I was running out of tweets I could put on a singular thread thank you so much for this addition!
I’m reblogging this partially because it’s frickin awesome, and partially for future reference, cus yeah the evangelical community is really scary to be in as part of the LGBTQA community
Whoa this is one of the BEST things I’ve ever seen!! And I learned a lot from it which I can tell my LGBTQ+ friends so that they can also destroy someone with this knowledge! Thank you so much for making a stand!
This was some hella good stuff here. I knew there was corruption with Bible verses and such but wow this was supremely informative!
the website Gay Christian 101 also has some fantastic in-depth discussion of these topics
“I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion. But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness, a Mother who, while clearly expressing her objective teaching, always does what good she can, even if in the process, her shoes get soiled by the mud of the street.’ Jesus ‘expects us to stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune, and instead to enter into the reality of other people’s lives and to know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated.’” - Pope Francis [”Tu es Petrus,” Biblia Sacra by Salvador Dali]
• The first Pope of the Americas Jorge Mario Bergoglio hails from Argentina. The 76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires is a prominent figure throughout the continent, yet remains a simple pastor who is deeply loved by his diocese, throughout which he has travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the 15 years of his episcopal ministry. More: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/biography/documents/papa-francesco-biografia-bergoglio.html
• In 1963, Salvador Dalí—an internationally known artist and favorite of both the avant-garde art world and the media—turned his attention and energies to the endlessly rich subject matter offered by the Holy Bible (especially the Old Testament). The catalyst that permitted the artistic genius Dalí and The Book to create one hundred and five stunning and compelling images was Giuseppe Albaretto. More: https://www.parkwestgallery.com/history-salvador-dali-biblia-sacra/
Ananias and Sapphira: A lie has short legs but it runs faster than the truth
At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, we are told how they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) and Peter preached his first sermon to thousands of people who had come from many different places to celebrate the day of Pentecost. Such was the blessing and anointing of the Spirit upon him, that on that day 3000 people were touched by God’s grace and salvation.
The church in Jerusalem was growing daily in number and holiness. But Luke shows us the reality of a church that was not all righteousness and goodness as we may sometimes think of the early church, it was a church full of sinners but who had repented and been saved by the atonement of Christ. The verses before Acts 5, which is the passage that interests us, tell us that the multitude of believers was of one heart and soul (Acts 4:32). There were no needy because many believers sold their possessions or houses voluntarily, this is important to keep in mind, no one forced anyone to do so, and they brought it to the apostles to distribute it to the neediest.
Among these generous Christians was Joseph, or as he is better known by his nickname “Barnabas”. He sold a piece of land he owned and brought the money to the apostles so that they could distribute it to the neediest. In that same church in Jerusalem, there was a married couple of believers named Ananias and Sapphira. And this is where the story begins.
Right after Barnabas’ donation to the needy, Acts chapter 5 begins with a “But…”, which implies that you are going to see a contrast between what Barnabas did and what Ananias and Sapphira did. Nowhere else in the Bible do we hear about Ananias and Sapphira, we know nothing about their family, or if they had children, or what they did, or how many possessions they had. What the Scripture does show us is that they two agreed to sell a possession. Up to this point, there is no problem, the problem comes later: the donation of Ananias and Sapphira, in appearance, followed the behavior of other believers, but “And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” (Acts 5:2)
The problem was not that Ananias and Sapphira kept part of the money from the sale of the possession because they could do it, no one forced them to give it all. Their problem was that they lied to the apostles and said that they were bringing all the money they had taken from the sale of the possession,. They wanted to give the image of being as generous as Barnabas, and that the brethren in the church in Jerusalem would praise them and think that they had sacrificed by giving everything. They wanted to impress others, to make them think that they were very spiritual and generous, when what they were doing was deceiving and lying, first to the Holy Spirit and then to the believers: “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” (Acts 5:3)
The apostle Peter learned of the deception, by revelation from God, and confronted Ananias with his sin. “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” (Acts 5:4)
“And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.” (Acts 5:5-6)
It was a divine punishment, here we cannot see that he had a heart attack and died, we can clearly see the hand of God acting directly. Ananias died because of deception, because of a lie.
But there is a second part, three hours later, the biblical account tells us, it happened, that Sapphira entered where Peter was, but without knowing what happened to her husband. Peter gave her the opportunity to repent and asked her: “… Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.” (Acts 5:8-11)
Sapphira, having agreed with her husband about the money, lied to Peter without her voice trembling. She did not even suspect what this lie was going to bring her, if she had repented for a moment, she would have realized that this sinful attitude does not please God, if she had told Peter the whole truth, the end of this story would have been very different.
So how do you live when no one sees you in private? You may give a very spiritual image, but you do not deceive God, He sees your heart. Is there deceit on your lips? Perhaps you think that you do not lie or deceive, but lies have many faces and can present themselves in many ways. Is your life transparent? Do you act honestly in your work? Do you tell half-truths? Do you like people to know about the good works you do so that they can flatter you? Analyze your heart before God, and if there is something to fix, remember that through Christ’s atonement all people can become cleansed from sin and start over.
