Not done yet...

I don't know if anyone from I-lluminate is reading this blog anymore, but I think I'll use this to discuss a few things that I'm going to be reading in a book, Across the Spectrum. It discusses a lot of "secondary" issues within Christianity that have been topics of debate within Christianity. They're somewhat important for you to be aware of, because some people have walked away from congregations, churches, and even Christianity because of some of these issues. Why? Well, my answer is, some people turn these "secondary" issues into "primary" issues and some people get really worked up over these issues as well.

If you, my dear kids, are still reading this, feel free to join in! :) Also, I switched to the "new" blogger because there's a lot more "stuff" in this kind of blogger (such as the labels, so you can find things related to a certain topic).

DNOTS, part 8 (last one)

8. God Works Passively

. Let it suffice to say, then, that God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of his love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weakness, and for this reason he takes us into a dark night. He weans us from all the pleasures by giving us dry times and inward darkness.

. In doing so he is able to take away all these vices and create virtues within us. Through the dark night pride becomes humility, greed becomes simplicity, wrath becomes contentment, luxury becomes peace, gluttony becomes moderation, envy becomes joy, and sloth becomes strength. No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul means of the dark night.

DNOTS, part 7

7. Weary with Spiritual Exercises

. The last two sins are the vices of spiritual envy and spiritual sloth. People who consider themselves as spiritual are quite often not pleased to hear about the spiritual growth of others. Their chief concern is to be praised themselves. They are not pleased that such attention is being given to someone else and would prefer to be thought of as the most spiritual of all. This is contrary to love, which, as Paul says, rejoices in goodness.

. Spiritual sloth happens when the pleasure is removed from the spiritual life. Such souls become weary with spiritual exercises because they do not yield any consolation, and thus, they abandon them. They become angry because they are called to do that which does not fit their needs. They begin to lose interest in God for they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God. Such souls are too weak to bear the crosses that are given to us to help us grow, crosses we face in the dark nights of the soul.

DNOTS, part 6

6. Beyond the Limits of Moderation

. The fifth sin is spiritual gluttony. Many souls become addicted to the spiritual sweetness of the devotional life and strive to obtain more and more of it. They pass beyond the limits of moderation and nearly kill themselves with spiritual exercises.

. They will often try to subdue their flesh wiht great acts of submission, lengthy fasts, and painful penances. But note: these are one-sided penances; they do not come from God. Such persons are working their own will, and thus, grow in vice rather than in virtue.

. They are not walking in true obedience, but rather, are doing what they want in the time and measure that they have chosen. They do these things not for God but for themselves, and for this reason they will soon grow weary in them. For this reason, it is probably better for these persons to give up their devotions entirely.

. The problem is this: when they have received no pleasure for their devotions, they think they have not accomplished anything. This is a grave error, and it judges God unfairly. For the truth is that the feelings we receive from our devotional life are the least of its benefits. The invisible and unfelt grace of God is much greater, and it is beyond our comprehension.

. It may be said that through their efforts to obtain consolation such souls actually lose their spirituality. For true spirituality consists in perseverance, patience, and humility. The sin of spiritual gluttony will prompt them to read more books and say more prayers, but God, in his wisdom, will deny them any consolation because he knows that to feed this desire will create an inordinate appetite and breed innumerable evils. The Lord heals such souls through the aridity of the dark night.

When Christ Comes

If I may make a quick post..... more like post-ette...

I want to share this with you...
my mom sent it to me and when I read it it snet shivers down my spine.

WHEN CHRIST COMES - - -by Max LucadoYou are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander tothe game you want to see or meal you want to eat, whensuddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you.A trumpet?A choir?A choir of trumpets?You don't know, but you want to know.So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. Asyou do, you see you aren't the only curious one. The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open,and people are staring at the sky. Shoppers are racingout of the grocery store.The Little League baseball game across the street hascome to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds. And what they see, and what you see, has neverbefore been seen.As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of theatmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto theearth. There are no shadows. None. From whence came the light begins to tumble a river of color spikingcrystals of every hue ever seen and a million morenever seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet ofangels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky. North.South. East.West.Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison,and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear thecherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, Holy, Holy.The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls whojoin the angels in worship.Presently the movement stops and the trumpets aresilent, leaving only the triumphant triplet: Holy,Holy, Holy. Between each word is a pause. With each word, a profound reverence. You hear your voice joinin the chorus. You don't know why you say the words,but you know you must.Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet.The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is.Jesus.Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figureof Christ the King.He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atopa billowing cloud.He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration:I am the Alpha and the Omega.The angels bow their heads.The elders remove their crowns.And before you is a Figure so consuming that you know,instantly you know:Nothing else matters. Forget stock markets and school reports.Sales meetings and football games.Nothing is newsworthy..All that mattered, matters no more....for Christ has come. . .



What do you think about it?