HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold Discussion of Verse Twelve

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

https://sites.google.com/site/hesusjoychrist/

There's the website with all of the HESUS JOY CHRIST stuff !!

Just search "hesus joy christ", make sure that is what was searched for, and not an alternate such as "jesus joy christ" on www.google.ca and in a couple of months it may appear instead of the old links that appear now.

On this site there are all the HESUS JOY CHRIST blog posts to date, in an easily accessible non-linear format, as well as all the HJC animation dating back to 2009.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

http://sites.google.com/site/vid932008/

There's the website with all the other artwork!!

Just search vid932008 on www.google.ca to see it come up first in the list.
On this site there are almost all the artwork blog posts in an easily accessible non-linear format, as well as all the other artwork and poetry.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

http://www.wawacolour.blogspot.ca/?view=mosaic


There's a blast of WATERCOLOUR !!

___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Since I get such a kick, still, out of blathering on about this stuff, I'm continuing on with the discussion of HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold !!

 Verse 12     12When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.

from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Four, New International Version

 Verse 12    12When One heard that Joan was ministering elsewhere, he became secular.

from the text of the animation, HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Foretold
written by R David Foster

 Verse 12 Discussion        

 
           I remember, when I was dating Lois, the daughter of an unemployed Baptist Minister, and attending Yorkminster Baptist Church with her, she claimed that it was God's will for her to break up with me. At that time I bought two books just because of their titles.  One was  Decision Making and the Will of God , and the other was  Evangelism As A Lifestyle .  I bought them at a protestant book store, and I was Anglican at the time. I thought that decision making and the will of God was too easily glossed over by most people, and when I dated another Baptist, I remember remarking to their Baptist Minister that circumstances could be created by the devil as much as they could be created by God, so there is more to discerning God's will than just appreciating signs in one's life.  The other book title I found very amusing since even as an Anglican, I believed my lifestyle was my evangelism!  My experience of Catholics, both before and after my conversion, was that they were constantly ministering and evangelizing by and through their own lifestyle. This was John the Baptists' ministry as well – his life, as well as his teaching, was his ministry and evangelism.

           So just because John was in prison does not mean his ministry was at an end. Sure, he was unable to teach and preach, but he did send his disciples to ask if Jesus was the one, or should they wait for another. And he maintained his condemnation of Herod for taking his brother's wife.  This precipitated John's beheading.

           Sooner or later we all become unable to express ourselves and communicate, but this is not the end.  Our witness prevails through our choices and attitudes.  My mother was aggressive towards her nurses when she was given poor care in her last months, but she stopped pinching and punching toward the end, probably because she was unable to, but for me it seemed that her attitude had changed to one of accepting her circumstances.  If she had only accepted her circumstances earlier, and taken up the attitude that she was going to make her nursing staff look good by being a exemplary patient, they might have been more attentive and provided better care.  Who knows ?

           Martyrdom is not simply being killed for who you are, it is being faithful to the end, no matter what the end – death or any other end.  The Iroquois killed many Frenchmen, as allies with the British, but not every Frenchman kept proclaiming Christ as they were tortured, so much that they cut out their tongue.  My mother seemed to be faithful to proper nursing practice, being a Registered Nurse, and a Community Care Access Coordinator, who also taught Nursing, to the end.

           My understanding is that Galilee was a secular community.  This is where Jesus, as far as I know, began his ministry.  Although he only ministered to the Jews, with a few exceptions, he ministered mostly to the Jews who had gone astray, the secular Jews.  Although he did preach in the synagogues, or Jewish places of worship, he preached everywhere else as well.  He preached in the synagogues as a lay person, being a carpenter, rather than as a Scribe, Pharisee or other ordained religious teacher and official.  He was asked by what authority he ministers, but failed to give a direct answer.  He answered with the question “Was John the Baptist's ministry from God or from man?”, and the religious leaders who put the question to him would not answer for political reasons being that the people believed John's ministry was from God, yet the religious leaders denied John's ministry.  So to answer either way, as an ordained religious leader, would tempt fate.  Jesus was a regular person who chose to preach and minister to the outcast as well as the prominent and regular people, secular or religious.



When One heard that Joan was ministering elsewhere, . . .

           So in the animation text, the preacher from  Matthew's Three Fold , Joan, is apparently ministering elsewhere, and this has an effect on the sacred One relationship that was acknowledged by Joan.  The sacred One relationship, now existing only in heaven or the mind of the spouses or spouse, drives them to a secular community, yet still participating in the religious ordinances as an approach to infinity.

           For both Jesus, and the witnesses of the sacred One relationship, there is more than just maintaining the religious ordinances that needs to be done, and this “more” becomes a new and unique ministry.  Jesus did not copy John's ministry, but built on it. Even John proclaimed that there is one who would come after him, who would be greater than him.  John baptised with water, but Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit.

           At the very least, in our baptisms, we are all called to be priests, prophets and kings, to minister, proclaim, and maintain our individual corners of existence, and this expression is unique to each and everyone of us baptised individuals.  It is not solely the role of the professionals to profess the good news, the burden, although light and wonderful, is upon each one of us who was ever baptised.

           Rather than create a world of conflict and opposition, this role of priest, prophet and king calls each of us to engage one another in witnessing our experiences and understandings so that we may grow amongst each other to an eternal newness of life, rather than an isolated bearing of stagnant eternal walking waking death.  There is so much to learn from each other, that to not engage in, at the very least, a sincere and passionate discussion, is to pass up on the life we are offered and called to by the loving infinite person.

           There is a wonderful christian music economy that puts the Gospel into new words and songs, which I greatly appreciate, even though I want three classic hymns to be associated with me – 498 “Lord of Creation”, 476 “Come and Journey”, and 395 “Lord of the Dance”.  This proclamation of the ancient faith with new and intriguing words and music opens us up to a more filling understanding of how our faith may be applied in our new world and present day circumstances.  The best t-shirt I have seen that is a part of this pop christian culture is a parody of the Home Depot logo and tagline “You can do it – We can help.”  Instead of “The Home Depot” this t-shirt says “ The Holy Spirit”, “You can do it – He will help.”  This pop christian culture, although generally failing when the rubber hits the road, may be the door to both the secular as well as the religious communities, to which Jesus directed his ministry.

__________________________________
Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

~~~~~~~~