joypeacehope: November 2013

Friday, November 22, 2013

Antichrist And The Coming Apostacy

The Perceptible Universe as a Revelation about Its Creator

The unbegotten and uncreated God, living in Holy Trinity, being all powerful and wholly perfect, is entirely self sufficient and had no need of created beings. His infinite love, however, longed to have participants in His eternal blessedness. For this reason, God prepared His Heavenly Kingdom and created the celestial beings.

Love is not coercive, it does not force love from others. All of God’s celestial beings, the angels, were made by Him with free wills. This was necessary so that they could render true voluntary love to their Creator, rather than a mindless, senseless obedience.

One of the most radiant and powerful of these angels, Lucifer, exercising his free will, chose instead to adore himself rather than God. Because of this self-love he became self-willed, and being self-willed he became ambitious and decided to create a new kingdom in opposition to God’s kingdom, daring to usurp God’s place and power. The consequences of this rebellion are well known to all. Lucifer and his minions were cast out of heaven and today remain as the implacable enemies of God and all His creation. The temptation and disobedience of Lucifer infected many of the angelic beings so that the new kingdom of evil was populated with these devotees of the prince of darkness, the demons.

Those angels who remained resolute during the destructive temptations were fortified by God’s help and became everlasting sons of truth.

Because of the Creator’s love the celestial kingdom could not remain lacking and in order to complete its fulfillment God created a new creature, man. Adam and Eve were brought out of nothing into a cosmos specifically created for them, the jewels in the crown of God’s creation.

The magnificence of the Creator was manifest even in the basic formless, invisible atoms which served as the material for founding all nature and man himself.

The rest of this article can be downloaded from this link:

http://www.omologitis.org/?p=1839&lang=en

One Nation Under Who?

Posted below is a comparison of the original ten planks of the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx Friedrich Engels in 1848, along with the American adopted counterpart of each of the planks:

First Plank: Abolition of property in land and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.

(Zoning - Model ordinances proposed by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover widely adopted. Supreme Court ruled "zoning" to be constitutional in 1921. Private owners of property required to get permission from government relative to the use of their property. Federally owned lands are leased for grazing, mining, timber usages, the fees being paid into the U.S. Treasury.)

Second Plank: A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

(Corporate Tax Act of 1909. The 16th Amendment, allegedly ratified in 1913. The Revenue Act of 1913, section 2, Income Tax. These laws have been purposely misapplied against American citizens to this day.)

Third Plank: Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

(Partially accomplished by enactment of various state and federal "estate tax" laws taxing the "privilege" of transferring property after death and gift before death.)

Fourth Plank: Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

(The confiscation of property and persecution of those critical - "rebels" - of government policies and actions, frequently accomplished by prosecuting them in a courtroom drama on charges of violations of non-existing administrative or regulatory laws.)

Fifth Plank: Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

(The Federal Reserve Bank, 1913--the system of privately-owned Federal Reserve banks which maintain a monopoly on the valueless debt "money" in circulation.)

Sixth Plank: Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State.

(Federal Radio Commission, 1927; Federal Communications Commission, 1934; Air Commerce Act of 1926; Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938; Federal Aviation Agency, 1958; becoming part of the Department of Transportation in 1966; Federal Highway Act of 1916 (federal funds made available to States for highway construction); Interstate Highway System, 1944 (funding began 1956); Interstate Commerce Commission given authority by Congress to regulate trucking and carriers on inland waterways, 1935-40; Department of Transportation, 1966.)

Seventh Plank: Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

(Department of Agriculture, 1862; Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933 - farmers will receive government aid if and only if they relinquish control of farming activities; Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933 with the Hoover Dam completed in 1936.)

Eighth Plank: Equal liability of all labor. Establishment of industrial armies especially for agriculture.

(First labor unions, known as federations, appeared in 1820. National Labor Union established 1866. American Federation of Labor established 1886. Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 placed railways under federal regulation. Department of Labor, 1913. Labor-management negotiations sanctioned under Railway Labor Act of 1926. Civil Works Administration, 1933. National Labor Relations Act of 1935, stated purpose to free inter-state commerce from disruptive strikes by eliminating the cause of the strike. Works Progress Administration 1935. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, mandated 40-hour work week and time-and-a-half for overtime, set "minimum wage" scale. Civil Rights Act of 1964, effectively the equal liability of all to labor.)

Ninth Plank: Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country.

(Food processing companies, with the co-operation of the Farmers Home Administration foreclosures, are buying up farms and creating "conglomerates.")

Tenth Plank: Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.

(Gradual shift from private education to publicly funded began in the Northern States, early 1800s. 1887: federal money (unconstitutionally) began funding specialized education. Smith-Lever Act of 1914, vocational education; Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 and other relief acts of the 1930s. Federal school lunch program of 1935; National School Lunch Act of 1946. National Defense Education Act of 1958, a reaction to Russians Sputnik satellite demonstration, provided grants to educations specialties. Federal school aid law passed, 1965, greatly enlarged federal role in education, "head-start" programs, textbooks, library books.

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We Commemerate Monk Zeno, The Teacher of Saint Basil (4th Century)

The Monk Zenon (Xeno), Teacher of Saint Basil the Great, was born in the city of Pontus into a rich family. He served at the court of the emperor Valens (364-378), amongst the soldiers with whom were sent out the imperial edicts. After the death of Valens Saint Zenon left the world and settled himself in a cave near the city of Antioch. For forty years he asceticised in this cave, and in complete solitude he lived an austere life, cleansing the soul, and occupying himself with meditation on God. The Monk Zenon went each Sunday to church and he communed the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In his cell he had neither bed nor fire-place nor lamp. The ascetic wore old rags, ate only bread and water, for which he had to make a tedious journey into the city to the well. The Monk Zenon was particularly fond of holy books, which he borrowed from those visiting him for spiritual counsel. Through his deep humility the blessed ascetic, filled with the gifts of grace, considered himself poor in spirit. The Monk Zenon died at the beginning of the V Century.

On The Way To Mt. Athos

I flew out of TelAviv

"The man who endures accusations against himself with humility has arrived at perfection. He is marvelled at by the holy angels, for there is no other virtue so great and so hard to achieve.”
- St Isaac of Syria

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"Anathema To Him Who Divides And To Him Who Confounds"

This statement was made by the most reverend bishops of the
Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. As the mind of God was, so the seven holy councils of the first 800 years of the church spoke, establishing and confirming the great doctrines of the Christian church universal which stand firm and solid to this day and will for all eternity. In ignorance most Protestants and Romanists today aren't even aware of Byzantine history and the glorious reign of the church during the first thousand years of history after the coming of the Blessed One. If you knew that to not embrace the decrees and canons of these councils put you in an anathematized condition, would you not repent and return to the 'true faith' of your fathers? "Do not move the ancient boundary stone", so it states in the Proverbs and what happens when we do? We will be prosecuted and thus shall it be for us who violate these ancient decrees and canons of the Holy Ecumenical Councils.

Icon Of The Descent Into Hades

Jesus Christ stands on the doors of Hades and breaks them open. The doors are in the form of a Cross to remind us that Jesus shattered these doors through the power of the Cross. Christ is pulling Adam and Eve out of Hades or Sheol, the place of death. Notice the limp hand of both Adam and Eve. The limp hand symbolizes that it is through Jesus' power that they are taken to heaven out of this place of death. It is Jesus' death and that alone that has conquered death. Left of Jesus we see John the Baptist preaching about the one who is to come to Hades to save them. John the Baptist is Jesus' forerunner even in Hades. Next to John the Baptist is King David and King Solomon. Right of Jesus we find Abel, the first saint of the Old Testament. This icon is also called the Icon of the Resurrection.

Biography of Saint Basil, Fool for Christ

Saint Basil the Blessed, was born in December 1468 on the portico of the Elokhov church outside Moscow. His parents were commoners and sent their son to be trained as a cobbler. During Basil's apprenticeship, the master cobbler happened to witness an occurrence, which showed him that his apprentice was not an ordinary young man. A merchant had brought grain to Moscow on a barge and came in to order boots, specifying that they be made in a particular way, since he would not pick them up for a year. After taking the order, Saint Basil began to weep and said, "I wish you would cancel the order, since you will never wear them." Confused, the master cobbler questioned his apprentice, and he explained that the man would not wear the boots, for he would soon die. After several days the prediction came true.

When he was sixteen, the saint arrived in Moscow and began to display what is called "Yurodivy" or foolishness for Christ. In the burning summer heat and in the freezing Russian winters, he walked barefoot through the streets of Moscow. His actions were strange, for instance, he would topple kalachi and kvas stands in the marketplace. Angry merchants would throttle and beat Saint Basil, but he welcomed the abuse with joy and he thanked God for it. Soon after it would be discovered that the kalachi was poorly cooked, and the kvas was badly prepared. The reputation of St Basil quickly grew. People saw him as a holy fool, a man of God, and a denouncer of wrong.

Another story tells of a merchant who wanted to build a stone church in Moscow, but its arches collapsed three times. The merchant turned to the saint for advice, and he pointed him toward Kiev. "Find John the Cripple," he said. "He will advise you how to construct the church." Traveling to Kiev, the merchant sought out John, who sat in a poor hut and rocked an empty cradle. "Whom do you rock?" asked the merchant. "I weep for my mother, who was made poor by my birth and upbringing." Only then did the merchant remember his own mother, whom he had thrown out of the house. Then it became clear to him why he was not able to build the church. Returning to Moscow, he brought his mother home, begged her forgiveness, and built the church.

Preaching mercy, Saint Basil helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but who were more in need of help than others. Once, he gave away a rich imperial present to a foreign merchant who had been left destitute. Although the man had eaten nothing for three days, he was not able to beg for food, since he wore fine clothing. The saint harshly condemned those who gave to the poor for selfish reasons, not out of compassion, but hoping for an easy way to attract God's blessings. St Basil also visited the taverns, where he tried to see goodness, even in people who others had given up as lost, and to strengthen and encourage them by kindness.
Once Saint Basil even reproached Tsar Ivan the Terrible, saying that during the divine services the Tsar was preoccupied with thoughts of building a palace in the Vorobiev hills.

St Basil died on August 2, 1557. His body was buried in the cemetery of Trinity church, where in 1554, In an early icon, St Basil is portrayed as old, with white hair curling at his ears, and a short, curly white beard. He is completely naked, and holds a handkerchief in his hand. The veneration of St Basil the Blessed was always so strong that the Trinity temple and the attached Protection church were renamed for him as the famous St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The saint's chains, his relics, are preserved at the Moscow Spiritual Academy.

RUSSIAN ICON "GUARDIAN ANGEL"

"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." Matt. 18:10 " Although we can not see them with our bodily eyes, we can see them clearly with the eyes of faith. Are we really so poverty stricken in sensitivity and spiritual awareness that we do not wish to believe anything except the easily visible world? Are our hearts so occupied with worldly vainglory that they love nothing which does not pertain to wealth and temporary pleasure?" The Guardian Angel pg. 10

Icon of the Holy Archangel Michael, Captain Of The Angelic Host.

Saint John Chrysostom The Golden Mouthed

St. Gregory The Theologian

St. Gregory the Theologian, when barely thirty years old, won acclaim throughout the region as a mighty warrior in the fight against paganism and heresy. He headed the reorganisation of the Orthodox Church which had been torn asunder by the heresy of Arianism from within and by the harassment of pagans without. In the course of this holy work, he achieved distinction as an orator, traditionalist, and a crusader that earned him the title of "Theologian" despite the opposition of Maximos the Cynic, who had been set up against him by the bishop of Alexandria. He was the instrument of God in unifying the Church into a cohesive unit that could withstand any internal or external pressure.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil set Christian perfectionism as the goal of monastic life. The monks were to practice Christian virtues together, especially love; to practice obedience to a spiritual father; to practice chastity and poverty, and share the common goods of the monastery. After they achieved Christian perfection, they were allowed to come back to the world and help others to achieve Christian perfection. Thus, the monks had the mission of "social workers" as well. St. Basil's institutions, especially his Basileias, which was at the same time an orphanage, a "kitchen for the poor," and a school for the illiterate was in practice run by monks. This was St. Basil's way of utilizing the monastic movement to benefit the mission of the Church in the world.

Prayer of St. Ephram The Syrian 306-373

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, lust of power, meddling and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chasity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and to judge not my brother; For thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (The church historian, Sozomen credits Ephrem with having written over three million lines of hymns, poems, homilies and biblical commentary). His works are known only within Orthodoxy. "The greatest poet of the patristic age and, perhaps, the only theologian-poet to rank beside Dante." — Robert Murray.