All of these topics are just a catalyst to talk about the things that enable us to talk about the things that matter to us as people. I see that a lot of people are bound up, and dislike speaking in public. I have heard that the two greatest fears that Americans share is a fear of flying followed closely by a fear of public speaking. It is nice to have an atmosphere where we can just talk about all of the things that don’t fit in anywhere else. Tonight we talked about the way plants are able to take in nutrition and produce over abundantly with that. they produce more than they need, and they nourish all those around. What keeps people from being that productive? Why don’t people get along? What is the number one issue that causes us to hold back from passing life on to our friends? We, as people have a trait that plants do not have, we are inherently selfish. Is there a way that can be over come? In the history that I read, it was done in the first century, for one brief shining moment. Acts 4:32 says “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.” That is the only way to come to the end of selfishness and that is the only way the church can look. Modern mainstream christianity can not duplicate that. A lot of people read the book, they have the words, but they can not duplicate the life of the first century church. What prevents them from doing it? Most will say that it is no longer necessary.
March 14, 2008
interesting signs in Pittsfield (or there abouts)
March 13, 2008
The New Testament is full of parables relating the natural truth seen in nature to the spiritual realities of life. We are going to step back from the time line for a little bit and focus on some pretty specific things way back at the beginning and way out at the end. We are going to look at the early church, what caused it to fall away from the abundant life of God, and what it would look like if it were restored to that.
The first topic in this series is called “The Color Of Life”. Chlorophyll brings life to all of the parts of the plant to the extent that the plant produces far more than it needs and ends up feeding lots of people. the abundant life of the church should look the same. The willingness ina person would meet the word and the result would be a life that would spill out and effect everything and every one around it. Why does modern mainstream Christianity not look like this? what is it going to take for that life to be restored on the earth?
March 13, 2008
The forum on the film on the 1984 raid in Island Pond VT
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It was an interesting night, we would like do it again because of the good turn out. One of the big questions that came up was about education. On whose shoulders does the responsibility for educating the next generation fall. Some would say that the state has a prevailing interest to see to it that its citizens are educated, but just how far does that interest allow the state to go? I would say that the lions share of the responsibility needs to fall on the parents. i think that John Locke said that parental authority was the basis for all authority, if you remove the ability for parents to raise their own children, you will see a severe dumbing down of this new generation… (wait a minute… i think you will see what you now have…)
So, pipe in with you opinion, do you think that the state has the right to demand an accounting, or does the interest of the parents take care of that? And if the state has the interest, who will call them to account?
March 6, 2008
We are going to do something a little different this week, we are going to show a film. I am a big supporter of the spoken word and conversation, but this is just too important to let go by. Here are some clips from the documentary that we are planning on showing here on
Wednesday the 12th of March. On June 22nd 1984 the state of Vermont orchestrated a raid on the Community in Island Pond. the community was a group of believers who lived according to what they found written in the new testament. the state had no evidence, nor probable cause to move in on the group there, yet those involved thought that it would be inevitable that they would find items and circumstances enough to justify their actions. What actually was found was a bunch of bright faced, happy children living in clean well ordered houses. the fishing expedition came up empty. the judge appointed to hear the case was appalled and said that it was the most grossly illegal act since Herod ordered the death of all children under the age of 2. His name was Frank Mahady. The sytem does still work.
March 6, 2008
Once again, we had a very interesting evening. There still is a difficulty in America to view Abraham Lincoln as anything but divinely appointed. It is interesting to me that people lament over our loss of freedom and liberty in modern America…. but they really do not see the connection with the precedent that Lincoln set. After him, industrial strength party politics begins in earnest. If you look at the real causes of the civil war, you find Christianity at the root, the 1860’s begins American imperialism. along process that includes the stealing of Hawaii, the war in the Philippians, the war in Cuba and the shipping of the great white fleet off to intimidate the world. this was followed closley by the first and second world war. all in the name of God, and all in the wake of Abraham Lincoln….
March 2, 2008
This Embedded Video is a lighthearted parody that says all that needs to be said about
historical christianity. The story is one that is told over and over, but probably not quite as physically.
February 27, 2008
We’re going to try to piece together a very wide range of topics with the common thread of Christianity’s effect on American politics. Starting in about 1850, America became a much more Christinized country than ever before. The abolition movement, temperance and the Moody Bible society is just a smattering of the activity in that social movement. The direct result of this was the splintering of the country and the brutal death of more than 700,000 young men. This was the glorious fruit of the tree of Christian politics. From there it gets more interesting. Abraham Lincoln destroyed the basic tenants of the national constitution. For this feat he needed the people to believe that this slaughter must be God’s will. A very strong central government rose up in the place of the republic that used to serve the people. You can trace the growth of this entity all the way to our day. To skim some of the highlights…. In 1913 the power of the purse was handed over to a private institution (the federal reserve bank) followed almost immediately by a Depression, and the First World War. Wilson laid waste to huge portions of Europe in order to “make the world safe for democracy”. The very Christian temperance movement finally got its way in 1920. Alcohol was made illegal in America. People would now have to be moral…. The only problem was the fact that there were more alcoholics in 1930 than in 1920. Legislated morality simply didn’t work. Next comes the great depression through the thirties. The president tried to help the nation out of it with all sorts of government programs, what eventually help us out was the second world war. People made an awful lot of money by making war materials (Ford only made 60 cars from 1942 till 1945, but they made tens of thousands of bombers) It got to the point that Eisenhower warned America about the military industrial complex. This huge war machine was not going to want to be put to bed. What did these “blessed” and wealthy Americans put on their money? “In God We Trust” ……
February 27, 2008
We tried something new! we had a guest (and good friend) come and talk about the shakers. She is really quite knowledgeable, and the discussion was interesting. The Shakers seemed to have a lifestyle that was pretty down pat. They removed all of the sources of strife from their life. in doing so they seemed to have also caused a lifestyle that was un-natural. there is something so appealing about the life that these people led…. yet there is also something that seems undone. just being good people does not satisfy the deep longing of the human soul. living apart and separated from the world is not enough to make one holy. anyone can be “holy” off by themselves, but human interaction is absolutely necessary to determine if God is present. The shakers had that interaction, yet it was so regulated.
February 21, 2008
The Shakers were the most successful of the Utopian communities. in the early 1800’s, mainly as a reaction the the obvious good fruit from the Shakers, there was a large Utopian communal movement. If people know anything at all about them it is generally pretty limited. Most know that they did not have children, and that they made very beautiful furniture. What a lot of people do not realize is that they set out to do those things with a very specific goal in mind. They wanted to bring the kingdom to earth. It was their understanding that if God had left instructions, following them would bring predictable results. They were shooting for the greatest possible result. In the beginning of the twentieth century, after 200 years of trying, they had to finally concede defeat. Why did they fail in being able to accomplish what they set out to do?
Were they on the wrong track? Was it possible to do what they set out to do?
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