BC LIFE
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

#Illuminare - ON FAITH PART 10: NINETY-NINE PLUS ONE

Begins now 👇

 1. In the last few weeks, we’ve been treating the subject of faith. There are many dimensions to faith. In this article, we’re going to be looking at faith for venture and innovation. Happy reading. #Illuminare
2. The Jewish society in the day of Jesus wasn’t much different from our society today. The elites were segmented. #Illuminare
3. The first segment was the political class. In the main, this consisted of the two major parties – the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. #Illuminare
4. The liberals were the Pharisees. The party was populist and largely made up of middleclass businessmen and leaders of the synagogue. #Illuminare
5. Quasi-religious, they gave oral tradition equal authority as the written word of God. This gave room for creative interpretation of scriptures and often resulted in ridiculous interpretation of the law. #Illuminare
6. A faction of the party hated anything Roman, and that includes taxation. Tax collectors were, therefore, persona non grata. #Illuminare
7. The conservative party was the party of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were rationalists. They didn’t believe in the afterlife, the coming of the Messiah, the existence of the spiritual world, or angels and demons. #Illuminare
8. They were wealthy aristocrats and they held powerful positions. They controlled the temple and dominated the 70-seat Jewish council known as the Sanhedrin. #Illuminare
9. There were one or two smaller parties. One of them was a fringe party, the party of the Essenes. They didn’t believe in immersing themselves in public life. Call them puritanical. #Illuminare
10. Then there was the Herodian Party. They were supporters of the dynasty of Herod. For political expediency, they surrendered to Rome. They were, therefore, opposed to the Pharisees but that didn’t stop them from teaming up with the Pharisees to eliminate Jesus. #Illuminare
11. From their standpoint, Jesus had to be assassinated because he was drawing the unwarranted attention of Rome. #Illuminare
12. And then there was the nouveau-riche group – the tax collectors. They were viewed as turncoats who enriched themselves at the expense of their fellow Jews. They were despised all round. Not generally welcomed in Country Club therefore, they formed their own clique.
13. If you recall, Matthew was a tax collector. When he got converted, he threw a party to introduce his clique of friends to Jesus. This didn’t go down well with the political class. #Illuminare
14. To the Pharisees, tax collectors were a special breed of sinners. How could Jesus who claimed to be holy be hobnobbing with sinners? “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Luke 15:2 MSG. #Illuminare
15. But the tax collectors wanted to hear the gospel. This was what led to the famous parable of the lost sheep: “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? - #Illuminare
16. - When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home, call in your friends and neighbors saying: ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!' - #Illuminare
17. - There’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.” Luke 15:4-7 MSG. #Illuminare
18. Jesus was being sarcastic, of course. The Pharisees were the ninety-nine “good people.” But who doesn’t need rescue! Implicit in what Jesus was saying was, the man that will be rescued is the man who admits he needs rescue. #Illuminare
19. Unfortunately, religious and moralistic people never imagine they need rescue. And it gets worse. They grade the sins of others. #Illuminare
20. But WHAT do the ninety-nine sheep represent? They represent groupthink, custom and tradition. Their philosophy says the rightness or wrongness of a course of action is determined by the number of subscribers. #Illuminare
21. How did that hundredth sheep get lost? Who knows! It may be due to a number of factors – a sense of adventure, a lack of focus, inattentiveness, the questioning of status quo, the search for personal answers, the independent pursuit of fodder, - #Illuminare
22. - rebellion, inquisitiveness, disagreement with groupthink, determination to buck tradition, independent mindedness, boldness… The list is endless. #Illuminare
23. But what is interesting is that the Lord goes after that lone individual, and then celebrates him when he’s found. The parable may be about lost sinners, but there’s something to be said about the Lord cherishing the independent-minded adventurer. #Illuminare
24. Society condemns independent-mindedness but the Lord celebrates it. He never condemned the bloke. Note that the Lord recognizes adventure doesn’t always turn out okay, that one can be lost in the pursuit of fresh paths, fresh ideas and new explorations of thought. #Illuminare
25. It’s not about the outcome, it’s about the journey. The ones who find new paths are the ones that are daring. #Illuminare
26. It’s how the human race got into space. If the Lord in principle had condemned that lost sheep, humanity was condemned to the status quo. There will be no progress. Everything will remain the same. #Illuminare
27. We got into space because someone dared to dream. Someone challenged convention, refused to buy into the collective resignation of the human race to Planet Earth. Someone thought of possibilities. When last did you think of possibilities? #Illuminare
28. We tend to want to conform. We’re afraid of standing out, afraid of bucking the trend. We’re afraid of being different, having independent thought. We will rather blend with the sameness of humanity. But then we repudiate our grace and rubbish our potentiation. #Illuminare
29. We were born unique. We were created differently. Why do we strive to spend the rest of our lives trying to be like everyone else? Dare to be yourself. Dare to be different. The Lord celebrates the different. #Illuminare
30. You were that awkward nerd in school, the one everyone called strange. But that’s because you saw life in bits and bytes. #Illuminare
31. You’re the one who dressed differently, combined the unusual like a fashion magazine editorial. But that’s because you saw beauty in the combination of the ordinary. #Illuminare
32. Everyone in your family read Medicine but you just want to be an actor. It’s okay. #Illuminare
33. All your brothers married from your tribe but you fell in love with a wonderful soul from another tribe. It’s beautiful. #Illuminare
34. While everyone was studying Law textbooks in Law School, you just wanted to draw. You constantly imagined a different approach to advertising. It will turn out okay. These are all dimensions of difference. Difference is a lonely journey. #Illuminare
35. Independence of thought can mean ostracization. Venturing beyond established norm and pattern might induce fear – in you, and in the other sheep. #Illuminare
36. But the worst thing that can happen is to live your life seeking to conform to other people's vision of themselves. One day, you’re going to wonder about what could have been, in regret. #Illuminare
37. If you choose to dare, you have to have implicit faith the Lord has got your back, that He will come looking for you if you get lost. He’s got a tracker on you. What you deem failure will be celebrated by the Lord. At least, you dared. #Illuminare
38. God has not given us the spirit of timidity. We have a daring spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7 NLT, MSG. Conformists are never celebrated. The ones that are celebrated are those who dare to dare. #Illuminare
39. We’re all gifted with different capacities. Our roads in life don’t always converge. Many times, they diverge. Our paths are not always the beaten path. Some were born to pioneer. Pioneering is not easy. #Illuminare
40. It’s going to get fearful, even perplexing at times. You’re going to feel lost. You won’t always know if you’re on the right path. There are no coordinates for pioneers. They create their own coordinates. It is emotionally lonesome. #Illuminare
41. But history tells us those who dared were the ones who gave us the light bulb, gave us the motor car, gave us the airplane, gave us space travel, gave us internet, gave us Google, gave us iPhone, gave us Tesla, - #Illuminare
42. - gave us afrobeat, gave us Zoom, gave us Amazon…They thought different. They were able to imagine horsepower beyond the horse. They abstracted principles, and then applied them to given scenarios. They imagined the impossible, pursued the unimaginable. #Illuminare
43. If you ever want life to reckon with you, you’ve got to dare. #Illuminare
44. Two thousand years ago, the God-man underwent a risky experiment. He imagined the problem of sin could be solved through death and resurrection. He imagined death can be conquered, that humanity can be transitioned to eternal life. #Illuminare
45. In pursuit of that goal, he shed the toga of divinity and dwelt among men. He went off the beaten track and found himself at Golgotha. It was lonely on that skull shaped hill. His God forsook him. If God had not resurrected him, he was condemned to mortality. #Illuminare
46. But on the third day, he rose from the dead, just as the prophecies foretold. God came looking for him in the depths of hell. Just as he went looking for that sheep. #Illuminare
47. And now the world celebrates him. He’s the good shepherd in that parable. He’s been looking for you. Will you accept him today as your lord and saviour? #Illuminare
48. Please, pray this prayer: “Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. I am saved. Amen.” #Illuminare
49. To read “On Faith Part 10: Ninety-Nine Plus One”, go to https://t.co/zcMRLBu00R #Illuminare
50. To understand the Christian walk from a contemporary perspective, read my book, "Conversations of a 21st Century Saint". Order at https://t.co/AqMO38sntS. #Illuminare
51. © Leke Alder | [email protected]. #Illuminare

More from Leke Alder

Leke Alder
Leke Alder
@LekeAlder
ON FAITH PART 8: HEALTH AND WEALTH

Begins now 👇

#Illuminare

1. The Bible says to visit the house of mourning if you want cogitative wisdom. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4. The house of mourning is not necessarily a funeral parlor. A hospital qualifies as house of mourning. #Illuminare

2. You become sober when you visit a hospital. It’s the opposite of a house of mirth – a night club or beer parlor. What is alarming is the continual supply of patients. The flow just never stops. #Illuminare

3. There is a political dimension to disease. Disease has an ideological posture. By nature, it is an oppressor. The oppression is so powerful there’s collegiate resignation by the afflicted. They simply bow powerless. Sickness is hell bent on subjugating the human soul.

4. The affliction of a disease like cancer induces unimaginable terror. The Bible acknowledges the political ideology of disease. It also identifies the personage behind the oppression. We’re told Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were OPPRESSED - #Illuminare
HEALTH
Leke Alder
Leke Alder
@LekeAlder
1. I’m always perplexed and even get dumbfounded every time I receive a mail from a reader of Illuminare and the content reveals he or she is unfamiliar with the byproducts of the atonement of Jesus – what we call New Testament realities. #Illuminare

2. These are our rights in Christ Jesus. Satan of course capitalizes on such ignorance with demonic oppression. And yet the Bible says you will not experience oppression. Isaiah 54:14 NET. If you don’t know your rights Satan will oppress you. #Illuminare

3. To some, all Jesus died for is forgiveness of sin, and even that is contested. There are those who want to work for their salvation. But if that is the case what’s the point of Jesus dying! #Illuminare

4. In the Bible the Greek word translated “salvation” is Sozo. It’s a multifaceted word. It incorporates forgiveness of sin, the healing of our body, material prosperity, as well as deliverance form demonic forces. #Illuminare

5. Therefore, salvation from damnation is a quarter gospel not the full gospel. The benefit of salvation is not just at the expiration of life, it has very real and tangible benefits here on earth. Salvation is a highly pragmatic program. #Illuminare
ILLUMINARE
Advertisement
Leke Alder
Leke Alder
@LekeAlder
1. It’s virtually impossible to appreciate the full ramification of the New Testament without recourse to the legal construct undergirding it. The New Testament is resolutely mounted on a tripod of commercial law, criminal law and constitutional law. #Illuminare

2. There are other legal dimensions but those are the major three. Without those legal authorities the New Testament will not be efficacious in heaven, on earth or under the earth. It will just be history. #Illuminare

3. That’s not to say only lawyers can appreciate the New Testament. It’s the Holy Spirit that unveils the word. But there’s a way and manner a Paul would read the scriptures that Peter can’t. #Illuminare

4. Paul had formal training in Mosaic law. His dean was Gamaliel. Acts 22:3. Peter on the other hand was an ordinary fisherman, and you can see the difference in their writings. #Illuminare

5. It’s like those first few verses in the book of Genesis. A cosmologist or quantum physicist would salivate over them. He has a technical grasp of the issues. #Illuminare
LAW
Leke Alder
Leke Alder
@LekeAlder
#Illuminare - ON FAITH PART 9: HOW FAITH WORKS

Begins now 👇

1. So, here’s how the faith thing works. It’s like a machine. Think of a car engine with three gears or cogs that are all held together by a fan belt. That’s what the machinery looks like. #Illuminare

2. The first gear is the provisions made by God. The Bible says God has blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 KJV. #Illuminare

3. Everything you’ll ever need in life - every joy, every piece of peace, every deliverance from evil, every healing, every forgiveness of sin, every promotion, every success, every item of prosperity - #Illuminare

4. – your car, your house, your kids, everything has been provided through the sacrifice of Jesus. No blessing is left out. But here’s the challenge: the blessings are located in heavenly vaults, not on earth, and for good reason. #Illuminare
LIFE
Leke Alder
Leke Alder
@LekeAlder
1. For some reason Jesus decided to come to earth and bifurcate human history at a time medical science was rather primitive. Society was technologically backward. #Illuminare

2. There were no cars, donkeys were the primary means of transportation. There was no air travel either. Astronomy was tied to astrology. Why did he choose that point in time? Why not now for example, or the turn of the century? #Illuminare

3. There are two portraits of Jesus revealed in scriptures, and they’re manifestation denominated. There’s the cerebral, intellectual Jesus Paul wrote about to the Colossians. #Illuminare

4. We’re told all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are domiciled in him - be it quantum physics, chemistry, or genetics. Colossians 2:3. He’s the brain behind creation science, the guy doing all the exciting stuff in the book of Genesis. #Illuminare

5. In this rational capacity he was designated the Logos - “For by him were all things created in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible…” Colossians 1:16. #Illuminare
MEDICAL SCIENCE

More from Life

Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
@RickRubin
https://t.co/Cotah6eeRa
LIFE
Simon Wilson
Simon Wilson
@simonwilson2304
I'm married to an Australian. I returned to Australia from the UK in October.

This is my experience of what happened to me when I arrived in the country during COVID.

I think it will help people understand how criminally bad our government's response has been. (a thread).

On arrival, passengers were escorted from the plane by armed police.

We were allocated a government-mandated hotel, and told to wait in a holding area.

Once processed we were led to a coach. Members of the Australian army lined the route to make sure no one tried to escape.

Once at the hotel we were taken off the coach one by one

An Australian police officer escorted me to my room, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I left it in any unauthorised circumstances for the next two weeks, I would be spending up to two years in an Australian prison.

During the next two weeks I was fed three times a day in polystyrene and with plastic cutlery. Below are some examples of the food. It was fine, but there was no control or choice.


After about eight days I was tested for COVID.

This was mandatory, and the first time I’d seen another human since the quarantine started.

Even though I was negative, I was told I could leave only once my 14 days of isolation were over.
LIFE
Advertisement
LCTempleton
LCTempleton
@LCTempleton
My highlighted passages from The Psychology of Money by @morganhousel. Thread below

1. The 401k - the backbone savings vehicle of American retirement - did not exist until 1978. The Roth Ira was not born until 1998. If it were a person it would be barely old enough to drink

2. NYU professor Scott Galloway has a related idea that is so important to remember when judging success - both your own and others': "Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems."

3. Margin of safety - you can call it room for error or redundancy

4. "Every job looks easy when you're not the one doing it because the challenges faced by someone in the arena are often invisible to those in the crowd."

5. "The average equity fund investor underperformed the funds they invested in by half a percent per year, according to Morningstar - the result of buying and selling when they should have just bought and held."
LIFE
Princess Snide
Princess Snide
@princess_snide
Y’all... please check on your kids, they might not be okay.

My husband and I had no clue that a major crisis was coming for our 14 year old. She was so good at faking “okay” that we were totally blindsided.

I’m apprehensive about sharing all of this, but other parents

1/15

might need to see this and talk to their kids.

To make a long story as short as possible:

On Jan 13th, I came home from work to find my 14 yr old unconscious in a pile of vomit. Thought maybe it was the flu or something at first.

I got her into a bath to clean up and

2/15

she was incoherent, slurring her speech, and not really in control of her body. I put it together and realized she was drunk.

She had never done anything like that. Ever. She then started babbling about being so lonely and wanting to go to sleep and not wake up.

3/15

My heart and stomach dropped.

We took her to the ER for alcohol poisoning and told the triage nurse what she’d been drunkenly mumbling about.

It took almost 24 hours to get her BAL back to normal, then she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital.

4/15

They kept her for 6 days, and we weren’t allowed to see her. Just one 10 minute phone call per day.

They started her on two medications for depression, anxiety, and sleep. She seems to be feeling a bit better since coming home, and now knows that she needs to talk

5/15
LIFE
Jo Luehmann
Jo Luehmann
@JoLuehmann
TW: suicidal ideation.

At the darkest days of the abuse I was being subjected to I decided to attend a conference for women in Los Angeles. I convinced my mother in law to pay for it because I couldn’t afford it. @ChristineCaine was preaching. I was desperate...
1/


I wanted to die, I didn’t see a way out and I had tried everything. I imagined many ways to die daily. The most recurring one was throwing my car down a bridge I had to drive over every day. I never did it because my kids were in the car and I was afraid one of them would...

2/

survive or I’d kill someone on the way down.

Christine spoke about honoring your pastors even when they weren’t great, she spoke of us expecting too much of pastors and how wrong that was. She said God would use our testimony if we submitted to our pastors.

3/

She said “honor your pastors, God will honor you.” She said more about having disagreed with her pastors but she submitted and God honored her and now she’s blessed. How if they are faithfully serving God, we need to support them and not forfeit what God has for us.

4/

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I got up and went to the bathroom because I couldn’t breath and I felt like I was going to faint if I didn’t scream. I now know I was having a panic attack. I sat on the toilet w/my head between my legs, breathed and wept..
5/
LIFE

You May Also Like

Kestrel \u2664 lwj kin
Kestrel ♤ lwj kin
@slutxian
MDZS is laden with buddhist references. As a South Asian person, and history buff, it is so interesting to see how Buddhism, which originated from India, migrated, flourished & changed in the context of China. Here's some research (🙏🏼 @starkjeon for CN insight + citations)

1. LWJ’s sword Bichen ‘is likely an abbreviation for the term 躲避红尘 (duǒ bì hóng chén), which can be translated as such: 躲避: shunning or hiding away from 红尘 (worldly affairs; which is a buddhist teaching.) (https://t.co/zF65W3roJe) (abbrev. TWX)

2. Sandu (三 毒), Jiang Cheng’s sword, refers to the three poisons (triviṣa) in Buddhism; desire (kāma-taṇhā), delusion (bhava-taṇhā) and hatred (vibhava-taṇhā).

These 3 poisons represent the roots of craving (tanha) and are the cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain) and thus result in rebirth.

Interesting that MXTX used this name for one of the characters who suffers, arguably, the worst of these three emotions.

3. The Qian kun purse “乾坤袋 (qián kūn dài) – can be called “Heaven and Earth” Pouch. In Buddhism, Maitreya (मैत्रेय) owns this to store items. It was believed that there was a mythical space inside the bag that could absorb the world.” (TWX)
RELIGION
Vibhu Vashisth
Vibhu Vashisth
@VIBHU_Tweet
Do you know?

Multiverse is mentioned in several of Hindu Scriptures.

In 1927 came a theory named 'Big Bang' which was a scientific effort to provide some explanation about how our Universe came into existence. It suggested that Universe started as a tiny, hot and dense...


...something that expanded rapidly from the singularity with a big explosion or Big Bang from which formed the galaxies, stars and the rest of the Universe.
However, the science in our Vedas explained these concepts since millennia. Rig Veda mentions Hiranyagarbha and Brahmanda..

...Visphotak which talks about a similar theory.
The concept of Parallel universes may be novel to the modern scientists but it rests very comfortably in ancient Hindu Cosmology. The Puranas are replete with descriptions of many worlds whose inhabitants are ruled by kings in...


...the human plane and Gods in a higher plane. The many Gods in turn belong to many different worlds and planes of existence. At the highest level of hierarchy are the trinity namely Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha, ruling the divine Kingdoms. Brahma is the creator who dreams...


...the Universe into being, which is maintained by Vishnu. What Humans perceive as reality is in fact the dream of Brahma, misled by matter. Brahman( not to be confused with Brahma) is the ground of all reality & existence. Brahman is uncreated,external, infinite & all-embracing.
ALL
Advertisement
\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8I Support Our Military & Law Enforcement\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8
🇺🇸I Support Our Milita...
@TheWiseOwl_AZ
1. There are more people added on the list of arrests and executions of famous people but no further intel is available at this time.

ARRESTS and EXECUTIONS OF FAMOUS PEOPLE 2020 UPDATED
Explanation of the latest military tribunal arrests and executions of famous people in 2020.

2. The tribunals are arresting these people in plain clothes. We saw the Obama’s arrest, although we didn’t know it was an arrest at the time. The arrest was done nonchalantly so as to not get noticed by the public.
All arrests of these famous people were done this way.

3. If the person is convicted of child sex trafficking, crimes against humanity or treason, they will be executed.
If the person arrested has evidence on someone else to help their prosecution, or is willing to help Trump, & they want to cooperate, they may be allowed to do so.

4. A sentence of execution down to life in prison may be accepted if their evidence is worth anything.
When a plea deal is done, the defendant must present evidence they have to make their sentence lighter. This information is given to the prosecution, defense, and to the judge.

5. If evidence is accepted, they are presented the plea deal. They will have to make a guilty plea to the crime with a video confession & written statement. That is how all plea deals work.

All famous people arrested were either treasonous or involved in satanic worship rituals.
CRIME
Peter McCormack [Jan/3\u279e\u20bf \U0001f511\u220e]
Peter McCormack [Jan/3...
@PeterMcCormack
1/ So here is a thread on how I turned $32,000 into $1.2m and back to pretty much zero (once taxes are paid).

Just note, I am not bitter or salty in any way at all, the last 2 years have been an amazing ride - travelled the world, been wealthy, been poor.

2/ Dec '16, my advertising agency folded, I had a little bit of money left and I put $32k into Bitcoin and Ether. As it started to go up I diversified into everything, Monero, Dash, this that, any crap - even Ripplecoin. Everything just kept going up.

3/ By March I think I had around $300k and $500k by the summer. I used to take 25% out but towards the end of the summer I got greedy and put it all back in and by December it was $1.2m.

4/ Thinking I was an absolute genius I decided to start a bunch of businesses. As silly as it sounds I had this goal of making $5m as I wanted to buy Bedford Town Football Club and get them in the league, and as Crypto was going up forever I needed 6 months.

5/ So:
- Trading (income 1)
- Podcast (income 2)
- Mining (income 3)
- Mining pool (income 4)
- Consulting (income 5)

Yes - all of the above as a one-man army :)
LIFE
Manas Arora
Manas Arora
@iManasArora
My course is now available for FREE on youtube.

Channel link: https://t.co/BJqESqFVko
ALL